Thanks so much for the warm welcome, everyone! Much like moving house, moving the blog over here was a bit more work and getting out of my own way than I anticipated. But I'm so happy to be here, blogging again and sharing all of the little things that make life lovely.
That's a theme that's come to my attention often lately - getting out of my own way, and just getting started on something without all of the overthinking. It was that way with changing over the blog, it's that way with continuing to settle into this house, and it's that way with work things, too. It's so easy to talk myself out of something. Throughout the fall, as I've felt that sense of frustration and stagnation, I kept coming across quotes and reading books with the same message: get started, right now. Don't worry about whether I'm good enough / smart enough / ready enough, just do it! (At least in part, thanks to Brené Brown's books and Glennon Melton's Instagram feed).
People these days like to start January with a word for the year that will help them to focus on a particular area of their life. I've always thought that that was lovely, but something that I wouldn't bother doing. And this is going to sound a bit nutty, but a couple of days ago during this first week of January, my word, unbidden, planted itself firmly in my head as I was tidying the living room.
Momentum.
From the latin meaning "to move". One definition is "the strength or force that something has when it is moving", and I like the imagery of strength and force and physically moving. I picture it a bit differently, though, as kind of a fluidity of time and movement, like a river carrying Poohsticks along, naturally and with ease. (Something about the light and the waves in the chicken's feathers in the picture above captures my mind's eye image, too.) And then there's the 'moment' part of the word, which makes me aware of the importance of being in the moment, whether playing Poohsticks or doing laundry. Which, interestingly enough, goes right back to just starting. Once the starting has happened, the momentum begins and things always seem to fall into place after that.
In addition to a word for the year, I've also done something else I never have - one of those January internet challenge things. I've been doing Adriene's #30daysofyoga, and I love it. No experience is needed, you can join right in whenever you like - the videos are free on YouTube. It's a great way to start the day, and I've somehow managed to get up early enough even on these work days to get it done before the boys wake up. Most are only 20 minutes or so, and it's a great way to start the day with physical movement to get that momentum started.
*
P.S. I spend a lot of time driving for my job, and thinking about all sorts of things that it would be awkward to weave into casual conversation. That's one of the things I've missed about blogging. I do love me some Instagram, but I missed the writing.
P.P.S. There will be upcoming posts about our new property, the chickens, the bees, the house before and afters (yessssss!) and even some guest posts from Adam every now and then. If you'd like, please leave a comment and let us know if there's anything specific you'd like to see!