TAG!

Fa-so-la-la

I'm it! I hereby tag myself to write the ten most important things I learned last year. I want to do this for my own sake, really. It's actually a very worthy exercise, especially after such a learningful year. So here we are... the top ten things I learned in 2005.

(Wait, wait. Hold it. Something tells me I'm gonna go waaay over the limit. Consider yourself warned.)

(Oh, and I tag The Shieldmaiden.)

(And just so you know, I learned a lot that isn't on this list. Like I said-- a learningful year. Very. Lots of small stuff. Lots of big stuff. Lots and lots. This is just a select sample.)

(Ok, I'm really gonna start now....)

• Music is the single most comforting thing to me outside of prayer. I've always loved music, but I've really only just discovered the extent of the effect it can have on me. I've learned that sometimes, I really just need to sing along to some Gershwin and wash dishes (another oddly comforting act). Or sit and listen to Sean Watkins and think. Or fall asleep to Bebo Norman (magical stuff for that sort of thing-- can soothe you right back into a good frame of mind, and always makes you meditate on the power of the Lord). Or go play some Chopin for an hour or so. It's amazing. And even if it doesn't exactly make you feel better, it at least helps you enjoy feeling bad. hahahahahhahaha.
• I'm happiest when I'm writing frequently.
• I'm a lot lazier than I ever suspected. sigh.
• I'm also a much worse night owl than I ever suspected. People, it's baaaad. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. Oh deary me.
• Some people just need a little grace. Meaning that if the Lord loves 'em, I'd better too. Even if it's hard.
• Ain't nothin' wrong with a little clannishness. Stick with the tribe.
• Time is largely irrelevant. You can bounce along for two years and not change much, and then become a completely new person in two months. Maturity is much more independant of the passing of time that I ever suspected. To prove my point, most of the stuff on this list I learned in the last five months. What exactly I was doing before that I'm not quite sure.
• Peanut M&M's are wonderful things....so wonderful. Oh yes. Yes yes yes.
• I have a terrible and previously undiscovered weakness for skirts. Oh my yes. I see them. I fall in love with them. Everywhere I go I lose my heart to one. What shall I do???? Oh deary me. Limited closet space. Limited cash. And unbounded love in my heart for....sigh.... skirts. Especially big fluffy ones. Or short swingy ones. Or long swooshy ones. The list goes on. And on. I love skirts.
• And flats. Did I mention flats? As in the shoes. They're peachy.
• Emotions are not nearly as hard to come by as I used to think.
• There are some things that just don't need to be said.
• Cell phones make the world go round.
• There's a fine line between vanity and concern for other people's eyes.

And the single most important thing I've learned all year-- for that matter, the single most important thing I've learned in a long time:

• When you find people really and truly worthy of being loved, it's hard, yea, even impossible to love them too much. And when you love people, it's hard, yea, even impossible to show them that too much. The thing to do is to just get over yourself and love them as hard as you know how. I've never met anyone who couldn't use a little more assurance that they are loved. I discovered this year that I very often feel big love for people and do absolutely nothing about it. This must cease. After all, we all grooove on looooove. :-)

Wait, wait. I take that back. This is the single most important thing I've learned--

• When the Lord says to be still and know that He is God, He means it.