My word for 2021 is shift. Like everyone I know, I’ve learned a lot, since this time last year. One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that change and uncertainty just are. Since I’m not in control of much more than which yoga pants, Zoom-appropriate top, and slippers I’ll wear each day, I needed to figure out how I could deal with all the change and uncertainty. That’s where shifting comes in.

For me, shifts involve acceptance and adjustment. I know I don’t have much control, but I have unlimited choices. I can shift. 

Some of my recent shifts have been pretty significant. Some have been tiny. Some haven’t happened, yet. And I’m sure I’ll make a lot of shifts I can’t even imagine.

Hydrangeas are my favorite flower. So, while I wait for those buds in my garden to bloom, I bought these tulips. Within hours, they were drooping. Since one of my recent shifts has been to learn at least three things each week, I decided to learn how to keep my tulips from drooping. Here’s a link to what I learned.

Although these beautiful tulips are far from perfect, I took this picture seven days after I bought the flowers and perfection isn’t my thing anyway.

Am I the last person in the world, or even at Lake Waccamaw, to learn these tips? The author mentions several additional options at the end of the article. I decided to follow the focus of the article and just stick each stem with a pin. As you can see in the above image, it worked! This method didn’t make the tulips eternal. It sure did extend their life and beauty though.

So, these tulips helped me shift this week. By the way, along with my ongoing Spanish lessons, I learned that, when a recipe says to brine a piece of protein in pickle juice for an hour, it doesn’t mean ‘longer than an hour is better’. It means an hour. That dinner shifted my taste buds, for sure.

What kind of shifts have you made lately?