Nope, not on Facebook.
One more place I can check. BRB.
Ah, found it in my family's Advent reflection pages from Big Life Journal. They do these neat end of year packets with a theme. 2022 was a journey, this year had a camping theme.
Well, at least I found my top contenders, none of which still resonate with me two months in. Open, new, little steps.
In my car Devo book (the one I out in there to read when I'm waiting at the drive thru), it says:
2021 Keep Moving Forward
2022 Believe
2023 Simplify
which is rather prophetic I think because simplify, or rather simple, is actually the idea permeating this year the most.
Simple abundance. Simple luxury. Simple prosperity. Recognizing all the areas in my life that are going well and where I can basically buy or get whatever I love most. Pens. Shampoo. Food. Clothes. Shoes. Sheets. Blankets. Helium balloons from the dollar store. Notebooks and pens and art supplies from Ross. For so long, every penny was so tight, there was no extra. Getting French fries for the kids felt extravagant. I don't regret those years because we had an abundance of other things, like time with extended family, but I am glad to realize that we are in a different sort of financial season now. People used to fight over salt and sugar, but now there is enough to go around, so yay!
It's almost Lent and I want to focus this year on all of the amazing things I have. Letting go of who I used to be and the stuff that represented the old versions of me is high on my list for Lent. I have been realizing that I keep things for several reasons:
1) I want to remember something, or it reminds me of who I want to be, or who I've been along the way.
2) It makes me feels a certain way
3) It's from a happy time in my life
I seem to collect certain types of things - office supplies, stuffies, books, art supplies, notebooks, art, ceramics, textiles, rocks, and sticks. Putting some of my collections into stations along my Whimsical Walking Way in my mom's forest has helped some.
I feel like if I could focus what I collect and harness the visual power things have for me in some other way, then I wouldn't be taken over by stuff that I have no interest in maintaining. What I am looking for is all the feels with less of the stuff. Or something like that.
Someday I want to live in a tiny house. But even before that, I want to have a simple mindset about what I need and what brings me joy. "Efficiency is key," says my civil engineering self, "The most bang for my buck in joy and minimal storage of things." Efficiency, beauty, functionality, system flow... These are on my mind.
Now I am off to Dynamics.
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