#Reverb10 - Prompts 17-20

December 17 – Lesson Learned. What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward? (Author: Tara Weaver)

I have learned a lot about myself in the past year - it has definitely been a year of growth and understanding. I've learned that I have limits. I've learned that I am not superwoman and I can't do it all. But that I can do a lot! I've learned that I'm easily distracted and that I try to take on too much all at once. But most important of all, I've learned that I don't have to "do" perfect or "be" perfect to be worthy of love, acceptance, appreciation, and validation.  Just being me is good enough. Whew, what a relief! 

I hope to carry this lesson forward by being more gentle and forgiving with myself, by allowing myself time to breathe, and by trying (this will be difficult) to limit my activities so that I can better focus on those things I do undertake.

December 18 – Try. What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn’t go for it? (Author: Kaileen Elise)

I'm interpreting "try" to mean something new... something I haven't already done.  So in 2010 I want to "try" using my camera on manual mode! (yikes).  See the response to December 20 below for further edification.

December 19 – Healing. What healed you this year? Was it sudden, or a drip-by-drip evolution? How would you like to be healed in 2011? (Author: Leonie Allan)

This was a combination of things.  Susannah Conway's Unravelling and Unravelling II e-courses were part of it. Reading Brene Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection was a big part of it. Participating in the Weekly Gratitude project (although I kinda let that slide once summer hit) was definitely part of it.  The combination allowed me to come to grips with not being perfect and learning to love myself and appreciate my world. Blogging brought the whole thing home for me.  So I'd have to say it was a slow evolution. And the healing was for the emotional/spiritual sides of me.

For 2011, I'm looking forward to physical healing - specifically, having all my body parts fully functional and pain free, moving more, eating less, and working toward the ultimate FIT and FAB at 50 goal!

December 20 – Beyond Avoidance. What should you have done this year but didn’t because you were too scared, worried, unsure, busy or otherwise deterred from doing? (Bonus: Will you do it?) (Author: Jake Nickell)

Tying in with December 18, above, in 2010 I set out to learn to use my camera(s) in other than "auto" mode. I made some progress, and actually got fairly comfortable with the macro setting, but I still don't quite get how to use all of the different settings and I have a lot more to learn. One avenue I did NOT explore, because I found it far too intimidating, was the use of the fully manual mode - where you take control of the camera and set everything - exposure, shutter speed, lighting, white balance.  Having found each individual concept difficult to grasp and master, the idea of doing it all is terrifying.

But honestly, what do I have to lose? It's a digital camera! If the pictures are terrible I can just delete away and nobody will ever have to know! So among other things I want to do or try in 2011 - learning to use manual mode is on my list!