Hello friends! I have missed you!!!
Today’s the first day of school! Today’s the first day of school!!! Oh, I’m so so glad. Summer has not really caused a change in schedule at our house (our little lady wakes up at 6am no matter what), but still I like the structure that the school year brings. I await the fall weather with excitement… I want to wear long sleeves and jeans so badly, walk in crunchy leaves, sit out on my backyard patio to watch the birds, and do all the activities that the season brings – pumpkins, flowers, long walks, being outside. By mid-November, early-December, it’ll happen.
I also saw a hilarious post on Facebook from someone who showed a pic of her kids on the first day of school (because they say humiliation is an important part of childhood), followed by a pic of her and her friends an hour after dropoff, running and jumping off of a boat into a lake in huge celebration. I am feeling that elation too, although instead of a boat, I’m heading right to a board meeting.
Anyhoo.
I may have taken a break from hitting “Publish,” but I have not taken a break from blogging. I’ve been doing all sorts of great things over here and I can hardly wait to tell you about it all. I have already written and scheduled 19 posts! (Perhaps I shouldn’t have stopped posting?) The solution: just for September, I’ll post three days a week, M/W/F.
You can tell that “summer” does not equal “relaxing” over here. But… there’s good news. I may not be slowing down, but I am getting more focused. I see a big difference in that. There’s still not enough time to do all that I want to do, but I’m narrowing it down to the top priorities.
Writing is my primary method of tapping into to my thoughts and intuitive voice, which is probably why I couldn’t stop writing blog posts in draft form. I have a need to share my truth and when I shut it off, I’m also hiding my honesty and ideas. From myself! It’s writing and also creating art when I can turn off that ego voice and do what feels good to me, getting inwardly organized and quiet. My individuality resides there, so if I don’t tap into it, I lose my sense of what makes me… well, me. Also, I lose my ability to find shades of grey in situations, moving to black/white thinking, which expresses itself in judgement, blunt expressions, and impatience. Not so fun for those around me.
Let’s see… here are the highlights and what you can look forward to hearing about:
- Probably this goes without mentioning, but I have been reading A TON this summer. There was a day there when I pondered starting a separate blog focused solely on books, but I’ve come to my senses. I am going to do more frequent book reviews here though because my monthly summaries don’t allow me to tell you fully about the goodness of some of these treasures. I have my summer reading divided into 3 posts: fiction, non-fiction, and spirituality, and also 2 posts about individual books I think you’ll like. (BTW, let’s be friends on Goodreads!)
- I’m going to be taking a couple of online classes beginning next month and I’d love to have you join along. I’ll tell you about them on Wednesday. They are offered by some of my favorite people.
- I’ve gotten into Instagram again and I am in love. I’ve made many soulful and delightful new friends. I’ll be sharing photos from the two August prompt-a-day challenges I’ve been enjoying.
- I took a quick 10-day photography course centered around the topic of vulnerability and it raised some ideas I’d like to share with you.
- I also finally overcame my resistance to taking Kelly Rae Roberts’ Hello Soul Hello Mixed-Media Mantras class. It was excellent and I learned some new techniques I’ll share.
- I’ve made time for getting my hands covered with paint and gel medium, creating cards and canvases and art for my house. Of course I will show you.
- I’ve lost 20 pounds on WW through sheer discipline and lots of chewing gum.
- I took Carol Tuttle’s Dressing Your Truth course and have learned such a great deal about my own sense of balance, beauty, and aesthetics. Knowing that I am energetically sensitive, I already deliberately create my own structure, which sometimes shows up as perfectionism and people-pleasing.
- I’ve found a bunch of new-to-me clothing stores too and have been updating and organizing my closet.
- I took some photos of some of my art, ordered mounted prints, and reopened my Etsy shop.
- In addition to Energy Profiling, I’ve been learning about our body’s energy in general. I believe I have some “leaks.” I’ve got some insight to share about where they come from (for me) and how I am creating boundaries to prevent draining my energy and allow myself more time for beauty and serenity. (Key words: self-doubt, over-giving, suffering, naiveté, judgement, blame, self-worth, Truth) BIG stuff!
- In my Mussar class, we have covered Honor, Simplicity, and Enthusiasm. I’ve got a great post about simplicity and moderation that I think you’ll like.
- Finally, not written yet but forming in my mind are explorations on Abundance, Empowerment, and Self-Love. Oh, and Perfectionism.
K, so that should carry us into 2016 right? Lol. See you on Wednesday… I’m off to pretend to take a nap. Please share in the comments how you have been and what you’ve been up to this summer. 🙂
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