Hello friends,
Happy New Year friends! I know 2020 was a struggle in so many ways for so many of us. Aside from Covid, the other stresses and heartaches of the world didn't go away, they simply became even more challenging to manage with the additional layer of darkness that hovered over everything for most of this year. We were able to find joy though, and when the joy and moments of light came they were even more precious.Reflections :
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| I love watching this bird outside my home office |
To be completely honest I lost focus last year ... you would think with all of the free time I had on my hands early in the year it would have been really productive and that with all of the staying home I would have gotten a lot of books read, blog posts written, craft projects completed, and the ukulele mastered... alas, with an anxious mind it is often hard to quiet it long enough to do any of those things. Not to say all was a loss, I spent some excellent time just sitting in nature, snuggling with the pets, setting up a cozy home office, binge watching junk TV, and conquering a household Covid infestation as a team. It's a shared experience none of us wanted to have but we worked together to make it through. We were lucky enough to alternate bad and good days (I don't know if that's lucky but it was helpful) and we consumed a lot of Gossip Girl on Netflix throughout the whole ordeal. (TV choices made by the 13 year old :-)) I also was able to join the church women's book club of a friend's church that I wouldn't normally be able to attend because it's not local to me, spent time zooming with friends who I used to only see once a year (it took a pandemic to discover video chat!) and found a great therapist. All in all... looking back it was a more productive year than I gave it credit for.
All of that rambling was really just to get around to the point that after thinking about it for a few days I do think 2021 needs a new word. While I might not have spent as much time focusing on the intention of "balance" in 2020 as I intended...I as a person am different than I was a year ago and so I think a new word is in order. This year's word will be: Mindful(ness) supported strongly by the ideas of balance and grace.
Why Mindfulness? Every goal that crosses my mind really comes back to how I want to spend my energy, time, heart, mind, and body. I'm hopeful that by working on being mindful other intentions will have clarity. I want to continue to support with balance but think that mindfulness will lend itself to balance coming about naturally. And finally, I want to make sure I am always extending grace, to others and also to myself. The world is a stressful place. We are all doing the best we can, and some days our best will be different or better than other days. That's OK.
Exploration:
First I want to give some thought to how I want to explore mindfulness. I have a yearly planner that just arrived that has a set of questions about intentions for the year at the beginning so I will definitely be thinking through that this coming week. I also hope to get into the habit of spending each morning giving a few minutes of thought about where my intentions are for the day... we'll see how that shapes up...
What We're Reading:
Books
The first book I finished this year was Paris is Always a Good Idea by Jenn MicKinlay. I enjoyed much of the book but the ending didn't do it for me and left me not loving the book... but it was a quick, fun read, for most of the book and it was able to keep my attention enough to finish it in just a few days so I suppose that says something.
Camping husband is reading A Promised Land by Barack Obama and seems to be really enjoying it (Santa brought it!). I hear him chuckle once in a while and hes read through about half the book in the last few days (and it's pretty long!). He is enjoying reading while the rest of us play silly games like Among Us using the new Nintendo and our phones.
I'm looking forward to borrowing his Christmas present an reading it once he's done!
Get any books for the holidays? Read any good ones during holiday downtime? I'd love to hear about them!
Currently reading The Book of Lost Friends a Christmas gift bt Craig's daughter Debbie. Lisa Wingate is a very descriptive author and the transitions from each chapter ate ads for Lost Friends in the Southwestern. These are largely seeking families who were sold and separated as slaves. She builds her story from the past into the present with strong women and two libraries making a difference for children and community. The other two are A Rip in Heaven by Jeanine Cummins, true story of injustice. I Got a Monster by Barnard Woods and Brandon Soderberg, true story covers the corrupt police squard in Baltimore City. I was stunned. So here are three of the books I have enjoyed.
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