I wasn’t going to do an end of year post but then came across this poem that was shared by Feasts and Fables because it sums up my year and not just this year. And also to share my response to it.
Responding to poems is something we do in the journaling group I attend once a month and it is a great way to get into those subconscious alpha waves
So here first is Brian Bilston’s “This is the year that was not the year”
This was the year that was not the year
This was the year that was not the year
I repaired the bathroom tap
and emptied out the kitchen drawer
of a lifetime’s worth of crap.This was the year that was not the year
in which I launched a new career.
A West End hit eluded me
as did Time Person of the Year.This was the year that was not the year
I became a household name.
Action figures were not sold of me.
I wasn’t made a dame.This was the year that was not the year
I spent less time on my phone.
Nights of passion did not happen
in boutique hotels in Rome.This was the year that was the year
I didn’t get that much done –
much the same as the year before,
much like the one to come.
(Brian Bilston)
And this is my response
This was the year that was not the year
I cleaned and sealed the tiles in the hall
decided what colours to paint said hall
and revamped the kitchen
This was the year that was not the year
I made a plan for the garden
removed the crap from the pots
and remembered to weed regularly
This was the year that was not the year
I cleared out the old paint tins under the stairs
took them and other detritus to the tip
and planned in the downstairs toilet
This was the year that was not the year
I chatted with some kitchen fitters
finally got rid of the dark and blistering work surfaces
and brightened up the kitchen.
This was the year that was not the year
I read more and played less on my phone
finally learned to crochet and paint
and became a household name.
This was the year that was the year
I learned to be content with myself
got motivated on my Substack account
and let myself off the hook
This was the year that was the year
I made some new friendships
did a ten week series with Write Club
and wrote the first draft of my memoirs
This was the year that was the year
that I shared some good pieces – poems and stories
self-published a book on Psalm 23
and am practising gratitude as a way of life
I’ve loved the way this poem evolved. It refused to let me finish without those three positive verses at the end. I do find writing is how explore what I’m thinking, like many well-known writers also say.
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Blessings and peace to you all as we transition smoothly into 2025
page, put all my set things on it and then take my list of things I’d like to do and find out how I can fit them in; things like an artist’s date to write somewhere different, some study time, catch up with people time. And I also reassess if I stuck to my writing goals on the month before. I cannot say that I will leave it all until the end of the year to do this or it may never happen. But also I do not condemn myself if I do not do as I would have like – whether new year resolutions or my plan for the coming week.
choose to focus on the awful or to focus on the awesome or actually look at them as a whole and say “we made it through” which often is my response. In fact for me there have been many years in my life time that have been horrendous with smaller smatterings of awesome than we’ve had in the last 5, but I’m hear and I’m still standing and I’ll looking forward to what is to come.
Aspirational Adventures 