Reflecting & Manifesting - Week 1
#REVERB10 is an online
initiative to reflect on
your year and manifest
what’s next.
The Challenge. Each day I will receive a prompt. From Dec 1 - 31,
I will reflect on what’s happened and
send out reverberations for the
year ahead.
December 1 – One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you? (Author: Gwen Bell)
If I could encapsulate the year 2010 in one word, it would be DISCIPLINE. Much of the year was about eliminating excess and clearing out distractions - material, on my social calendar, and in my mind. Imagining 1 year from today, the word that captures my intention for 2011 is SURRENDER. What does that really mean? Right after the Thanksgiving Holiday, I go into a process of visioning for the new year. I engage my right brain, because my linear left brain and logical thinking voice has been providing input all year. The vision board above captures in picture form what “surrender” in 2011 looks like for me. (1) Take a “leap of faith.” Use the powers of my imagination for good. Welcome in challenges and opportunities (in delight, not fright) that give my heart expression and flight. (2) Continue to trust the inner guidance I cultivate, connect to and tap into on a daily basis. Pay attention, stop talking over ... LISTEN to the soft, still voice and “doubt the doubter” voice. (3) I get that I’m blessed in so many ways ... friends, family, experiences, talents, intellect, privilege, access and opportunity. So part of surrender is feeling humbly, deeply worthy of all that I have been given and allowing myself to celebrate, play, have fun, and “give (of those gifts) wildly.”
December 2 – Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)
Putz around on facebook and other social media. Seriously. I love the fact that I check my friends facebook statuses more than my old company’s stock status, but it can be a big distraction and time suck. So much more fun getting involved in someone else’s writing than my own. Can I eliminate it? Like any addiction ... I can try. Try to limit my time on it and compulsion to check and see if I missed anything. What I CAN COMMIT TO is a time for writing. I am committed to establishing a practice (habit) of quiet time for writing in the morning - after morning coffee, before the “9 to 5” business gets started. Not check my email or facebook or any other social media status. Just sit, be quiet, enjoy the sunrise and WRITE.
December 3 – Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author: Ali Edwards)
One Common Unity‘s Rejuvenation Retreat. It was the 4th weekend of July. I borrowed a friend’s one person tent and gathered what could have passed as outdoor camping gear and headed to the West Virginian mountains. The site of our retreat - Abram’s Creek & Campground, West Virginia. It was so exciting to pitch my tent and set up camp along the stream that flows through the campground. It was wonderful to spend some quiet time in the woods, enjoy good food and great friends, practice yoga, participate in yard games, enjoy campfires, songs, live drumming, and night swimming in the starry night sky. I felt free, peaceful, at home, and like a kid again. That’s the thing about experiences like that. I am reminded - don’t be so serious and studious. Go outside and PLAY!
December 4 – Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year? (Author: Jeffrey Davis)
I cultivated a sense of wonder in my life this year by just STOPping. I devoted time and space to sit, explore, and do nothing. As a “recovering Achiever,” this is habitually hard for me. A favorite teacher and poet, David Whyte offered this once ... “We are space filling beings. What if, what if we filled the space with NOTHING. How would that be?” I have been trying this ever since. That is, filling the space with nothing as opposed to creating busy (i.e., scheduling some other activity or outing on my calendar just so I can avoid sitting and giving my soul time to catch up with me). Such wonder, joy and contentment I have found in this being and doing nothing.
December 5 – Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why? (Author: Alice Bradley)
I let go of things. Lots and lots of things. Things I no longer use, reference, read or wear. I let go of old ideas. In the form of ... old papers, files, books, and remnants of projects that no longer reflect back to me my work, interests or what’s emerging. And in that letting go, I created space. Space in my apartment, drawers, closets, cabinets, my head and heart. And in that letting go, I freed up energy. Energy for something new, creative, wonderful, “more fully me” and fulfilling to come in.
That was fun. There you have it - Reflections Week One.
(Photo: Vision Board with Themes for 2011)
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- Posted Saturday December 04, 2010 at 10:03 AM 0 comments
- Categories: Reflections