I have said this before but I love doing maternity portraits because I love being invited to witness two people's highest hopes and dreams. Taking to leap to get married and have children seems all about hope to me. You spend months and often years dreaming, planning, and nesting. You focus on the good things and dream of the possibilities. That is why I chose this image for today's post.

A new year...time to start dreaming of possibilities and plans. Life is moving at such a blinding speed that the new year always takes me a little by surprise. Can it already be that another year has passed so quickly? I am happy these days. I feel so grateful that it makes me scared at the same time. I hate that creeping feeling when you are focusing on the good things and then the little voice shouts out "what happens if it all goes away?!" or "Just you wait until I pull the rug out from under you!" or "this is the calm before the storm so watch out". I think we all do that to some degree. You feel happy and vulnerable and the little voice knows exactly where to get you.

I am not much of a resolution person anymore because I never keep them. This year I am going to make one but I am keeping it simple. I am not joining a gym or keeping my house clean or anything like that. I resolve to stay in my happy, grateful place and to try as hard as I can to put a muzzle on that nagging voice that keeps trying to kill the buzz and steal my joy.

Honestly, it might be easier to join a gym and keep my house clean all the time. Resolving to hold on to joy is harder. It means, for me, looking straight at the reason why I would doubt that I should be so happy and blessed. Why would the rug be pulled out from under me? It also means putting away the fear that we all have about how we would handle the bad things if they do show up.

I have my ideas about how I am going to stay centered in gratitude. I'd love to hear yours, any suggestions? Does this ring true for you?