2014! (horn-blowing sound here) What’s your new year’s resolution? Hmm: I don’t really have one (except to maybe try and keep that one countertop in the corner of my kitchen paper-free… let’s see how long that lasts). But seriously: I don’t have a resolution, but rather a REALIZATION…
In a world where we’re always looking forward, wanting change, trying to progress, working to accomplish new goals, set new records and conquer new heights… whatever happened to our own PASTS? I thought about this on December 31, as I hurriedly got myself presentable to hit the early-bird dinner hour with my two wild miniature women and handsome hubby. I threw on my new silver-and-white top (thanks Mom), changed my pants four times and pulled my hair into a sloppy-but-sexy ponytail a-la Jennifer Lopez in The Back Up Plan (hey, I just watched it on E!). Then I looked at myself in the mirror. Cute I guess, but not like New Year’s Past.
New Year’s Past (i.e.: before marriage and kids) was a haze of sequins, inappropriate behavior, high heels, miniskirts, self-tanned legs, glitter eyeshadow, shimmer powder, questionable cab rides and too much champagne before we even hit the actual party. No, it was not 1975.
I couldn’t be happier with my life as it is RIGHT NOW, but in my bathroom (in my conservative top and jeans…. JEANS on New Years?!?!?!?) I felt like a ‘was-once-fun-but-not-that-much-anymore’… especially after LadyP proclaimed “No you were NOT fun people” earlier that day to my husband and I after I made a side-comment to him about how we were once so much fun. So at 5:35pm, I texted some of my ‘old group’ of NYE cohorts… all of whom are now married with kids. My text summoned the past and went exactly like this:
Happy new year to moms who once went blind from drinking, paid for drinks from someone else’s tip, wore “2000” glasses across her face, bent back far when they danced and much much more! Long live funny memories! 😉 jill
What happened next was one of the highlights of my year.
Just as LadyP splattered soy sauce all over my white jeans, my old friends’ responses rolled in one by one (seriously, I’m transcribing these exactly from my phone):
Bloop! [that’s my sound for a text-message alert] Oh the good old days!
Bloop! Haha! I needed that reminder as our NYE plans were cancelled due to a sick baby!
Bloop! OMG we were a hit!!! Vegas, washed up on fake beaches, text messages and falling for D-list movie stars. Miss you guys and we need a reunion…
Bloop! Seriously! Those were the days… To think I just finished giving a bath. Lol!
Bloop! haha! how life has changed! highlight of our evening — (toddler) went poopoo in the potty! Wishing you all a great nye!
Bloop! We just ate spaghetti and threw it on the floor and screamed through our whole bath!!! Miss all of you and I’m taking a shot as soon as I put this baby to bed!!! Happy nye!
Responses went flying back and forth and on and on for hours (I tried to keep up between tempura-dipping disasters and meltdowns over strawberry-vs-greentea mochi). Eventually, adorable pictures of each little precious munchkin who had singlehandedly highjacked each of New Year’s Eves, one by one, started rolling in. Cranky cuties in pajamas with sparkly hats, horn-blowers, glasses, pacifiers and glitzy onesies all made me smile. I was laughing out loud. And just by summoning up the past, my present got a whole lot better.
Don’t misunderstand: I had a BLAST with my husband and girls at our 6pm New Years Eve dinner, but there’s something about vintage memories and girlfriends that can’t be explained… something I didn’t value half as much as I should’ve before I had my babies. And just like that I had that feeling again: I felt like ME. Fabulous.
The whole experience (as trivial as our messages were) reminded me to NOT FORGET MY PAST. Between work, family, friends, blog, life, preschool, responsibilities I feel like I’m on a treadmill of goals that I have to move forward, forward, forward (and fast) for the good of I-don’t-know-why. Being on a treadmill can make you feel jumpy and forgetful… forgetful of the fun you had, the goals you did accomplish and the special moments that actually make up your real life. And what’s the point of any of it if you don’t stop to remember?
Enjoy your present, keep an eye toward the future, but always stay connected to your past… it made you and led you to where you are today. (Who knew I’d learn so much from texting?)
HAPPY 2014! DO YOU HAVE A NEW YEARS REALIZATION?