A New Year.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Mark Twain

 

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions. I don't believe in promising myself I will do things - you never know where the wind will take you in a year. What I do like to do each year, like many, is reflect on the year that's passed, and look towards the future with hopes and dreams. The above quote says it all for me this year. I've spent a lot of this last year waiting and planning for the moment - any moment, that felt like the right time to make a move. In our own little family we've had a fantastic year of accomplishments, yet I'm frustrated that we are still where we are. We've dreamed some pretty big dreams about our next steps in life, what we want next, where we want to be... but it hasn't appeared in any form that I can touch, that I can act on. It's frustrating for me because I've always been a pretty impulsive person, especially when it comes to picking up and moving on to something new. It seems that since having my kids, I've become a lot more cautious, and perhaps a bit apprehensive of too much change. I don't want to act on impulse, but I am searching for an answer, because my bones have gotten restless and my soul needs something different.

This trip that we have taken is also a turning point for us as a family. After a year (okay, after YEARS) of noses to the grindstone we were all more than exhausted.. Between Gabriel's non-stop jobs, my store, school and other work on the side, we just weren't stopping. This trip was a chance for us to put on the brakes, slow down and look up - look around - BE with each other without the emphasis on work in any form. Without our hands busy, who are we? Without all that I do, who am I?

So, for the next seven days, I'm going to write it out. I'm going to write about what I want and what I need this year, underneath all the extra work. The things I miss, the things I crave, the things that just wont burn out. These are my answers I think. What makes me happy? What makes my family work? What makes my heart soar?

I think when I can answer those things, I believe it will be time for us too, to sail from the harbour and set free to the wind. In whatever form that is.

 To all of you, lovely family and friends and readers... I wish you a year that is new and fresh with possibility. I wish you too find all the dreams in your heart, the desire to make them real and the love that can make it work. 

xo stitch rabbit