This post is sponsored in part by my reliable and small group of friends and family that I have been leaning on heavily during my recent bouts of neuroticism. There was no warning that this Winter was coming in hot and took me completely off guard. Now into the regular scheduled programme.
Recently, I realized my doom and gloom perspective needed to be shaken out like an old rug that needed a good dusting. Sometimes we lose sight of the positive when we get caught in old mental patterns that take our emotions down the drain with ease. Life is too short to be miserable all the time, and with the new energy rising from the Lunar new year I feel that Water Tiger in motion calling me towards taking action.
This is a gratitude post for all the blessings in my life I fail to see on a daily basis. Now I am going to take some time to express my thanks in further detail.
The start of 2022 in retrograde was shaky, but I am incredibly thankful for the following opportunities:
Staying healthy and feeling good inside and out
Prioritising my mental wellbeing and doing more of what brings me joy
An abundance of new clients that want to pay me for the value I offer
Finally purchasing my proper domain name
Moving into a new home and having way fewer problems with maintenance
My new place has a great view of the moon from my bedroom
Being offered an opportunity to teach botanical dye courses on a farm by the beach
Being offered an opportunity to teach on herb bundle dyeing this Summer
Feeling the excitement of love again
Slowly easing back into gardening, my passion project number one
Leaning into Winter and getting more rest with the shorter days
My daughter and I having a close and gentle relationship as she evolves and grows
Having supportive friends in my life helping me move all my belongings
In reading a new book, Getting to Center, Marlee Grace touches on cultivating a balance between personal practice, art practice, ritual practice, and business practice. She encourages creating lists to stay in touch with items you want to remember and that are important to you.
In 2022 my list looks completely different than it did last year, and even the year prior as I lean into what is of utmost importance. Trying to do it all simply is not sustainable, and as summer approaches I want to live by the 80/20 rule to leave more time for camping trips off the grid and becoming one with nature.
One of the best gifts I ever purchased for myself was a course on time management with my friend Alexis Haselberger. She encouraged creating systems instead of trying to remember what is important. By using the systems set in place and not relying on your memory, you can detach from the subjectivity of a task. If something fails, it is because there is no system for it or the system has failed as opposed to you personally have failed. In my case, my systems were over complicated and I was spread between too many channels. Alexis helped me create a solid structure in my life that helped me catch things before they fell through the cracks, delegrate what wasn’t important, and take some things off my plate completely. Every year I re-evaluate the list and try to simplify it further, but recently my ambition has been in overdrive and wearing me out. I am using the energy of the new year to reset and simplify once again using the tools I have taken the time to learn and add to my personal emotional tool kit. Alexis has a new offering that starts this Monday. You can learn more about that here.
Today commences the 9th annual 100 Day Project and I look forward to finally participating to cultivate my ritual practice into the new year. I have spent the past eight years watching the hashtag and admiring different individuals ability to commit to something for such a long period of time. As a Gemini that feels unfathomable but I have created a level of simplicity in my ritual where I can accomplish it daily (even if sick) and feel good about my followthrough. I will have a good, better, best approach with three options to enable me to accomplish my ritual. Option one offers a time commitment of 10-minutes to completion, option two offers a time commitment of 30 minutes, and option three is a time commitment of two hours.
This year I am leaning into self-compassion, as I am a single parent running a household who handles everything on my own without external financial or time support. As much as I want to get to things with urgency, this must be released as I lean into my mantra of Do Less, Hike More. After all, it is about the process*.
What are you practicing cultivating in 2022?
Written under an Aquarius sun and a Gemini moon, feeling like this faux Spring will never go away.
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My friend said a beautiful analogy I thought I’d share. It was something along the lines of “My heart is dragging me into Spring and my body is reluctant.” That feels about right now. I am still feeling exhaustion from the Winter months and yet I show up to this space as I feel the urge to.
Offerings:
There will be less opportunities to see me live in 2022, therefore I invite you to my first show of the new year. The date is the 2nd of March at the Golden Gate Bandshell in San Francisco at 5pm.
Listening to:
Nostalgia 2.0, a new playlist by me with some songs that have helped me through heartbreak in the 2000’s.
Ologies Podcast.
For paid subbies:
More on process and a Free Advice Column
*On process: “It is your commitment to the process that determines your progress.”
I am going to be sharing some hot fire content in 2022 starting on Vernal Equinox.
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the photo of that landscape reminds me of western North Dakota