2021 – The Year of Me

I’m making it official: 2021 will be the Year of Me. I hope you will consider making it your year too. With a few simple steps, your world will be a bit brighter. Read on to learn how.

Last year, I chose my Word Of The Year — STRETCH. I stretched in my community by offering to volunteer in Boulder. I met a few new neighbors and planned my mom’s 90th birthday party from a thousand miles away.  Lots of stretching was going on. I even remembered to stretch my body once in a while.

My stretching ended in March after arriving home from Wisconsin when Colorado went into lockdown. I curled up in front of the TV and tried to make sense of our new reality. Have you ever tried stretching while in a ball-like state? I was too tightly wound.

Staying on top of our altered reality was toxic.

It seeped into my subconscious. Instead of my typical nightmare where I would go to a party bare butt naked, I was fully clothed but didn’t wear a mask. Oh, my God! NO ONE WORE MASKS! I would wake up in a full body sweat. 

I wanted to write about my feelings and how we were starring in a medical thriller, but everyone experienced the same thing. GAH! Anything I wrote would be redundant, like this sentence. It wasn’t until December that I wrote a humorous story about COVID from a different angle. 

Then I stepped away from social media and the news to focus on my family and the holidays. I haven’t blogged in over a month. Ahhh. It unwound me.

I took a photo of the Christmas Star while up in Breckenridge.

As the New Year approached, words like self-care, comfort, and healing came to mind. I couldn’t figure out how to incorporate them into a resolution. Hmmm.

Then my sister, Patty McCartan, gave me a new book – A Year of Positive Thinking by Cyndie Spiegel. On New Year’s Day, I read the first daily passage about how I was exactly where I should be. There was some comfort in knowing that. I wondered how I would feel at the end of the year.

The passage on January 2nd made my third eye blink. *insert giggle here*

Spiegel introduced the Japanese art of Kintsukuroi. When a vase drops and breaks, the artist repairs it with gold. The bright metal brings attention to the crack and makes the vase more beautiful while improving its strength.

2020 shattered us. We need a little Kintsukuroi. The gold will make us whole again.

But how?

Example:

Tuesday, I woke up and felt as if I had run a half-marathon in my sleep. Since I had a long list to accomplish, I panicked.

 I’d spent most of the time in the mountains and my house was decked from floor to ceiling in holiday decor. What appears magical at Christmas looks old, tired, and gray with dust in January.

The pressure to post something worth your time had been building for a while. What would I write about?

I didn’t want to drink a gallon of coffee, jitter out, and then crash. Instead, I took a spin through the internet.

After reading an article about increasing my energy chakra — worth a try, right? — I did a breathing technique and peaced-out for a while. That’s when the idea for the Year of Me popped into my pointy head.

Me-Time, but it’s not what you think.

What a concept! After reading a passage from A Year of Positive Thinking, I will let the words sink in while turning it over in different ways to embrace it. Then I will check in with my body and mental state. What have I got to lose?

I edited this article while Trump protesters breached our US Capitol. What did I do to avoid the negativity? I vacuumed my big-ass house. The insanity will end but the damage is done. The hatred continues. Shattered again.

A part of me wanted to watch this atrocity as it happened while another part wanted to take a hot soak. I got my second Shingrix shot and resembled a slowly tranquilized deer. The soak won out.

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know that I’m impulsive and have no shame. I didn’t even bother to look in the mirror after my shower! I’m adding, acting on impulsive positivity to my daily ritual.

Look at what happens when it’s the Year of Me — other than the abject humiliation.

I’m not a singer but hope you’ll join me in trying to unite our country in love. Will you join me .@KChenoweth? #americathebeautiful pic.twitter.com/xj3MwQ4pJ5

— Susie Lindau (@SusieLindau) January 7, 2021

A Year of ME will shape my day and change my point of view in a positive way. Using Kintsukuroi, I’ll attempt to repair my cracks by refocusing my day with a positive spin. Who knows what impulsive and positive acts may arise…

In 2021, I will start my mornings with Me Time. If I’m not feeling it, I’ll reread the passage, meditate, do a few yoga poses, or take a walk to get my blood moving. This is Day 7, and I feel an abundance of positivity already, even with the insanity.

Slowly, my cracks will be filled with gold. Join me. The world will be so bright, we’ll have to wear shades.

Are you ready for more positivity in your life? What are you doing to keep smiling?