(amended from last year: a working description of what ROSEBUD is)
A few years ago I began a New Years Resolution Plan called Rosebud. I heard about it on one of the podcasts that I follow. The process essentially looks like this:
Step 1: List Three Roses-
This is the stuff that I would consider the greatest strengths, successes or accomplishments of the past year, the stuff that has managed to blossom into a Rose.
Step 2: List One Thorn
This would reflect my greatest personal struggle of the past year.
Step 3: List Three Buds
This is a list of what I would like to “bud” into Roses in the coming year.
Step 4: Come up with a word for the year
This should be a single word that can help reflect the direction I want to head in the coming year, a single word that can give my year a theme or a recognizable focus and narrative.
*A note on the thorn category: Previously I had them listed as 3. The actual ROSEBUD plan only asks you to consider one thorn so as to keep the process focused on the strengths, the positives and the hopeful buds. I have made that change here for the coming year.
The great part of the Rosebud system is that it allows you to document these things by year so that you can follow your growth, keep yourself accountable, and target the yearly summation of your hopes and expectations in ways that are more practical, personal and balanced.
So here goes…
LOOKING BACK ON 2018
In 2018 my 3 buds were:
1. Manageable Travel Goals
2. A more focused reading Challenge
3. Creative Giving
My single word for the year was: Intentional
So how did I do?
1. Travel Goals:
Much of the plans I had set out for creating manageable, budgeted (read: cheap) travel goals got rerouted through Nashville after an opportunity presented itself to drive a group of youth down to a conference this past summer. While this trip was nowhere on the radar at the beginning of the year, it went on to inspire a number of blog posts in this space and actually helped give definition to what will be my single word for 2019 (see below). It proved why these Travel Goals are an important part of my personal growth.
There is certainly room for me to reshape the goals I did have at the start of 2018 for the upcoming year, especially considering much of the upcoming year already shows potential for the following:
1. Two Weddings in Toronto- a chance to see our family out there before Sasha graduates.
2. And since we are in that neck of the woods already, an extended trip following one of those family weddings South of the Border through New York, the Catskills and up to Boston where we have been offered a place to stay.
3. Snowboarding to Duluth (for Sasha) in January/February
2. Reading Challenge:
I saw the most growth in the reading challenge this year. I read less books, but the books I read were far more intentional and focused overall.
It has inspired me to do three things this year:
1. Narrow my list even further, which I have done by setting out some seasonal reading choices to act as a foundation to build off of rather than a whole pile of books to read towards.
2. Focus on recommends from my favorite Podcasts, as there are a couple that I am finding tend to play the biggest role in adding to my TBR list.
3. Creative Giving:
When I made this goal last year it was with 2 things in mind- expanding my parameters for giving so as to open up the creative lines beyond simply financial means, and secondly to offset my tendency towards social anxiety/isolation and my struggle to know how to give in a world where I don’t feel like I have much to give. It was meant to open up the means for being intentional about recognizing where needs intersect with my small section of the world and in which I can know I have something to give. I was really wrestling and struggling with not knowing where to give and how to give in a way that actually makes a difference.
In considering how this went in the past year, this was probably the biggest setback of the three, largely because my struggle with social anxiety and isolation really pushed back in a powerful way. I already wrote and shared about a timely shift in mindset following our trip to Nashville, which will certainly play into my 2019 goals below. Up until that point I was feeling fairly defeated and lost and even more frustrated with knowing where I fit in and with what I have to offer and how I can even find places to give in a world that is as competitive and overwhelming as it is. The hope is fresh goals can build on this resolution with a fresh perspective.
So with all that in mind…
MY ROSEBUD GOALS FOR 2019
3 Roses (my strengths):
1. Reading Challenge
2. Living 1 full year without Credit Cards
3. Social involvment with an online group of cinephiles
1 Thorn (a recognizable weakness)
A growing cynicism
3 Buds:
1. Reconsider where I am with Ministry.
My Pastor sat down with me the other day and wondered with me whether Ministry, as a vocation, was done with me or if there was still more of that story to tell in the years to come. I don’t know the answer to that. What I do know following my trip to Nashville is that there is more healing that needs to be done, and perhaps some of that will involve taking some more specific steps towards figuring that out.
2. Find ways to talk to and hear the stories of strangers on a more consistent basis
I am an introvert. Deeply introverted. And I struggle with social anxiety. I have shared a few stories lately on my social feed and in person about how taking a small step towards engaging others that I do not know has opened up unexpected doors to hearing stories I otherwise would not have heard. In 2019 I can do more of this.
3. Give specific attention in my life, in my viewing of film and in my reading challenge on growing a sense of place and growing in perspective.
In one of my film discussion groups I am doing a very specific movie related resolution. My books are also going to be more intentional this year with a revamped reading plan. I am hoping that these can be a stepping off place into bringing this notion of growing in perspective into many corners of my life with intention.
One word: Perspective
The Stories of my Life 