then there are blackbirds

I couldn't sleep last night, but this morning, as President Obama said, the sun rose again. My heart is heavy, but if there was ever a moment for generosity: this is it.

Open thread day: how are you all doing? I'm listening. ♥

Happy 2016, everyone! Overall, 2015 was pretty good to me, but I still hope this year is better for all of us than the last. I've zouked my way into the new year (though of course I got distracted from taking any sort of decent non-giant-group pictures) and spent today hanging out with old friends, so I'm feeling both supremely content and like a creaky marionette.

My one-word intention for this year is generosity (see also: How Generous Are You Willing To Be?). This is the third year I've decided on an intention as opposed to new year's resolutions, which I rarely remember and never manage to keep. I find it a lot easier to prioritize one thing to work on at a time (2014 was connection, 2015 was communication). I've thought about sticking to my previous words before, but these things are always works in progress, and a new year deserves a fresh start.

So: generosity. It's something I'm always reaching for and never quite grasp, and it's particularly hard to achieve when I'm tired, angry, busy, entering school tunnel-vision mode, etc. By generous, I mean actively taking time out of the day (each day, ideally; most days, realistically) to be present with or for someone. I mean being openhearted, forgiving, non-judgmental, a good and active listener. I mean being vulnerable by making myself more visible to other people, taking up the spaces I take up and being unafraid to share them. I mean expressing my emotions the way I feel them, rather than squashing them down to size. I mean being myself in unapologetic, kind truth. If there's one hope I have for this year, it's that we are all more generous with (and to) ourselves.