PROMPT 19: Healing. What healed you this year? Was it sudden, or a drip-by-drip evolution? How would you like to be healed in 2011?
Healing came when I could see the end of Steve's commitment in Nashville and the end of our financial obligations there. Answers to prayer! That chapter of our lives, which had its own blessings and lessons, ending the day of closing, December 14.
PROMPT 20: Beyond avoidance. What should you have done this year but didn't because you were too scared, worried, unsure, busy or otherwise deterred from doing? (Bonus: Will you do it?)
I should have hugged my kids more, told my hubby I loved him more, exercised more, written more, submitted more, decluttered more, helped others more, saved more, paid off more, called my parents more, visited my parents more, among other things. But as Scarlett so famously put it, "Tomorrow is another day."
PROMPT 21: Future self. Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead? (Bonus: Write a note to yourself 10 years ago. What would you tell your younger self?)
2011 Karen: What advice do you have for me, Karen of 2016?
2016 Karen: First of all, you know those art lessons you've always meant to take? Take them. Don't wait. And go to the Hunter more often. That's why you joined, Goofy.
2011: I'm listening...
2016: All the months you worried about money, and every month you had enough--why wouldn't that keep happening? God took care of you then, and He'll do it again.
2011: Anything else?
2016: Yes. All the stuff you think of when something catastrophic happens, remind yourself of those things every moment of every day you get a chance. Tell people you love them. Kiss and hug often. Take care of you and the people around you. Smile at everyone you meet. Never pass up an opportunity to help or to give, if you possibly can do it. Stop and watch the sunset. Take time to laugh and play. Talk to God throughout the day, and soak up His Word. Live, truly live.
2011: I feel so much better about this new year! See you in five.
PROMPT 22: Travel. How did you travel in 2010? How and/or where would you like to travel next year?
By air and by car. We saw Memphis, Lexington, Nashville, Knoxville, Disney World, and enjoyed the delights in our own backyard. We dined with Disney characters with our grandkids, imagined Graceland still inhabited by Elvis, and strolled across the Tennessee River to watch Pops in the Park on the Fourth of July.
Next year, Lord willing, we'll go to Phoenix for a convention. We'd love to revisit Disney. And New York City--I'd like to see the art museums there that I've only read about and perhaps row a boat in Central Park or see Shakespeare in the Park. And eat at that little place in Brooklyn under the bridge as the sun sets over Manhattan. Hey, I can dream, can't I?
And if somehow we should win a trip, Steve and I agree we should go somewhere impossibly expensive and exotic, say, Fiji.
PROMPT 23: New name. Let's meet again, for the first time. If you could introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would it be and why?
I'm really comfortable with my name, and more than ever these days, with who I am. Why would I want to use another name. Although there are more beautiful names--my mother-in-law's, for example, Julia Elizabeth. Or the name my cousin Jenny and I both said we'd choose for our daughters--Laura. She did; I didn't. My daughter Emily's name is lovely and maybe a bit old-fashioned for such a contemporary young woman, but it still suits her, not me. So I think I'll pass.
PROMPT 24: Everything's OK. What was the best moment that could serve as proof that everything is going to be alright? And how will you incorporate that discovery into the year ahead?
Two, actually--when Steve moved home from Nashville for good last March, and when the condo closed on Dec. 14. Then I also remember my dad's oncologist friend, a contemporary, but not his own doctor, saying he believed my dad--with a clear CT scan over a year out from his diagnosis--had a cure from pancreatic cancer. I can call on those moments in 2011 to realize that there is nothing the Lord can't get us through.
PROMPT 25: Photo - a present to yourself. Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.
[See photo at top of post] Emily took this picture of me on Christmas Eve at my parents' house. My mom gave me a pair of vintage-looking ankle boots I'd asked for, and being with the folks I love so much made my smile for the photo genuine. The photo reveals that I love my family and derive a great sense of well-being from their support and affection. They have nourished my soul into the flower that blooms today.
PROMPT 26: Soul food. What did you eat this year that you will never forget? What went into your mouth & touched your soul?
Chattanooga Cupcakes--any flavor, but especially strawberry and peppermint-chocolate
Thanksgiving dinner--broccoli casserole, Bar-b-cutie smoked turkey and my dressing from Ma's recipe, cranberry gelatin salad, pumpkin pie
Bluegrass Grill's egg scramble with just the right mix of sausage and spinach
Marshmallow Peeps--make me feel like a child
Christmas sugar cookies--the recipe seems to improve over time
The Blue Plate's potato chip nachos and their splendid egg white omelette.
Fresh asparagus--always and forever a treat.
Hazelnut coffee--nectar of Heaven. That, and sweettea. Yeah, it's Southern and it's spoken as oneword.
PROMPT 27: Ordinary joy. Our most profound joy is often experienced during ordinary moments. What was one of your most joyful ordinary moments this year?
So many! So hard to choose one. Laughing at Emily making dinosaur talk as she cut out a misfit cookie for the Christmas batch. Walking with Steve to see the buffalo. Cracking up at Eric's quip as he tried to convince my dad to exchange gift cards with him. Browsing the Hunter's sculptures, paintings, and other art, and gazing at the river below the bluff. 2010 was a string of lights, beautiful moments one after the other.
PROMPT 28: Achieve. What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today.
I'd love to have our finances where we want them. Yes, that would be a feeling of freedom!
10 Things to Experience the Feeling of Freedom TODAY:
- Get rid of at least one thing every day.
- Back up my computer with an external drive and perhaps online storage.
- Let go of unnecessary tasks.
- Do the most important, not the most urgent things, every day.
- Start each day with the Lord.
- Look in the mirror and say, "I love you just as you are, because God does!"
- Smile often, especially at people who look as if they need it.
- Give something to someone, whether I can "afford it" or not.
- Capture and treasure the moment, so I'll know forever I didn't waste it.
- Look at choices from an eternal perspective, and choose to do what's most likely to last.
PROMPT 29: Defining moment. Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year.
- Steve moving home from three years of long-distance commuting.
- Emily's multiple transitions, showing her resilience and coping skills.
- Eric's acting successes.
- Mom and Dad's triumphs respectively over stroke and pancreatic cancer.
PROMPT 30: Gift. This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What's the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year?
The closing of our Nashville chapter. I have my husband home full-time, and I feel a freedom from the responsibilities of maintaining another home. It's a fantastic gift.
PROMPT 31: Core story. What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world? (Bonus: Consider your reflections from this month. Look through them to discover a thread you may not have noticed until today.)
My story: I grew up in a warm cocoon, surrounded by affection, books, art, laughter, and the knowledge that God loved me as I was. Then I was encouraged to burst out and be myself in the best way possible, empowered by His Spirit within and others' support without. I share this by seeking to give out what has been given me, and by writing about the safe, warm place all can know through Jesus Christ.
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