On Fridays during the Tender Year, the prompt is “reflections.”
It is a welcoming, expansive prompt.
You can reflect on (and in) mirrors, like Stasha did earlier today. Those pictures are gorgeous – the sky, the trees, all the beauty that she showed her mirror and caught with her camera. Amazing.
You can reflect on your day, or your week.
“You” can do whatever.
But this is my first Friday in the Tender Year, the Year of Sacred Attendance, and what do *I* want to reflect on?
I’m sitting in my office as I write this. My new office – still cluttery, missing bookcase space and in need of a table. I’m wearing my Avatar t-shirt (both Legend of Korra and The Last Airbender – I wanted to remind myself to stay balanced, and that there’s power in both goofiness – Aang – and stubborn perseverance – Korra). I took a picture of me, in my “remember to draw on every element, remember to find balance” t-shirt, in my office, in a mirror, holding my cherished little gem tree that always makes me feel like magic, and is where I imagine the fae folk (who must surely visit me) sit and have tea.
This morning, I woke up and the full moon was pouring in through my window and I felt welcomed into my day. I am still feeling reflective about that Mary Pipher passage I read yesterday, about how balance is when the pain of facing reality is not more than the joy of connecting with the beauty of nature.
This tender year feels good, so far. Less than one week into it, but I can feel the potential for it to be beautiful, to be heart-healing, to be a daily reminder to check in with myself, with my world, with the world around me, with my people. It is self-care in a way that feels a little familiar and a little foreign. It is uncomfortable, in a good way. It is intimidating, in a good way.
I’m going to start keeping count, inspired by Nathan. I didn’t keep count with the #100loveletters project, because I was afraid to be tied to the numbers.
I’m going to keep count with this project, and give myself permission to miss days and to sometimes fail and to sometimes forget. Maybe I can track it without being trapped by it. Maybe I can hold some space for reflections on when I feel obligated and when I feel invited, and pay attention to how the numbers feel.
So anyway, this is 6 out of 365.
Onward!
