Peace Like A River

I don't usually blog on Saturdays but before the storm I had planned to participate in the Back to Blogging Challenge and I didn't get to do that because we didn't have power. I think it all worked out for the best though because it's been a long week and starting the weekend with some positive reflection is a good way to go so I'm starting off with What Makes You Feel Peaceful?

I've mentioned before that my grandparents live in a teeny-tiny fishing village and my grandfather's warf/boat are my favourite places in the world. Being there is the best kind of peaceful because it's not necessarily calm & quiet but it's comfortable in the routine of hard work, community and contentment. It gets extra peaceful points watching the sunrise over the ocean. 

I love being in the kitchen, turning ingredients into food is calming and there's something extra satisfying about making something delicious. Photography is a fairly recent hobby, but something I've come to love a whole lot the world seems a little kinder when viewed through a camera lens. Campfires are flat-out magical. Some of my best memories are sitting around a campfire with friends either in silence as we all watch the flames or in joyful conversation.

Camp is the opposite of peaceful in a lot of ways, but there are small windows of time when it feels like a pretty peaceful place. My favourite time used to be in the morning for about half an hour before everyone was up and about for the day, sitting in the office sipping hot coffee and getting to check in with the counsellors as they went by getting ready for the day. And another window of time at the end of the day when mostly everyone was headed to bed sneaking away for a few minutes to watch the sunset. And at the end of a session eating the first non-camp food meal of the week (often Subway, pizza or chicken strips & fries) and watching episodes of Friends or How I Met Your Mother. 

The similarities of my peacefulness are pretty obvious. I like nature and the outdoors, food and documenting it all for the future. 

Show Love

Long before I started blogging myself I read blogs so I know that this time of year it's pretty common for bloggers to choose a word for the upcoming year. Focus on that word and make it a theme for the 12 months ahead. I knew it was something I wanted to do in 2014 and I've been thinking about which word to choose for over a month now. I narrowed it down to five and carefully considered each one before making a decision. 

Humility 

Grace

Joy

Love

Peace

Humility. For awhile this was the word I was stuck on, but then I also wanted to be more confident. That led me down a very confusing train of thought about balancing being confident and being humble. For a few days I thought that I'd made a decision and in 2014 I would spend time discerning how to improve my humility and also improve my confidence. Then I thought about it some more and decided that challenge may be a little advanced so I moved on to the next option.

Grace. It's part of my blog name, it's one of my favourite words, I would totally use it as a name for if it wasn't for every third kid being named Grace/Gracie. It seemed like a good choice, until it seemed too easy. Not challenging enough. Still one of my favourite words and concepts but I wasn't sure how to really make it into a theme for the whole year.

Joy. Focus on finding joy in the little things, being joyful in all situations and circumstances. It's pretty straight forward. I wasn't feeling it though, it seemed like a word I had to consider because it "make sense" but when I really thought about it I couldn't get myself excited about making it my word.

Love. There aren't many things in this world that are better than love. God's love, romantic love, love between friends, family, loving the little things. Lots of options for love. But again, it just didn't feel right. Somehow declaring that my word of the year would be Love felt flat and boring. 

Peace. I'm a worrier by nature. Anxiety is something I am extremely familiar with. I could use some more peace in my life. I couldn't sell myself on it though, like love, it felt like a word I was only considering because it I should be, so I moved on.

Which left me with all the words on my list crossed off for one reason or another. So I looked at all the words I had originally written down and tried to find a commonality between everything. After a few minutes something jumped out at me and I knew almost instantly without having to spend days mulling it over that my 'word' for 2014 would be a (short) phrase.

What I like about this phrase is that it's short enough to be easily remembered, vague enough that it can apply to all situations and yet specific enough that there's no questions about the focus. Show Love. I think it does a good job of encompassing a lot of the aspects I was trying to focus on with each of the words I was originally considering. I can show love by bringing joy to others, by being gracious, by being peaceful, praising God, by being humble, there are so many ways to show love. To myself, God, friends, strangers, the planet. I'm really looking forward to challenging myself to showing love over the next twelve months. 

How will you 'Show Love' in 2014? I'd love to know what word you chose for this year!

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

 {one} Comfort is a warm shower after splashing in puddles on a rainy summer afternoon. Changing into jogging pants (bonus points if they happen to be fresh out of the dryer) and spending the evening snuggling under the covers. It's feeling safe and warm and happy from the tips of your fingers to the tips of your toes.

{two} I've been listening to this song all summer and I still listen to it every time I'm in the car. I think it's earned a spot on my "All-Time Favourite Songs" playlist.

{three} My little corner of the world is getting a Target, and in that Target there's going to be a Starbucks! I am so excited, I'm not a Starbucks Addict (that's kind of impossible when the nearest one is 5 hours away) but I enjoy the occasional  Starbucks treat! 

{four} I have a giant pile of books on my bookshelf waiting to be read. I planned to get back into reading but then I started watching Breaking Bad...and catching up with that became a priority. I finished watching the most recent episode last (CRAZY!) so maybe now I will pick up a book again. Although a friend is begging me to watch New Girl...

{five} I haven't updated to iOS7 yet, because I like the way iOS6 looks and I don't understand people's dedication to spending five hours waiting for it to download! So now I'm just going to be stubborn and avoid it until Apple forces me to update...or I get annoyed looking at the notification button. 

If you're dropping by from the "Let's Be Friends" Blog Hop be sure to leave me a comment so I can drop by your blog!