This week I’ve noticed more and more conversations about what people want and what they don’t want. I think that inquiry is always a good thing. I believe we should all continually be moving towards what makes our hearts happy and loosening both our grip and our attention on what doesn’t light us up.
And the truth is, we’re always evolving. What was delightful five years ago, or five months ago, or five days ago may not be right-fit anymore. That’s where some rub comes in, because we humans, as a whole, resist change, even changes we want. That’s such a curious thing isn’t it?
It’s a complicated dance – a push-pull across the dance floor of our days, of our lives. But for me, it feels like one of life’s givens. Like needing to have a body to experience this life; or needing to remember that household chores are a continuing item on the to-do list rather than a one-time-and-done thing. We need to constantly assess where we are, and if that place is bringing us what we want, and if it’s not, what changes we can make. We have to continually know ourselves in deeper more honest more accurate ways.
I suppose that’s my philosophy of life. It’s what I strive to do, and what I encourage everyone to do. To know themselves, and create their lives, their days, their moments continually creating right-fit containers that support them in their wholeness. For the most part, I think this is fun – it’s awesome and exciting and challenging and oh-so-fulfilling. There’s an element of mystery – always discovering something new about yourself. And there’s alchemy involved – how do I go about creating what I want. Because things aren’t necessarily as straightforward as you might be inclined to think. We need to pay attention to the vibrational aspects of energy. If I want more joy in my life, I’d better be embodying some joy vibration so I can be in resonance with other joy vibrations. If I want more beauty, am I paying attention to the beauty around me? Am I creating beauty in my circumstances?
That’s the fun part. Remembering we’re powerful creators. Remember that while it may take many many steps to get where we ultimately think we want to be, each step we do take can be satisfying and delicious because we’re steeping in the energy of what we choose.
I think it’s sort of key not to dwell too much on what we don’t want, but to simply use that information as a guideline for what we do want. That’s why I find it can be rather disempowering to hold on to old stories. When we invest energy in them, we keep part of ourselves crystalized in that energy and then there’s less of us to move forward with. I don’t suppose that makes actual literal sense, but that’s how I see it energetically.
So just like dusting or washing dishes is an ongoing process, the work of evolving ourselves is ongoing. Sometimes I think people forget that. They think that they’ll get to this place they’re striving for – the day when they have more time or more money or the perfect body or the whatever it is – and then they reached that point of happiness or relief or not-striving. I don’t think that’s actually the point of life at all.
I think we can and should make deliberate choices about what energy we want in our lives and go about creating that. I also think it’s fabulous to pay attention to all the little things that offer us clues about what we’re actually creating. That’s one of the reasons I like doing a little weekly review. When I share what’s been igniting my brain and delighting my heart in these blog posts I’m doing a couple things. Hopefully steering you to some fabulousities to explore yourself, but also reminding myself of what energy I’m steeping in; what curiosity is calling me toward.
In keeping with that practice let me share a few things that I found magical this week:
- This makes my brain explode with delight. My mind does somersaults when I discover something so magical that I had never heard of before – it’s not only excited about the object of discovery, but it gets reminded that there is SO much magic out in the world to be found it just sighs in expansive joy. Win-win wouldn’t you say? clam silk and it’s weaver Chiara Vigo
- Another entry in the seriously-how-much-more-amazing-does-it-get-than-this-file. leaf photograph by Alice Cazenave.
- Yay for innovative genius people coming up with brilliant ideas to help with real-life problems. In this case thinking outside the box, leads to creating a useful box. Cardborgami by Tina Hovsepian.
- So many of us delight in the magic of feathers. This is an older, not current project, but still it ignites delight in my heart. You can read about The Magic Feather Project here, and if you poke around you can find Jude Hill’s tutorial on how to create your own stitched feathers.
- a beautiful way to live: Powered by Design: Tom Givone
Let’s end my collection of delights with my favorite word of the week:
nitid: (adjective) Bright; lustrous; shining.
There you have it – a peek at what energies I’ve been steeping in this week as an indication of what’s important to me and what I want to create more of. What about you? What’s been igniting your brain and gladdening your heart? What nitid wonders have brightened your week? Do tell – you know I love to hear.
I love your favorite word for the week. I don’t think i’ve ever heard it before. Now I want to use it.
Those are the best words. 🙂
Hi Deborah – great word: nitid. Those creative energies look good and yes we should manifest the happy, cheerful things in life. Cheers Hilary
Here’s to having nitid days and lives!
Hi Deborah,
Thank you for such a beautiful post. In love with the clip of Tom Givone.
He’s so soothing to listen to and his work is stunning!
Thanks for your kind words Nancy. And I agree about Tom Givone – I imagine he imbues that soothing energy into all the homes he works on making them even more fabulous.
Such a refreshingly positive post, Deborah. Yes! I’m with you all the way. And may I say I adore your flowers. You’ve inspired me to go outside right now and pick some of my own. Thank you. May our days continue to evolve.
Oh yay you for grabbing a bouquet Kelly – flowers are such an simple uplifter aren’t they?
Deborah, I just love the way you curate not just your energies, but the entire Internet. The story of Chiara Vigo and the clam silk brought tears to my eyes.
What a fabulous and delightful compliment Harmony – thank you. That clam silk story is beyond wonderful isn’t it?
What an uplifting post! I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed and rushed of late. I clearly need to stop and reassess what I’m creating in my life and make some much needed changes! The first of which is to follow a few of those links above…especially the one about the feathers!
Here’s to finding and implementing those little tweaks to make your life more easy and grace-filled Debbie!
Michele and I are taking a road trip today up to the North Shore to catch the last of the nitid leaves! She has a convertible, so we will be riding with the top down – at least part of the way.
It feels like I’ve been shifting out of old stories a lot lately, like I am shedding a skin that I’ve worn way too long. It feels good. I hope you are well and best love to your family!
Oh how fun Amy – I’m sure a convertible makes any road trip exponentially better. I love imagining that one of those nitid leaves may fall right into your lap as you’re driving.
And yay to letting go of the old stories that don’t fit anymore – that’s really exciting.
I have to agree with Harmony…as I was wandering among this week’s delights, I thought, “Deborah is giving us a modern day Cabinet of Curiosities.” We are so lucky to have you in this multi-verse. The entire story of the clam shell silk is straight out of ancient myth (literally). The collecting. The spinning. The weaving. Generational woman to woman teaching traditions, the intimation that this family has been called. Her prayers to the elements, belief that it should not (cannot) be commercialized, it is given only to those without means and with true need. O. M. Goddess. It is just about impossible to imagine this existing in 2015, that there lives this magic still. It gives me great joy to know it does.
Oh what a fabulous idea TL – I love imagining I’m giving you peeks into a Cabinet of Curiosity! I can’t tell you how that makes my heart and brain explode with delight.
And yes, yes, yes to how you’re holding the story about the clam shell silk. It’s exactly the kind of invitation that reminds us magic and wonder are as available to us now when we seem to need them most.