The Word: 2018

My word of the year generally makes itself known to me around the end of November or start of December. This year, it was much harder to tease it out. There were a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head, and I reached November feeling pretty battered and bruised.

Illuminate proved to be a lot more intense that I had anticipated, and I knew that I needed to really absorb and live the big lessons I learnt, to stand more fully in my power, to reclaim my sovereignty. I felt the need, too, to step up and show up – there are so many ways in which I still hold myself back, allowing my inner critic, Prissy Missy, to have full reign over deciding what I can and cannot do.Continue reading→

2017: Looking back at Illuminate

Illuminate. That was my word for the year.

Seems so benign and uplifting, doesn’t it? To illuminate the darkness within, to speak my truth, to shine my light while being firmly rooted in my own personal power.

And yet, this is not an easy path to follow – Illuminate shook up my world, broke me open and put me back together again. Where 2016 was about outward growth and manifestation, 2017 was about inward illumination and expansion.Continue reading→

Magnify your intention with a word of the year

Intention plus action equals magic! Decoding the year aheadOne of my absolute favorite things to do in December is to start planning for next year. Pen and paper, a hot cup of black coffee and some soft music set the scene, while I sit wrapped up in a quilt,  reflecting on the year gone by and planning for the coming year.

But it wasn’t always so

There have been years – more than I care to count – when the change of the year was met with a dreary ho-hum, couldn’t care less attitude. Years when I broke my resolutions within days if not months…years when nothing seemed to happen…nothing seemed to change.It all changed when I stumbled upon the concept of intentions and choosing a focus word of the year. To be sure, it wasn’t a dramatic, sudden change. It took some time for me to work out how having a word of the year works, and even longer to understand how intentions work. But work they do – sometimes in ways we didn’t even expect!Continue reading→

The Word

Goodbye, Create. We’ve had a wonderful year together.

We created a soul practice – meditation, crystals, Tarot, Oracle cards, journaling breakthroughs, life recording

We created some lovely art – not as much as I had hoped to create, but I’m grateful for all the beautiful pieces of art that we did create

We created my why, my purpose, my vision

We created this beautiful new website and found a wonderful blogging community

Your blessings were many, your lessons bountiful, and for that I am truly grateful. As our journey together comes to an end, it is now time to….

To shine the light both inwards and outwards…to examine the broken places, the cracked surfaces, the lies I tell myself and the falsities I believe…to turn the light outwards, as I embrace my voice, sink more comfortably in my skin, stop hiding bits and pieces of myself, and speak truth to power. It’s exciting, and scary, which means that I am on the right path.

Onwards!

What’s your word? Tell me in the comments!

#UnWrapChristmas: Turning the spotlight on the spirit of the season

Festivities are in the air for Christmas is here! On the eve of Christmas, a bunch of merry bloggers have banded together to unwrap the spirit of the season. Join us as we spread some Christmas cheer in the blogosphere this year! A big thank you to Vijay Preetham Burton for passing the chain on to me.

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As I share what Christmas means to me through images and a few words, in the spirit of the season, I also have some surprises for you! Click on the images to unwrap your presents – little nuggets, some from deep within the archives, that I hope will help you bring these feelings into your life too!

Christmas is when I yearn to….

simplify

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Why I’m thrilled I read fewer books in 2016 + my 5 favorite reads

As I go through the books I’ve read this year, it’s immediately evident that the count is much lower than in the last couple of years. Since about 2012, I think, I’ve been averaging about 60 to 70 books each year. This year, the count is at a measly 26. And I’m thrilled! Because it is tangible proof that I’ve been spending my time doing more art, more soul work, and a whole lotta more blogging!

Reading has always been something I love – and don’t get me wrong, I love it still. But in the last few years, it had become an unhealthy, obsessive sorta love. I used it as an escape route – from life, from inner work, from my fears and hopes and dreams. Because if I was spending every free moment reading, I wasn’t doing much of anything else, was I?Continue reading→

#KindleThySpark: Raising a toast to the spirit of New Year

We’ve slogged through an entire year – almost 12 months of ups and downs and sometimes bone-crushing weariness. There have been high points and low points, exciting times and heart-warming moments, and heart aches and betrayals, and some things that can really weigh us down. But we don’t want to start the New Year on a weary note, do we? So let’s do something about it…

Let’s #KindleThySpark!Continue reading→

Decoding The Year: Turning the goal setting process inside out

“I’m breaking up with resolution setting,” I fumed. “It’s only February and I’ve fallen behind on everything!”

This was me, some years ago, ranting and railing to the husband. And as I got ever more angry with my lack of stick-with-it-ness, he quietly said: “Are you sure you’re approaching this whole goal setting thing the right way?”

That made me stop in my tracks and think – my resolutions were a list of things I “should” do:

  • Lose 10 kgs
  • Exercise everyday
  • Be more organized: Clean the living room and prepare for office at night
  • Organize the <insert latest pain point in the house>
  • Weekend getaways every month

You get the drift, right?Continue reading→

#InkingReflections: My adventure with Create

Create. That is my word for the year. Within it exist myriad possibilities.

For art. For a more soul-centred existence. For health and fitness. For life.

Word of the year 2016: CreateI had a sense of what I wanted to achieve by the end of this year, but focusing on this word has taken me down paths I could have never imagined.

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The Word

I’m fairly new to choosing a word of the year – last year was the first time I did this exercise. My word was Transform. I mapped out the areas of my life that I wanted to change and put down some milestones against them. And then, I wasn’t quite sure how to make it work…how it would be any different from regular New Year resolutions that you make on 1 January and break by the end of the month – if they even last that long?

Continue reading→