2019 Year End Wrap Up
The holidays are basically over. For my family, that was Christmas, Solstice, and also Hanukkah (my daughter learned about it at school and wanted to celebrate at home so we did it rather poorly, including lighting the candles a week before we were supposed to start). We spent Christmas in Cincinnati with my mom, dad, and sister, really hoping for a white one but obviously that didn’t happen. Now we’re just waiting on 2020 to get here and I wanted to take a moment to reflect on how this past year has gone.
My word for the year was OUTSIDE.*
That ended up being really relevant on a number of levels. At the beginning of the year, I knew I wanted to spend more time outdoors as a family. We built a fenced-in garden. I dug the holes and my husband set the fence posts in concrete. We worked together to attach the hog wire and then Travis built us a pretty awesome gate. Most of the time while we worked outside, the kids played together and sometimes joined in the labor—you never know how much dirt a two year old can shovel until you give them the chance to show you!
Once the fence was constructed (we have A LOT of deer in our neighborhood) we could get started on the bed prep and growing, which resulted in even more outside time. As we got into the growing season, the kids and I were out there a lot watering, weeding, picking, and eating. Speaking of eating, we enjoyed eating meals on our furniture-free deck—lots of movement possibilities there!
I overhauled the landscaping in front of our house. That was a lot of work and I’m mostly pleased with the way things turned out. We added some Adirondack chairs and we now have a nice shady spot to sit and relax. Thankfully, we got a ninja warrior style slack line that we set up in the front yard so we have all kinds of reasons to be outside.
I joined a women’s hiking group in the Spring that was really great. I brought Coen along for the kid’s hiking club and although he was the youngest walker, they told me he was often the leader of the pack (most of the time with a stick in hand). That group reminded me of all the great places we have in town for hiking. More often than not, driving to the Smokies or Frozen Head feels like too much for the kinds of morning hikes at which my kids would succeed. So we started small with the easy trails at Carl Cowen Park close to home and then moved on to some trails with more hills at Ijams (the Tower Trail is a current favorite) and at the UT Arboretum at Oak Ridge. I can always count on some nature time to get any of our family members out of a grumpy funk.
On another level, 2019 got me OUTSIDE of ways of being that were no longer serving me.
I’d been (trying to) deny/deal with some low-level postpartum depression and anxiety for a while and finally decided to go on a low dose antidepressant. Within thirty days of taking that little blue pill, my life totally changed and I started taking action in a lot areas where I had previously been stalled.
The time came to make a change in my work and I was able to move my practice to the Knoxville Healing Center. I knew I also wanted to write more and this year, I got paid to write! I can’t tell you how good it felt to land those first few gigs. In addition, I’m really grateful that I also got OUTSIDE Knoxville by myself—twice!—for the first time since I was pregnant with Audrey, 5 years ago.
That’s a lot of good things folks! BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!
Part way through the year, I realized another theme word was emerging—INSIST. Early in the year, I had the idea to start a podcast in which I interview female entrepreneurs. I’m so thankful that Travis wanted to support and partner with me in making this vision come to fruition. I couldn’t have done it without him!
I came up with the podcast’s name, Insisterhood, when I stumbled upon this quote by Gail Blanke, “Don’t just stand for the success of other women—insist on it.” CAN I GET AN AMEN?! The first episode of Insisterhood drops Monday, January 6th and you can listen to the five minute intro episode right now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, or our website.
It quickly became clear to me how 2019 had been a year of INSISTING on getting my way in so many areas. I often say that motherhood has razed me and raised me. Through insisting on things big and small, I am beginning to emerge again.
And that brings me to my word for 2020: EMERGE.
EMERGE means to…
come into view
become known
recover from or survive a difficult or demanding situation
break out from an egg or cocoon (like a bug)
In many ways, 2019 felt like a year of transition so I am excited to watch the dust settle and see what emerges!
I would love to hear how your 2019 went. Did you have a theme word? Which word will you choose for 2020?
* I like using a theme word instead of resolutions for the New Year. Making resolutions can leave me feeling like I’m not okay how I am right now—that I have to accomplish x, y, or z to be worth it. A theme word, however, gives me focus and inspiration throughout the year.