Doing what one wants to do because one wants to do it is hard for a lot of people, but I think it’s particularly hard for women. We are, after all, the gender onto which a giant Here-to-Serve button has been eternally pinned.
Cheryl Strayed
2023 was my transition year to retirement from a career of community service and care-giving. But left me wandering about a bit as I recalibrated.
- My choices initially felt quite impossible, Braveheart.
- I had a lot of questions. There was self-doubt and countless self-hosted should-sessions.
- Thankfully, I wasn’t alone in all of that. I talked through what I was experiencing with my partner, trusted friends and a kindred spiritual director.
- It was time to “toss aside empty hopes and get active” (Marcus Aurelius).
- But … full-disclosure, I almost unwittingly defaulted on my decision mid-year before course-correcting, regaining clarity and momentum.
- Instead of giving into shame, I reminded myself that course-correcting means there’s more than one course — and uncertainty is an essential part of certainty.
Stop wandering about …. Get busy with life’s purpose, toss aside empty hopes, get active in your own rescue—if you care for yourself at all—and do it while you can.
Marcus Aurelius
My right brain chronicles became my map.
The black and white of it all:
I let go of being duty-bound.
[This is a free download available here until January 31, 2024.]
Tracking the details of each week helps me focus on my priorities.
As a practice, this also offers clarity and reduces the roller coasters of distraction, and helps me to separate fact from fiction. 🙂
[The] only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going inside ourselves.
Bessel van der Kolk
The guide word from the 2024 Kit is [magic]. And the Life Quad focus: wellness
- Magic has been showing up as embracing [beginner’s mind] and [possibility] and [lettering on my iPad].
- Magic has been in the air during my morning journal-planning, book discussions with kindred friends, and the community sessions I host.
- Wellness for me has included exploring new clothing options, (mostly) daily naps, adapting my walking schedule according to the frigid, windy January weather, experimenting with Procreate to foster my creativity and reading/practicing The Artist’s Rule.
Right brain planning is grounding (calming), and it is a way of remembering the details of our living: tracking micro-movements, daily sequences, lunar phase practices, books we are reading and words that guide us.
Right brain planning is how we can come to our own rescue and do what we want (and need).
Right brain planning is how I maintain a daily routine; it is how I keep going (and do what I want).
Thank you kindly for your presence here, Braveheart.
I appreciate your interest and support.
~love & good wishes~
2024 Right Brain Planner® Kit | field notes | Right Brain Planner® FAQ
2024 Right Brain Planner® Kit [Theme] Kaleidoscope Perspectives ✨ [Focus] — Noticing Beauty (within the kaleidoscope of your living: the ongoing, ever-changing “formations” of color and meaning)
❤️ Braveheart, as the Creator/Artist of Right Brain Planner® I am ever-grateful to have the opportunity to share my creative work online + support other creators since 2008! 🎉 This is possible, in part, by {you} and your presence here. But also because of the support of my Ko-fi patrons and the other other member/subscriber communities I host (via their presence, input and subscriptions).
P.S. I have been devoting more time to writing here about my creative practice. 😊 I hope you will join me here, Braveheart. 🎉