As part of the transition to the New Year, I review my calendar and write a letter of memorable moments from the past year. I crafted this year's review from my 2014 benediction. If you received an email from me last year, you may have noticed the 2014 benediction in my signature. What better way to review the year than through the lens of that wish.
A year to touch the truths found in life,
Step with peace in our hearts,
"Peace- it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of all that and still be calm in your heart." - unknown
From middle east crises to grave injustices in the US, peace in oneself was more needed than ever
Show up with the courage to expand our limits,
Utopias: Lost and Found from Kate Ettinger on Vimeo. | Creative collaboratorKyle Stewart and I cocreated a participatory art installation: Utopias: Lost and Found (see time lapse on the left) and a storytelling booth: Make Your Mark, Share a Vision, Start a Revolution at the Visionaries & Revolutionaries Day organized by the brilliant Bobby Fishkin alongside the Dissident Futures Exhibit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. |
Play in nature
Greet strangers with the warmth of old friends
Take digital sabbaticals
3 days off the grid in Craobh Haven
on the west coast of Scotland
on the west coast of Scotland
Share vulnerability to deepen trust
Show grace in moments of life as it is
Last Spring, I took on an interim position as full time co-parent, Tante Kate, for these two little loves... children are life's greatest teachers. Twas a humbling and love-filled 3 month stint!
Discover magic in the ordinary folds of daily living
Read about our adventure with this camera's film! | Bird's Eye View & Accidental Intimacies- travel meditation | Celebrating with my 99 year old grandmother, I noticed she made a toast with each sip of wine, why not?! |
Invite surprises
Master craftsman of picture framing, Harry Kurata of Yoshida Framing (San Francisco) with whom I apprenticed several years ago delighted me with this frame for my calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh! | This winter, I brought a whisky, "Santa's Christmas Stocking" from Scotland to taste with friends. When I visited Harry, he brought out a Japanese whisky. It was the perfect heritage whisky tasting for this Hafu (half Japanese, half Scottish) |
The ultimate surprise of the year came from creative genius and dear friend, Leigh McCarthy who lent me her Brooklyn flat for 3 weeks over my birthday. A gift that reignited my love affair with NYC, reconnected me with treasured old friends and brought me back to my first love- the theater... thank you Leigh- you are a creative inspiration & beautiful human!
2014 was an unexpectedly peripatetic year that lead me to the homes of family, friends & a few strangers-- thanks to all the people who hosted me this year-- Thank you! Merci! Danke! Gracias!
Make time for people not phones, Spend time with old friends
Embrace differences to claim the strengths of wholeness
Lead with love
One of the challenges of leaving the hospital setting to do work for systems level change is feeling very removed from tangible impact. In doing this review, I am reminded that perhaps, the greatest impact we can have is how we show up in everyday moments- from taking a minute to learn about the person who makes your coffee to creating space to discover the joy in unexpected moments.
Some of the most important and underappreciated ways of changing the world include tending to a crying child and making time to visit people who nurtured you when you were a crying child. t is our relationships that make us human. It is our relationships that make us human. I am inspired by the passion, joy, love, humanness and grace that my colleagues and friends share with life.
Some of the most important and underappreciated ways of changing the world include tending to a crying child and making time to visit people who nurtured you when you were a crying child. t is our relationships that make us human. It is our relationships that make us human. I am inspired by the passion, joy, love, humanness and grace that my colleagues and friends share with life.
Flourish in all that is yet to be.
A collage of moments from the year's unfolding. Missing many delight-filled memories for which I have heart pictures: Momofuku with LD, Frozen Lady with Tony & Shannon, Mike & Nat in London, seeing Liz in lalaland, late nights with Belle & G, vicarious visit to Botswana with Bette & Chris, the @CDEgger nudge, an unprecedented pastry party thanks to Megan, and more from a camera glitch... you know who you are!