5 Minutes: Every moment counts

This blog is part of a series of posts that chronicle my participation in Reverb 10. Reverb 10 is an online event that encourages its participants to reflect on the past year and gear up for what's to come in the next. A prompt is given each day to fuel some personal reflection. Although I'm a little late on starting the challenge, I'm still looking forward to 18 days of honesty, acceptance, and growth.

December 15 – 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.  (Author: Patti Digh)

I want to start by saying that I thought I would be typing furiously, trying to get all the important memories out in five minutes. When I actually set my timer, I found myself drawing blanks or remembering events that I thought weren't important enough to be captured (a couple weddings, summer trips, things like that.) I'll get to that in a minute, but here's what I did deem important to be captured:

• My first date with Justin. I want to remember that despite how nervous we were and how adorably awkward everything was, the night still felt comfortable. So comfortable that I stayed out until 5:00 in the morning (with no funny business!)
• Big moments on the Forensics circuit. Specifically breaking 2 events into Open Finals at State as a first-year competitor and winning Novice CA at the Norton this fall. These things prove to me that I am talented in this activity.
• Watching Justin interact with my cousins' kids for the first time. It tickled me that the babies love him and that my 9-year-old cousin notices how nice and friendly he is.
• Being in Company this summer. It was such a professional and talented cast. I want to remember the unconditional camaraderie of the cast and the fact that I eventually believed that I deserved to be a member of that cast just as much as everyone else.

The things I listed were sort of light bulb-y/self-actualization moments. I listed things about 2010 that made me feel good about myself or my life. As great as these things are, I think I need to realize that events that didn't have those big realization moments are just as important to capture. Things like dancing in a bar, singing Lady Gaga on road trips, slow dancing, or getting duped by a carnival worker are still memories that deserve being held into for a very long time.

In 2011, every moment will count.