Sunday, December 30, 2007

Coming to Terms with 2007 (Or 2007 with Coming to Terms...)

I got this idea from Judi this morning. She, in turn, got it from a couple other blogs she frequents. The idea is to review the past year by taking the first line from the first post of each month. It looked like fun, so I thought I would try it. The results surprised me, a little.

I should preface this by saying that I am not one of those who never goes back and reads my own writing. On the contrary, I derive a measure of satisfaction from going back into my archives from time to time. I guess I just need constant reassurance that I can string together a coherent sentence or two.

So, let’s take a look at those first lines, first posts of the months of 2007---

January--Last Saturday evening we tuned in to NPR to be treated to "Special Coverage" of the execution of Sadaam Hussein.

February--Thirty years of childless marriage have by no means meant that our nest, or our hearts, have been empty.

March--I decided to post something pretty, because today was SO not.

April--Early last week, Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards stood beside his wife and announced that the deadly specter of cancer had returned to Elizabeth Edwards’ life.

May--These days, American government is like a bad case of hives: crazy-making and torturous, and you don’t know which itch to scratch first.

June--The ever-shrinking neighborhood of the blogosphere into which I sank my roots almost four years ago, is once again twisting, turning, contracting...fading.

July--I did indeed have to terminate Mr. Hawaiian Shirt.

August--My next thirty hours will be spent preparing to step out of my new life and back into my old one.

September--After school, while my sisters glued themselves to soap operas on the big color console in the living room, I would hole up in my folks’ bedroom and watch the Cubs on their little black and white portable.

October--From time to time, I try to look back and assess the progress I’ve made in any given area of running the café.

November--Fall arrived at the café last month, dropping duffel bags full of problems into our laps.

December--In the last six weeks, my mother has been in the hospital; in a nursing home; a day away from going back to her apartment…then back to the hospital, and back to the nursing home.

Honestly, I thought I had spent the last 365 days (and more) coming here to whine about how tired, abused, put-upon and overwhelmed I was by the challenges faced by an over-the-hill small business owner. But, look! Only four of these twelve first lines are lead-ins to bitch-fests about my café struggles. This truly amazes me. Knowing how much of my life force really was poured into my business over the past year, I’m surprised (and happy) that the café apparently is not all I’m about.

What surprised me even more is that three of these posts are political rants. I can’t say how happy that makes me. I’d started to think that my political fire had been snuffed under tons of the chaff of everyday living. It was easy to explore and promote lofty ideals when I was half-retired and didn’t have anything else to do. Not so easy to write about, or even care about, those things when life is coming at you at 100 miles an hour. And yet…and yet, obviously, I still have my political wits about me. It remains to be seen how that will play out in the new year (2008, folks! I’ll have to get a new graphic for my sidebar…)

And then there were the posts about the losses…in February, we lost one of our dearest animal "children," and in December, my mom slipped away to the other side.

There’s even one post about one of my favorite subjects on which to rant—my ever-changing, ever-shifting relationship to this—my four-year-old ethereal brain-child. I’ve gone full-circle—from no readers, to lots of readers, back to (almost) no readers and all the places in between. I’ve been inside the community, and (more often than not) outside of it. I’ve had friends, and lost them, too. They’ve disappeared **poof** into the ether, never to be heard from again. But…I stick around. Never one to be unduly influenced by the actions of others, I soldier on. I like it here. I write here. I do it for me.

And to those of you who drop in from time to time to see what I have to say…thanks.

And Happy New Year.

15 comments:

  1. Lisa, I LOVE this!  What a rich year you have had -- even though it hasn't often felt that way.  And I'm amazed (well, not really, since it's you) by how much attention you've managed to give the national and global world in the midst of your family and business trials by fire.  

    Off to try my own.

    http://searchthesea.blogspot.com/

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  2. I believe the readers are here. Some just don't comment often, like me!
    Happy New Year Lisa. You deserve a good one!

    Michelle :)

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  3. Never mind.  My life is incredibly boring.  Why do I waste cyberspace blogging?

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  4. ***poof*** happens in the 'real' world too so why not here. It's just life.

    Happy New Year!!!

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  5. Happy New Year to you Lisa. I wish for you an abundance of laughter, joy, peace, and rest in 2008.

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  6. Happy New Year to you too Lisa!  I thoroughly enjoyed reading through your first lines of the year.  I'm going to have to do the same thing.  Right after I confess.  

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  7. I like this idea and maybe I will do it, too...  I may not have an entry for every month, tho.  I'm such a bad journaler!  :)

    Happy New Year, Lisa - I so enjoy reading you!
    Soda

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  8. Happy New year my friend...I too would do my entry this way if my news wasn't so FANTASTIC!

    I am thrilled to see that your year in review was better than you thought...especially since the ending was so sad for you.

    XXOO

    Your surprise present is still on it's way, I did manage to get it completed, even with then infant in my arms.....I did not; however, get it sent.

    Much love, ckb

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  9. Well I know that you are amongst my top 5 in the 100 or so blogs I read and the 50 or so that I comment in.  

    You are about soooooo much more than a Cafe.  

    Don't worry when people leave your circle of readers so much, more often than not it is their issues that take them away not your issues that send them packing.  

    I often double check my political opinions against yours.  Seriously.  You are a clear thinker and sometimes I am not.  Its always good to see if maybe I am not the only one who thinks a certain way or whether or not I should do some reevaluating.  Your opinions matter to me....please keep sharing.

    Your personal writing shares who you are.  A pretty great person.  I think I speak for most of your commenters when I say that we WANT to know you.  Please keep sharing.

    Happy New Year to you too!  

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  10. Happy New Year to you too.

    Jackie

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  11. I read your blog, sweetie!  Sometimes I have a hard time getting the software to let me post comments, but I do read it.  And I remembered most of those first lines.  It's a great blog idea.

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  12. Lisa, your review is GREAT!  I'm not surprised, though.  I always look forward to reading what you've written.

    Here's to a great 2008.

    Judi

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  13. I am another person who reads all of your posts (thanks to AOL Alerts).  I don't often comment, but thought I would join in all the the Happy New Year 2008 wishs to you.  Amber

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  14. I'm still here, Lisa.  Happy New Year and I know this is a year you've been waiting for lo these many past.  I follow your journal faithfully and with pleasure.  Still without access on the home front but I make my weekly pilgrimage to the library to check my "mailbox".  

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