Living the Life We Have Imagined

January is often a time of reflection in our culture, and looking back on the past year I can see how much our kids have grown and changed, kept old interests and found new ones, explored new avenues in areas of their passions, and branched out in exciting ways. We've had many incredibly busy days (who can forget the two dance performances, midnight drive to another city, and 8:00 am robotics competition?), but also many days of quiet reflection, fun family times of board games or snuggling up and watching a movie, family bike rides and swimming nights, and tons of time in the outdoors camping and in the forests, mountains, and beaches of our lovely state.

This year was a year of dreaming big, and seeing those dreams almost magically spring to life. My husband reached a goal that he has held since his teenage years: becoming a certified captain of a jet aircraft (he studied for, tested, and received his type rating this year in a corporate jet). The kids followed their passions to new and exciting places: M. to robotics tournaments and chess matches, karate practice and lengthy Dungeons & Dragons games with friends; A. to performances on the stage in theatre, music, and dance, evening jam sessions with other Celtic-playing musicians, and new activities like volleyball and robotics. And this was the year I achieved my dream of 15 years, completing the Ironman triathlon. We worked hard on our dreams, but we loved every step of the way, as people do when they are living the lives that they have hoped, dreamed, and imagined. There's not a day goes by that I am not grateful for all the opportunities we have had to live the full and joyful lives that we do, and through unschooling to allow our children to do the same.

For Christmas, I bought my husband a silver bookmark (he has this dreadful habit of turning down pages in books as a substitute). On it is a quote that also graced the cover of my Ironman journal, a quote that sums up our year, our lives:

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
--Henry David Thoreau

So as we go forward into 2007, here's hoping it's another year of living the lives we are imagining, every day.