Christmas decorations are slowly being crammed back into storage at my house. The kids are home and it’s been fun running around with them again, and having the house full of their friends. One of the kids caught a cold. The dishwasher, washer and dryer have been going full tilt. And here it is, a new year!
This year, once again, my New Year’s resolution is to simplify my life, by clearing out more of the clutter in my house, around my waistline, and in my schedule. This seems like a straightforward, attainable goal. My kids are in college, so the nest is empty most of the year. I don’t have a full-time job, so I should have plenty of free time to simplify, and create a zen-like, quiet life.
It is the fifth day of 2010 and so far in this brand new decade I have already been to a wedding, a birthday party, and a memorial procession.
My friend’s afternoon wedding was beautiful, and intimate--just for immediate family and a few friends, a celebration of two lives joining together. The bride and groom are close to my age, so they were comfortable planning the wedding just the way they wanted it. The bride wore an elegant beaded wedding gown. The groom wore a black, leather Harley-Davidson jacket.
The birthday party was for a younger friend, to celebrate 25 years at the beginning of her adult life. The party was at a Salsa club -- loud and a little rowdy, with non-stop dancing until the club closed at two in the morning. The birthday girl was grinning all night, happy to be out on the town with her friends.
The memorial procession was for another friend, 44 years old, a police officer, shot down senselessly in the line of duty. My husband and I met Kent at Puyallup Athletic Club. He was always working out on the machines: stair stepper or elliptical runner, but he was also always willing to stop and shoot the breeze, quick to tell a story, or kid around. John and I were tearfully among the thousands with heavy hearts who lined the rainy streets from Puyallup to the Tacoma Dome where thousands more gathered to celebrate a life well-spent that touched so many. We came together to say good-bye to a man who I’ll always remember with a smile on his face, a man who believed that “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.”
A wedding, a birthday party, a memorial service: three events and five days later, I think I made the wrong resolution. Maybe it’s impossible to simplify. Maybe it’s stupid to simplify. Maybe I should celebrate the fact that my life isn’t simple. It’s filled with people who I love, whose lives intertwine with mine, and fill my life up and over the brim. Sometimes it’s noisy, sometimes there are tears, but my life is rarely boring. Maybe my resolution should be to hang on and enjoy the ride. Maybe it’s that simple.
Laura Keolanui Stark is a freelance writer who can be reached at stark.laura.k@gmail.com.
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