ringing in the new and one little word

I know, I know, we’re already a week into 2010. But I wanted to share this photo – which is kind of cockeyed but which I love anyway – from our New Year’s Eve party with friends. And talk a little about my resolutions, and especially about my “one little word” for this year – inspired by Ali Edwards and given a theme song by Nichole Nordeman.

I should mention that we had planned a quiet New Year’s Eve – Abi and Nate were going to come over, play games, eat snacks and just chill out. We knew several other friends were out of town, and weren’t sure about some others. But at about 6 p.m., before our evening was supposed to start at 7:30, Jeremiah saw on Facebook that two of our friends – Drew and Lawson – were both around, and had no plans. He texted them both with an invite.

Around 7:30, the party poured in. Drew brought his roommate, and Lawson brought his girlfriend – doubling our party in size, and more than quadrupling it in laughter and music and high jinks. Lawson also brought a bottle of champagne. Which, as you can see, we popped open around midnight, and raised our glasses in a happy, chaotic toast. (“To 2010!” “To beginnings, and endings, and everything in between!” “To friendship!” “To love!” The toasts got a little silly after that – and we were all talking at once – but there was much cheering, and laughing, and picture-taking, and some kissing.)

Though unexpected, our party was the perfect way to ring in 2010. And it fits in perfectly with my one little word for this year – which is BRAVE.

I’ve mentioned Ali Edwards’ blog before – she is a brilliant, creative life artist and scrapbooker – and she has an inspiring tradition of choosing a word for the year. Her word for this year is STORY, which is a fabulous one, but after mulling over that one and several others, I chose BRAVE.

Last year, in many ways, was about living scared. The recession scared all of us, even those of us who didn’t lose our jobs or take salary cuts. We worried about our jobs and our security and our futures. On a more personal level, I worried about my husband finding a job after he graduated. (He’s still working on that, actually.) And in many ways, my life last year was about doing what was safe.

Now, I did do some brave things in 2009. I took a new job. I took my knitting to new heights, learning how to knit cables and make gloves and adapt patterns and even knit garments (one tank top and two shrugs). I made lots of new blog friends, and some new real-world ones. I gave a maid-of-honor toast at my sister’s wedding. I traveled to England and Spain with my sweet husband. So I didn’t just hang back and do what was safe – but I did that a lot of the time.

I work in the same office I worked in as a college student. I have several safe (overlapping) circles of friends, and a routine I’m pretty comfortable with. There’s a lot of good in my routine, of course, but there are some things I want to change. And this is the year to do that – the year to be brave.

I’m starting with teaching two sections of freshman English, beginning Tuesday (yikes!) here at ACU. This class will cover some of the same material I taught at Hardin-Simmons in fall ’08, but much of it is new – and I’m still a novice teacher. I am petrified, as you might expect, but also really excited.

I’m also going to New York in February, by myself, for the Voice and Story retreat hosted by the lovely Jen Lee. I cannot WAIT – but I’ve never been to New York before, much less alone, so this is going to require some bravery.

I’m going to tackle that just-started Oxford scrapbook – I’ve been so intimidated by the whole thing that I’ve been putting off any part of it. I do have a few pages done, but not many. And I want a photographic record, a tangible one, of that year which was SO important to my life in every way.

And finally, on a related note, this is the year I’m going to draft that Oxford memoir. Notice I did not say “finish,” or “get published” – I hope those things will come in time. But this year I want to make a good, deep start, and delve into this project that’s been close to my heart for years.

That theme song I mentioned earlier is the title track of Nichole Nordeman’s 2005 album, Brave. As she says, “the way it always was is no longer good enough.” So, here’s to a lovely, exciting year – a year of being brave.

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