It’s Friday afternoon now; last night the time got away from me, and although I remembered that I hadn’t posted anything to this blog when I was getting into bed at midnight, hurrying to do it didn’t make sense when Thursday was already over.
Anyway, what I like most about winter is that it’s an unhurried time of the year.
Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”
Sharing a cute word-art image with a list of New Year’s resolutions. As for the one that calls for wearing more lingerie, I bought a pack of ordinary cotton panties this week. A little more creativity in that regard probably wouldn’t go amiss. It fits well with the cheerful tone of the other resolutions, anyway.
Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”
If I had been inclined to assess my performance on last year’s resolution to Allow What Is, then I would have noted both setbacks and improvements. Not judging myself was part of that resolution, however, so this post won’t get into what I did or how it might have gone better. I’ll just say that I arrived in December feeling calmer than last winter, and leave it at that.
The word “Permission” came to mind several weeks ago as an intention for 2026. Going beyond avoiding self-judgment, it’s about simply giving myself permission to be. Whatever plans and schedules I may have, they’re not going to collapse into an unmanageable mess if I am not ruminating about them.
What often happens, as when I found a replacement for my art display, is that when I can quiet my mind and set aside the to-dos, there’s enough space for new solutions to appear. I’ve found and uploaded a few Creative Commons images for the display, and I plan to use this one tomorrow as a reminder that life should be like a tree, growing naturally without need for wasted effort:
(Photo credit: Christopher John)
Although I changed the image on my previous art display every morning, it never felt like a daily chore. Rather, I welcomed the opportunity to give myself another view from the imaginary window each day, and I plan to do so again with the new display. I expect there must be something in all my daily routines that can inspire gratitude as well—or if not, there are ways to improve them.
I still take the week between Christmas and New Year’s off from work, as does my husband, even though our kids are long since grown and we don’t do much of anything for the holidays. Not doing much is what I like about this week now; it’s a peaceful, uninterrupted time to let the pace of life quietly wind down, while reflecting on what has gone well in the past year and what there is to be glad about as another year begins.
(Image credit: The Graphics Fairy)
Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”
