Happy New Year! I hope that 2014 is your best year ever! I've haven't been blogging recently because I can't seem to balance blogging, getting ready for the holidays and the huge amount of ornaments I paint in November and December! On the one hand, I'm so grateful for the work and love painting, but on the other hand, I walk around the house looking like a cave woman on crack for months! (I've never actually seen a cave woman on crack, but every time I passed a mirror, that was the thought that popped into my head :)).
I turned 49 in December. Forty-nine. 49. Neunundvierzig. It's so different from the other adult "9" numbers; 19, 29, and 39. Back then, I was only thinking about the next decade and really only looked back on the last ten years to see if my predictions came true and if I was on track. Forty-nine means I am about to embark on the "second half" of my life and consequently, I'm not looking back and analyzing the last ten years, I'm looking at the last forty-nine! This time it's become less about looking to see where my boat is heading and adjusting the course or the sails to get to my next destination and more about wondering if I'm even in the right OCEAN! I can understand why so many people have a mid-life crisis. I certainly feel an urgency to make sure I'm on the right track, now before it's too late, while I'm still young enough to make the changes and young enough to enjoy the changes I make!
What has gone right in my forty-nine years? I would still choose the life I've led even if I could go back and change it. Are Bob and I happy all of the time? Of course not, but we are still committed to our relationship and the promise of making it better and better over time. My kids are such a joy to me. They are all such blessings and I'm lucky - I don't often pine for a life not lived. My family and friends are my strong supporters and how I got mixed up in such a hilarious group of people is nothing short of a miracle!
What would I change? The big rest-of-my-life goal is to get my creative opus that is hiding inside me out into the light. Grandma Moses didn't start painting until her mid 70's and only because she was no longer able to embroider because she had arthritis (she went on to paint for almost 30 years!). Julia Child wasn't THE Julia Child until after she was 50! One of my favorite late bloomers is probably Sister Marion Irvine, who at 47 was overweight and smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and she decided to make some changes. She started running and by the time she was 54 she qualified for the Olympic time trials! It aint over til it's over folks! I am committed to not just think about it, but to do it. Learn the technology that will help my business and try and work smarter. Write a business plan, sign up for Twitter and Instagram and figure out exactly how to link them to my facebook. (I am hoping that I will also find out what the heck Instagram is while I'm doing that...sheesh). I am WOMAN, hear me TWEET!
The rest are the usual annual goals - improve my health, read more, take classes, simplify and get organized. MARK MY WORDS - (she looks up and raises her fist to the sky) God as my witness - Christmas 2014 will not be stressful!!! IT WILL NOT!!
So let's get started making this the best year - or 50 years - that we've ever had! Happy 2014! I am so grateful to be here with you and to have the opportunity to share my life and projects with you and I wish you health, success and the realization of all of your dreams this year!
Love, Andie
