Yes, I know January 1st was last Thursday but really, we can't count that day as the start of the new year because it is a holiday and Friday all I was doing was working on stuff to close out 2014 and then it was a weekend. So, I am officially announcing that TODAY is actually the first day of the New Year. So, for all of you that have already broken your New Year's resolutions you are in luck! We are starting over!
Actually, every day we start over. We've all heard that a million times - every day is a brand new slate (or maybe we should update that to every day is a brand new FB post? A brand new Word document? What has replaced a blackboard slate that students used to use in the classroom?) I digress. A lot when I'm writing. That is how my brain works. Oh, I got another idea! I need to act on it right away! Gosh knows if I will remember it again!
Ok, so today is a new day. I have a framed quote by Henry David Thoreau on a shelf at the top of my stairs - "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you imagined." The image is made of wild flowers and leaves. The image though intrigues me. I'm not sure if it was intended as shown or if somehow a mistake was made. If you look at the image one of the long leaves is bent and then one of the flowers is lower, not part of the core group. I like it this way. Not some perfect cluster of flowers. And I think that is why I like it with this quote.
I think far to often the life we imagine is perfect. Why not imagine a life where everything works the way you want? That's what imagination is for right? To dream of the perfect life where we accomplish everything we ever want. But I think that sets us up for failure. Because life isn't perfect. We don't always get everything we imagine - or at least not in the way we have perfected it in our imagination.
Perfect is word that is like truth. We each have our own definition of the perfection of something. I would like to propose that we alter our definition of "perfection." We equate the word "perfect" to mean flawless, absolutely no blemishes or faults. Well, that is one definition of the word. Yet if you look at all the definitions for the word you find that "perfection" can also mean being as free as possible from flaws or defects. That "perfect" also means "exactly fitting the need in a certain situation." So that gives us more breathing room. We get to decide what perfect means in our imagined life. The image of the wildflowers to me is perfect because it has the perceived flaws.
So, imagine again that life in your dreams. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you imagined.
Nadine
PS - GreenWonders was the name of the company on the back of my frame but their website is no longer valid. The image was handmade with real flowers and leaves made from abaca, rice straw and other natural fibers. Tree-free and acid-free.