So I choose one that has long been one of my favorite quotes ever; one I have here on my sidebar, from Oscar Wilde via Mabel Chiltern (Minnie Driver):

“To look at a thing is quite different from seeing it; for one does not see anything, until one sees it’s true beauty.”

It’s so true…we all look at many things throughout the many days of our lives…but few of us truly see what we are looking at.

When I first heard this, I was so impacted, that I went out the next day, lay flat on my stomach on a grassy knoll, and simply stared at a blade of grass for hours. I walked away that day knowing more about beauty than what I had learned in a lifetime before that.

We rarely truly see people, as well as things. We look at them all the time, but until you see the beauty that is hidden inside, until you’ve taken the time to know them on that level, you’ve not seen them.
I feel like people do that to me a lot…just look at me, never truly seeing.
But more importantly, do I do that to them? Too often, the answer is yes. It takes time, and commitment to really see someone, to find the beauty inside.

Some people are masters at seeing. If you know one, watch them;, take notes even, if that’s your thing. But learn the secret of seeing from them. Because it’s well worth it.

Even though this is a great song, it’s also a bit of a downer…so, on a more positive note (or maybe not for them!), my new babies have their first (with me, second for them) shots today!!

Since I’m not feeling that great today, my sister is taking us this afternoon. Sweet of her.
But, since we’ll be leaving in thirty minutes, I need to go get myself, Sebastian, and ‘that other one’, ready to head out the door.

But…I decided that I don’t need that anymore. I am who I am, a work in progress. I’m not perfect, nor do I ever wish to appear so. People learn from mistakes…they learn from yours just as much as you learn from theirs…or your own.

Every once in a while, I may pull an old post out of the archives there, and share it with you here…or maybe not. The past is in the past, and sometimes it’s best left there…yet, you can learn from it also. So, I won’t share everything (and I retired it, so don’t even bother looking), but I will look towards the future, using the past to grow in wisdom.

So, looking towards that future, I decided it was time for a change…my new inspiration comes from one of the first posts I had written:

Hope To Inspire

Like my dear Jane,

“I find, on looking into my affairs, that instead of being very rich I am likely to be very poor…It is as well…to prepare you for the sight of a sister sunk in poverty, that it may not overcome your spirits.”
Jane, in a letter to her sister, Cassandra.

Hope to inspire….what does it mean? Well you may ask. This blog and it’s title are born of many things; hope not the least. Hope that someday, I won’t echo Janes’ thought above with truth. Hope that a brighter day lies waiting tomorrow. Hope…faith, and those things unseen. Hope in Christ, that He is faithful. Hope that one day I may “hope to feel or inspire affection again”.
But that is my life right now. Hope. Inspiration. Thoughts, dreams, goals, even irritations. Those things that make us human: fear, sorrow, joy, pain, love, faith…and hope.

I’m starting a new journey; one that I invite you to share with me. Are you willing to ride with me, to risk comfort for what may come? Honestly, you’ll still be doing it in relative comfort, from that of your office chair…but still.
My thoughts I lay open…my dreams…even my heart. Tread light upon them.

But, as Jane  says

“Those who tell their own story must be listened to with caution….[for] seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not disguised, or a little mistaken.”
From Sanditon and Emma

Jane was incredibly wise….I hope to learn from her example. As you would be well to do. Sift what you hear…think on it, determining the truth in it…and then, only then, may I hope to inspire you.

I just finished reading through them (there’s only about 6-7, it didn’t take long–you can find them under my archives for January of 2011), and was contemplating my goals for this new year….

25

That seems….well, honestly, it’s so surreal. The fact that I’m going to be twenty-five years old….

So much has happened. So much hasn’t happened. So much has changed. So much is still the same.

But one thing I know for sure is different is this:

I’m done waiting.

Not in a “I quite” way…but a slow realization that I don’t have to wait anymore…for life. It’s happening all around me, and I’m happy. I’m fine with it…even a little excited.

I know some things will stay the same…and some will change. That’s the way of life.

But I hope my writing will be one of those things that changes. Not my writing style…but just that I’ll be, perhaps, in a new season of writing where I really accomplish something.

I have puppies again, so I know my social life will change…for a while, at least till they’re able to be on their own much more.  And then, there’s the whole pregnancy thing to look forward to (is there even such a thing as a dog midwife? ‘Cause I’m gonna need one!! Yes, I’m a wimp…), which will limit me again.

I also hope that my spiritual life will change…and keep changing. I want to realize at the beginning of each new year that I’m stronger in my walk with God than the one before. I want to have more joy, more love…and I want to be able to share that with the world (intensely private person, here).

I want to build new relationships…and cultivate the old ones.

I would love to travel to Europe (Italy, Scotland, Ireland, England, etc…) and Australia someday….but I know that’s not likely to change this year. So I’ll be content traveling to sunny Florida, exploring the Texas hill country, or traversing the great Rocky Mountains.

I’d like to have my own place…but instead, I’ll try to live peaceably in my parents household…and try not to take control of the things I shouldn’t.

I want to be more healthy…and this is something I can change…in moderation. Activity everyday; hopefully back to running once it warms up (and if my knees would stop acting up), some regular volleyball games, some serious sweating with my workout buddy, Jillian, and even learn some new dance moves (which one day I’ll be brave enough to do in front of *gasp* people!) with my dance workout routines. Try to make healthy choices in what I eat…and be more positive in my thinking towards myself.

Maybe I’ll finally find time to learn how to work that recording equipment…and use it. I hope that I’ll be able to work on my songwriting, as well as the other types.

I’d like to be married…but again, probably not gonna change this year. So like I said before, I’ll concentrate on the friendships God sends me this new year, and focus also on the ones He’s already given.

Which leads me to my word for 2012: LOVE.

Not the mushy, romantic type of love that, yes, every girl dreams about….but that love that Christ has for us. That sacrificial, brotherly love. The kind of love that puts others before ourselves.

Because that’s the kind love I’m going to be working on this year.

Thought this was really cool…..

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,400 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 57 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

I realized that with only 15 more views, I shall have reached the 5,000 mark. Who would have thought when I started this thing that so many people would have even taken the time to glance at my page, much less read almost every post….

Thanks ya’ll!!!!

Not my name, but my blogname. Of course, I won’t be able to change my domain name, so something of the old will still remain (which I find rather endearing), but I feel the focus of my writing has taken a slightly different turn.

And it somehow seems fitting to do this, what with my becoming a quarter-of-a-century old next week. Well, that’s how my sister terms it, and while funny coming out of her mouth; from mine it is just plain depressing, so I won’t say that again anytime soon.

So stay tuned, as I give my blog a makeover…I hope you’ll be pleased with the results.

1. Be a touron for a day. I actually had to look this word up. What I discovered was…interesting. And, I think, shall be pretty easy for me.
2. Make a list of 100 things that make you happy.
3. Talk loudly in a made up language.
4. Message in a bottle.
5. Bake for a neighbor and go introduce yourself.
6. Grow a plant.
7. Sleep under the stars.
8. Have a bonfire.
9. Call every person you interact with by a pet name for a whole day.
10. Learn to say hello in 15 languages.
11. In one day, use 15 new words.
12. Ride a rollercoaster.
13. Don’t say anything self-deprecating for a day.
14. Every time you criticize yourself, write down a positive thing about yourself.
15. Ride on a motorcycle. Originally, this was a Segway…but I changed it due to improbability…or should I say, impossibility. The thing is entirely extinct.
16. Piece (and finish!) a Queen size quilt.
17. Volunteer for 12 hours straight.
18. Take a martial arts class.
19. Mismatch for a day
    
20. Every time someone speaks, write it down in a journal for a day.
    
21. Give inspirational notes to everyone you talk to for a whole day.
22. Use a fake name all day.
    
23. Don’t use your phone all day.
24. Don’t look at a clock all day.
25. Wear sunglasses all day (including inside).
26. Laugh at everything people say for a whole day.
    
27. Watch the 10 greatest american movies of all time.
28. Eat something new and exotic.
29. Go all day without complaining.
    
30. Give a dollar to every homeless person you see (with a note).
31. Compliment every person you buy something from for a day…sincerely..
32. Open up to a completely random person.
    
33. Acknowledge/write down every time you judge someone…then think of a positive attribute about them.
34. Eat at a nice restaurant alone.
35. Sing karaoke.
36. Tell someone something you’ve always wanted to tell them.
37. Be honest for a whole day.
38. Clean a public square.
39. Don’t say sorry unless you’re really sorry.
40. Do something kind every hour for a day.
41. Personify an alter ego for a day.
42. Say hi to everyone you see for a day.
43. Spend a day using the opposite hand.
44. Go a day without utensils.
45. Be goth for a day.
    
46. Invent a new word everyday for a week.
47. Volunteer at a new place every day for a whole week.
48. Take pictures with a stranger in a photo booth.
49. Live on a dollar a day for a weekend.
50. Use the worst pick up line on someone. Honestly….this one’s gonna wait till I actually know (and am in a relationship with) the guy….is that cheating?
    
51. Dance in a public place.
52. Go for a run while dancing.
53. Pay for the person behind you (gas, starbucks, etc).
54. Run a lemonade stand.
55. Arcade games in dress clothes.
56. Go to a renaissance fair in costume.
57. Write on the walls of the 10 people to pop up on your newsfeed (facebook)
58. Cook enough food for 100 people and donate it.
59. Give away one of your prized possessions to charity.
60. Update your fb status at least 20 times in one day.
61. Join a flashmob.
62. Eat raw food for a whole day.
63. Sit in one spot from sunrise to sunset.
64. Go a week with no facebook.
65. Play ping-pong.
    
66. Write a love letter to yourself.
67. Do yoga in a public place.
68. Write down and tell, completely honestly to, the people who matter to you.
69. Don’t look in a mirror all day and don’t primp (hair, make up, etc) for a day.
70. Overcome an intense fear (give blood, touch a snake).
71. Renew a relationship with someone you’ve lost touch with.
72. For 4 days in a row, read at least 3 different newspapers (at least Wall St Journal, BBC, and New York Times).
    
73. Arrange a lunch/coffee date with someone new.
74. Buy something that you want, give it to someone else.
75. Be as “green” as possible for a day.
76. No caffeine for a week.
77. Organize your own pick up sports game.
78. Take pictures of a momentous occasion and don’t post them on facebook.
79. Use an accent all day.
80. Don’t talk behind anyone’s back for a day.
81. Go all day without cursing. Ok, since that is not a normal thing for me, I’m gonna include the ‘tame alternatives’, such as gosh, nuts, dadgummit, etc, etc…..
82. Give someone an anonymous gift.
83. Find a new singer/band every day for a week- only listen to them each day.
84. Attend a lecture out of your element.
85. Attend a sporting event with face paint and a full outfit.
86. Drink only water for a week.
87. Use a fake name all day.
88. Go to a party and dance. Again, was originally don’t drink…but I don’t normally anyway. I do, however, cling to the wall for dear life and avoid all eye contact in order to escape embarrassing myself through dancing.
    
89.  Wear someone else’s shoes for a day (literally and figuratively).
90. Learn how to make one amazing recipe.
91. Ice Skate.
92. Write your obituary.
    
93. Write your will.
94. Publish a novel. This is personally for me…if you don’t write, challenge yourself to write a short story.
95. Eat every meal at home for a week.
96. Break a bad habit (must keep up for at least a week).
97. See a movie alone.
98. Fly a kite.
99. Ride a mechanical bull.
100. Kiss someone in the rain.