What you stay focused on will grow. — Roy T. Bennett
December is drawing to a close and so is my word for 2019 and I confess, I am sad to see it end! I started with an idea of how focus would change me and over the year my word took me on a much better journey than I ever imagined!
Your life is controlled by what you focus on. — Tony Robbins
At times during the year, I lost my focus but I learned how to refocus and how to improve my focus. I learned what was important to focus on. And, more importantly – what was not important to focus on.
Always remember, your focus determines your reality. — George Lucas
But even as I join with Juliann to put my word away for 2019 and make space for a new word, focus has become a permanent part of me! A part that will continue to adjust my days – and it will influence the New Year and my new word!
I saw this poem on Saturday and have been pondering Wendell Berry’s words ever since:
To Know the Dark
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
This winter season may you find that the dark blooms and sings for you as well!
Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection. — Winston Churchill
As I write this post, I am watching the gentle fall of snowflakes out my “office” window. Occasionally, the wind swirls them as if my neighborhood is a huge snow globe and as the wind subsides, the flakes swirl lazily until they return to gently float from the grey sky. I am wearing a warm, woolly sweater and I have hand knit socks on my feet while I sip a steaming hot cup of coffee. Life is indeed so very good – I have way more than I need. We do not have money struggles and our big debate is how we should “cut the cable cord” next year – we are fortunate beyond belief.
I have my Christmas gifts wrapped and under the tree. I have done all the baking I intend on doing this year. And, I am really looking forward to Steve being home a couple of extra days for the next two weeks – thanks to the holidays!
AND!! I have selected my word for next year – or rather, I think it selected me!
I am fortunate to return to my “regular knitting because I finished my holiday making with time to spare! Yes, I have settled back into my Evening Dew Cardigan! Each row brings me closer to needing my second ball of mohair silk, which I carefully wound yesterday. There is something quite reflective about hand winding a skein of yarn – you can’t rush it, there is no pause to go do something else – it requires your presence as you wind the yarn into a ball.
Perhaps one of these patterns will inspire you to to wind up some yarn and do some “selfish” knitting for yourself over the coming days! Added bonus, these things are **free** – at least for the next few days!
Isabell Kraemer’s Leni dropped this week and it is a gift from her to us through December 31! From Isabell: “Let me shout out a big THANK YOU for your love, your ongoing support, your trust, your understanding, your patience…for being by my side on this journey…hope you enjoy this little hat pattern!”
Kelbourne Woolens December Hat – a free pattern knit up with their Germantown yarn which includes some intricate cabling!
That is all I have for this week – I hope that your weekend is full of wonderful reflection! Happy Hanukkah to my friends who will begin celebrating on Sunday!
Perhaps a little Christmas music to get things rolling?
Because Christmas insanity continues around these parts. I did manage to get mittens finished, and they will be on their way to Michigan later today! And today my making will all be about baking! Bring on the cookies! I have all the ingredients to make some dark chocolate ginger cookies (similar to these that Kym posted last week!)
Nothing beats the smell of baking cookies and it is the perfect reward for finishing those mittens!
Once More We Saw Stars – this was a hard book to listen to, but I think it might have been harder to read. Can sharing a tragedy help with grief? I don’t know but I hope it did for these parents. 3-stars.
Nine Elms – this is Robert Bryndza’s latest book and the first in the Kate Marshall series. It did not disappoint – and although you know ‘who did it’ it does not detract from the story. It is a page turner and I recommend. 4-stars.
Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth by Rachel Maddow. This was a deep, heavy listen – although it was read by the author and that made it seem a bit like an extremely extensive open to her show. There is so much to think about in this book, and as you can image – none of it is good. I think it was a bit too long – it could have been edited a bit more, imo. 3-stars.
I also listened to The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe! Which I loved as much as I did when I read it ages ago with my kids. 4-stars for this perfect pre-Christmas read!
Finally, John Boyne shared this stack of books by Irish authors! I have read a good number of the books in this stack and I have added those I have not to my list to read!
You might be tired of end-of-decade lists, but if you’re buying books for Christmas, here’s my favourite Irish books of the last decade and I whole-heartedly recommend them all! pic.twitter.com/Am70T4Sdhj
That is all I have for today, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
*** A quick bit of housekeeping for the next two Wednesday’s. I will post as usual on Christmas Day (although it might be later in the day and might include some holiday gift knitting updates) and on New Year’s Day – New Year’s Day will include my 2019 reading update! However, do not feel pressure to join in!
I have so enjoyed reading the flurry of “Current Updates” in the blogisphere, I thought I would join in and share a little slice of my world as 2019 winds down. I was surprised to see that I had not done one of these updates since June! It makes me smile to see where I was on the first day of summer – especially since we will welcome winter on Saturday! Okay, maybe someone will be up to welcome it at 11:19 PM EST but I promise you, I will be tucked into my cozy, warm bed!
Contemplating:
My word for next year! Focus has been so very good that part of me wants to “stay in the zone” for 2020, but I think I can drill into it a bit – take what I have learned through focus and apply it specifically into areas of my life that focus has shown to have issues. I am thinking about purpose/purposeful and intention/intentional.
Watching:
Un Village Français, courtesy of my library. I am just in season one, but it is fascinating to watch life just after German occupation in 1941 in the village of Villeneuve. I know I say this all the time, but I truly adore my library and the vast number of options I have to watch, read, and listen!
Reading:
Speaking of reading, I do not know where the recommendation came from – but I am reading One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker. I love when a book sucks you in from the very first paragraph! I am about 1/3 of the way in and enjoying it tremendously – it might even be causing me to stay up just a wee bit later to read “just one more chapter”!
Savoring:
These December days – we are halfway through the month, with the best half yet to come! And, I am spending them enjoying all the subtleties of the season! The lights, the music, and especially those moments of unexpected good will in curious places – like the grocery store!
Knitting:
Yes, we got a dusting of snow overnight! WOO!!
Crazily, I have some delusion that I can finish a pair of mittens to match this headband that I knit over the weekend. Yes – I translated the pattern and figured out how to double-knit – now I am feverishly knitting a pair of matching mittens. If I can get these done today – I can make one more trip to the post office tomorrow and they *might* make it to Michigan in time for Christmas! If all that fails – then I can add them to whatever we send Vivi for Valentine’s Day!
Planning:
Some selfish making in January! All this gift knitting will be done, and I have plans to do some sewing – including a Day of Pinning and Cutting Out All The Things in the week between Christmas and New Year!
There you have what’s current in my life! What about you? What’s your favorite current thing?
