Thursday, January 17, 2013

"to fight for each minute is to fight for what is possible within yourself, so that your life and your death will not be like theirs.”

― Charles Bukowski

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

"Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.  Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist.  Be curious.  And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.  It matters that you don't just give up."

- Stephen Hawking

“We are the cosmos made conscious and life is the means by which the universe understands itself.”

—

Brian Cox

My 2013 word: Conscious

I'd been struggling with what to call my OLW for 2013.  I wanted to focus on living with INTENT, and so I thought of using the word intention, but that word seemed too broad.  I started thinking about what I hope to achieve from this - it is awareness and being more present in all aspects of my life.  In the end I chose the word CONSCIOUS, because in the end I want to be intentional as a result.

Conscious seems to marry the two ideas nicely:  Aware, intentional - the word 'Conscious' can be either one of these ideas, and can also represent both.

If I don't work toward things I want, I will never get them.  If I am not even taking time to clearly define what I want, I can't even get started!

One of the exercises I did recently, in thinking about my theme of being CONSCIOUS, was to think about what I wanted to do - who I want to BE. The following list reflects who I want to be:

- Live with grace
- Reflect
- Minimize waste in all forms
- Travel, a lot
- Always do new things
- Live lightly
- Be kind
- Give something to the bigger world
- Do the work (do it wrong, to start with, on purpose if you have to!)
- Persist (it will be hard, that's OK)
- Be thoughtful
- Eat well, and right
- Have a plan
- Be strong and healthy
- Keep a sense of wonder (look with fresh eyes)
- Don't judge, or be smug - ever.
- Bring only positive energy, ESPECIALLY to negative energy

And interspersed with those thoughts, as I captured them, some more specific behaviors that interest me, which might reflect those values:

- Bike to work
- Speak more than one language
- Grow and preserve food
- Play guitar
- Do yoga
- Meditate
- Run a 5K (be able to at any time)
- Craft (knit, sew, stitch, make)
- Become an artisan at making something related to food (pickles?)
- Know about nature - trees, plants, stars

One Little Word 2013

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

So you may have heard of the One Little Word project around the web.  It's a concept where you pick a single word to orient yourself to in a given year.

I posted on it previously here.  This year I'm following a more structured, prompt-oriented program, Ali Edward's "One Little Word" workshop.

I like the idea of having something that will bring me back to my theme intentionally every month, to check in.  I'm working on the first scrapbooking project, and coming up with monthly prompts.  I'm excited that this will connect me back to one of my passions, my creativity, in a way that doesn't carry the burden of hoping anybody besides me will like it!  :)

In my search for content to reflect on, I found a beautiful poem by Theodore Roethke that speaks to me.  I've compared life to a dream before, and it seems to be "my message" to get.  Here's another post that references that theme.

The Waking
 ― Theodore Roethke

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

TRADITION!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

One of the things I have been mourning is a loss of family traditions.  With just John and I, it is hard to have much in the way of rituals that we share. He's an atheist, we have no kids, and as a byproduct of those (and other) factors, most "holi"days are not a big thing for us.

One tradition we do have is making breakfast together.  It's something we really enjoy, especially when we have the time to go all out and make a slightly larger spread.

Today, New Year's Day, John and I spent the first hour of our day chopping, cooking, and eating breakfast.  Ok, so John did all the cooking, but I did plenty of chopping (and eating!).  I'm lucky enough to be married to a guy that likes to cook, and who is really good at it!  :)

We sat down to a gourmet breakfast - omelettes with onion, green pepper, mushrooms and swiss cheese, accompanied by homestyle hash browns with onions and green peppers.  So.Good.

I love tradition!