2012: a year of Practice

I'm going to skip over Christmas and jump right to the new year, which I ushered in by spending all day Saturday and Sunday in bed nursing a head cold. Don't worry, though, we celebrated Sunday night (which I'm sure didn't help my recovery, but I like red wine too much to say no - and who says I should have said no? It was New Year's!)

2011 was an interesting year. I feel sort of ambiguous toward it, actually, which surprises me a little. It was my first full official year as a married person, which was pretty awesome. And I went back to school, which was also really cool. But looking back at 2011 mostly makes me think of transition. So much of the year was spent in transition, waiting for the next stop (you know, on the proverbial train of life). It's a strange way to have spent so much time.

But now I have to consider, was it really? I have always, always struggled with transition periods in my life. So looking back at almost an entire year of it and not feeling loathing towards it is pretty cool. I learned to handle periods of change and stress without going completely bonkers. I even learned to enjoy certain aspects of it (gasp!).

I think most importantly, 2011 became a year of reflection. 2010 was a year of discovery and crazy new beginnings and excitement, and in 2011 I settled into a lot of those things and reflected back on them. I learned to grow still (mostly). I learned to reign in my soaring insecurities. I understand myself a lot better at the beginning of 2012 than I think I ever have.

In that vein of growth and understanding, my one theme/word/goal/whatever for 2012 is Practice. I want to learn to practice routinely all those things that fulfill me spiritually: yoga, writing, meditation, going outside, listening, standing in the rain, cuddling, loving. It's time to take that reflection and stillness and put it into action. What better time than now, at the new year? It's a little arbitrary, sure, but the symbolism is still here, and I'm going to take advantage of it. (I'm kind of a sucker for symbolism.)