My "Best" of 2011. Now Give Us 2012

This past year was an intensely awkward one, for all of us. It was a challenging, troubling year from whichever point of view one chooses to examine it. 2011 was, confessedly, an intensely awkward year. However, I -being the eternally "half-full glasses" I am- believe that it was not an absolute and total loss, (ironically though, "loss" was -for many- a defining word for this year). Some aspects of it seemed to gleam "through the ashes"; some events of significant, life-altering gravity, in a positive light this time,  did occur as well. So, what we should do is focus on some of the good things 2011 left us with. 

On a personal/professional level, 2011 was life-changing for me. This past, turbulent, year set the foundations -in a challenging way- for things which felt that they were meant to happen. I was urged to make choices and take actions for which I am the only person to be held responsible for the outcome, whatever that may be. 

I am not going to get all profound and mushy in this post, though I am prone to doing that lately; I will just focus on the "lighter" things which stood as some sort of "psychological support" -if you like- this past year. Below you will find a humbly assembled list of my personal "bests" and "favorites" of 2011. 

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Rediscovering Sia

I first heard of Sia in 2006, when I finished watching all five seasons of "Six Feet Under" (in less than three months) and her track "Breathe Me" was featured in the very very last scene of the series. (I have never cried so much in front of a screen, in my whole life. "Breathe Me" was to be blamed for this too.)

Though Sia fell off my radar in the past few years, I recently bumped on her newest material through Oh Land's twitter feed, since they were touring together in the states this past summer. Despite the fact that her latest album "We Are Born" was released a bit over a year ago, I only got to listen to it this past August, around the same time Sia's collaboration with David Guetta on Titanium started gaining ground around the web. The word "awesome" does not even begin to describe Titanium, by the way. 

I humbly found "We Are Born" utterly perfect! I have been obsessing over "Clap Your Hands", (video below), "The Fight" and "You've Changed" because of their absolutely genuine and positive vibes and given that I am going through a -mainly- good and positive period right now. However, tracks which deviate the "happy path" like "I Am Here" and "Oh Father" have that same, impactful and overwhelming effect "Breathe Me" had on me.

Because of that very first encounter with Sia's voice through SFU's finale, I can't help but have it associated with dense emotions. I guess I am not the only one, since the people over at Showtime used "Lullaby", off her 2008 album "Some People Have Real Problems", for the Season 1 finale of The Big C -another über emotional scene.

I mentioned this before, but the Australians seem to never fail me. I am happy to have rediscovered Sia's magical sound and wish for more to come! Sia, I Clap My Hands… for you.