Weekly Round-Up
Welcome to the first round-up of a new blogging year and it’s been wonderful to read what you have been writing and reflecting on this week – fresh starts abound in the blogosphere.
“I feel excited at the prospect of a new season of growth”, writes Dee of Greenside Up this week, and while she may be writing about gardening, I can’t help thinking of how relevant her post is to the nurturing, tender, care we need to garden our own lives with. Someone, who really gets this is Sarah, who has written some delightful posts this week all about her allotment gardening – this marks a new direction for Sarah’s blog, as this year she wants to broaden its scope to include more of Plot 44.
I love Therese Borchard’s take on New Year’s resolutions this week, declaring she is sick of the usual “lame resolutions”, she has resolved that “this year’s is to be okay in all the chaos: to be less obsessed about finding the answers, and more content in navigating through all the messiness in my life.” She is taking as her guiding principle that wonderful Ranier Maria Rilke quote “to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves”. Someone with a question in her heart to resolve this week is Bringing Up Goliath, who wonders if you can feel gratitude and be mad at the same time.
Someone who has made it her mission to find things to be grateful for is Florence, and this week she is finding the gratitude easier to find lounging in the sunshine of Florida!
Nancy has her own great take on this start of a new year which to her is ” more about a mental cleansing and creating a clean slate for the mind.”
And the Pink Underbelly’s Nancy is planning on having some fun with her new year’s goals, as she chooses to view them.
Gretchen also views resolutions as goals and shares some of hers with us on her blog The Second Blooming (a great new year’s blog find).
Lori has come to see New Year’s Resolution, as ” a cop out” and would rather think of it as a “New Year’s Commitment”. Her commitment this year is to “strive to be the best, most true “me” that I can be.”
And Laurie resolves to ditch the guilt this year – that’s one I also need to work on myself!
So many of us have eschewed those “lame resolutions” that Therese writes of, and chosen instead to focus on three words to guide and inspire us during the coming year. Terri has chosen to let “connection” be her guiding word, and shares a little of how last year’s word choices of “healthy, loved, and inspired” led her down the path to a brand new life.
Create, Nurture and Appreciate are Jackie’s three words; while Dr Attai is focusing on resilience, rejuvenation, and serenity. Resilience is also my word this year – I originally borrowed it from Phillipa and it seems to be a popular choice with many of us – so if you want to read more about cultivating resilience in your life, check out this post at Psych Central.
Julia’s new year commitment – she calls it her 2012 manifesto – is all about simplifying life – a wonderful word to guide us all in the coming year.
This week’s #BCSM twitter chat had the three words concept as its theme and if you would like to catch up on what people were tweeting about, check out BCSM Chat “My Three Words”.
Brenda Coffee has been reflecting on beginnings and opportunities in a moving and quite lovely post in Breast Cancer Sisterhood. And Debbie at Where We Go Now echoes the same theme of beginnings (and endings) in her Meditation Monday post and in a follow-on post, she celebrates the joys of female friendship. And while we are on the subject of female friendships, here in Ireland, today, the last day of Christmas is celebrated as “Women’s Christmas” and I have written a post on one of my other blogs (yes, I am a serial blogger!) which explains more about this lovely old Irish tradition.
It’s been a real bumper round-up this week, and I hope I haven’t left anyone out, but if I have, please do leave a link to your post or one you have read which you would like to share with readers. I would like to leave you with a quote from Debbie’s blog by Anna Quindlen, which seems like the perfect way to sum up how I feel about this new year before us:
Life is not so much about beginnings and endings as it is about going on and on and on. It is about muddling through the middle.
Here’s to another year of muddling through the middle together!
Marie xxx
Marie:
What a wonderful collection of blogs for the New Year! I’m so inspired by each of these wonderful women (and, of course, you!) Thank you so much for including my two posts this week. I’m still chewing on the Anna Quindlen quote. Whatever turn “muddling through the middle” takes this year, I know I’ll never be lonely because of my beautiful female friends.
Survival > Existence,
Debbie
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What a wonderful round up of New Year’s resolutions, goals, commitments, words…call them what you like..I was inspired reading them all.
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A great start of another year of blogging – looking forward to catching up with your reccommended reading list 😉
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I love Therese’s post – thanks for the reminder of the Rilke quote..seems like a fantastic quote to carry with us for the year ahead.
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Great round-up and it’s introduced me to some new blogs such as Therese’s and Gretchen’s – will be looking forward to checking them out later today.
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A stellar line up of blogs to get the New Year of blogging off to a great start – thanks for taking the time to put them all togehter in one handy place like this.
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Oh I love that quote by Anna Quindlen – thanks for re-sharing via Debbie’s blog.
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Happy Nollaig na mBan Marie…looking forward to reading your post on Women’s Christmas in your other blog
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Lovely word choices from everyone..i will be borrowing resilience for myself too.
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Marie, thank you so much for including me in the round-up this week! I agree that the new year has brought great inspiration! I am looking forward to embracing whatever unfolds this year with this incredible group if women.
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What a lovely statement of intent Lori – I share your sentiments x
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Marie, thank you for including my post in your New Year roundup. The flip side of feeling grateful is resilience, I think. At least, that’s what I’m aiming for. Thank you for reminding me of that.
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It’s not easy honey..I know..but we will keep supporting and reminding each other in the coming year x
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As always, Marie, an excellent summary of the blogs of the past week. Thanks so much for including me! I so look forward to these weekly posts; please keep them coming!
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I am very appreciative of your support Dr Attai
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Thank you, Marie. I feel better about the New Year just knowing you and so many other wonderful people are out there to offer support through the words we write in our “little blogs”. That’s a great feeling isn’t it? Thanks for including Nancy’s Point in your round-up.
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Such a great round up and it’s so nice to see everyone’s words and thoughts on resolutions for 2012. I hope this year brings peace, adventure, and a renewed sense of purpose to all of us. Looking forward to staying in touch as well as I can with the JBBC community while I’m on the road. Thanks for keeping us all in the loop and for including me in today’s post. xo
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Thinking of you as you head off on your next big adventure – safe travels xxx
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Love the Friday Roundups! I pulled out an old copy of Rilke’s poetry just before Christmas. It has been sitting on my desk. This is prompting me to re-open it. Thanks!
Also, thanks for sharing your other blog — wow, I love that concept of the Women’s Christmas!
Welcome back, Marie. 😉
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Renn, I just discovered that I missed out your latest gorgeous post on “rubies” – am going to hold it til next week’s round-up.
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Marie, thanks so much for including me in your new year line-up. I think it’s such a good excuse to re-focus our minds and we all need to do that once in a while. Happy New Year to you 🙂
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Thanks Marie for including me in your round up… so important to nurture, whether it is gardens or ourselves. Best to you Marie, Sarah
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I love the new direction Being Sarah is heading and look forward to more nurturing posts to inspire us all in 2012
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Thank you so much for the weekly information. LOVE these blogs!! XOXO,
Jan
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Great round up to get the new year off to an inspirational start – thanks for putting it together.
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I’ve been out of pocket and am just now catching up with my favorite blogs. As always, I love your weekly round up. Thank you for including me this week. As always, I like to read what other’s have written and ponder the message they’re sending.
XOXOXO,
Brenda
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Thank you so much for the link! And for reading me! I’m so glad I found you too – beautiful blog. Happy, happy new year!
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Looking forward to reading your blog in the coming year Gretchen 🙂
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