2015 – New Year and a Turning in Time
The Glory of the Morning Sky
The past year has been an interesting one. A mixture of good and bad times, joy and sadness, successes balanced with unfulfilled dreams. It has been a very busy year, hence few blog posts! My days were often long, leaving little time for reflecting. 2014 included some real successes in my artwork, travel, lots of Grandma time and time spent with new and old friends. In many ways 2014 was an ‘ordinary’ year. But today I found myself reflecting on what the new year may hold for me?
With the hussle of Christmas behind me, the week leading to New Year day found me in a reflective mode, thinking about the past and shaping dreams for the future. I’m pleased with my successes in the past year but there were many things that I hoped to do or achieve during the year that did not get addressed. I have successfully entered a number of juried shows this year but each imposed deadlines that required focus to meet. As a result, many of the I want-to-dos got left on the sidelines and are still waiting for me. I have spent many wonderful hours with my granddaughter, something I will continue to make a priority. She is growing up so fast and soon her wings will take her into a world that may leave little time for Grandma.
For the moment, I’ve decided I will couch my plans for the year in ‘dreams’, not resolutions. Resolutions demand timelines and plans. Dreams can unfold. Don’t get me wrong. Dreams still require ‘work’ to be fulfilled but the work mode can be more gentle – I hope. Last year my ‘word’ was FOCUS. Looking back in one of my unfinished journal I seemed to have been ambivalent about my choice of word for the year. One page reflected on indecision between using this word or ‘FLOW’ as in ‘Go with the flow’. Maybe I achieved both! I think I did a reasonable job of balancing ‘focus’ with the day to day complexities of my life!
Since losing a younger sibling in the past year, I have become more aware of the passing of time. With this awareness has come a need to think about legacy and what I would hope mine could be. And 2014 flew by! 2015 will no doubt pass quickly as well. So where will I put my time and energy this year? Creating memories with McKenzie, family and friends remains a high priority and always will. But beyond that, what other things might find their way onto my list?
I’ve got a large pile of ‘WIPs (Works in Progress, for the uninitiated) that have survived several culling processes. Maybe I will spend time bringing some of them to completion.
Much of my artwork over the past few years has been very focused on meeting requirements and themes for specific shows. Will this be the year that I get to create a series,or two, of pieces that I do just because I want to?
A couple of years ago I secured a map of the Calgary city parks with the intent to visit as many of them as possible. I’ve visited a few by chance but haven’t managed to plan any visits. Will I do that this year?
Several long-time friends now live on the west coast. Will this be the year for some travel to points west?
Many years ago, I began to gather genealogical and historical information with the idea of presenting some of this material in articles and written work for enjoyment by others. As part of my consolidation of ‘unsorted’ belongings last summer, I moved boxes of files that I couldn’t part with! Over the past few days I’ve managed to document, via scanning or entry into my genealogical database, a significant amount of ‘stuff’ but it is only a drop in the bucket. Will this be the year to get serious about achieving this dream?
So no resolutions this year. Lots of reflection, evaluation and examination of priorities. Maybe even some testing of the waters as I attempt new activities! Will I continue to prepare artwork for shows? Of course! Will I tackle some of the activities that have come to mind over the past few days? I hope so! But where will my priorities lie? Whatever unfolds, it will be right for this time in my life.
So with that I wish all my friends and readers a ‘Happy and fulfilling 2015’. May many of your dreams be realized.