December | 2010 | Milk in the Mashed Potatoes

1. Gungor
Beautiful Things

2. Band of Skulls
Baby Darling Doll Face Honey

3. Chrisette Michele
Let Freedom Reign

4. Bruno Mars
Doo-Wops & Hooligans

5. Mumford & Sons
Sigh No More

6. Brooke Fraser
Flags

7. Kings of Leon
Come Around Sundown

8. John Legend & The Roots
Wake Up!

What were your favs of 2010?

Typewriter in The Paris Market in Savannah, Ga., September 2010.

A marketing theory exists that says a consumer has to be exposed to an ad or a message three times before they’re influenced toward making a purchasing decision. I think this holds true for life in general.

There’s been a theme that’s become a common thread in things I’ve read and heard lately, and it’s led me to do a bit of soul-searching. Being the end of 2010, I think this is a great time for it. I hope I can go into 2011 with some renewed vision for my focus and goals in life.

Here are the three messages that have caught my attention (and arrested my heart):

HAVE HEART
A friend of mine sent me the book Have Heart. It’s about the very real hope of Heaven written by two parents who lost their son tragically in a car accident last summer – just before he left for college. The refrain – have heart – was inspired by a phrase their son said often. It was also his approach to life. His legacy is now reaching around the globe in events that were inspired by his life and made possible by his death.

My takeaway: Life is too short not to be lived intentionally.

PURSUE WHAT YOU LOVE
This year I joined a team of people I greatly respect who are running a nonprofit organization called Help-Portrait. Photographer Jeremy Cowart (for whom I edited his first book, Hope in the Dark, for Relevant) had an idea to organize a global event where the photography community could “give back” by providing free portraits to those who would never otherwise have them made. It caught on like wildfire last year, and when I heard they were looking for someone to help provide content for their website, I jumped at the chance. It’s been some of the most exciting and fulfilling work I’ve ever done – and I do it for free.

Leading up to Help-Portrait 2011, Jeremy Cowart took part in a live online interview by another notable photographer named Chase Jarvis. In the interview, Chase made a statement that has stuck with me. He said, “Pursue what you love,” and it was in response to Jeremy recounting how his passion to tell the stories of Africa in Hope in the Dark opened doors of opportunity for him in unexpected areas.

My takeaway: If you’re doing what you love, you’ll do it well and opportunities will find you.

MAINTAIN AN OPEN HEART
Michael Hyatt is the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers and an avid blogger about leadership. I saw his post “The Importance of a Leader’s Heart” recently on Twitter, although he published it in 2008. In it, he describes the difference between working, leading and living with an open heart versus a closed one.

My takeaway: You choose to live with passion or without – and you influence others in the same direction.

I’m going to pursue what I love in 2011, and here’s what that means for me:

I love telling true stories.
I love creating beautiful things.
I love being a good mommy.
I love helping people.
I love improving myself.
I love running an efficient and comfortable home.

These are overly simple statements that are packed with meaning for me. Perhaps I’ll unpack them in writing.

Only a couple of these directly relate to my job, and I tend to make my work priority, so the others are often neglected. But if I allow myself to make sacrifices in order to make room for these other areas, I know that all areas of my life will benefit from it.

How about you?

What do you hope for yourself in the coming year? Will you give yourself permission to pursue it?