It was freedom that I wanted, freedom that I got.

Everything has been left behind. I am a new person. Happier, more interesting, with better perspective on what I want and what matters in life.

Today, I have been in my own apartment with no serious visitors for almost 2 weeks. It's a lot of work. I do everything. The cooking, the cleaning, the bill paying, the laundry, taking care of the cat. I go to work every day, faithfully. My apartment is kind of sad--I can hear my neighbor's TV blasting through the floor at almost all hours; the maintenance man shakes items off my walls when he clears the ice from the path. But the freedom to go to the gym, to see friends, to visit my family, to have my family over when I want--it makes the misery of cleaning my car off every day and having a few cracks in the walls worthwhile.

At last, I am the person I have wanted to be since I was 16 years old. This may have been the "year of the tiger," but next year will be mine, no matter what sign it's formally associated with.