An online journal created to seek meaning and purpose, to feel,

to dream, to discover, to spread joy and light, to love all of creation,

to glorify and magnify the Creator.



Wednesday, January 6, 2016

To live content with small means. To seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion. To be worthy not respectable, and wealthy not rich. To listen to stars and birds and babes and sages with an open heart. To study hard, think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions. Never hurry. In a word, to let the spiritual, the unbidden and the unconscious rise up through the common. This is my symphony.
— William Henry Channing

Saturday, January 2, 2016

2016

"It's 4:40 on January 2nd, but I still haven't gone to bed and so I'm continuing to classify this as January 1st" says the cheater who has left this post for the ultimate-last-minute (and more).

I've been putting this post off because
1. My nails are too long to type long posts
2. I do not think a blog post can justify my learnings within a year
3. ^ Wanting to perfect something (this post) that I know won't ever be perfect, makes me not want to do it at all

However, #3 is a bad mindset to own and something I will work on overcoming, and so I will type this regardless.

2015 has been a year of fine-tuning.
I came into the year pursuing a plan of intentional growth, without a plan.
I came out of it having learned things I'd like to add, subtract and adjust.

Here are my findings. I have a lot to say, but I'll try to keep this short and sweet.



I completed my first 365 project Journey in Grace on December 31st.
As simple as it was to take a few photos throughout my day and post them on Tumblr, the project taught me that consistency is a choice. You can't just hope to finish a project, you need to make the decision and commit to it regardless of how you feel in that instant. Which obviously also delves into more serious projects in life that require consistency. This is a whole other topic that I will not cover right now.
More importantly, Journey in Grace taught me about gratefulness. Throughout the 365 days, I had less than 5 "bad days". It's crazy to even classify a day as bad (because none are). But I think that ratio is absolutely amazing. To be able to look back on a handful of photos and remember every thought and occurrence of a day is great, and to be able to witness how full life is... Is even greater.


2015 was a year heavily focused on capacity.
Looking back at my 365 project, I noticed that in the beginning of the year every reflection I had was on the topic of wanting to grow my capacity and love, love, love to the fullest of extent.
The middle of the year showed the fruits of this mindset as every post was a fulfillment of those desires. AKA Me, pouring out everything into everyone, every day, as much as I could.
The last few months of 2015, I went under a little bit of a coma from that mindset, lost balance and took a while to find my groove again.
Here, I found the importance of rest and replenishment.
Even the Lord rested on the 7th day.


I definitely had more new experiences in 2014, however this year built upon it.
- Having the car almost every day
- Budgeting & Receipt tracking
- Making Visa and Mastercard my slaves and not vice versa
- Leaving Le Chateau and starting at Dr. Mitchell's
- Leading sessions
- New service
- Frequent roadtrips

Constant consciousness of the Lord's presence and works in all situations. You are Intentional.

This year, I learned that routines and systems are less binding and more freeing.
This is coming from the kid who once complained about how systematic everything is and how spontaneity should rule.
Spontaneity is great. But it can often exhaust and enslave if you are not in control of your schedule/finances.
- It's important to know your schedule and be in control of it. Learning to say "no". Frequent yes' = slavery. Make value-based decisions.
- It's important to face the facts and be in control of your finances. It is freeing to know where your $ is going.

Compassion. This year, I've been faced with situations of needing to adapt to different personalities. It was indeed very much a test of patience and humility and has taught me a lot when it comes to seeking to understand before being understood.

Character-Strengthening. I was often spread thin and stretched apart in 2015. Decision making was difficult but is definitely becoming easier as I fine-tune and become more conscious of a vertical alignment when making decisions. I am thankful for the times I was put in uncomfortable situations because I needed to choose what was right/what I committed to over what I wanted/what was easiest.

Minimalism-Groove. This year, I deleted and revived social media 86540860548603 times. I also threw out 5850596830860 clothing articles. Towards the end of 2015 (a whole year of deleting and discarding), I learned that simplicity is an ideal but not a template. At least for me, I require creativity. With where I'm at right now, I have narrowed my closet down to a healthy set of shades/neutrals so that I can easily put something together without requiring so much energy (because everything already matches) and at the same time still express creativity.
I have also found that deleting all social media does not work because once again, I need to express creativity.
When it comes to both, I have found a healthy median.
I choose not to follow anything that is not constantly positive/anything that will urge me to consume and spend money on photo related platforms. Another long story that I will not go into...




2016.

- To follow through on commitments regardless. Of anything.
- Daily tracking/documenting

  1. calendar
  2. trello - I've decided to track every article/quote/thought-out thought, in a place where I can easily find them for reference
  3. keeping track of books I've read over 2016

- Carry a water bottle around and refill it 3x a day. (I don't drink water... At all sometimes = bad skin & migraines & constant fatigue) 
- Bi-weekly reflecting, Weekly executive meetings
- Me-budget restrictions to things on the list only
- Re-structured budget. 


This was a horrible year summary/new year post.
But writing something is better than nothing :)))))))))


THIS WILL BE THE BEST YEAR YET.