#reverb15 // Day 22 // Moment of clarity

I'm joining pals Sarah and Elizabeth to write every day in the month of December, feel free to join in any time! Today's prompt: Moment of Clarity. Tell us about a moment of clarity from this past year. Did this realization hit you like a lightening bolt? Or did it come over you slowly?

I have moments of clarity it seems weekly. Or, perhaps I am just easily surprised by the information I read or hear, and easily shocked by the actions of people. I shouldn't be. But, it seems that my "ah ha" moments far exceed my "I already knew that" moments. Does that mean something? Like, am I bright eyed innocent naive to the harsh realities of the world?

I don't think that's the case.

I went back to see what my moments of clarity have been over the past few #reverb projects, as it seems we always touch on this on some way or another.

Last year, it was "Don't assume that once someone knows things the way you know them, they will choose what you choose." I'm a bit hard headed, so this one is still stirring itself around in my brain. As an ISTJ, I just cannot fathom why anyone would want anything different than my well informed choices. Ha! I'm a work in progress...

The year before it was my friend Dan's sincere declaration to me "There's nothing you could ever do that would ever embarrass me." And that struck me in the heart as the nicest possible thing that anyone has ever said to me. I think it's the nicest thing one person can say to another because it's basically the most loving and all-encompassing acceptance of another person for all that they are and are not. I was also going through a personal crisis which revolved around the fact that I was the height of embarrassment for my parents, as described here.

I could choose from any number of clarifying moments this year. Top three, in chronological order, and perhaps also importance:

1. We are never prepared for what we expect. This was a quote from Cheryl Strayed in Wild, a movie that inspired many schools of thought for me. I've read a lot of books and blogs about this topic because I have long been a sufferrer of not-knowing-everything-anxiety. They all offered coping mechanisms for letting go of perfecting an outcome for which you have no control or aren't expecting. But none gave me perspective like this one simple statement. If I cannot even prepare for every possible thing that I DO know about, I most certainly cannot prepare for the things I don't know about. I've since been mindful to relax in those uncertain moments. Which incidentally leads to...

2. Your Need For Certainty Disrupts Your Desire For Freedom. This is not just a statement, but an entire chapter in the book Capital T Truth, which I talked about as the best read of my year here. This was a great launching point for my anti #iamboundaries campaign and the ultimate #iambecoming, discussed yesterday in True You from Day 21.

3. I don't want to just go to work, earn a paycheck, and die. While traveling in New Zealand, G and I experienced a number of adventures, cities, spectacular sights, and were shocked every single day at the wonder the world has to offer. I took a bazillion photos, a select 5-6 were posted on Instagram every day (under #kimginhoneymoon if you want to see!) and geotagged. We got into looking at other pictures taken in the same geotagged locations to gain a perspective different from ours of the same place, and ended up following the story of a girl who had just picked up her life, moved to New Zealand, rented an apartment in Queenstown, planned to get a job but didn't have one yet, and on an adventurous day that she was skydiving over the southern alps, she wrote that quote as the caption to the picture. I was shocked at the feelings this evoked for me.

#Reflect #reverb15