Hello all! I've missed you! Thought I would give a shout to everyone and say HAPPY NEW YEAR, and update everyone on the latest and greatest (which honestly isn't all that much, but I'll try to make it sound exciting). It's not going to hold a candle to Amanda's larva infestation (ewwwhhhhhh).
I officially finished my first semester of school. Conclusion? I love it. Material is super interesting, love all the readings, and love writing papers. I'm a huge geek about school. All the classes are over Zoom and I can conclusively say, I'm a little tired of that aspect. It's terribly convenient and I love not having to drive anywhere, but it makes constructive debate so much harder. I've also concluded that higher education (at least my experience so far) is being lynched by the cancel culture. I will try not to even get started on this tangent, but suffice it to say, it's very difficult to have any kind of meaningful debate with people if you want to challenge ANY of the mainstream ideas. You are instantly labeled and in a condescending way. It's enough to take the wind out of a person's sails. I just want to have discussions with people who have different opinions and have some room on both sides to receive and process, and then constructively discuss it. As it is now, you barely get a word out and someone is accusing you of something. Still, all that being said, I love school. I start back up on the 14th and can barely wait.
It's been a hard transition from being 100% Melange, to only a handful of percents. I'm still helping Amanda, but I had to let go of so much control and so much involvement. That part has been super weird. Everyone kept asking if I was "relieved" and I thought maybe that feeling would happen, but honestly I can't say that's been the case. I loved what I did at Melange, and yes, it was stressful at times, but I didn't have the feeling that it was a burden or that I couldn't wait to be relieved of it. So now it's just different and I miss Melange, but am finally getting use to my new life. I am happily doing school, and happily doing stuff for Amanda, but the whole process has been an adjustment just like everything else this year I guess. Change is always unsettling, no matter what.
I recently did a five day Winter Solstice yoga series and it's changed my whole view on Winter and these dark cold months. It's a great time to listen to nature and the body, and hibernate a bit. To eat lots of nourishing foods, to sleep more, to lie low. This is our time to gather and conserve energy, so that we can burst forth when spring arrives with new growth and vitality. Balance is really important in nature and in the body. Yin and Yang, you need both.
So that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm cooking a ton, trying to sleep a ton, taking care of my family and keeping my energy nice and conserved -- and focused on keeping my roots warm through Winter. I'm super excited that we've crossed over into a New Year, with a whole new set of possibilities and promises. While 2020 was rough, truthfully it could have been rougher (but to be fair, I say that all the time because it's true, your problems are big, until they get bigger and then you realize they weren't that big). So we had what we had in 2020, for which we should find gratitude, and all we can do is enter 2021 with a focus on what's important, and what we are grateful for.
I will end with just another tidbit of info. Remember all those blogs I did of our summer travels? Well, over my winter break from school I started photo books with all the pictures and all the blog posts. Here's what I know. I have atrocious spelling (and/or bad typing skills) when I'm moving quickly (which I always was). BUT, that aside, it's awesome to have all those recounts of little details. The first book I did was summer 2019 and it was 250 pages! The second book I did (clearly I'm out of order) was summer 2016 and that was 313 pages! So much fun to do, but apologies to all of you who were unlucky enough to read some very, VERY poorly written (and spelled) blog posts!! Next time, I'll do better.
Sending my winter solstice nurturing vibes to all my friends out there. I hope that the start of this new year brings with it renewed hope, good health, gratitude, and lots of love and laughter.
oxox Signed, ME {lv}
