Then / Now
Then
Not that many years ago, though it feels like ages, there was this thing about choosing a word of the year. In 2019, the year we retired, moved, turned our world upside down and around, I chose the word embrace. It sounded, and still sounds like the right word for that time.
I wrote in my journal that 2019 “will be about BIG changes…new house, new city, new car, new routine, new - new - new = CHANGE.”
And so it was. And to some degree, still is.
I was smart enough to write that because of the many unknowns “I’m hesitant to make specific decisions/plans now.”
I wrote about maybe having a new blog that would focus on creativity.
I didn’t.
Instead, I created a Facebook Page. It’s called Debby Hudson, creative with the tag line “embracing imperfection”.
At the bottom of that journal page with all the ideas I haven’t brought to reality I wrote these three words:
EAT MAKE BREATHE
Now
Perhaps those three words were the best things I wrote because I’m still eating (though I’ve lost over 20 pounds since then), still making, and obviously, still breathing.
Looking through the pages of that journal (bought because I liked the cover) I can clearly see areas of dreams that haven’t come true. I’m not sure who I thought I was but I’m not that person - the dreamer. And I’ve come to terms with that.
Looking back helps me accept or challenge myself. It lets me see areas of doubt/insecurity and prods me to accept or act.
It also reminds me life is about today. To hold plans, dreams, ideas loosely. There are some things we close the door but others we need to leave the door cracked allowing a peek inside to remember what’s there.
At the prompting of someone I’e never met, I started uploading my photos to Unsplash. I wrote in my journal
“Most of what you submit will be ignored, rejected or won’t sell. Do it anyway.”
While I don’t make money from my photography, as of June 2025 4 million of my photos have been downloaded from Unsplash. That’s out of 708 I’ve uploaded. I’ve seen them on blogs (most uncredited) and from the Unsplash analytics see many familiar outlets that use them.
I followed the same advice on submitting writing to some blogs I read at the time. Some were accepted, most were not.
I did it anyway.
All of this has helped me step out of my comfort zone. I’m risk averse and stepping out feels quite risky. I’ve not done most of what is written in that journal. Not in any big kind of recognizable way. But it’s good.
Make the new recipe, take the photo, write the song. Fail, learn, do it again, and again.
EAT MAKE BREATHE
Wow! I could write a 5000 word treatise on this. I so get it. I have been there, done that. I call this process thresholds and passages. We all pass through our life stages and either take with us the baggage or move forward, keeping the knowledge gained but unburdened by what the world loads on us.
I can't even want to list all the things I have tried in my life - I wasn't really motivated by desire for fame or fortune though. I just needed to try. I have big stories about my designs and creations not only not being credited to me, but literally stolen. Imagine an entity as big as Family Circle Magazine doing this.
As I am fading here in the launch of my 80th year, disabilities gaining momentum daily, I still keep trying things. Not big physical things anymore but those that I can do while sitting, fingers flying on my laptop. Writing - composing lyrics then completed into music by AI.
And it's okay because I am free to be and do with no strings attached or obligations to some corporation. I have come to understand fame and recognition was not what God wanted for me. He just wanted me to be an unknown influence. To be an example of try, fail, try again.
Eat Make Breathe - Excellent! I get it.
So good. Keep going. We need your words, your pictures and your voice to remind us of all of God’s goodness. Thank you for staying obedient to sharing the gifts you have with all of us.