Words for the New Year

I did it! I picked my resolution words for the year!

(Yep, I do realize that it is April…)

 

 

PEACE

JOY

SIMPLICITY

 

Nice, right? 2013 was “the year of yes”. I said yes to taking a leave from teaching in favor of being a full time mom. Even typing that makes me wonder what I was before; I mean I was still a full time mom, while at the same time working as a full time teacher (and union leader and school-wide behavior coach…and a little crazy apparently). Anyway, I wanted to choose a word or three for 2014. But when 2014 arrived, it seemed to pick a word for itself.

That word was CHAOS. We ran out of heating oil for a weekend, Alice fell at the park and hurt her eye, the entire family kept getting sick on and off, the dishwasher broke TWICE, Karl (the dog) kept jumping over the baby gate and wrecking the house, and we had a whole bunch of car repairs that needed tending. Honestly, none of those events were a major catastrophe, thank GOD, and I am well aware that much worse things could have happened. I am super grateful on a daily basis that we are all generally healthy, have a roof over our heads and some beans and rice in our bellies. That’s all one can really ask for I think. I was simply left with an ‘out of sorts’ feeling for the beginning of this year.

But yesterday morning I totally ignored everything except Ethan and did some ‘family visioning’. I thought I had made the concept up, but according to Pinterest, it’s an actual thing. I thought about the values I have for my family, what words I would use to describe those perfect days we have every now and then, and how I wish people would describe my family from the outside. The three words I came up with are PEACE, JOY, and SIMPLICITY.

So, before I buy anything, I will ask myself if the stuff fits those three words. Will it bring us joy? Will it make our lives more peaceful? Will it help us live more simply?

I gotta be honest: so far, nothing has made the cut. Except for some free mugs that I scored from the amazing community members on Westchester Freecycle. Those do help us live more joyfully, since it allows us our morning coffee!

Blogging will now return as a regular part of my time, because writing brings me both joy and peace. That feeling filters down to my family. You know what they say, “When mama ain’t happy…” J

I’ve given away most of my clothes, which ranged in size from 2-10. WHAT?! Yep, having kids does bizarre things to one’s body. Now I only have things that fit (at this moment).

I sold our kitchen chairs on craigslist because I hated them. That may have been a little preemptive, since we are now sitting on folding chairs. Not necessarily peaceful, but I tried. Ya win some, ya loose some.

Lastly, I am trying my hand at the 40 bags in 40 days challenge and Project 333. Fun stuff that encourage the concept of simplicity. Those deserve their own blog posts, though, so I will save that for another day.

What do you think? What are your words for the New Year? How’s it going?

Photo: Mark Saunders Photography