Reflections on 2010

Reverb10

It’s a year in review – Reflections on what has evolved and how my life has been enriched

***
December 14 – Appreciate
What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it?
Author: Victoria Klein

I peered out the window first thing this morning. Something seemed different. The street light stood tall casting its off colored light upon pavement, just like always. Nothing seemed out of place, and yet… There was a silence, a softness, a gentleness to the world beyond the glass that sent me turning to the radio and considering footwear for the day.

The world felt as if it were preparing for… snow.

Having endured more snow this year than is absolutely necessary for a resident of the Mid Atlantic US to experience, one would think that the mere thought of an inch or two would send me straight to the airport with a seat on the first plane out to Hawaii or Puerto Rico; instead, I pulled on snow boots and greeted the day with peace.

Peace

I have grown much in the last year, learning about myself, the importance of balance, and finding sources of peace. I have learned that I can be a passionate person without drama – and that I can respond rather than react. The year has offered me many opportunities to learn and to practice finding peace in my life; and I have embraced it.

Arriving at work, boots on feet, scarf loosened, and coffee in hand, I am delighted to find that intuition rings true and snow is anticipated throughout the afternoon.

With snow comes adjustments as schedules change, events are cancelled, and people race to ensure that they have all they need to survive.

With snow also comes a world that is unlike any other. There is a quiet, a softness, a transformation of the stark and colorless world into something gentle and filled with magic. Everything is bright and clean. Sound is muffled. Trees take on new shapes dressed in the contrasting white against deep green and adorned with crystals that sparkle and dance in the sunlight. For a while, with the snow, comes peace.

What is it that I appreciate of 2010?

There is much from which I could choose, but today I choose peace. The peace that came with the snows earlier this year and which I have increasingly embraced as the year has progressed.

I am grateful for this discovery; for the balance it brings to my life; and the recognition that with this balance, I am able to appreciate and live mindfully with greater ease. How better to appreciate this sense of peace than to live each day and open myself to the wonder of life and the world at large…

And this includes the snow.

Today I will love the snow – its magic, its wonder, and its transforming abilities.

What better way to prepare to end 2010 than with… SNOW!

***

December 13 – Action


When it comes to aspirations, it’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step?

Author: Scott Belsky

2010 was a year of action for me though they weren’t always big, bold, or overt actions that proved earth shattering or mind blowing. They were more actions of the subtle variety. The kind of actions that no one really sees though the results of these actions could be sensed.

I started living my life again.

That sounds odd and yet, in some ways it is true. For years I had lived a sort of shell of myself. In 2010, I started remembering “me” and living that life again. Traveling, writing, exploring, and finding a voice that I believed I had only to find that somewhere along the way I allowed another to shadow parts of the person that I am.

In September, I commented to a friend, that once it irritated me that someone I loved refused to take action; to take risks; to fully live.

And then I stopped and thought about it. Why did this irritate me?

And I looked at my own life for the past few years – and I realized that what might have irritated me about the lack of risk taking and “living” was a result of my doing the same thing. I wasn’t irritated at this person as much as I was at myself.

That day I took another action – One that changed my life in ways that I am still discovering. Some of us are happy living passive lives. I was never one of those people though, I think, for years I tried to be passive toward life. My year of action will continue in 2011 as I continue to journey on this new path; take the time to write; support my creativity; explore the world that much more; and spend more time remembering and finding the person that I am.

***


December 12 Body Integration
This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn’t mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present?
Author: Patrick Reynolds

2010 has been a year of increasing my physical, mental, and emotional alignment. It has been a year of living in the moment and doing it mindfully and with purpose. Earlier in this series I wrote of sitting in the water on the coast of southeast Florida – and that is one such example of being in complete synchronicity – everything felt like a well oiled machine. I have experienced this while running as well. There is something that happens when the body and mind and heart are working completely together. There is a harmony – a music that only happens during those moments.

***

December 11 – 11 Things

What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life?

Author: Sam Davidson

Eleven things – 11 Things that I could live without in 2011?

The first and foremost – Clutter!! I could list more than eleven different kinds of clutter that I could live without in 2011. I am going to go so far as to say that I would love to live without clutter in 2011! There is something though that tells me that no matter how I try and how much I reduce, there will be clutter in my house and in my office because I tend to accumulate “things” and “paper” without trying. It is as if paper reproduces hourly in my house. I shred it, I toss it, I recycle it… and yet there is always paper.

Procrastination is another that tops my “things to chop” list. It isn’t that I put much off to do another time (besides writing), it is that I put things off that I could do and just don’t feel like doing. A little of this is fine, but sometimes it gets to be that the list is long and my energy drains just to think of it. So… procrastination joins clutter on my list of 11!

I am adding talk radio to my list. I listen to the radio all day at work – and for the most part that is fine but when I listen to it at home too… well, I need to let go. I notice that things are much less tense if I change the dial to play music or throw on a cd or we just sit and read. There is something about the chatter or radio and TV that add to tension at times more than release it.

Complaining is something I don’t do much of except on those days that are quite hot and humid or the long, dark, endless winter months when the weather is biting cold and the sun is electing to hit the snooze button a few times before rising only to hit the hay early. I love the daylight. With this in mind, I will add complaining to my list of 11 things. I am sure that my days could be brighter (sun or no sun) by choosing to find something nice about the weather and the long hours of darkness over focusing on these aspects… which, by the way, change each day anyway!
***
December 10 – Wisdom
What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out?
Author: Susannah Conway

 The challenge of this question is that we often don’t realize the wisdom of a choice until years in the future, if ever, and may not know that what we determine to be wise at the moment is something that we will find was of little importance later in life.

I have made choices and decisions throughout the year that I found to be the best choice possible at the time.

The wisest choices and decisions involved love; despite the uncertainty involved, I made choices that I believe were based in love or were the most loving choices I could make. There are people who would debate this with me as, from their perspective, those choices didn’t appear to be love. It is interesting that we can define something as loving when it is in keeping with what we want but when it goes against our expectations, we determine that it was not of love.

Regardless, I have kept love at the center of my choices throughout 2010 and intend to do the same in the new year and throughout the future.


*******

December 8 – Beautifully Different
Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful.
Author: Karen Walron

The beauty in our differences – I love this prompt.

And yet it is a challenge to write!

At the wonderful age of 9, I was diagnosed with a rare eye condition that is, as of yet, not correctable. As a result, I quickly became “different.” Growing up in small town America in small school USA, few of us had any secrets from one another – and being visually impaired to the extent that I am… not only did everyone know about it but very few knew how to work with it or react to it. I didn’t fall into the labels that often play into the high school environment – I was just me and just “different.”

My relationship with this disability has been varied. In one sense, I have allowed it to enrich my life, teach me lessons, and show me beauty in ways that I would not have otherwise known.

In other ways, it has proven a challenge – flirting, eye contact, driving, seeing my own beauty… not always so easy.

Throughout, I have learned to live life – to savor the moments and the experiences. Perhaps being given the label “different” in school served more a blessing as I have marched to music no one else can hear for years – traveling, living, parenting, working, loving…. Laughing, crying, evolving, and finding treasures as often as possible.

I have learned to see people with my heart instead of my eyes – a different kind of sight than what we are accustomed to considering. Living with eyes that don’t see like others has given me the chance to see with compassion, empathy, and love. And yet, it has also allowed me to experience the suffering of knowing that that which I see is often hidden or denied by the person themselves. The man that is selling his soul to live up to expectation; the woman who denies her ability to be loved in order to be safe; the people who have dreams that shine brightly but are not explored; and the love that dwells in hearts while fear rules the roost.

I don’t see what people want to show the world through their clothes, labels, cars, and houses… I see what they give the world in terms of themselves.

Beauty – if we strip away a person’s ability to see what society says is beautiful – we are left with beauty.

Think about it – if you can’t see – what do you find beautiful? Where is beauty?

We each have our differences – I could write a list of the characteristics of quirks I have that make me different – and yet, I would guess that the one that allows me to see beauty and might allow others to be beautiful themselves is, that I see with heart not eyes – I see with something that doesn’t care how much money that new outfit cost or how much money was spent on hair or cosmetics or tie. The heart sees the beauty that lies within.

 ***

December 7 – Community

Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?

Author: Cali Harris

One thing I have noticed in 2010 is that “community” changes. It isn’t something static as one could envision. We have communities in which we live, in which we work, in which we engage in activities. Each are communities that may be somewhat the same or may differ depending on how we spend our our time.

Throughout 2010, my community changed reflecting the dynamic life that I live as well as that of my friends and family. In many ways, my community stretched as I took workshops and broadened my horizons and interests – as I traveled, spent time in new locations, and opened myself to different experiences.

In some ways community stayed the same – same house, same neighbors, same parents with whom I associate...

And in other ways, it became smaller as friends moved or changed their schedules due to work commitments, children, and the business of their lives.

 The one thing that remained constant, the love that exists within community. My community has my back – if not physically than in spirit. They are there to offer a hand or a smile or a kind word. It is a community of mutual respect, growth and authenticity – of acceptance, appreciation and gratitude. A community that is making a difference.

******

December 6 – Make

What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?

Author: Gretchen Rubin

Writing became my project for 2010. A project that is ever increasing in the time I would like to give it as the year moves into 2011. It is about making time for it – but also dedicating myself to writing when I have the time whether I “want” to do it or not.

******

December 5 – Let Go

What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?

Author: Alice Bradley

Expectations – I continued the process of letting go of expectations of myself and of others. I once believed that I held few expectations of people, especially those close to my heart; those I love. And yet, I am not sure that it is possible for this to be true. I have taught my daughter to say “Please” and Thank you;” therefore, I expect her to say these words. She doesn’t always and I let it go – and I suppose it is this that is a new realization for me… I might have expectations but I have let go of the attachment I have to them or the actions of others.

I have let go of my reactions; let go of my judgments; let go of the attachment I have to the actions of others meeting expectations that are about me not necessarily about others. It is a freeing and yet somewhat unsettling experience. How weird is it to realize that I no longer feel angry when treated with disrespect of even sad – I just move on with the realization that the behavior has less to do with me and more to do with the person engaged in the behavior – that my reaction is creating more suffering in me than anything else.

So I have let go – I have moved forward…

I am increasingly accepting of others as they demonstrate themselves to be over seeing the person that they could be or the options that they have and have not chosen…Accepting that they choose their paths based on the lives that they want and feel that they are worth not based on the beauty of the person I know them to be.

Liberating… Sad… Detaching… Responding… It is all about letting go and moving along my path allowing others to move along theirs.

******

December 4 – Wonder.

How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year?

Author: Jeffrey Davis

This year involved many moments of wonder – the wonder of nature and its changes – the wonder of traveling and seeing new places – the wonder of discovering more of myself and the means of living. Wonder in life and in people and in thoughts…

I opened my heart to wonder – letting go of expectations and changing my routine such that things were new and different – such that the perspectives were changed and everything I saw and experienced was through new eyes and a more open heart.

Wonder – it all starts with opening the heart and allowing ourselves to take the time to see things differently – to stretch from seeing the known and expected to what is new and before us.

********

December 3 – Moment

Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).

Author: Ali Edwards***

This is a challenging prompt as I have been focusing on being more mindful throughout the last year, more aware of everything that is happening around me – the sights, smells, textures… Several moments popped into my mind from sitting at an outdoor café watching the world go by to a horse drawn carriage ride on cobblestone streets. But I will write about a moment in Florida this past summer.

I grew up with the Pacific ocean as my beach of choice. We rode “boogie boards” and walked the shore screaming in delight (or fear) when long vines of seaweed would wrap around our legs. From Ocean beach in San Francisco to Coronado to San Carlos, Mexico, the Pacific was the only beach I knew until I moved East.

The Atlantic has not captured my heart as the pacific did. There is something about it that is just… different. Seaweed has been replaced by actual sea creatures and the humid air is simply different than the dry west coast. That said, I love the sun rise over the ocean just as I loved the sunsets over the pacific – and a morning walk along the coast remains priceless.

This summer my daughter and I bit the bullet and joined the Florida craze making our way to southeastern Florida for a few days. And it is here that I will share a moment as the southern Florida beach is far different than anything I have experienced. The shelf extends far into the ocean leaving a level playground of sand, shells, and light waves. My daughter delighted in the realization that she could swim… and swim she did as far out to sea as I would allow. And while she swam, I sat.

I sat in the water, rocked gently by the waves, the sounds of few people and birds floating around me. Unlike other coast lines, the rushing water or roar of nature’s water power did not exist. It was me, lapping water, light chatter, few birds… and planes. Planes with banners flew overhead advertising this or that business.

I stretched my legs out before me, my toes playing with the sand. All around me lay stones, rocks, coral, and shells. The thoughts stood still in my mind as I explored the land beneath the clear water. So many shells and stones to check out, examine, and collect. I found myself lost in the moments – fully relaxed as I watched my daughter swim and considered the textures of the rocks and the potential stories each item could tell.

***
December 2 Writing

What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?

Author: Leo Babauta

What do I do that doesn’t contribute to my writing?
I just don’t write.
Yes, there are days when I feel like I just don’t want to write; I have no desire to put pen to paper or fingers to keypad and write. It isn’t that I have nothing to say, it is that I don’t want to string the words together as it is “hard.”
Imagine that, it is hard to write!
The way around this is just to do it. Things are hard; life is not simple; I am sure that there are musicians that play music and practice even when they “don’t want to.” And thus, I must follow suit and do the same. I will write more, even when I don’t feel like it or when the words aren’t flowing easily from my fingers to the page.

******

December 1 One Word.

Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

Author: Gwen Bell

During the first part of this year, I worked to find a word that I wanted for the year – a word that would capture my intent for the year; a word that would represent all the year would include.
It wasn’t easy as there are just so many words, but the word I chose was Open.
I didn’t choose the word until April, and then it was word by the feel of the word than any clear longing or desire for that to be the word of the year… and yet, it has turned into the right word for 2010.
In 2010, I found myself open or opening to a different way of life, changes at work, changes in health, changes in family… and open to changes in me. I opened my eyes to see, my ears to hear, and my heart to feel in ways that I had not in the past.
For 2011, my word is “Inspire” -– The inspiration of nature, of people, of creativity, of travel, of experience. The inspiration that arrives with openness and space; when one opens the heart and sits back, seeing things with wonder and perspective… there is inspiration. I have no idea what other forms of inspiration I will experience or how I might inspire others… but “Inspire” is the word for 2011.