mid-november checkup
15 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in the cloud
The weather is cloudy and heavy, and the perfect shade of melancholy. It seems appropriate to use this space for reflection.
I have been immersed in my November Spirit activities, and so far it’s been wonderful!
Joyful Singing Workshop: Complete. This was a powerful, delectable, surprising, beautiful experience. I laughed a whole lot and during my voice lesson we revisited some favorite songs from my childhood. My heart was blown open. My mind expanded. My community grew in joyful connectivity. It was a wonderful playdate! I hope to have many, many more. + + + + +
Photography Basics Class: In Progress. I was so confused by daylight savings time that this class snuck up on me. I thought I had another week, but no. The teacher is a sweet and kind soul. I feel comfortable sharing with the class. Each week we have assignments that force me to carve out more time to give to developing my photography. This past weekend I had to hold creative space for myself for Sunday afternoon, turning down requests to spend time doing other things in order to prioritize this space. It was a challenge to put me first. I’m working on it. This week it worked out beautifully. Although I had to tell family I could not spend the entire day with them, we had lunch. Although I had to tell dear friends I was not available to hang at their house (boo!), I offered instead that we spend time somewhere I could take photographs. It didn’t work for everyone, and I expected to venture out alone on my mission. Instead, I wound up having a lovely new friend accompany to the Arboretum for a walk, an interesting chat and a photo excursion. + + + + +
Morning meditation: In Progress. The first week of daylight savings (last week) messed me up pretty good. I was hoping that having the extra hour would help me develop my morning meditation but last week it did not. My body clock was confused and my sleep was wonky. I woke up with lynching neck pain that last 5 days. This morning I am happy to report some normalcy returned. I had a morning sit. I will keep practicing. +
Yoga: In Progress. I have been doing some great yoga. Great. Great. Great. + + + + +
Attend Renaissance Festival: Complete. Another playdate! So fun! Who says Halloween only comes once a year? + + + + +
Continue to dream big and listen to my own intelligence about my next career move: In Progress. Yes. This is working. Most days I can keep career vs job in perspective. + + +
Read (and focus on) 1 of the personal development books I collected in October: Needs Improvement. I don’t think the Photography book I’ve been reading falls into this category. I bought too many books in October. It’s a serious problem. I’d like to say I’ve chosen 1 book for my focus but it’s not true. I’ve chosen 2. One is in my car and one is on my nightstand. Neither has been opened. It shouldn’t be this hard.
Learn more about gluten free baking: In Progress. Yes. I am crafting in my kitchen and enjoying it a lot. Most days I feel balanced, healthy and appropriately fed. + + +
Date, intentionally: In Progress. There is no way to sugar coat this one: dating has been a bit jarring. I am enduring the pain of the process with good spirits. The sampling has taught me a lot, both about myself and about patterns in men. I am sifting through all of it. There’s no rush. When I say this, it means I honestly don’t feel a rush. I am, however, holding space in my life for dating. Holding space seems to be very important right now. + +
Attend 1 church service: In Thought Process. I’ve found my Sunday morning spiritual practice for now. It’s not in a church. It conflicts with church service times. The church may not be the community I need right now. I was spent Sunday, October 31st, in a church, in a meaningful way. Maybe that was my church service pull. I will keep listening for this. + + + + +
Organize closets: In Process. Right now it looks more like a mess than an organization but it has begun. + +
Reflect, relax, and rest: In Process. My new Roku device has started eliminating television from my life. A really tasty treat to rid my life of nonsense. With this, the quality of my relaxation is changing. I am listening to music much more often. I’m watching movies. However, as my energy has returned, so has my crazy life. When I need the rest, I take it. I could do a better job of holding space for rest. + +
Lots of pluses in working with this path. I enjoy the consciousness this exercise brings to my creations. I’m happy that this also seems to be helping me recognize other areas I’d like to improve. Good, yes.
Wanting to Plan: November
02 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in the cloud
This is another post that began a while back and failed to get Published. I don’t know why I struggle to publish blog posts. You should see the long list of unpublished posts. Maybe one day you will as I revisit them in the future. Today, I pick up with where this one started and give it a proper finish.
As I climb through my recovery from surgery, I’ve had some really gross feelings surface. Like super gross, bad stuff. When I evaluated my life on the darkest day I saw my 20s as having been spent on building a career that is unfulfilling, and not having spent enough time pursuing things that I truly value. I don’t think this dark sentiment is entirely true, or fair to myself, but it sure felt true and uncomfortable for a while. When I ask why I might be in this position, at least as far as I can control, what it feels like is a lack of planning. Beyond regular income and less struggle to payoff student loans, I never outlined what I wanted to achieve. No wonder I always froze when I was asked the interview question “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Ummm… less broke and less stressed about student loan debt. A conversation with a friend brought to my attention that some people, maybe even most people, have goals that reach into the future, like a 5 year plan. Hmm.
I am pleased to discover this flaw in my path because I now have the opportunity to try a more directed method of chasing my dreams. I have the tools to go about this intentionally, something I lacked in younger years. A good place to start, I think, would be to design a planning process that allows my life to develop organically, is regularly evaluated goal for goal, truth for truth, action to value, and considers the necessary balance. I’d also like to create space for reflection, which will necessarily lead to growth. I can identify a number of my patterns, which I can discuss in another post someday. Some of these patterns work great and others could use some redirection. I think this system might help me acheive that. Maybe in doing this exercise, I will begin to see my 5 year goals more clearly. Maybe I’ll try to articulate some goals at year end, if I’m ready. It would be cool, in some time, to have a running life list of my own. I know I can dream and I’d like this to be more contemplated.
A good place to begin is to identify some categories. Without truly understanding the flow of my energies or their purposes, it’s going to be rather difficult, if not impossible, to find my healthy balance. These channels can change as I get more involved in this work. I’ll take a first stab, inspired by this and this:
- Spirit – Feeling connected, being present, listening to my own intelligence, giving love, expressing gratitude to God and remaining conscious of dispelling ego
- Knowledge - Feeding the mind, stimulating learning, reflection, acquiring wisdom
- Emotion - Acknowledging feelings and fears, learning and observing patterns and reactions, improving communication to support deeper connections
- Community – Family, relationships, contributing to society, being mindful of my environment
- Career – Evaluating how I earn money and the path of growth in this area, whether it be acquring a new skill, building my network or making significant change
- Fun / Creativity / Inspiration – experiencing joy and expressing playfulness, being uninhibited, mainly by the mind but this includes other sources
- Health - Food, exercise and rest
Now I’d like to use these as tools to work through and evaluate the list I made over the summer, starting with things I have done:
- Learn to sew: +Knowledge +Fun
- Work on my paintings: +Fun +Emotion
- Go for sushi: +Fun
- Get some indoor plants: although this strikes me as a purely a +Fun, having plants in my home has resulted in: +Spirit +Emotion
- Sit in a coffee shop: +Fun
- Pay more visits to the park, particularly the swingsets: +Fun
- Vist a childhood friend: +Community +Fun
- Visit my brother: +Community +Spirit +Fun
- Frame my Grandfather’s paintings: +Fun +Community +Spirit
- Bake loads of cookies to give to neighbors and other people who I pass in daily life without much interaction: +Community +Fun
- Visit a friend from my teenage years: +Community +Fun
- Take a photography class: +Knowledge +Fun
- Learn to knit: +Knowledge +Fun
- Learn to crochet stuffed animals: +Knowledge +Fun
- Get my bikes tuned up for riding: +Fun +Health
- Ride the bikes: +Fun +Health
- Go to the beach: +Fun +Community
- Go surfing with my cousin: +Fun +Community
- Find someone to install the antenna for my satellite radio kit: +Fun
- Go to the farmer’s market: +Fun +Community +Health
- Take a modern dance class: +Fun +Health +Community +Spirit
- Spend a day riding rollar coasters: +Fun
The totals:
Fun / Creativity / Inspiration: 21 of 21 !!!
Community – 9 of 21
Spirit – 4 of 21
Knowledge – 4 of 21
Health – 4 of 21
Emotion – 0 of 21
Career – o of 21
I remember making this list of Summer Fun and my evaluation looks pretty true to my intention, if not a bit imbalanced, eh?
So what about November? It’s time to consider how I will spend my month. Another planner I like to follow is Sara. She helps me remember the last item on this list. And, yes, it’s something I need to actually list.
- Attend Joyful Singing Workshop: +Fun +Spirit +Emotion +Community
- Attend Photography Basics Class: +Fun +Spirit +Knowledge +Community
- Morning meditation, 3-5x/wk: +Spirit +Emotion +Health +Knowledge
- Attend yoga 3-5x/wk, including Forrest Yoga 1x/wk, Sunday Practice 2x/mo: +Spirit +Emotion +Health +Knowledge +Fun
- Attend Renaissance Festival and get henna tattoo: +Fun +Community
- Spend Thanksgiving w/ Family and Friends who are Family: +Community +Spirit +Emotion +Fun
- Continue to dream big and listen to my own intelligence about my next career move: +Spirit +Emotion +Career
- Learn more about gluten free baking: +Health +Spirit +Emotion +Knowledge
- Read (and focus on) 1 of the personal development books I collected in October: +Career +Emotion +Knowledge
- Date, intentionally: +Spirit +Emotion +Community
- Attend 1 church service: +Spirit +Emotion +Community
- Organize closets: +Emotion +Health +Spirit
- Reflect, relax, and rest: +Health +Emotion +Spirit
The totals:
Spirit – 11 of 13
Emotion – 10 of 13
Community – 6 of 13
Fun / Creativity / Inspiration: 5 of 13
Health – 5 of 13
Knowledge – 4 of 13
Career – 2 of 13
This feel like a good balance, given my present state and my needs. I like knowing that this list will help feed all of my channels. I’m curious to see how I do this month and how I feel about it next month.
What are your November goals? Would you add or subtract any of the items on my life category list?
