New Year, New Word, New Start

I just sent out a newsletter, talking about Creating Intentions instead of making resolutions.

Resolutions, like rules, are made to be broken. They last a few weeks if you're lucky. You may decide to stop drinking coffee, ride the bus instead of taking the car, jog 5 miles every morning, or lose that extra poundage put on eating gravy and all the fixins.

What if you decided to work from a positive view instead? 

What if you asked yourself what it is you really want to attract into your life? or move away from?
For instance, last year I journaled and mused and collaged at the beginning of the year, then came up with this phrase: Release the Rescuer in me.

Over the year, it became a talisman or touchstone that I kept coming back to. Mid-year I made a SoulCollage(R) card to honour that intention. I could see it as a running lesson that came returning - everytime I reached out to help someone and it was not really needed, or it fulfilled my own need to help but not the receiver's need, I was reminded that it was time to release the Rescuer in me.

I was brought up that way, to help others. there was a bit of a dysfunction in our household that made things unpredictable and chaotic sometimes. I was the eldest daughter in a family of 8, my mother was alcoholic and relied on me (and my sister) to help out and make things run smoothly, whether with laundry, meals or younger siblings care. It became my "good girl" mode, seeing to the needs and responding as instantly as I was able. (Of course there was rebellion, too, in my teen years, but overall it became part of my personality).

In looking forward to 2016, even though I'm not quite ready yet to make a definitive statement, I can feel something edging closer to my awareness. So my word, temporarily, is Awareness.

I would like to be more aware of my own needs and not place unrealistic demands on others to take care of them.
I would love to be aware of joy, appreciation, gratitude for all I have instead of complaining.
I am aware of the preciousness of life, and can be more Present to its beauty.
I want to be aware of my own body, and its very real needs for clean food, lots of rest and a huge amount of creative play. Or is that my soul's need?

So you get the idea - find a word, think about it, journal about it, make art about it. It will come to you, if you want it too. Keep in mind that imagining and attracting something positive has a higher chance of being something you will stick to over the year.

Creatively, soulfully yours,
Jenn
www.jenniferboire.com

ps if you want to receive a free monthly newsletter, sign up on the website and keep in touch - two events coming up:

Sat. Feb 6 Playing with Creative Soulfulness, a SoulCollage workshop in the Glebe area, 816 Bank Street, Ottawa $50 all supplies included. Register at info@jenniferboire.com. Or by reply to this email.

Hummingbird Retreat: Still 3 places left for, Tapping into Joy in Costa Rica, Feb 21-24.  If you are already cringing at winter's cold, come fly away with myself and ShamaMama Brigitte Bauhart to tropical Costa Rica. Join us for morning yoga, walks in the rainforest, a sunset cruise, hummingbird farm, and lots of creative exercises and downtime....to tap into your Joy! $750 Cdn. (lodging for whole week available) Register at info@jenniferboire.com Deposit of 50% required. Write me for details.

New Year Begins (Again)!

(image of rising sun in the east, early December 2009)
How did we get here this fast? I mean, it was just a few months ago I was making resolutions about no more resolutions, and here it is, time to sit down with my journal and dream my way into what I want to have happen in 2010.

Here it is end of December, and the lake is (almost) freezing over with some cold mist rising from the snow and ice, creating zigzagging patterns over the surface, and some open water....it will take a few more days of minus 10 Celsius to get totally solid.  The setting sun is throwing yellow light over the whole sifting misty lake, quite magical (not as magical as seeing the landscape on Pandora, in Avatar, but hey...see http://www.avatarmovie.com/).

Here is my list of things I am already ready to receive (not 'what I want', or 'goals' nor resolutions, but what I am already thankful for because it is being provided).

I am grateful for the lakeview and the wide open sky in front of me.
I am grateful for the space to write in and create.
I am grateful for the continued health and independence of my teenaged children.
I am grateful for the continued happiness and fulfillment of my husband.
I am grateful for new opportunities for music and singing.
I am grateful for lots of growth and learning.
I am grateful for my new book Tao of Turning 50 being published and widely distributed.
I am grateful for being financially independent.
I am grateful for providing for my family.
I am grateful for many many retreats and women's circles.
I am grateful for thousands of more readers of my blogs.
I am grateful for helping thousands of women uncover the unknown.
I am grateful for my continued health and stamina, so I can create more wisdom sharing venues.
I am grateful for uncovering networks of women with similar ideals and values.
I am grateful for partnering with like-minded women.
I am grateful for the ability to focus on my new projects and publishing.
I am grateful for being able to travel and work with writing mentors like Nathalie Goldberg.
I am grateful for being with thoughtful friends who care about my needs and my work.
I am grateful for sharing love with so many people.
I am grateful for my large extended family on both sides and their health.
I am grateful for being loved.
I am grateful for being cared for.
I am grateful for new horizons opening up.
I am grateful for taking risks and stepping forward.
I am grateful for sharing these steps with all who are interested.
I am grateful for another year of creativity, in song, in laughter.
I am grateful.

Thanks to this creative universe we live and thrive in, thanks be.

(and special thanks to my mother, my sisters and brothers, for a wonderful 3 days with them in Ottawa this past weekend)

musemother/jenn

New Year Check In

First off, happy New Year, to all who have stopped by at this post.

I am not one for resolutions, and am especially irritated by goal setting exhortations from self-help types, so I will not incite you to improve yourself in any way, either by losing weight, eating less fattening food, quitting smoking or joining a gym. I've done all that, and it never lasts very long.

Instead, I am reminding myself today that "I am enough". I happened to be reading my journal from exactly one year ago today, and found an interesting entry. In it, I told myself exactly what I would be doing (before I had made steps to lead retreats) and where my real work lies. This may seem odd to you who know I lead workshops and have written books, and think that I must know what I am doing. But the weird thing is, it hit me only very recently that I am exactly where I need to be, and yes, I have been travelling on this path for some time now.

Having made a big move, built a new house and moved in November, it's been like living in a whirlwind. Once the dust settles, you look around and realize you are not in Kansas anymore. Yet where I am feels more like home than ever before. The gift of this brand new location with vast windows overlooking a white expanse of snowy lake, is that here we start anew. Here we live our dreams, the ones we can't put off any longer, the deeply felt creative life that has been calling.

I have given some thought to what the new year might bring, just not formulated any resolutions. Someone asked me what I wished for the new year at a party. I surprised myself by stating emphatically, Focus and Simplicity.

Perhaps these two words don't mean much to anyone else, but they summed up nicely what I want - more acceptance of what is, less distraction of desiring what I don't have, and generally, just focusing on what's unfolding here and now in front of me. (It's not easy, but it's what I want). Yoga helps bring me to a place of contentment in my body, and helps me focus on the now. Meditation has been bringing me to a place of peace for over 30 years now. But acceptance of what I have has always been a challenge.

So, here is the excerpt from my journal that says it all about where I've been, where I am going, and where I am already:

Questions I ask myself - maybe I am too self-involved (to be a good mother)? Yet, the more balanced I feel, the slower I allow myself to be, for example in accepting Silence and Serenity as allies of the Slow Feminine, the better I feel. I still judge myself too harshly, and sometimes allow the fear of not being busy, outside the house working to confuse me. Yet, I KNOW MY WORK LIES IN THIS INNER WORK OF QUIETING, CENTERING, finding balance. (N.B. CAPS are because I can't believe I need to hear this again to believe it).

My inner research time will bear fruit, with patience; once I can live it, then I can teach or share it. I need to assimilate the self-care message - act it and not only speak about it - first. Find a gentle place to move, speak, and act from, and leave behind the harsh critic. Practice stillness, observe.

So there it is - my own New Year's message to me, written last year on January 8,, yet so timely for today.

Thank goodness for my journal, a rich record of my yearnings, longings, thoughts, passions and passtimes. My own silver mirror to see my deeper self in, as Marion Woodman calls it.

I can look back on the last few years, a somewhat painful journey, that brought me through a menopausal descent, and a resurfacing. A few years of searching, and shifting from writing poetry into working with women in workshops. I feel a sense of excitment about the new adventure, teaching a class entitled Time For You: Mini-Retreats, at the West Island Women's Centre, beginning next Wednesday.

Wish me luck, and if you join my class, we'll explore this gentle inner space together.

nameste,
musemother/jenn