2010-2019: The Decade in Review (Short version)





I’m slow getting to this, but since this was probably the most important decade of my life so far, I felt it was important to spend some time reviewing it.  My 40’s were amazing.  Not easy by any means, but they were so full of what I needed to grow and move in the direction of my call.  

Grief

  • I lost many friends, family members, and mentors during this decade. There were also many tragedies to grieve. I'm grateful that I also found communities that held me in my grief and gave me a place to grieve in the way that I needed to. 

Work

  • Continued to teach voice lessons at Eastview High School. Involved in MMTA and NATS. 
  • Started a Facebook group for voice teachers.  
  • Began studying tai chi, then certified to teach, then became a Senior Trainer. 
  • Worked at Target
  • Picked up another lesson location with Lakeville Community Ed. 
  • Hired as Women's Ensemble Assistant at Unity Church-Unitarian. 

Health

  • Fell and broke my elbow. Fell and messed up my knee twice in the same month. Happy to report that as my tai chi skills have improved, the falls have decreased in frequency and severity. 
  • ER visit in 2014 for chest pains. I wasn't sure if it was a heart thing, a reaction to the steroids I had been taking, or a problem with my lungs. Turns out it was just anxiety and reflux that were making me wonder if I was dying. 
  • Learned more ways to manage my fibromyalgia, anxiety, and depression. More listening to my body. 
  • Substantial changes in diet—gluten, dairy, chocolate, caffeine, limited nightshades, limited sugar. When I have stuff I shouldn’t, I pay for it. 
  • Quit wearing makeup due to skin that has become sensitive to everything except the most expensive cosmetics and I refuse to pay that much money. 
  • Developed a morning routine focusing on mind, body, spirit

Church/Spirituality

  • Continued to reframe difficult concepts.
  • Signed the membership book at Unity Church-Unitarian.
  • Involved in lots of programs at church. 
  • Started considering ministry  and going to seminary. Finally the pieces fell together. 
  • Applied, was accepted, and began seminary at Meadville Lombard Theological School. 
  • The theme my first month at Unity was Faith. That was where I first heard the words of Paul Tillich. In about 10 days, I'll be leading a discussion of the first chapter of Tillich's Dynamics of Faith in my Liberal Theology class. I love the circular connection here. 

Creativity

Writing

  • Blogged—(started in 2009). 
  • Finished the outline for the series I began writing in 2003. Pieces came together. I've written a lot of it, but there are still gaps to fill in, and of course, the difficult task of editing. 
  • Wrote Poetry
  • Lots of journaling and exploring my calling through writing. 
  • Writing as Spiritual Practice sessions with Karen Hering.

Photography

  • Year of Beauty pictures--Every day for more than a year, I tried to find something beautiful in nature and I documented it by taking pictures with my broken iPhone 3. 
  • Photo published in Cairns.

Art

  • "Eat Chocolate. Make Art." Masks and other pieces that include chocolate wrappers as part of the art.  
  • Other projects with colored pencils, crayons, collage, etc.

Music

  • Got back to singing with a choir on a regular basis.  Started singing with Unity's Women's Ensemble.  
  • Wrote some songs.  

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