Reverb13 prompt: “Forward is the only direction. The mirror never lies, but everything in it is backwards. Look at what you see in the mirror. How does it change if you view yourself with eyes that can only look forward?”

If I can only look forward, there is a lot of promise: teaching, offering e-courses and in-person workshops and classes, intuitive eating and moving my body, publishing books and articles, swimming, playing a ukelele, more dogs (please let them be healthy), being at the beach, financial stability that funds it all, like a house at the beach and traveling and a few new cars (because ours are 10-15 years old and won’t last forever).

Project Reverb prompt: “Gratitude | How did you show gratitude this year? Did you keep a gratitude journal? How do you want gratitude to play a role in your life in 2014?”

I publish a Gratitude Friday post every week. I say thank you, write cards and letters, send gifts and emails. Sometimes all I can do is cry because I’m so grateful. In the new year, I’d like to show more gratitude to myself, my body, for who I am and all the good things I do.

Besottment Reverb 2013 prompt: “What was your most surprising revelation in 2013? Big, small – it does not matter – just something you realized and surprised yourself with.”

Biggest surprise: I can have what I want, trust my hunger as well as my fullness, be satisfied and not have to feel guilty or ashamed about it. I am allowed pleasure, I don’t have to earn it. I can have what I want.

Reverb13 prompt: This is the second one I wrote for Kat, “The Buddha said, ‘You, yourself, as much as anybody else in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.’ In the past year, I have been on a mission to understand and practice self-compassion, which is sometimes defined as ‘extending compassion to one’s self in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, or general suffering,’ and what I have learned has made me realize that this practice is at the heart of everything. How will you practice self-compassion?”

I will honor my hunger and fullness.
I won’t diet or weigh myself.
I will continue to make peace with food, respect my body, feel my feelings, soothe and comfort myself in ways that are sustainable.
I will stop and take a breath (or many), be in stillness and quiet.
I will move my body the way it wants to move, with joy and love, with freedom.
I will seek pleasure, indulge.
I will trust my own wisdom, intuition, experience.
I will make an effort to ease my suffering.
I will honor my own power, authority, voice, truth.
I will practice self-care, provide what I want and need, not abandon myself.
I will stop “shoulding all over myself,” smashing myself to bits, and when I forget I will forgive myself.
I will drop judgement, criticism, attachment.
I will make space, a clearing, an opening, a way in and a way out.
I won’t apologize for myself.
I will take up space, show up, speak up, be seen.
I will love the crap out of myself.
I will start over, let go and come back, begin again, take a fresh start as many times as it takes.

Project Reverb prompt: “Personality | Were you an extrovert or an introvert this year? Why? Is that normal for you? Or a switch from previous years?”

This prompt confuses me a little. If you define these types the way I understand them — introverts get energy from being alone and extroverts gain energy by being around lots of people — then you can’t just change your type. It’s not like getting a haircut or moving to a new address. I understand these to be more like the color of your eyes or your height, set and unchangeable. Sure you can get colored contacts or wear high heels or lifts, but ultimately you can’t change these things about yourself.

I’m a highly sensitive introvert, which makes me even more fixed in terms of what I need in order to thrive. I get easily overwhelmed by too much noise, light, movement, too many people, and I need time alone in the quiet to recuperate, to restore my energy, to soothe my system. But being an introvert doesn’t automatically mean that I’m shy or socially awkward (although, I can be pretty weird). I’m a teacher, I travel to attend workshops and retreats, belong to multiple social groups, and come from a big family, I just have to balance those things with time alone and quiet.