Nurture

My One Little Word for 2011.

(click on picture to enlarge)

Nurture
-to care for and encourage the growth & development of someone or something

 

I will nurture:

- our baby girl 

- myself- physically, mentally & spiritually

- my relationship with Cory

- my relationship with my family

- my relationships with my friends

- my art

- my blog

- my story telling and memory keeping

- my work

- my dreams

I had many ideas and areas about where I wanted to put my energy into, what I wanted to focus on. I wanted to care for Anna and embrace the new side of me- the momma me but I needed to do this without losing Nadine and all the little things that make me me. All while trying to figure out where I'm going and "who I am". I wanted to make my marriage a priority so that Cory & I are not one of the statistics "marital satisfaction drops significantly after the first child is born". I wanted to make more time for my family, especially now that I have Anna to share with them. We were faced with the loss of a parent last month, Cory's mom past away on December 14 and it was heart breaking and eye opening. Cory & his mom had both let their relationship fall apart over the past couple of years and he wasn't around when she past.  He will forever wonder "what if", "what if I'd just called", "what if I'd just popped by"and it hurts my heart. You never know how much time you have left with someone and think it's so important to tell your loved ones that you love them, that they're important, that you take that time to go visit or to call. It made me need to be better at family. I wanted to be a better friend. I wanted to stop being so worried about what other people thought about me. I wanted to be fearless when it came to art, my dreams & my blog. All this and more led me to nurture and I started seeing the word all over. I started dreaming about the word and what it would bring to me if I focused on it over the next year. It was wonderful! I made the painting above and it sits in my living room where I can see it every day to constantly remind myself to nurture.