Happy
New Year!
No doubt you have wished and been wished this in the past week. It
fascinates me that with the New Year comes a reckless joy where minds are free
to dream. To contemplate the start of another calendar year and the endless
possibilities that a fresh diary or crisp clean planner conjure. We see the New
Year as a blank page to write fresh stories or a clean canvass to fill with
paint. At no other point in the year do we collectively spend as much time
mulling over goals, resolutions, values or priorities.
Like
many, I have done this too and decided that rather than a list of goals or
resolutions this year I will keep it simple. I have chosen 3 words to focus
on:
Create.
Recharge. Contribute.
There
is a power in these three words, which I have not felt in long lists of
personal goals in times gone by. Is it because powerful things can be captured
in 3 words....I am sorry... I love you...I am pregnant...? Or is the simplicity
of 3? Ascetics favor groupings of 3, I am a mother of 3.... Whatever the reason,
I have chosen three words to guide my year.
Create. We
live in a society fixated on passive entertainment and increasingly invested in
the virtual or vicarious experience. Few people have jobs that show us the
tangible results of our efforts and less are able to have creative autonomy. In
my opinion, it leaves a gap in how we live and how we exercise our innate
creativity. Through evolution our humanity
has demanded we create stuff for survival. Our Paleolithic ancestors were creating jewelry from eggshells and bone
fragments. They were sewing clothes with animal sinew. They formed vessels and
wove baskets. They created paints and dyes. They chiseled spearheads
from metal, bone and shells. They meticulously whittled shafts for the most
aerodynamic, accurate spears. They designed vast stretches of nuanced cave art.
As anthropologists suggest, these inclinations toward craft and artistry were
selected for. They increased the survival chances of individuals and their
communities. A skilled spear maker added obvious value. Yet those who could
design jewelry or other adornment introduced “material metaphors” and “social
technologies” that enhanced relationships and identity within communities. Today,
Western society has largely segregated art to an aesthetic corner. But
I’d argue this is insufficient as creativity and art are essential to mind-body
awareness, emotional growth, personal and community identity and therapeutic
diversion. In short it makes us happier and healthier. I have recently re-discovered my creative
spark and want to fan those embers throughout 2015. Whether it’s creating meals
from scratch, growing food and plants, recycling, art, handicrafts, or writing,
I will focus on making and designing and creating.
Recharge.
This reflects self-care, balance and motivation. It’s about
doing something every day that recharges my batteries. Breath. Walk. Drink more
water. Stretch. Exercise. Get more sleep. Eat nourishing foods. Be mindful.
Play more. Spend time outdoors. Spend time with my husband and children. Connect
with nature. Sounds simple but is harder than it looks when that curly life
gets in the way. Do something everyday that recharges the batteries.
Contribute.
This for me is linked to my core values. Contribution has long
been a value that informs my personal and professional life. I have done
charity and community work in a range of settings. I volunteer. I chose a
helping profession. I teach. I coach. This year contribution will extend beyond
my family and friends and work. I will find new avenues to contribute to my
community and the environment. For me this is non-negotiable. It is why the
need to recharge and create balance is so important so there is energy for
contribution. To me it is such a core part of who I am and how I interact with
others and my environment it has to be included.
So there you have it. 3 little words with big impact. These three little words are helping me to
make a big decision. To challenge the status quo and to dream bigger for myself
and my family. But although big decisions are scary, what better time to make
them than the start of another year, when the calendar is empty, the diary
pages crisp and the smell of possibility fresh in the air.
”What if I fall? …But
darling what if you fly?”
So to you I say, “Happy New Year” (also 3 simple, powerful words). What
will you do with it. What is your dream? What if you fly? What are your three
little words?
RJ x
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