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How to Set a Clear Intention During Times of Seasonal and Personal Change
Early spring is messy, isn’t it? Most trees are still bare. It tends to rain a lot, the ground is muddy and soft, and although the temperatures are warming up, it is still cold enough to require coats and heavy sweaters. Patches of green moss are coming alive, and the daffodils are blooming, but the yard and the flower beds look messy and beat up. This transition period between endings and new beginnings almost always feels messy and uncertain. Every time we catch a glimpse of what is next, the clouds move over the sun, the wind picks up, and we turn back inside for safety and warmth. The first day…
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The Season for Clearing and Making Room for Growth
Happy February, I hope the new month unfolds in ways that support and inspire you as you move forward, creating your vision for the new year. This time of the year usually moves slowly for me. It is winter, after all, a time to slow down and linger, reflect, ask questions, and gain clarity before moving forward with what the new year asks of me. There are loss anniversaries to cope with, but there are also new beginnings to honor and celebrate. February is a landmark month for me. I was born in February. Thirty-nine years ago, I left Greece to move to the US, and in a few weeks, Neal…
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How to Navigate the Flow of Change Mindfully
Our culture moves fast and is outwardly focused. We are driven by our goals and our to-do lists. Sometimes it feels as if we can’t see the forest for the trees. We tell ourselves that we will rest when we complete what we have set out to do. Of course, not everything goes smoothly, no matter how diligent, disciplined, or organized we are. Things can turn out differently than expected, and life takes us on detours. When this happens, what matters is how we manage ourselves. For example, you may be well into your new beginnings. You waited a long time to change a few things and step onto a new…
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Your New Beginnings and How to Take That First Step
The seasons of a year. The return of spring.The heart grows glad when it can leaf out,when light and shadow are known to belong toone another. – Gunilla Norris We are constantly in a state of reinvention, and never is that more apparent than at the onset of spring. Every day, as we look out our window and step out our front door, we are reminded that a new beginning is already underfoot. I was talking to a friend recently who mentioned how much she loves waking up early in the morning, so she can stand in front of her window to watch the sunrise. Each morning the sun rises, marking…
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The Edge of New Beginnings
There was a full moon last night. I woke up early and went downstairs to make myself a cup of hot water with lemon. I fed the kitty and stood by the kitchen window, waiting for the water to boil. The house was quiet. Outside, the full moon was casting its light on the snow-covered yard. I stood there, breathing, looking up, and in this precious moment, my heart was full, and my mind at peace. When you regain a sense of your life as a journey of discovery, you return to rhythm with yourself.When you take the time to travel with reverence, a richer life unfolds before you.Moments of beauty…
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Beginner’s Mind
We are well into November, and Thanksgiving is around the corner. I have been moving along, following the established rhythm of life and work, but a few days ago, it hit me. We are approaching the end of this year. This is usually the time when my creative thinking kicks in. It is also the time I feel the urge to step on the brakes, look back, and take it all in. Traveling through the dark time of the year affords us this opportunity for self-reflection. Looking back and evaluating becomes the foundation to setting clear and focused intentions for moving forward. It is easy to settle into habits, behaviors, and…
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The Flow Of Our Days
“The secret heart of time is change and growth.Each new experience that awakens in you adds to your soul and deepens your memory. John O’DohohueExcerpt from Anam Cara This is the summer that followed the year when life as we knew it stopped. After having lived through the last 14 months, it is only natural that there’s an urgency to begin again, to resume life as we knew it. We lived through the darkness of winter. We experienced loss. We learned to navigate contradictions.We opened up to aspects of ourselves that needed to be seen. We found ways to reach out and remind each other that we’re here. We got creative.…
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Self-Doubt And What To Do About It
Have you noticed how self-doubt often tends to creep in as you try to complete a project, decide on a new direction, or open up to a new relationship? On good days, I think of self-doubt as a friend. It can test your resolve, strength, and perseverance. Yet, when self-doubt is allowed to go unchecked, it can paralyze you and hold you back. I know self-doubt well. I can trace my relationship with it back to childhood. I can pinpoint times and events in my life when the seeds of self-doubt were planted and watered regularly. Hard as you may try, self-doubt cannot be defeated by ignoring it or by wishing…
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Powering Through
We’re approaching the one-year anniversary of the beginning of quarantine. A year! A challenging and emotional march through four seasons. How have we changed and what have we learned? Where do we go from here? Although we may be sensing the light at the end of this dark tunnel we’ve been walking through, there’s not much clarity as to how or even when this unexpected journey will end. This time of the year lends itself to being inside, reflecting, seeing, evaluating where we are and where we want to be. Given all that has happened this last year, many of us feel anxious about the future. We’re hoping for positive change…
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Endings & New Beginnings
January 2021 began with a bang and an intensity that rocked us. We had hoped for a deep breath of fresh air and a new beginning. We knew that things were not going to change overnight. They didn’t. Instead, January 6th happened. The images, intensity, and sheer scope of the day’s events jolted me and activated memories, emotions, and past experiences that I thought were behind me. If you too experienced an avalanche of emotions or strong memories, please remember it’s normal. Research has shown that traumatic events can trigger this kind of response. Take good care and be extra patient with yourselves. I was grateful when on January 11th, a…
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Imagine – Hope
Hello everyone, Welcome to the finish line of 2020, a truly unprecedented year. We’re a few hours away from a brand new and much-needed beginning. We ought to give ourselves credit for getting through and being here, ready and able to exhale. Is anything going to change drastically at the dawn of the New Year? Probably not, but change will come…slowly, painstakingly, deliberately, and at times, unexpectedly. ‘Tis the nature of change. Of course! The path to heavendoesn’t lie down in flat miles.It’s in the imaginationwith which you perceivethis world,and the gestureswith which you honor it.Oh, what will I do, what will I say, when thosewhite wingstouch the shore? Mary OliverExcerpt…
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The Starting Point
I’ve been thinking of what to write for a few days now. I find myself growing increasingly silent. Some voices need to be heard and I feel the need to do more listening than speaking. The horror of what happened to George Floyd, the explosion of protests, and the voices of people collectively shouting …. ENOUGH … combined with the pandemic, political landscape, and the historical reality of systemic racism, have left me muddling through the days and getting lost in whirling and conflicting thoughts. I am deeply sad and often very angry. I want to help but don’t know how. Being the “fixer” I was born and conditioned to be…
