Reverb10 – At the Right Time, in the Right Place

I was a bit lost today. A bit? I was lost today. I have had a bad couple of weeks of exhaustion, sickness, very short fuses. I haven’t felt like writing so it’s been OK that I haven’t been writing. Today, December 1st, felt new and sparkly like fresh snow under moonlight. It felt like a good time to write something. Oh yes. Here I go.

I sat down to write a blog post and three different posts came out and none of them was really what I wanted to read. Not in an edgy, fascinating way either. In a negative, unpleasant way. Like the third sentence in my first paragraph, dragged out to 1200 words. Ugly. Not worthy of the reflection of a sparkly, fresh snowfall.

Later, perusing some blog links from twitter, I came across a post by Schmutzie. Fabulous, always meaty delicious Schmutzie. She said she was participating in something called Reverb10, where you sign up to create – blog post, art, photo – something every day in December. And I quote:

Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what’s happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10, we’ll do both.

And there are prompts. Oh thank you, sweet heavenly juice boxes, for prompts.

It was a very fortuitous encounter. I went promptly (haha!) to the Reverb10 website and signed up. You can too, if you want. Anyone can. What a wonderful world.

December 1 – One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

2010 – Nourishment

I have been hunkered down, feeding myself and my family, this year. I reacquainted myself with exercise – albeit irregularly – and I joined a writers group in January to feed my fiction bear. I have become more aware of how my gaze and attention – or lack of – feeds my children. I have made great strides toward understanding what I need to be the kind of parent I want to be and how to keep the joints of my marriage supple and oiled. There have been great rises and great falls in personal energy and I am closer to understanding what emotional food I need to keep myself balanced. Finding and cooking and consuming that emotional food is a different story, but at least I know what to put on my emotional shopping list.

Enough with the food metaphor!

2011 – Unafraid

I want to commit to things. Stop being half-assed. Take credit and responsibility. Accept the whips or rewards. Be authentic, and ridiculous, and a failure. Let it sting. Wipe it clean. Smile.