TUM - Best of 2012

It was fun to disappear down the rabbit hole and look back on this past year, and my oh my, what a year we have all had.  Claire was studying and took on a new and rather challenging job - your drive and ability to get through so much is admirable Claire.  I don't know Mariette very well, but I feel like 2012 was the year of self discovery and self love for her.  The journey is never done, family is a wonderful terrible complicated beautiful thing and there are never easy answers, if you find them at all.  Linda started strong and lost her mojo, which is a shame because she is our founder, instigator and glue.  We limped along, but we missed her.  Linda, something tells me that it is time to start blogging again, 2013 is sure to give you A LOT of material!!

This blog is something special.  It is like a journal, you pour out your heart, share your thoughts, shoot the breeze or have a giggle.  Only, it is not lonely like a journal.  With this blog, I feel heard.  Somebody is listening, they are not trying to fix anything, they will not judge, or give advice, or tell you what you should do.  They know that just the outpouring is enough, and maybe a quick cyber hug.  And it drives home that it doesn't matter where in the world you live, we are more similar than different.  And we are not alone.

My favorite photo from Mariette's blog:

This is of her daughter Maxine.  I love it because she looks so taken with what she is doing.  You can see her mind going a million miles a minute, and the light in her eyes.  This picture tells a story, it is worth a thousand words and leaves you asking a hundred questions.  Maxine is so lovely.

My favorite photo of Claire's blog:

It was a tough choice between this and the tea cup photo, but in the end, this one won.  I can feel how still the early morning is in that moment just before the sun comes up, the earth goes quiet, like all living things are holding their breath waiting for the golden orb to make her entrance.  And then, the big weightless balloon, silently floating until the pilot opens the burner and the flame roars.  I can feel the chill of the early winter morning, I can see my breath in the air and feel frost biting my fingers.  But best of all is the anticipation, the excitement for that moment when the ropes are untied and the balloon lifts into the sky and you are airborne.  And it is quiet.  And it is magic.  And then there is a roar and you are up, up and away . . .

Linda's photo:

I love this because it is so . . . Linda.  Romantic, sweet, lovely, gentle, unassuming.  Yet strong.  Have you hung these yet my dear????

I found it so hard to pick a favorite post.  I think it is because I took a sabbatical and then I felt like I couldn't choose one from a post I didn't participate in, and some of the ones I love are not TUM posts, but Blog Your Heart posts.  So I am just going to say instead that I don't love one particular post, I love instead all posts.  I love reading about your lives and sharing your journey.  I love the connection that we have through this blog, I treasure it.  

I knew a woman once whose mom had to run for a boat that was to be the last ship out of the port towards the end of WW2, she was a nurse, her children (my friend and her big brother) were already on-board but they wouldn't let her leave with them because she was a nurse, they had already lost their dad.  At the very last second they told her to just go, and she dashed home to grab a few things and she was the last one to board before the ship set sail.  Time is so precious, life is so precious, I find myself looking at something and asking if I had to run like mad for the boat, would I take this with me?  

I think this blog is worth keeping, I think it encourages us to share our worlds in a way that we wouldn't normally.  And I think it encourages us to look at our world too and not just run blindly through it like its a race to the finish.  We don't have to run.  What are we rushing for?  We shouldn't be in such a hurry.  This blog makes me slow down, it forces me to make time and all at once, we are connected through it - and actually, we are keeping pretty good company.