Or... maybe not. 2012 was tough. I had issues. Mother Nature had issues. I had issues with Mother Nature. (Who can forget Hurricane Sandy? Not this bird, after 13 days without electricity. Not many of my friends, who lost unimaginable amounts of things, both tangible and not-so-tangible.)
But - here it is, 2013, a new number to remember to write on checks, a new calendar, a new opportunity to focus on things that matter. Like, some of the things that I gained in 2012.
* Deep and deeper friendships, for example, including up-close friends who I was able to help through some bad times, and who were able to get me through my own stuff, and faraway friends who proved, yet again, that true friendship disregards both time and geography.
* A slow and astounding realization that I can do some things better than I ever thought I would. Spin. Survive black-hole-gobsmackingly-horrible emotional whacks. Overcome a terror or two.
* A whole new bunch of music to love - Amanda Palmer comes to mind, and the awesome collaboration of Hilary Hahn and Hauschka for the CD "Silfra," a dual meditation by a master of the prepared piano and a violin virtuoso on the spirit of Iceland.
* A new musical instrument to learn and love - my ukulele.
Thirteen things I'd like to do, and/or do more:
* write here: it's fun and I forget that it's fun when I don't do it
* write my novels, poetry, journal, letters, for the pure joy of using pretty ink
* pluck a few chords and sing a few notes in the company of others
* explore new music and share it
* knit with my pretty, handspun yarn
* pick some things from The Knitter's Life List to try - stranded colorwork, for example.
* read more, and more widely, in unlikely areas
* learn to cook a few things that involve more than boiling water
* mentor more new knitters and spinners
* see my friends
* use the tools I have (spindles, looms, knitting needles), and release those I don't, or can't use
* start knitting or spinning projects if I feel like it, and abandon them if I feel like it
* be grateful and mindful
Why thirteen? Because my friend, Amy, of Impossible is a typo, listed 13 things she wants to do for shits and giggle (not resolutions - not judgmental "shoulds") - and it looked like fun.
Let me share my last finished object of 2012: the black hole of Wingspan, a shawlette that took much more time than it would have, had I chosen yarn I could actually, you know, SEE? Unfolded, it looks like every other Wingspan. Here it is, origami form. You can decide what shape I folded.
7 comments:
I'm going to add grateful and mindful to my days too. :)
Even though every day has the possibility to be a brand new start, it's when the year actually changes that you feel it's possibly true.
Happy New Year, Melanie!
Did anyone have a good 2012, beginning to end?
There should be no doubt what you meant to me last year --- how you held me up when the only thing I could see was falling. May you be blessed over and over again for your love and kindness.
And I love the Wingspan. I've made half a dozen, at least.
I like the image of a Brand New Year, all clean and shiny. I don't make resolutions, just keep in mind goals. I am always trying to be mindful and to live in the present moment. I am also continuing to give people and their motives the benefit of the doubt (I assume the best)and this year I am striving to really listen to people.
I guess I just want to be a better me. Oh, and there's that whole "go to the gym more" thing but we all know how that one works out!
It seems everyone in my circles have had a rough year.
Somehow making resolutions of the typical kind (ie lose 10 lbs, spend less at Starbucks, etc) didn't seem to address the vast feeling of disappointment 2012 brought.
Chris asked what my resolution was and I told him "To think positively." Sometimes the hardest part of adversity is how we each react to the challenge presented. Whether we crumble, whether we learn, whether we lash out, whether we become better in some small way.
Happy New Year and let us all think positively in the face of adversity.
The promise of a new year, it's hard to resist. Grateful and mindful sounds good to me!
I also need to let go of crafts I no longer do. Thanks for the reminder, and Happy New Year!
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