Happy 2014: Intentions for yet another New Year

i love the beginning of a year, and the closing of a previous year. i like having to stay conscious of the date ending with a new number, which i write often in my work notebook or my journal. it's a time for re-awakening, and a time for trying again. what i try will probably be different things, based on the learnings and reflections of last year.

i'm not really into making "resolutions", but i have used a new year to make new starts. i think it was first in 2009 that i started by naming some intentions - and within 6 months it had all happened! that's when i started to realize the power of setting intentions and naming them out loud, and having them witnessed. this process evolved the next year into a more general "Bring it on!" for 2010...and so on it went. in 2012 it was a blog post full of bold, beautiful intentions for a new life in New York. The universe is always paying attention. All my focused intentions came to fruition.

In 2013 I didn't really do that. i'm not sure why.... but as i reflect back, it has been a year of taking things as they come, adapting, stepping into my wholeness more fully, and gaining strength. i tried some new things - somatics coaching, strengths training, lessons with a personal trainer, a growing focus on mindful breathing, 30 day blogging commitment, writing for a print magazine, hosting a creativity session, and dealing with chronic pain with more acceptance, tools, and faith. i've gotten so much better at asking for help, and receiving it with grace and gratitude. 

life is full of beauty, joy, pain, and love. i read somewhere that even though we understandably numb ourselves to cope with pain, numbing anything leads to numbing everything. if you feel less pain, you also feel less of the joy you could be experiencing.

my goal is to be whole, and i have come to believe that part of that process is to feel everything fully, and in all its transience. that is what allows healing and flow to occur. nothing stays, nothing stagnates. 

i do have intentions for this new year. i know that my growing edges are to work on anger, frustration/impatience, and non-forgiveness. to do that, i'll need to work on accepting everything as it is. accepting people for who we are and where we are, accepting what happens with grace and surrender, and trusting that all things are part of a greater plan, set up to occur in perfect, divine timing. with this acceptance as a foundation, i believe i can do a better job of letting go of past hurts, anger, expectations, attachments, feelings of disappointment, and a sense of being victim to circumstances or people or bad intentions. i do think we're all just flawed human beings, hurt by our previous wounds, wanting to be healthy and happy and doing the best we can. our wounds create emotional patterns and behavioral responses that can limit our happiness and also hurt other people unintentionally. when i remember this, i am filled with compassion. i also read somewhere, forgive everyone for everything, daily. this has stuck with me. it rings of truth and healing, and i'm sure it's what i need to practice.  

this is the Year of Practice.

my core tools are - yoga, prayer, centering in my dignity, surrender poses, gratitude reflections, intentional breathing, meditation, journalling, blogging, reading spiritual books, making art, gift-giving, photography, expressing love / being affectionate, healing touch, sharing my troubles, reading about illness and healing, listening to music, being outside (especially in the sun or the ocean or under trees), reading good fiction, dancing, retail therapy, fashion fabulosity and having fun.

some tools are useful in transforming the experience of pain to be more peaceful, and some are useful in creating joy or feeling love and connection. all the tools are useful in making peace with the truth.

with that, expect daily blogging from me in 2014. that's one of my commitments to a practice that i have found to be profound in accessing inner wisdom, sharing struggles, and stating things i most need to learn. And i love sharing and hearing responses because it creates meaningful connection with other people in the world, who are similarly seeking and practicing become better human beings. the only exceptions to daily blogging are when i'm traveling. i'll try then too, but vacations are a rest period that are also necessary, to not make commitments a burden.

wishing you all a peaceful, joyful year filled with love. may you never lose hope, or connection to your true self.