Four Days of a ReVerbist, Catching Up!

 

 

 

#Reverb10 is a blogging initiative that provides prompts each day of the 31 days of December with the intent of reflecting on the past year, specifically 2010, and looking forward to what’s to come in the year ahead.

 

The Prompt(s)

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?

I have to admit, there hasn't been a time this year that I truly felt alive... you know, that feeling that absolutely everything is right in your life... and that my mind and body weren't as separate as they seem to be.  Such a thought provoking suggestion...and although this is probably a healthy question, it's not something I aspire for in my life.  I think that sometimes, in order to understand ourselves, we must be able to separate the ideas of mind and body. 

If I didn't know where one part of me began and another part of me ended, I might wind up losing myself.  It has taken me a long time to understand my own quirks and lessons that my life has had the pleasure of learning in the most difficult ways this year.

I may not be living life to the fullest, and I may not be content with my life either, but isn't that what it is supposed to be?  Never settling, always striving for improvements no matter how great or how tiny, and shooting for the best--always.  It's about knowing what to do during the hard times and enjoying the good that follows.  It's about seeing the glass half full and knowing that when something bad happens, it has taken the place of something worse.

December 13 – Action. When it comes to aspirations, it’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step?

It takes an active person to make things happen.  There are definitely times in my life that I just want and need to veg.  I would feel superbly content in laying on the couch in front of a DVR full of movies to choose from and hit play.  I could zone out from life for just a couple of hours and enjoy some cheez-its in midst of it all.  I have this idea, this dream that is so close but so far that I will call my book complete and begin pitching it to publishers.  My next step is to take my illustrations slowly but surely to the finish.  It could be a little while until it happens, but as long as I break the hurdles into baby steps, the overwhelming feeling of frustration will dissipate.

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?

I appreciate all the little things in my life.... I appreciate being able to live--work, love, laugh, run, sigh, scream, and write.  I appreciate the feeling of a bubble bath, the sweet smell of an almond candle, a hot mug of tea with honey, and how it feels when I put my creativity to the test.  And I would gladly apply, rinse, and repeat each step of that every day...and continue life...with a few random and unexpected interruptions thrown into the mix.  What would life be without bits of surprise?

December 15 – 5 Minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.

I'd want to remember....
1) How to laugh out loud because it's the best medicine when things are just not going my way.
2) The most awesome pre-summer beach-side vacation in May 2010.
3) The anticipation of a spring vacation in Oregon in 2011!
4) My loving kitty who sleeps near me always, and my puppy who jumps onto my bed to nap where I slept all night.
5) My biggest goal of all--writing, and hopefully finishing, my book.

Five memories in five minutes... and although I only listed the notable memories, I will carry the not-so-notable with me into the next year.  Things happen for a reason and if I shut out the bad, how can I expect to remember the valuable lessons I've learned that came after making decisions and a few mistakes?