Memories don’t always present themselves as important as they’re happening. Rather, as time passes and you gain distance from the event, you start to realize what was really important in the greater scheme of things.
That’s why today’s #reverb10 prompt intrigued me:
5 Minutes: Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.
I don’t yet know what was really important in 2010. Sure, there are big things, but which of the little moments will I come to treasure as time passes by?
Hence, this challenge:
Decisions. I remember the moments I made big decisions. Sand squishing between my toes in Coronado in February. Holding an acceptance letter in hand as I stood on my front porch and opened the mail one stifling August day, backpack still heavy on my back.
Accomplishment. I’ll treasure those moments finishing my very first 5k, and I’ll always remember the Cross Country Challenge, sliding down a snow- and ice-slicked hill on my ass, loving the freedom of it.
Worry and uncertainty. There were a lot of worrisome moments, when my company was acquired, when I wasn’t sure about grad school, when I willed myself to land on my feet after a breakup. But they pushed me to work harder and see things for what they were.
And so many breezes. Warm breezes on a sticky summer night, escaping the air conditioned cocoon, flopping a blanket in the grass of the backyard, lying quietly and stargazing, when all was right in the world. The first really cold wind of fall in October, when I realized one of the best summers ever was over.
The ticking of the clock, so many evenings when my house, finally quiet after too much TV for too long, the gentle hum of the whirrings of the house itself – the furnace, the dryer, the snoring cat.
The taste of the couple good tomatoes from my very first real garden, paired with fresh basil from the same land, picked barefoot for lunch one day while working at home. I stood in the middle of the backyard and wrapped the cherry tomatoes in basil leaves and bit in, letting the juice dribble down my chin.
The freedom of more working from home, of not working under those horrible fluorescent lights that give me a headache. Working while the cat curls up in my lap and purrs.
Christmas lights and my stained glass lamps casting soft light around the living room while I lounged on the new couch with wine, feeling very adult and peaceful.
Lying in bed on chilly fall mornings, watching the sun come up over the Fox River once the trees lost their leaves, stretching every muscle in my body slowly, gently while the sun transformed my bedroom from a dark, cold chamber into something warm and alive, the sunlight reflecting off the mirror. This is the very best way to wake up.
Late nights on the Metra, coming home from class, so very very tired but energized about all I’m learning and doing, and the possibilities. Then, getting home and being too wired to sleep, singing and dancing along with a random song on my iPhone until I finally fall into bed.
Note: apparently grammar goes out the window when on a timer. How would you capture your year in five minutes (or less)?
This post is part of #Reverb10, a month-long project to reflect on the year nearly gone. Read all my #Reverb10 posts, or learn more.
Adventures of the Former Elginista 