It's a way to manifest what you want into your life in the new year.
And this year, what I want to manifest is SPACE. Yep, my word for 2015 is Space. Huh? Yes, I know some of you are scratching your heads and saying, "Space? What the heck does that mean?" Well.... let me explain. Firstly, I spent a lot of time listening to the awesome and inspiring interviews on the Thriving Artist Summit that is going on right now. (If you haven't checked it out, do it now! It's free and full of great hour-long interviews with some amazing people!) And one of the talks that resonated the most with me was by Karen Gunton. She talked a lot about how your business is like a lighthouse - inspired by the Anne Lamott quote "Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining." She took this analogy and ran with it - making loads of great comparisons, but the one that resonated most was that you need space around your lighthouse. Lighthouses don't work well in the middle of a city or surrounded by crowds. They are surrounded by a sea of space.Give yourself permission to have some space.
Karen says: space creates flow and flow is the opposite of stuck.
When she said those words, my whole mind, body and soul said, "YES! Space! That's what we've been missing!" If you've been following along on my creative journey (and if you know me at at all), you know that I am a driven gal. When I set my mind to something, ain't nothin' gonna get in my way. That's good usually, but not all the time. I will literally drive myself to total exhaustion if that's what it takes to reach my goals. This isn't good for me because one of the first things I jettison when things get busy is space. I fill up every waking moment (and many should-be-sleeping moments) with my never-ending to-do list. And while 2014 was a great year for making HUGE strides with my creative business adventures, it was a year almost totally devoid of space. And man, am I craving it. Space to allow ideas to develop. Space to play. Space to breathe, listen and sit still doing nothing. Space to really listen to my loved ones. Space to dream and wonder. Space to allow a problem to resolve itself. Space to read a book just because... Space to help a stranger. Space to serve others without completely depleting myself. Space to doodle. Space to create just for fun. Space to sleep in or go to bed early. Space for spontaneity. Space to notice and be grateful. Space for a change of plans or things to go "wrong". Space to respect my body, mind and soul when they are tired. So you get the idea. I need a little breathing room in my world. And I'm going to make that a priority this year. When I shared this word of the year with my hubby, he said, "Oh. So you want space to be present." Yes. (Damn, he's so wise sometimes!) That doesn't mean I'm going to stagnate or stop pursuing my dreams with a passion. I think this actually means going after my vision with a better balance so as to be able to walk my creative path with more strength and stability. Here's a great video by Marie Forleo that summarizes that point beautifully. Don't you just love it when you gain these little moments of clarity? Me too.
Fun pic my hubby snapped of me through the window in my studio. So happy to be feeling well enough to start creating again!