I Choose to Celebrate
It has been a tradition of mine for the last few years to have a “word of the year.” It is something to root me when I feel ungrounded. It is a word to hold onto when I feel challenged. I can’t remember what the word was for 2021 or if I even had one. But I probably needed one the most this past year as it has been the hardest year I have ever experienced.
We sold our Salt Lake City home at the beginning of the growing season and moved in with family for what was supposed to be “a few weeks, maybe a month or two” while we look for our own farm and new home. It ended up being 8 months of living with family as we faced challenges of our offers being rejected, falling out of contract because of salty soil and water, and adjusting our needs to find what would work best.
But we finally did it. I cried myself to sleep a few nights thinking I may have lost the home my family loved and would never find a farm of our own. But we did it. We found our farm.
And while it has been a challenging year, I don’t regret the decisions I have made. We found our farm and slowly I am letting go of the challenges and heartbreak of this past year.
So when I sat down to figure out what my word would be for the coming year, I knew I needed it to be something different than before. Something that wasn’t oriented in work or achieving but still grounded me.
Celebrate. This year I choose to celebrate. I will celebrate the small victories, the new flowers, the sunrise, every snowfall, my children’s growth, my own growth, I will celebrate whatever brings me joy. I will acknowledge the happiness I feel and carry it with me when things feel hard and I will celebrate the beauty around me.
And I will search for ways to celebrate with you. Because there is so much for us to celebrate together and to find joy in.
I hope you have a wonderful New Year. Thank you for being a part of mine.