So almost a week and I only did one reverb.  Allowing myself to 1) not beat myself up over that and 2) use that as an excuse to quit entirely.  Let’s see the options from the past few prompts:

December 15 Prompt

Author: Patti Digh
Creative is a Verb: If You’re Alive, You’re Creative
@pattidigh

Prompt: 5 minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.

Sounds powerful and amazing, but too intense for when I’m multitasking, I’d need to know I wouldn’t have interruptions. (Cliff notes: Getting married. Bella and her legacy. The Pink Elephant. PEXfest (and that one workshop). Friends weddings. Our honeymoon. Everyone who helped make our wedding happen.)

December 16 Prompt

Author: Martha Mihalick
Editor at Harper Collins
@curiousmartha

Prompt: Friendship. How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst?

Hmm.  I had some interesting changes to or from friendships this year.  It’s helped me to both draw the line on what I consider acceptable behavior from a friend (ie, getting a backbone when I should), and to be more compassionate or empathetic, because I never know truly what’s going on in someone else’s life.  (The two, in relation to a friendship I dropped this year, seem contradictory.  But I think I was allowing too much compassion for circumstances, and I needed to look harder at the dynamics of our relationship then put respect for myself first and foremost.)

December 17 Prompt

Tara Weaver
The Butcher and the Vegetarian
@tea_austen

Prompt: Lesson learned. What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward?

Do we ever really learn our lesson? (Aside from posting recipes on my blog so I can find them again later? :P)  It’s definitely more a work in progress, I hate to claim anything “learned” because, well, I’m a perfectionist.  The best lesson I worked on learning this year was to be true to myself through the planning of the wedding, to ask for help when needed, and to know that family and friends (the true ones) will always support me no matter what.  And if they don’t, it’s ok to release the good of what we had into the past and move into healthier futures separately.

 

ETA: And I finally learned you don’t need to be perfect to start.  Beginnings are almost always messy and beginningy, especially in hindsight.  So I started this year.  It’s not perfect, and I only started spreading word among friends who I know will be full of support and very little in the way of criticism, but it’s movement. 😀

Except for the cliff notes version of the first prompt, I’m going to consider touching all of them briefly as done.  And with that, I’m going to go and try to enjoy the chaos of this weekend 😀  Still lots of shopping to do, yes we are going to brave the mall the Saturday before Christmas (the reward is Tron in IMAX on Saturday afternoon!)  So please, keep us in your thoughts!!!