Intentions Review for February 2019

My Star Word for this year is “Empathy”. The internet defines empathy as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Merriam-Webster says, “Empathy is similar to sympathy, but empathy usually suggests stronger, more instinctive feeling.”

When Facebook sent me my “Year in Review,” the thing that stood out for me was that 90% of the pictures I posted through the year were of landscapes, seascapes, and skyscapes. There were VERY few pictures of people, and very few posts about people. I suppose that’s not unusual for an introvert like I am, but I also realized that I tend to flit through life without getting really close to other folks. It’s part of the shell that I’ve built up to keep from suffering the grief that comes from separation. After the nomadic life that I’ve lived (27 houses in eight states and three countries), I realize that I’ve always just found new friends, and forgotten to tend the old ones. But I’ve never had a BFF. The closest thing I’ve had is my family – siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles, parents and children. I try to keep up with them, but I do a poor job of it. The ones I’m reasonably close to are now living in Washington, California, Texas, Arkansas, New York, Illinois, and Alabama. We gather for weddings and funerals and are able to take up where we left off. Anyway, I’d like to change a little of that this year, and, with my Star Word, try to become closer to the people who matter to me, and closer to the ones near to me.

Here are my intentions for 2019.

Physical Health

• Continue to eat real food, and, hopefully, lose about 20 more pounds this year. – I’ve done well with the weight loss, and am down 4 pounds so far this year.
• Continue to average 150 miles a month on my Fitbit. – Again, I’ve done well. According to my Fitbit, I’ve walked 167 miles this month.
• Continue to work with my personal trainer for strength, balance, and endurance. – Check. She has added more core training, and we do both stairs and ramps, in addition to single steps up and down without a railing.
• Return to weekly Tai Chi classes. I’ve dropped out of Tai Chi again. Sorry. It just doesn’t fit into my schedule. Maybe later in the year.
• I’ve been following #NYTWellChallenge. I’m in the third week, and if you are following this blog, I report on what I’m doing with it every day.
• February was almost a lost month. We were house-bound with the snow for two weeks, and locked out of the Wellness Center for another week because of illness in Assisted Living. I did the best I could, but I feel like I lost ground on my steps and endurance.
• You can follow my success (or not) on my blog “Nevertheless I Persisted.”

Emotional Health

• Practice empathy by taking a picture a day of someone who crosses my path. – I’ve almost dropped the picture a day because (see above) I was not out in the world for most of the month. The people I saw were usually people I had already taken pictures of.
• Try to learn the story of each person I take a picture of. – Again, this is a fail. Maybe next month.
• Post those on a new blog “Tribes“.

Intellectual Health

• Expand my leisure reading from fluff mysteries to more substantial novels. – Books read this month.
  • The Library Book by Susan Orleans – finished
  • Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens – finished
  • Becoming by Michelle Obama – finished
  • Womanish Midrash by Wil Gafney – finished
  • The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah – finished
  • The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter – reading
  • Entering the Passion of Jesus – reading all through Lent
• Continue to read the Washington Post and the New York Times for reasonably non-biased reporting. – I scan the headlines and read articles that interest me.
• Continue to watch the Rachel Maddow Show to feed my angst and resolve. – Check
• Return to writing. Try writing a story about each person I take a picture of. – See above.
• Keep writing midrash poetry, as I’m inspired by the Sunday sermon or weekly Bible study. – I don’t have one going right now, but I think I may do the Daughters of Zelaphahad.
• I’m also writing things for the Poetry class that meets twice a month.

Spiritual Health

• Continue to participate in weekly Bible study, and weekly Worship. – Check. We will be expanding to two services the beginning of February. I’m still going at 11:00.
• Try to carve out time daily for intentional prayer and meditation. – I’m not doing very well with this, although my midrash poetry and Wil Gafney’s book are driving me deeper into my beliefs.

Social Health

• Tend the relationships I have at Franke Tobey Jones. – I still regularly attend the Gazebo Group (the folks who meet on Monday evenings for Happy Hour.)
• Tend the relationships I have at Bethany Presbyterian Church. – I also regularly attend Bible Study. Since Coffee Hour is now between the services, I am missing it, but I will be Lay Leader at the early service in April, so maybe I’ll develop a new habit there.
• Tend the relationships I have on Social Media. – I try to keep up with people I call my friends on Facebook. It’s hard when so much of the stuff there is political.

Miscellaneous

• Keep up with People Power as an Admin. – A new group of people has become very active as admins, and I’m allowing them to take the lead. I keep up with what’s going on, though, and support if and when necessary.
• Participate in Town Halls and face-to-face meetings with elected officials. – Attended the Environmental Priorities Lobby Day at the State Capital in January. The Lobby Day with Faith Action Network was cancelled because of weather, unfortunately.
• Our City Council representative was here and met with the residents this month. He was able to slip through between the snow and the illnesses.
• I will be attending NEXT Church next month in Seattle.
• Attend GA Nominating Committee meetings, both face-to-face and virtually. – The first meeting is scheduled for the end of April. I have my train tickets, and plans are made.
• Support #BlackLiveMatter, #Me,Too, #ThePoorPeople’sCampaign, #ClimateAction, and other social justice movements. – I donate regularly to MoveOn, the ACLU, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. I attend rallies and marches if I’m available.