Back today with the second half of my 2021 Wrap Up- here to recap my themes of Verso L’alto and Holidays. (IF you missed the first half, you can read about it HERE.)
Holidays took place mostly on instagram, and I’ll admit that I was a bit hit and miss on sharing. Still, I consider this focus a huge success because even when I forgot to post about it, we celebrated at least one silly random holiday a week, and often more than that. This created the opportunity for so much fun with my kids. My birthday celebration, my daughter’s birthday falling on a holiday, and how differently it feels to approach the holiday season in what I hope is a more long term home.
If you missed my post on my word of the year this year, then you might have been confused about how Verso L’alto was in my year of H. This focus on hiking, moving higher, and spiritual growth has been really fun to write about. I started the year with a pretty lofty mini-goal- hike every day in January! You can read about what I learned from that experience HERE. I also wrote about goals and hikes I did not finish and how that isn’t always the worst thing. I talked about the frustration of facing the same challenges over and over and the joys of hiking the same area over and over. On the flip side, I wrote about differences- how different trails offer different gifts and how hiking somewhere entirely new, including at some gorgeous national parks, has brought me new perspective and a brand new set of challenges and goals. I am closing out the year with over 100 hikes of various lengths and difficulty and I am not sure the next time I’ll have the chance to do that now that my youngest is getting super heavy for the baby carrier and we are planning to add more social activities and school volunteering back into our lives as more of the kids get vaccinated..
I also wrote about so much around this theme, but I think the most astonishing developments in relationship to this word of 2021 happened outside the scope of my blog. I moved to a new home where I see a gorgeous mountain outside my master bedroom window each morning- the absolute best view during my yoga or prayer time. I built strength- both physical and mental from tackling so much elevation this year. I trained myself to take more delight in the simple joys of the world around me and cultivated a sense of awe for the amazing trails I know are all over the world. Most importantly, all the time I took for the trails helped me find deep moments of peace during what was an incredibly stressful and confusing year. Hiking with my kids taught me so many lessons, including being thankful for how far I’ve come and how to let go of what I don’t need to keep carrying.
I wanted to end this wrap up by sharing a few songs that I listened to during many hikes this past year. I hope they will lift your spirits and bring you some perspective when you listen:
MOUNTAIN SOUND BY OF MONSTERS AND MEN
Alphabet Resolutions 