ovenbird's_new_year_questionnaire ovenbird 1. What are you mourning? 2. What are you proud of? 3. What makes hope possible? 251231 ... raze 1. i'm mourning the loss of what i was and who i thought i'd always be. i thought i would be over it by now, but grief seems to be a thing you walk through continuously, even when it feels like you're standing still. this is a lesson i keep learning. 2. i'm proud of you. 3. love_is what makes hope possible after everything that seemed so certain and sturdy has fallen apart. 251231 ... ovenbird I’m mourning the youth I will never again possess and the feeling of endless potential it held. The future sometimes feels narrow, with so few choices still available to me. I’m proud of every person who gets up in the morning in defiance of a thousand reasons not to. Hope is born from awe and awe and love are twins and so building robust hope means laying myself bare to everything beautiful and terrible and letting myself love with abandon. 251231 ... epitome of incomprehensibility 1. I'm lucky in that my problems last year were more frustrations than griefs. But I was (am?) still mourning a relationship that fell apart a couple of months before 2025 started. And that makes me mourn my own slowness. But again, the feeling "Auugh, why am I so SLOW at things??" is more frustration than mourning. 2. What I did: Fanfiction_Is_for_Teenage_Girls, which took more effort and metaphorical heart than I'd anticipated. What other people did: Dad's old friend Sz. for finally forgiving him before he died...even if he was sort of selfish about it. And everyone who acted kindly or wisely when circumstances were against them. 3. I'm hopeful because I know unexpected things can happen, and some of those things can be good things. Also, on a small scale (or rather a small shelf), I have some delicious radish sprouts that grew as 2025 shaded into 2026. They taste like red blather would taste if it were a vegetable - spicy and colourful. 260102 ... releaseofwarmth 1 the past 2 the present 3 the future 260102 ... Jus Just seeing this, thanks for the prompt OB! and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season 3 1. I'm still mourning my beautiful baby girl, Arya (dog), and the apartment we shared together. It felt like it was her and I against the world. It's been almost a year now and my heart still aches for her. 2. I am proud that I survived a semester of school while solo parenting and battling severe anxiety. Now to get through another 4 months and I'll be done forever! Finally! (I started this degree in 2011). 3. Beautiful, kind, gentle people make hope possible. In a world that is seemingly so dark, to stay soft is a gift. I have been blessed to know some incredible humans - including my Blather Buds! 260105 ... nr 1. people and possibilities. 2. i am proud that my cousin turned into such a selfless human. he moved back to his hometown to take care of his dad, who is suffering from the fatal disease this side of our family is plagued with, while staying loyal to people close to him and his hobbies and creative pursuits. he helped coordinate my visit last month. he has an art opening this week with art that he's been working on for years. he also has two types of colour blindness. (i am inspired in addition to proud.) 3. humour, nature, creativity, and real connection. 260106 what's it to you? who go blather from