Two Years Gone!

Oh my goodness - where have two years gone??????

As I sit in a coffee shop in Bozeman, Montana, I realize that I have not written a blog post for over two years.  I figured it was about time to reflect on the knowledge I have gained over the last two years.  I have spent countless hours in college classes, which obviously used all of the creative writing power that I possess (hence no blog posts for two years).  I have written multiple papers and reflections on my practices as a educator and as a human being.  Those assignments, although dreaded and insanely time-consuming, have helped me grow as an individual. 

What I have come to know.....even though I still know very little!

• Life is full of chaos (at times it is beautiful chaos). We are inundated with job expectations, family commitments, and personal self-care that consumes our every day lives.  However, each one of us has the ability to manage it within the bounds that we can handle.  As a 40ish woman, I have learned to ignore the in-your-face demands of being perfect or attempting to attain what I deem as being perfect. 

           For example, my flower pots in the front yard still hold lovely fall decorations (totally not                   perfect - and I am ok with it).

           I long for the perfect Christmas photo every year.  Each year             this is proving to more and more difficult as our grown                     children live four hours away.  I orchestrated a Saturday                   morning photo shoot at 8:30 am as we passed through Fargo             on our way to Sioux Falls.  If the early Saturday morning                 wasn't bad enough, it was also 10 below zero. So, even                     though the picture shows six smiling faces, this was far from             perfect as several curse words and nasty glances were                       directed at me.  I realize that it is not about the perfect                       family photo, but that we have three healthy, happy children and one lovely addition to our                 family for the school year.

• I have learned that being able to move is a blessing that not all are afforded in life.  I am grateful for the ability to run/walk (even if it is a 9:30 mile), ski, climb, or hike.  Spending time outdoors provides an escape from the crazy world I attempt to navigate minute-by-minute, day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month, and year-by-year.  I love nothing more than sitting on a chairlift and experiencing complete silence and stillness of the mountain air or hiking a steep hill and hearing nothing but a squirrel scampering about. These moments of digesting all of nature's beauty (despite the cold at times) and recognizing the incomprehensible gift God has given to us is simply amazing.

• Technology can be a blessing, but also a curse.  Spending hours watching Netflix does not make me a better person, nor does pinning hundreds of items on Pinterest that never, ever come to fruition.  I have learned that we all have the same 24 hours in a day, but how we utilize those 24 hours is up to us.  I am not saying one shouldn't binge watch "The Ranch" for fun (because I have totally done that), but that allocating time for these moments is important.

• I have also learned that good friends are a gift.  Time to reminisce about the good ole' days while each of us remembers different life events of being young and invincible.  It does not seem to matter that we are 40ish because we still feel like we are 18 when we spend time together.  

• Journaling can be a simple therapeutic activity.  I committed to journaling in February of this year.  I started in January, but started over multiple times until I finally felt it was functional for me (again, it is not perfect, but practical).  Oprah shared that journaling daily gratitude can be a life-changing practice.  I am still working on this and have truly found gratitude in the least likely of places. 

• Last, but certainly not least is that there is beauty all around us in every moment of every day.  Keeping our eyes, ears, and hearts open will allow us to see the world as God sees it, beautifully and wonderfully made.

May the New Year bring you joy, happiness, peace, and love!