Three hundred and sixty-five days ago, I chose the word commit as my one little word and made a list of my "ten commitments." I glued them in my notebook as a reminder of the ten things I wanted to be more mindful of and committed to: my family, my health, my teaching. my writing, my reading, my faith, my communities, and limiting my distractions.
Little did I know that 2020 would hold one of the biggest commitments I have ever made. A commitment to keep me, my family, and others safe.
Because it does me no good to dwell on how the year turned out, today, I decided to make a list of other "commitments" that came up during our pandemic time this year.
I became committed to:
- baking banana bread at least once a week. The sweet aroma of banana bread drifting through the house will always be tied to pandemic baking.
- being the one to put the last puzzle piece in. Megan and I worked many, many puzzles, and sometimes we would "fight" over who got to put the last piece in. We had to stop working them because no puzzles could be found in our small town. We ended up "trading" puzzles with other family members and friends like elementary kids would trade Pokemon cards.
- staying up late. I am not an early morning person, and having a flexible school schedule allowed me to stay up late and maybe sneak a nap in the late afternoon.
- staying in comfy clothes for as long as possible. Enough said about this one.
- annoying my daughter by taking pictures of things on our daily spring walks. I would stop to take a picture of flowers, bugs, the view, the sky, animals, and oh, did I say flowers? She would be 50 steps ahead of me before she realized I had stopped. She would turn and sigh, "Oh Mom! What are you taking a picture of now?"
- finding toilet paper. I considered it a challenge to be one in the house who could find toilet paper. It was like winning the lottery!
Yes, this year was a difficult one. But these not-written-down-on-paper commitments are the ones I will always remember. They kept me laughing and hoping and surviving the year 2020!
I’m joining an open community of writers over at Sharing Our Stories: Magic in a Blog. If you write (or want to write) just for the magic of it, consider this your invitation to join us. #sosmagic
I love this new list and how it captures a tone of mother and daughter in a mature friendly relationship. I love having adult daughters. They keep me grounded and well supplied in grandchildren to love. Thanks for reminding me to be light-hearted about this strange year.
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome memory list. I love it! I might have to write some thoughts like this too. Excited for your new year ahead.
ReplyDeleteI guess your daughter would not enjoy walking with me either. :-) This year did take a commitment and I'm afraid we will need to be more committed in this new year too.
ReplyDeleteI love this list and the way you noticed the unusual, special, and funny things about this year! I want to make a list like this too!
ReplyDeleteI so enjoyed reading what you became committed to and how you wrote that they kept you "laughing and hoping and surviving"!
ReplyDeleteOh, we could be walking buddies, Leigh Ann. Walk a little, snap a little! Love your light-hearted approach to the fun commitments of 2020.
ReplyDeleteBaking banana bread once a week is the winner of this list. :) Good food and laughter are corner stones of building happiness. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI laughed about the toilet paper because it felt like such a win to find the tp.
ReplyDeleteIt’s fascinating to look back and see how the OWL manifested itself in different ways. Your words about stopping to notice and photograph remind me that I did more of this, too - there was often more time to savor it. Silver linings...
ReplyDeleteLeigh Anne,
ReplyDeleteYour resilient joy is beautiful.
xo,
ruth
Love your commitments! Simply beautiful! Thanks for having them and sharing them.
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