In an effort to be posting more, because I love it, and I love you, I thought I would hop on and give a go– even though I don’t have the time or resources to pull together anything more than thoughts. I’m finding this year, unlike any other, hasn’t felt as “new” as I had hoped. I think 2012 was just too packed, too full, too overwhelming to be contained in 12 months, and is spilling over into 2013! The perfectionist still takes hold of me, (nobody’s perfect!) and feels that if it’s already the 11th of January, then I’ve missed the boat for a new start. Not true! So I am taking some time to goal set, to reflect, to process. And to remind myself it’s all a process.
I find so many of my brides have trouble with enjoying the process. I think it’s inherent that we all do- in every day life- especially as we try to maneuver this fast-paced life, in a country where productivity, grand stories of success and an accomplished resume are what bring us our worth. Well, as a bride you can make a new to-do list every week of your planning process, check off every box, and still get to the aisle feeling less than fulfilled. Why? It’s because we can’t enjoy the process.
So, let’s change that! Not in the overwhelming “I already have a long list of resolutions!” kind of way, but in the subtle, take-it-in-stride, kind of way. I try to remind my brides throughout the process and on their big day to stop. look around. breathe this in. because if you don’t, you blink, and it’s passed you by. Well, shoot, I should be taking my own medicine everyday: stop. look around. breathe. take it all in. Then maybe a whole year wouldn’t be a blur and I wouldn’t just live for the big stuff, I’d enjoy the sweet nuances that make just an every-day, turn into a process of a life well lived.
My word for 2013 is “margin.” I have no margin in mylife and it has left me restless, unfulfilled, exhausted. I won’t survive my own life if I don’t have margin. So we find ways to change, to create change, to be fresh new humans who cravechange. But we don’t naturally. Change can be exciting at first, but almost always it will be difficult. And it’s hardest at the height of tension, to let go. stop. look around. breathe. take it all in. But this is where it is most crucial. These few small steps, when they are taken in the midst of both joy and hardship, create space for gratitude– our life buoy.
So as you plan this epic day in the life of you and your love, plan time to stop. YES, literally put it on the calendar, put it on the to-do list, and check it off when you’ve taken some time to breathe it all in. You’ll have a greater chance of getting to the aisle okay with the things that didn’t go quite right, you’ll be full of gratitude for the love and beauty that surround you, and have miraculously slowed time enough, so that the fastest day of your life has actually become an everlasting day of vibrant memories.
Last minute update: Great little DIY print tutorial and just the finish for this post: http://www.laurenelisecrafted.com/blog/2011/9/23/font-love-vol-xxii-type-artwork-diy.html
See what I mean?
Good thoughts and goals!