Hello. My name is Malinda, and I?m addicted…to Pinterest. OK, so maybe that?s not the juicy gossip you?re looking for, but it?s the best I can do.
Other social media?Facebook, for instance?I could take or leave. Twitter? Never tried it. Instagram? No account there either.
But Pinterest, with its beautiful photos of spectacular organization, lovely homes, clever tips, recipes and crafty ideas, paired with capability to organize and save all those ideas for later in a virtual (aka paperless!) system, feeds my creative juices.
Need inspiration for an upcoming ?Frozen? birthday party for your spunky, Elsa and Anna loving, ?Let it Go? singing (and dancing) almost 5-year-old? Pinned it.
Need a fun, kid-friendly Christmas gift for a Diet Dr. Pepper loving first-grade teacher? Pinned it.
Perhaps a refresher on making paper boxes to use as desk organizers? Pinned it.
It?s all there. With lovely visuals and collective how-tos.
There are photos to dream on, plan and implement. There are ideas that make life easier, and tips for clever and easy toy storage. And recipes and crochet patterns galore.
But of course there is a let-down.
There are so many good ideas that I can lose focus. Or become overwhelmed into inactivity. Or just be so tired from life that I don?t want to try one more thing, no matter how easy it looks.
And often that?s how I start a new year…with a lot of great ideas and good intentions that quickly get overloaded with the ordinary.
I approach a new year with certain expectation. Maybe you do it to. But then New Year?s Eve rolls into New Year?s Day and the dishwasher still needs unloaded, the laundry needs folded, the family needs breakfast, lunch and supper.
And all of a sudden the new year looks just like the last. Unless there?s intentionality that goes into the certain expectation.
For the last couple years, I?ve approached the new year, not with a resolution, but with a word. But mostly I picked something because it seemed like the right thing to do. So when the day-to-day happened, it was easy to let the word go in the shuffle.
This year, though, my word choice isn?t a forced ideal. It?s more a mandate.
My word this year is ?restore.?
And unlike those secondary ?intentions? I?ve picked as my focus in years past, this year I?m all in.
I got my first taste of restoration 14 months ago at Women?s Encounter. Over that weekend, things started to unravel…but in a healthy and welcome way.
After that, I decided to take another leap of faith, seeking out help in this unraveling.
As this progressed, it became clear that restoration from past trauma needed to happen. I?m glad for it. I?m excited for it. I?m thankful for it.
So much so, that I?ve approached my 2015 word with enthusiasm…even picking it well before the new year deadline.
It feels good to have something collective to work toward.
Life will still roll. Alarms will ring, spelling words will be learned, songs will be sung, meals will be made, laundry will pile up.
The day-to-day will happen. But I will remain intentional in making 2015 a year of restoration. And finding inspiration for Project Restore is one thing I don?t need Pinterest for.
