Winter is a natural time for reflection. The days become slightly longer and the calendar turns. I ask myself: What did I learn in 2015 and how can I move forward? To me, resolutions feel rigid. They feel like black-and-white solutions in a gray world. I try to move from intention. How do I want to live my moments, my days? What word or words can guide my actions? In practice, I must do the work, but it helps to have a guiding intention, expressed in a single word.
My previous words: trust, choice, allow, possibility. Each word was an umbrella for the year. None of these words told me what to do. They served as reminders of what was most important to me. Looking back, I see how they led me through a career change. I did the hard work, but reminders are helpful. Because I make mistakes; I forget and then I remember.
This year I choose "love." My creative work is most alive when it comes from love. My teaching is most effective when it comes from love. My connections—with myself and others—are most genuine when they come from love.
If a word-of-the-year intrigues you, try this guided reflection (there's no way to get it wrong):
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Guided Meditations|Everyday Mindfulness|Photography|Facebook Page
May it be a year filled with love, dear Joy, for you and your dear ones. Although I am not a big fan of New Year's resolutions, I said goodbye to Facebook on the last day of 2015, after 7 years, for a combination of reasons. One of them is that I chose these 3 words for this year: create, love, offline. I want to focus on what really counts: doing the things I love on a more regular basis, committing to my creativity, for myself in the very first place and not with the potential likes and praise of my virtual connections circling through my mind, spending way more time outside, consciously living the seasons, observing and studying nature and its miraculous being, evolving and teaching ... To a good year and warm hug!
ReplyDeleteReading your words brings warmth to my heart and a smile to my face. What beautiful intentions for the year. I respond: YES! If only we lived closer, we could explore nature and creativity together. But since we don't, we inspire each other from afar. Happy New Year, Elke!
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