Three little words

Last year I chose “fearless” to guide my year.

Countless times I found myself remembering that intention and it impacting my days.

Saying yes.

Reaching out.

Trying something different.

Creating a course and trusting imperfections were ok (or actually helpful).

Finding my silly side (however briefly).

Singing karaoke – and having fun doing it.

I still have things in mind that require me to conquer my fears and let go of perfectionism even more (hello sewing machine still in the box two years later). Even as 2013 started I felt the word was still guiding me. I received an email asking me if I was interested in leading an online course on a site that I follow and freaked out a little. The courses I had taken were by big league players and I don’t have a published book or a 30,000 person following. I hesitated for days and then said I was interested in talking further. By the time you read this I will have had my first skype meeting to see if this will happen. I am scared and feel “not enough” and yet I know the only way to be enough is to say yes.

This year is all about me finding my way back to my own “simple” as social media and blogging about “find your simple” in 2012  ironically led me to lose my own.

In keeping with my values, being authentic and finding my own path… I am ignoring all guidance that you really “should” choose only one word. Who the hell says so? This is where it comes into play that we read other people’s advice and thoughts for inspiration and growth, but ultimately it comes down to what we feel, what we believe and what works for us.

I have 3 little words guiding me and already so much is happening it is freaky! I love my words already. I will draw on them to plan my days. I will draw on them when choosing between tasks, people, places, food, ideas and more.

My three words are create, connect and clean.

Create

write

sew

embroider

paint

doodle

lists

outfits

messes

moments

fun

courses

books

photography – instagram and photo a day are not just for “good” photographers, learn by doing

pops of colour

playlists

photobooks

non dairy icecream flavours

meals with friends

celebrations

Connect

read and comment on more blogs this year (with time saved by more efficient blogging, less social media and shorter posts) – I lost this so much in 2012

time with my children

time with friends

volunteering (swapping classroom volunteering for community this year)

pick up the phone (fearless comes into play here for me)

show up fully (not replacing my lost smartphone until March or June so the habit of using email and social media around others is broken)

work on my marriage (starting with Gretchen Rubin’s 21 day relationship challenge if you want to join in – we will be talking about it on the facebook page)

return to daily time with my girls reading aloud – now that they are both fluent readers this slipped a bit and I think it is a better way to finish our day together

launching a monthly newsletter for the site – extra stuff from me not just a recap – working on a guide to intentional living as a giveaway with sign up (stay tuned!)

adopt a dog

Clean

food – I intend to look further into this book about cholesterol and aim to get off my meds asap, increase browns vs whites (but still enjoy what I like), increase vegetarian and seafood, regular home baking session on weekends, stay off sugar and dairy that make me sick and crazy (and substituting with other things so I don’t feel denied)

house – more green cleaning (exploring the toxin connection with my health issues), more thorough (I am not a keen cleaner, but back on meds I see more clearly and finally notice dirt, splashes and dust – amazing), more white space

health – get off cholesterol meds for sure, hopefully thyroid too (reading further)

 

I will have goals related to each area and write down ideas and plans, but for now it is simple enough to ask myself every day what I am creating, how I am connecting and how I moved along the journey of “clean”.  Less internet surfing to zone out and more hand stitching while being WITH my husband. Less grabbing of carbs and convenient foods when I am busy and more time spent prepping batches of good-for-me things. Less worrying about what others say a blogger / writer / mother has to do and more following my internal guidance system again.

 

What little words might guide you to an incredible 2013?

 

Find your simple,

Deb

Tagged as: guiding words