Monday #52: Year End Round Up!

Wow! I’m so excited…. It’s the end of another year here on my blog… today is Monday #52 of my 52 Monday’s third year! It is an ending of sorts, however, it is also a beginning… of a brand new year! There is certainly MORE to come… I’m not finished, not by a long shot.

So, before we begin the new year here, let’s see which posts struck a chord with you, my dear readers. I find it interesting to see which topics have lasting resonance with people and I like to think about what this means going forward. Checking the stats for the last 52 weeks I found these three posts to be the top as far as hits go:

1. Time Travel: This was the most popular post from the last year here at 52 Mondays. Published on December 3, 2012, this post was actually featured in Freshly Pressed (thank you, WordPress!), which surely accounts for its top spot in the year end round up. It’s a reflection of time–what it means when we think of it in terms of past, present and future. On a personal level, it represents a strong theme in a very pivotal year of my life. Going forward, it reminds me to continue working on being completely present.

2. This Is Your Brain On Stress: Coming in in second place is a rather journalistic report I did on stress and our children from September 24, 2012. This piece gives a shout out to the studies of economist, James  Heckman, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and author, Neil Tough. It was meant as a nudge to consider how stress affects our youth on the most primal levels of learning and existing but reading it now again keeps me aware of how stress affects us all.

3. Pop The Question: Finally, in third place, is this missive on the power of questions from August 27, 2012. This post focused on the works of Dr. Robert Maurer and his philosophy of kaizen, the two thousand-year-old wisdom of Tao Te Ching that says “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” I love that this post made it to the top three because my last year has been a total and complete exercise in the power of questions. Maurer gives us his five favorite questions and, at the conclusion of this glorious year, I think they are worth repeating here:

What are you happy about?

What are you excited about?

Who do you love?

Who loves you?

What are you grateful for?

I’m happy that I have made a life for myself doing what I love–creating art, teaching people of all ages, speaking about creativity and healthy living– and that this has become a way to sustain me and my children. I’m excited that there are so many things in front of me that have yet to be explored and investigated, both professionally and personally. I love my children, my family and a beautiful, big-hearted man named Jeff. I believe that these people love me too and this makes me brim with joy. I am grateful for my health, for the love of family and friends and for the community that supports my thoughts, my images, my dreams and my work. I am grateful for you, my readers, and look forward to sharing the wonders of the Universe with you for another terrific year.

Thank you.

TRY THIS WEEK: Think about your Top Three!

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