In 2011 our son had a classroom assignment to create a CD “About Me”, containing songs that would tell people something about him. It was a fun project, and I thought it would be a good theme to use for a quick review of the year that was 2011.
This was a year of ups and downs in many ways, including spiritually. I know spiritual development is made in fits and starts, and often one doesn’t see clearly the road ahead. This year, I finished out a fantastic year of catechism teaching and began my inquiry to the Secular Franciscans in earnest, enjoying the company of some of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met. But there have also been times I’ve keenly felt God’s absence this year, especially after the loss of some friends, including one of Patrick’s best friends (and our daughter’s godfather) Mark, the joyous and creative Gingie Noe, and the brother of another of our close friends.
So this year one of my spiritual exercises has been learning how to “be” in those periods when God feels most absent. KT Tunstall’s song speaks to this for me – it’s a beautiful love song that to me is a great “crossover” song about God’s absence.
Speaking of love songs, Patrick and I celebrated our 20th anniversary this year. As part of our year of celebration, we were blessed to have relatively cheap tickets to Turkey practically fall into our laps, so off we went and it was a wonderful trip. Patrick’s great to travel with, and in a city so full of history it was a joy to walk the streets of Istanbul together.
As we walked through the gardens of Topkapi Palace, wild parrots chattered in the background, and I took it as a good omen for our next 20. Parrots also figured into our courtship in Hyde Park so many years ago, under a big tree where dozens of wild parrots would nest and squawk.
Annie Lennox has always been one of my favorite artists, and this one seems to fit as a mark for our first 20 years together.
Maintaining some sort of work-life balance in the midst of so many life changes at home would be difficult enough. But this has also been a tough, if rewarding, year in work. I had the terrific luck to make two presentations on Drupal and content migration at a conference for government webmasters this year, and it was tremendous fun. I helped our organization make a huge leap towards distributed content management this year with the implementation of a Drupal-based series of websites. It’s a huge project for a part-time person, and it’s been a long road, but it’s been an important shift, one that will allow the city to be more responsive to its citizens and manage online content efficiently. Very good bang for the buck. But such a large project in the midst of major life-upheavals really challenged my life-work balance.
Janelle Monae’s Tightrope was in my running playlist many times in 2011. It’s got a great beat and high energy, and seems a good reflection on work-in-life for 2011.
In my running, I hit a nice stride over the summer (so to speak), and decided to push myself a bit. So, in 2011 I accomplished a major goal of finishing my first half-marathon. It was cold, rainy and windy, and I struggled at the end when I hit a physical and mental wall. Still, it was great training and I’ve learned a few things about how to push myself physically without turning running into a chore or hurting myself.
As every runner does from time to time, I’ve felt this past year like I was learning how to run all over again. As the years go by and our bodies change, we have to get re-acquainted with ourselves and be patient. I look forward to more miles in 2012, and think it’ll be a great running year.
I hope your 2011 was great, and that your 2012 will be challenging, blessed and full of wonderful people.
Dance more, pray and sing more, make soup, paint and knit and spend time with those you love. Happy New Year!
