A year ago for my birthday, I wrote out 28 lessons I had learned in 28 years of life. This year, I told Orlando I don’t feel like I’ve learned 29 new ones, or even 1 big, profound one for that matter. The past 12 months have just felt like a lot of love and light. A lot of happiness, soaking in moments with my family, rejoicing when it has expanded with new babies on the way and weddings to come. Spending time on the beach in Cancun, winning a basketball championship. I didn’t have much to do with that one, of course, but the girls and I were there to support nonetheless.
This blog and the business that goes along with it has been growing, steadily and surely, and each time a client approaches me with an idea or a project they need help on I feel both astonished and awestruck that they would entrust a piece of that responsibility to me. I may not be a CEO of a Fortune 500 company or even the biggest blog on the block, but I am doing what I want to be doing, at the pace I want. And that’s enough. My babies know I’ll be there for them when it’s time for library story time, or nap time, but they also know sometimes Mommy has meetings, or gets home late after an evening work event. They see me cleaning up spilled cereal and styling photo shoots. For the 21st century mom, I think it’s a constant balancing act, but what’s important is showing our daughters how we’ve learned to juggle.
With only one year until I turn 30, my 10-year high school reunion just taking place a few days ago, and spending this birthday at home in Indiana with my family, I can’t help but reflect on how my childhood has impacted the person I am today. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was pretty special to me. It was filled with lots of playing outdoors, knowing my neighbors, and generally believing that the world is a good place. In my adult years, my eyes have been opened to the atrocities that unfortunately happen whether we like it or not. Not everything is shiny and sparkly all the time.
But. And this is a big “but”. I think I’ve tried to be a little bit of shine and sparkle in my twenty-nine years of life. I’ve tried to give people the benefit of the doubt. I’ve tried to believe that good will triumph over evil. There is hurt in this world, of course, but we are only here for a little while. All we can do is try to be the light. Add to the love, not the pain. Take tiny little steps towards positivity, and kill them with kindness. Like I said, it’s not a profound lesson, but it’s all I’ve got at 29. I’ll let you know what I can come up with for 30.
XO,
A
