It has been so long since I have written anything, I’m not even sure where to begin. But I definitely want to get back into writing and posting consistently.
I have a fascination of sorts with documenting life and documenting my thoughts – not because I think I’m ever so wise or my thoughts are groundbreaking by any means, (and I certainly hope it doesn’t come across conceded in that way) – but more because our brains are fascinating to me, life itself is fascinating to me. We are on this earth experiencing “life” and for what reason? This question goes through my head constantly and the only way I can think of ever finding any answers is to document all my experiences, write down the way that I’m feeling or new ways that I’m thinking or problem solving, and I don’t know, maybe it’s for nothing, maybe I’ll discover something one day, and maybe for now, it just feels therapeutic.
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The last time I wrote and posted was the beginning of 2021. I was setting my intentions for the year and determined my word to live by for the year would be “present.” And I really took that to heart… clearly since I haven’t posted in so long.
In 2021, I spent significantly more time living in the moment which caused me to rarely journal or rarely pick my phone and take pictures to document the moment. Every time I went to pick up my phone to either take pictures for social media, to look at social media or to plan what I would post next on social media, I used my word of the year and a little birdie reminded me to be present and to simply live, to enjoy the moment, to soak it all in and I challenged myself to remind the moments and the emotions only by memory.
And through this, I do feel like I have changed the way my brain works and grown in my practice of gratitude. I used to think I was a grateful person and at my core, I do believe I was. My mom raised me to be very aware of the gifts I was given and how lucky we were, so for a kid, I believe I had a grateful heart. However this last year, I was able to deepen that gratitude.
Previously, it was easy for me to simply say “I’m grateful for my family, my friends, my pets, and (insert current hobby here) and (insert recent event here);” which is not bad, even this basic level of gratitude is good to have and practice.
But through living in the moment and really paying attention to the emotions of the moment, I have become significantly more grateful for the little things.
Grateful for my safe neighborhood that I’m able to walk my dog with fear of getting hurt or attacked. Grateful for the ability to walk because some are unable to for mobility reasons. Grateful for the ability to breath as we went through/are still going through(?) a pandemic of a respiratory disease, and many are challenged by simply breathing. Grateful to have a home and an income, and with that, a little bit of disposable spending money, as many are completely strapped or were hit exceptionally hard by the pandemic in their employment and career. Grateful for my family, and not in the generic, I’m obiligated to say this kind of way, but I am specifically grateful for how close I am with my family, how much we get along, the sense of humor we share. There are many people that don’t like their family members; that aren’t close with them no matter how hard they try. And I am so grateful I was born with built-in friends.
Heck, I’m even grateful to have learned this lesson and been able to deepen my gratitude in 2021. It brings me so much joy to have this new level of clarity and to walk around each day with this perspective on everything. (Not to say that I’m perfect and always joyous, I have my moments where I lose sight of this perspective and feel down for sure).
But all in all, 2021 was a really great year for me and I grew in ways I never realized I could grow. For that, I’m really grateful.
Here’s to 2022 and this growth that I very much hope continues.
Strong, Happy, and Hopeful 