Coming Back to Center

Song - Celtic New Year by Van Morrison

Twenty-sixteen was a rough year for both me and my family. 

I am looking forward to 2017!

There is a certain ebb and flow to our days and years.

Clarity and confusion.

Joy and suffering.

Finding balance.

Now is the time for me to recenter myself.

Rediscovering that core within me.

The one who knows how to feed my spirit.

Somehow through this last year I have forgotten.

It's not gone but just cast aside.

Learning to remember.

Needing that cue to set time aside daily...

...to work on my inner growth. 

My One Little Word for the year is "centering".

Just so I can 

Create

Journey

Cultivate

Love

and

Replenish.

Happy New Year to you and yours.

"One of the most essential things you need to do for yourself is to choose a goal that is important to you.  

Perfection does not exist--you can always do better 

and you can always grow." 

--Les Brown

Choose Wisely Grasshopper

Song - Fix You by Coldplay covered by Jamie Lim

I have been pondering what my "One Little Word" for the upcoming year might be.  I have a list of about 20 words taken from a long list of suggestions and for now, I have the list where I can see these words often and try to get an idea of how they feel-resonate for me during the next few weeks.  Usually one pops out for me!

In the past my words have been:

Intention 

Balance 

Light 

Thrive 

Simplify 

and 

Grace.  

If we own the story then we can write the ending. 

--Brene Brown

2013 One Little Word

Song - While My Guitar Gently Weeps by George Harrison

Wishing you A Very Happy 2013!

I still have a house full of "Christmas" because I am painting like crazy to get some new pieces ready for a show going up next week at the Lafayette Gallery "Tokens of Affection"!

It feels so wonderful to be painting again!!  Yippee!

Here is one of Sergio Romo on the final game of the Division Championship.  I still need to work on the rain, the shadow color under his arm and the background crowd a little but I just love the energy in this painting!

The GIANTS have clinched the NL Championship

I will show it to you when it's finished!



If you have never heard of "One Little Word", check it out on Ali Edwards site or on Big Picture Classes.

 

In 2010 I chose the word "intention" for me to use for the upcoming New Year. It turned out to be a great word as I would pause and set an intention (or game plan) before moving forward.  

Last year it was "balance" which ended up being too general of a word for me. 

During the last month,  I have been "feeling out words" for 2013.

I have narrowed it down to several which each has a pull for me.

Grace

Inspire

Lighten

Mindful

Purposeful

Serenity

 

 

 

But one word that is sticking with me is "Simplify".  As my life gets more and more complicated, simplifying feels like breathing room. 

A concious effort must be made to simplify anything - paperwork, household possesions, shopping, eating....every thing that piles up!

According to the dictionary -

: to make simple or simpler: as

a: to reduce to basic essentials
b: to diminish in scope or complexity : streamline <was urged to simplify management procedures>
c: to make more intelligible : clarify
 

 

‘In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness.’ ~Henry David Thoreau

Endings and Beginnings....

Yup....2012 is almost upon us!

For me, this last week has been one for reflecting on what transpired during 2011. 

All of it...the good, the bad and the in between are equally important because they are all teachers in this journey we call "life"!

I have also thought about what changes I hope to see in my life in 2012.  Not huge, drastic transitions but small steps that lead to bigger, more permanent change.  Some of these shifts are very obvious and others need a little deeper thought.


 

Just now while adjusting a load of laundry in the washing machine, my son asked why it was "clonking and moving like it was....what makes it do that?"

I replied "I placed a rug in that load and now the machine is out of balance."

Mmmm....what was my one little word for 2012?   Balance.

Made me think about things, even laundry, going out of balance and how other things need to overcompensate for that lopsided and wobbly part of life.

 

Today is a cold,
gray day
and a good one
for meditating
on what is in
& out of balance
in my life.

 

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”—Mary Oliver

One Little Word for 2012

In January of 2011 I chose a word to integrate into my life and that word was "intention". 

I loved having a single word that I could chew on and spit out, keep it in my pocket and ponder over. 

It is very different than making a New Year's resolution.  You don't HAVE to do anything.  But you end up wanting to make subtle changes.  That's why OLW works for me! 

Over the last few months I have been "trying on" several different words for the upcoming year. 

A few weeks ago the word "simplify" felt like it was my word. 

Mr. B and I tend to hold onto everything we ever owned and I don't even think we have been able to walk through the garage in over a year. 

Well, several of our boys have moved back in and out and back in again.  They also use the garage for storage of things they don't need right now. (Boy's if you are reading this, you better come over soon and clear out your things before I get out the Bobcat!)

OK - That's another whole story.  Moving on.........



I loved everything about the aspect of "simplify". 

But then three day's ago another word popped into my soul and I knew it would be my new word for 2012.

B A L A N C E.......

It's where I am at in so many aspects of my life. 

Physical............

Mental................

Emotional................

Spiritual..............

Financial.....................

Social............

Ellen in Monterey

I have always tended to be a black & white sort of person. 

You know, hard to see the gray areas - of which there are so many!  

It's either life or death ........hey - there's a lot of gray in between there!

Yes or no.....how about "I'll think about it"? 

Clean or dirty, open or closed, happy or sad.
Friend or enemy.
On or off, up or down.
Well, you get the picture. 

Life has so many beautiful, gorgeous gray's.....

Try to look for the lovely gray's in your life.  Just for today!

"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony. " --Thomas Merton

The First Day of 2011

A good day to relax and remind myself to keep balance in my life! 

"In whatever one does there must be a relationship between the eye and the heart." 

----Henri Cartier-Besson