Something always starts to happen this time of year for me.
I know we all would think, because I’m such a summer person, that summer would be the time when things happen for me. However, after the sort of October lull, I’m starting feel the conveyor belt of life underneath me gain speed and things start to move.
And it’s been that way every year as long as I can remember although I usually don’t realize it until I’m already into the thick of it.
This year in particular, I have found myself spending a lot of time contemplating how I got where I am today. While it all started when I asked the question, Where are dreams born?, for my Route 66 Dreams book, I’ve found myself reflecting on that same question for me. I believe it comes from a combination of turning an new decade, the world changing much too quickly (and not always for the better), plus many deaths of people close to me in recent years.
It has all taken me back to spinning around the events, thoughts, clothes, inspirations, and everything else that has led me to where I am today. And where I want to go.
As we get closer to Christmas, to Advent which is a season of anticipation, and my December birthday, it all starts to spin faster and may not come together in obvious ways, but there is much forward movement during the time we’re about to embark on.
While the photo here was taken a few years ago, when I look at it, I see the person I want to be, the person I’ve worked hard to be, the person that I know well (because I’ve taken the time to know myself). The hardest part now is letting go what hasn’t happened– and isn’t going to– and holding onto the dreams I still have, while also continuing to take steps forward to make them happen.
In November and December though, I also take a step back not just from the past year but all the years of my life and see how far I’ve come, where those dreams started, and make continued plans for where I want to go.