Farewell 2010…it’s been a year of challenges and change and as much as I enjoy rising to a challenge it’s exhausting.  As I reflect on this past year how it began and how it ended are both very different than I ever could have anticipated!  I started the year employed at a relatively creative job, that I was good at and had been doing for over 7 years.  About mid-January that abruptly changed as I decided that I was not inclined to relocate for my former employer.  Okay…now what?

Well, I decided that I would take the year to reflect on where I’ve come over the past decade and to re-assess where I’m headed.  If I was middle aged I might say I was having a mid-life crisis but alas…I am not middle aged and I’m not in a crisis.   I’ve experienced a lot of intense emotions this year.  I’ve been sad, depressed, angry, resentful, ashamed, scared, lost, confused and bitter…Enough!   I spent time reading, traveling, making art, cooking, gardening, volunteering,  talking long hours on the phone with good friends, I had a LOT of FUN and I realized that underneath everything I am an artist at heart, I am an ARTIST!

I am so VERY GRATEFUL for the time I’ve been given this year to do this reflecting, to be spontaneous, to do things that I might not get another chance to do and to try to learn how to just be (I’m not very natural at this but I’m starting to learn)!  I remember watching a TED conference video a couple years ago about a design firm in NYC that closed it’s doors every 7 years and took the year off to re-group, refresh, renew and rest (I can’t find that talk but if you do, please leave a link in the comments).  That’s what this year has been about for me.  For a long time I’ve been going full steam ahead, doing a ton of things outside of work with all my friends and family constantly telling me they were amazed by how much I managed to do and I was CONSTANTLY BUSY. It’s funny, there is something about that perpetual motion that is wonderful but it eventually you have to slow down.  This year I’ve replenished a bit of my depleted energy and reserved some for the years ahead because I’m ready for 2011!  I don’t really do resolutions but I do plan to create a community of creative people around me.

This is the first time I am choosing a word for the year.  Thanks to a little exercise that Kim Klassen posted on her blog I was able to discover that my word for 2011 is CLARITY!  I had a few other words in mind but nothing really clicked until I did this exercise and it came to me.  Setting my intention is powerful and I am so excited to start a new year and see more clearly where I am headed.

~I’m wishing each of you a beautiful New Year!