My word for 2016 is ATTEND. 

Although I don’t think attending is a superpower, some days I wish it was. On those days, I think if one more person promises that he or she has the superpower to right all wrongs and save US from THEM, I daydream about sticking a pencil in my (or someone else’s) eye. On my better days, however, I choose to acknowledge that while I have no superpowers and am responsible TO the World – I’m not responsible FOR it. I’m responsible FOR my life and how I choose to live it.

To that end, I will attend to what and whom I can. And I’ll remember that I don’t have to attend every argument, drama or political whack-o-doodleness to which I’m invited. Each Sunday , I’ll share something here – an image, a poem, a song or maybe even a story that’s helped me attend to what I can that week.

Friday night, I had the joy of attending our county’s first annual “Fifteen Under 40” celebration.  Initiated by our local newspaper The News Reporter and sponsored by many fabulous local businesses,  this event celebrated 15 world changers, who attend to what’s important in our community.  The energy was palpable and contagious.  

You can read more about how the honorees attend here.

I join the many offering grateFULL congratulations to The Inaugural Class of Columbus County’s  Fifteen Under 40: Lucy Pope Byrd, Cynthia M. Ellis, Erica M. Evans, Corey Ardell Faison, Jennifer Cribb Fonvielle, David “Kirby” Holmes, Katherine Williamson Hyatt, Nicole Detrice Kelley, Santana Sade Milller, Stephanie Cox Miller, Sherica McKoy Powell, Anna Hall Richardson, Rachel Pence Smith, Mariel Barker Sellers, and Jared Worthington.

What kind of attending have you witnessed or experienced lately?