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don’t like to plan ahead and didn’t attend regular elementary school myself, a product of an amorphous boat-life home-school upbringing. I still lambast myself for rushing past those baby years, like a nation of people hurling past one another for toilet paper, we forget to slow down long enough to feel our universal vulnerability and shared humanity. We were two thirds into our world adventure in Nepal exactly 4 years ago this week, at a lovely boutique hotel in Kathmandu, sucking it up inside for one of our marathon learning days with wi-fi. Every day, I’ve been noticing the smallest wonders of nature in technicolor and magnificent magnification; droplets of rain clinging to branches and then dripping to the damp ground below, bare limbs waking up from winter and sprouting fresh leaves and a symphony of birds singing, chirping and cheering for life.

Go Within to Go Beyond Maiden – Maiden is a documentary film by Alex Holmes about Tracy Edwards and the crew of the Maiden as they compete as the first all-woman crew in the 1989–1990 Whitbread Round the World Race. If you’ve followed Brown through the years, then you know she’s a “shame researcher” who hit it big with a really great Ted Talk, followed by some best-selling books…all on living a better life. Stay Human – Award-winning musician Michael Franti takes us on a personal journey where he meets extraordinary humans who inspire him to overcome cynicism with optimism in today’s challenging times and STAY HUMAN. Racing Extinction – Filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, along with activists, scientists and others, draws attention to mankind’s role in a potential loss of at least half of the world’s species.

Jill Wheeler, founder of Wellfit Institute and Wellfit Girls, is back in Southwest Florida to offer her unique, family-friendly outdoor yoga and biking adventure in the old growth Fakahatchee Strand. Immerse youself in a Florida you’ve never experienced before with a guided walk though the indigenous cypress forest with Master Naturalist, Marcy Wagner, riding among wildlife and relaxing yoga surrounded by ancient palms. The Wellfit Everglades Bike and Yoga Adventure was an amazing combination of fitness, outdoor adventure and connecting with nature. The guided yoga was a beautiful way to connect with myself and nature under the Everglades canopy of trees.

Do you consider the beginning of a new year a blank canvas to create something new in your life? I believed this, almost exclusively, until this past year, when a lot of life happened far beyond my control and almost exactly how I didn’t want it to be. As the year came to a close, I didn’t lament on what a shitty year it was. While the New Year is a motivating time to ponder what you want to change in your life, I am a big fan of creating vision all year long.