What a lot can happen in a year!
Take 'Me' for example (because it is ALL about 'Me' after all!) ...
One year ago, I was miserable in my job.
I was being paid big bucks to sit in a chair in a job I DESPISED.
One year ago, I was thinking that it was the last Christmas my dad would be alive; and that I'd never feel the warmth of his bear hug again.
One year ago, I was still convinced that having a pet in the ME was a really bad idea.
One year ago, I didn't own an i-Pad and couldn't really understand what all the fuss was about.
One year ago, I hadn't even heard about Mac TV.
One year ago, my Kiddo still had a little bit of the 'baby' in her.
One year ago, I could run.
One year ago, I had a fully functional iMac, whose drive had not crashed.
One year ago, I would have never believed that one lone young gunman, armed with a Bushmaster rifle, would ever conceive of entering a school in Newton, Connecticut, and killing 20 innocent school children and six heroic adults.
One year ago, overwhelmed by what I was seeing on TV and in the world around me, I turned to the internet for distraction.
I clicked on a blog post written by a lady living in Saudi Arabia. It's a shame I can't remember the blog, because she changed my life. But I remember her blog was written on "Squarespace", and beyond the content, I loved the look and feel of her site.
And so it is, that one year ago, I decided to escape the insanity by giving blogging another chance. I made a conscious decision to step away from the sadness and the madness for at least a couple of hours a week. A conscious decision to take those few hours to focus on whatever silly thing meant something to me. A conscious decision to work it through in my head and then put those thoughts to page (in this case to screen).
Over the past year, I worked up the courage to step away from one career, become a stay-at-home mom, step into a new career. I got an I-pad. I bought Smilin' Vic a Mac TV dongle thingy for his birthday.
I spent weeks with my dad, listened to him sing to me, sang with him, started Skyping with him.
I bought Kiddo a kitten, the bestest Christmas gift this family's ever gotten!
A few weeks ago, I had "the talk" with Kiddo. Though she's not yet a teen, she's no longer a baby.
Last week, I brought my iMac in to the repair shop, hoping they may somehow salvage a year's worth of photos from the crashed hard drive ... And I come to you tonight from my iPad :-)
I endured three months of physio and ultrasound therapy that resulted in worse pain than I started off with. After eight months and a recent replacement of a running routine with a walking regimen, I can finally say my piriformis syndrome (aka runner's butt) seems to be on the mend.
I admit I haven't managed to work over horror and disbelief at some of the acts that I see perpetrated the world over. Mass shootings, random killings, targeted attacks, wars, child abuse, murder, honor killings, bullying, rape, neglect ... No amount of rumination, writing, blogging, crying or screaming will ever manage to bring meaning.
But for the rest ... The silly stuff. Well, the last year, the blogging: it's been my salvation.
If you've been reading as I've been writing, thank you. It really, really helped.
Thank you.