On Christmas Eve we bundled up and took Theo to a candlelight church service down the road. We weren’t really sure how it would go, as it’s hard to contain Theo and his desire to get into mischief. We assumed there would be a lot of crying. Instead, Andy and I had to take turns removing Theo from the sanctuary, as his outbursts of laughter and his dance moves to the solemn carols were a little bit distracting to those wishing to worship. We brought him back in for the final carol, “Silent Night,” as one by one, we lit each others' candles. The energy in the room shifted dramatically. Suddenly there was light in the darkness—hope—and it shone brightly. I loved seeing the glow of the candlelight reflected in Theo’s eyes, his chubby hands reaching out to grab the candle-a grin on his face. It just might have been my favorite moment of 2015.
In our family, Theo had the biggest year of all. Since his life as a pathetic (yet adorable) newborn who couldn’t even hold his head up, he has learned to smile, laugh, roll over, army crawl, for real crawl, pull himself up, make funny sounds, wave, high five, eat solid foods, and he is well on his way to being able to walk. Anything that Andy and I may have accomplished pales in comparison to all of that. Theo is a little ball of joy and my husband and I have so much fun being his parents. Also we are tired. Very, very tired. Please send help.
On the business side of things, I have loved working with people who are navigating transitions, whether into parenthood or in their careers and relationships. Currently I’m teaching a weekly prenatal yoga class, giving intuitive readings, and I have also started to take clients as a labor doula. I have attended two births so far and am currently on call for my third.
While I am not a fan myself of New Year’s resolutions, I do like to set intentions. For 2016 I have chosen a single word that I would like to continually remind myself of throughout the year: CREATE. This word is important for me on a number of levels. It is a reminder to carve out time each the week to create: the bake, to write, to design, to collaborate-to make stuff. It doesn’t really matter what. It just matters that I allow the time and space for this to happen. CREATE is also a reminder of the larger idea that we all have the ability to create the lives that we dream about having. It is up to us to figure out what it is that we want and then go and get it.
Wishing you all the best in 2016,
Mari