Have you been going easy on yourself lately? In life? In creativity?
Have you allowed yourself some grace today? Are you feeding your hopes, intentions, and desires in your heart even if you aren’t ready to act on them?
Over the past year I have been reflecting on how much expectation I put on myself at times. How quick I am to deem myself a failure, or a “drop out” if I didn’t manage to do exactly what I thought I would at the start.
I managed one early morning run last spring, so much for that big plan.
I have half-finished creative projects all over the place.
I have at least 4 unfinished online courses I purchased in moments of idealism.
I have piles of stuff to sort through squirrelled away in every corner of my house and to do lists that I never manage to pick away at.
But what these all call for isn’t shame, self-admonishment, or to turn into the fodder of my negative self-talk. Rather all these things simply are as they are, they don’t need my judgement or fuel they need me to see the spirit that they were born from, and they need me to show myself some compassion (because life is hard and nothing ever ever goes as I envisioned it would.)
My two “go to” pieces of wisdom that help me to go easy on myself are…
1. “Our intentions create our reality” Wayne Dyer
We must start some place, and everything begins with our intention. All the unfinished business of our lives are evidence of some intention to move in a new direction. Let’s celebrate that rather than extinguish it. Maybe you weren’t totally ready for those new art supplies, but they came from an intention to create in a new way or learn something new. That little spark matters its where the future you begins so let’s celebrate all the moments of whispers and excitement that fuel us in life.
(This is a little installation I created on the Elk River this summer while I was trying to take it easy on myself one morning. I nestled myself down by the river took a few breaths and allowed myself permission to find beauty.)
2. What’s one tiny action I can do right now, to help move me towards something I want? (This is a summary of Oliver Burkeman’s thoughts)
You want a new job, so the tiny action you can take right now is to look on a job board or clean up the first paragraph of your resume. You want to be more creative, so today you just identify a class you want to take or organize a small part of your art supplies. You want to be more physically active, so you text a friend to see if they want to start a walking routine with you or you start looking for a gym or app to help you. Committing to one tiny action helps takes it from intention to reality… not the full meal deal just a shift from internal to external.
So, as you go easy on yourself today, showing some compassion and love for all the unrealized intentions in your life, pause for a moment and celebrate your intention (that you can see it, know it and feel it) and think of one tiny action you can take to make it a reality.
With love…
Rachel