Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Forgotten Post

I started this post over a month ago, when I apparently had a few spare moments to reflect on life. But then I promptly forgot I had started it. I literally just posted my traditional birthday-ish post when I found this. I didn't want to just leave it behind., so I present to you, the forgotten birthday post. 
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It's usually around this time of year that I get a little reflective of the year gone by. What have I done with the 365 days since the celebration of my birth last year? What has this year done to me? And what is in store for next year? But first, let's look back.

If you'll recall, last year on my 29th birthday, I christened the year as the "Year of Go!" I wasn't sure why I had to dedicate it as such. It just felt appropriate. We can take a quick look back at the "Year of Go!'s" origins here.

Now that the "Year of Go" is drawing to a close, I've started to think back over all of the things that the year brought my way...the lessons learned, the accomplishments accomplished, the joys and challenges...

A few things have happened:
I fell in love with this guy... Our first few months, we mainly just fought, but during the "Year of Go", we learned a lot about each others' hearts, how we communicate, where our passions lie, how we express ourselves. We calmed the heck down, learned to really talk, and grew closer together. Now we're pretty much inseparable...except for the 95 or so miles between us.

I gained a second family. Something funny happens when you fall in love with a person. You get his whole family, too. Adventures with the Ward family are never in short supply. And we continue to navigate the waters of work and personal lives intersecting, but I think of them as family. And depending on the situation, occasionally get introduced collectively with "the kids" which always makes me smile.

I got a new job. I was given the title Director of the First-Year Experience at UD. This would have been a far greater gift in the beginning had it been a stand alone position. I don't think anyone around ever really realized how difficult it would be to keep two full-time student activities positions and a new position all moving forward at the same time.

I finished coursework at Edgewood. I am now ABD and am working crazily to finish drafting my dissertation proposal. It seems crazy that another year has gone by, but it seems really crazy that a nearly three-year journey is hopefully soon to be ending. 
I've learned a few things:

There are seasons. This season of going is not and cannot be a permanent state of being. There are many other seasons to come. Embrace each one to the extent that you can while you're in it. Strangely, there are always things you'll miss about the season before as you settle into a new one.

The condition of one's home is inversely related to the amount of one's responsibilities. Three jobs, a dissertation, a garden, a boyfriend, a few loyal friends...one messy house. Though I still find myself apologetic about the crumbs on the kitchen floor or the loose hairs everywhere in the bathroom, I am a little less cautious about allowing people in to discover it. Stacks and piles prove that someone is living a life in there. Pillows on the floor show that someone actually uses the couch for something sometimes. Shoes by the door display movement and activity. This is real life. And I've got real life all over my house right now.

Natural is okay. You don't have to be made up to go to Target. Stores accept you in flip flops and workout shorts. No one notices (or at least no one mentions) when you stop styling your hair everyday. In fact, let the record show that I recall blow drying my hair about twice this year. In the last year! Prior to that, there were about as many days in any given year that I would not have done my hair.
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I feel that this post is a little lacking. I'm sure at the time I originally wrote it, I had far more lessons that I felt I had learned. But tonight, I'm content to just be, lessons or not. If I come up with more lessons from the year, perhaps I'll share them at another time. Until then, celebrate on, friends.  

The Year of Go Up and Went

Faithful followers (the few of you there may still be after a more than six month hiatus), there are a lot of things that are hard for me to believe. 

It's hard to believe that another year has gone by, as marked by my recent milestone birthday. 

It's hard to believe that I abandoned all personal writing to make room for writing of a more academic type. 

It's hard to believe how very blessed my life is in every way. 

This past weekend was such an amazing reminder of so much. I spent time looking into the eyes of the man that is shaping my dreams and future. I ate amazingly delicious foods. I ran and ran hard. I enjoyed the beauty of the great outdoors. I enjoyed not one, but two wonderful families. I sipped coffee and wine. I laughed. I cooked. I slept in. It. Was. Wonderful. 

Year 29 was deemed the Year of Go. And boy did it ever. I blinked and it was gone. It came with a fair amount of good and bad. I was stressed. I was happy. I procrastinated. I rushed. I traveled. I wrote. I didn't hesitate. I didn't overthink. (At least I tried not to overthink.) Overall, it was a pretty good year. But it is gone. Fitting for the Year of Go, I think. 

Year 30's name is Celebration. It's time to change gears. The Year of Go was about as fast I could have imagined it to be. Celebration will be different. It's not about going, pushing limits, or accomplishing lots of things. Celebration is about, well, celebrating. Stopping to intentionally cheer on life in all situations. It's about throwing a party for receiving advisor approval to send in some required paperwork for your dissertation. It's about an extra latte on the days that meetings go better than intended. Throwing up your hands in praise when you get a phone call from a loved one. Laughing at a bad joke. Encouraging others. Drawing loved ones in close. Hugs. 

There may be bad days in Celebration. Even in bad days though, certainly there is something worth celebrating. Each day. But there will be many good days. And those will be fully celebrated, on purpose.

So, let's celebrate together, shall we? Let's encourage each other. Let's bring light to each others' lives. Let's love and cheer and laugh and hug and enjoy every single moment. That's the year of Celebration. Time to celebrate.