Hello, Braveheart … As we abide in these days between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day — that weird purgatory of never knowing what day it is — let’s gently pause, and breathe in this moment. ♥
- If you are finding peace (and perhaps even some excitement and joy) in this season, I celebrate that with you, Braveheart.
- If you are feeling a bit lost and a little wandery, I honor and hold that space with you, Braveheart.
- If the past three years have left you numb and questioning, feeling an almost-constant sadness or overwhelm, I hold that space with you, Braveheart.
To effect a creative recovery, we must undergo a time of mourning….a certain amount of grief [is] essential. Without this creative moistening, we may remain barren.
Julia Cameron
I tend to feel “lost” during this week in between Christmas and the first day of a new year.
This is the result of being away from my regular schedule, when I sort of forget the details of my motivation and daily intentions.
- As I shared with one of the private groups I host, when we stop the regularity of our day-by-day routines we can experience the sense that we have ‘lost our place.”
Our place within our progress cannot be lost, and we are not “behind” — we are precisely where we are supposed to be, Braveheart.
Whenever we experience these feelings, it is important to identify what we want + step out just beyond ourselves as a point of assessing our priorities:
- What are we missing from the pause in our regular schedule?
- What are we not missing from the pause in our regular schedule?
These phases of assessment are ways of envisioning ourselves, and living what matters most to us.
We also have the option of only resuming what we missed [what we desire], those situations that enrich our living and provide us with meaning (enrichment, safety, comfort).
This is also the annual phase when I am unsure what day of the week it is; when my emotions are “defragging,” reorganizing after the blitzing surge of “the holidays” and I practice living the healing power of my “wild heart rather than [my] weary hurt” (Brené Brown).
This is an annual phase when I have the option of beginning (and resuming) simply.
My starting (resuming) point this week was to print + begin adding collage and doodles to the zine-journal included in the 2024 Annual Kit.
Next week — while trying to remember to write the correct date 🙂 — I will resume my regular work schedule. Until then I will continue to slow-read, collage and add to the pages of my journal-planners.
If one wants to be active, one mustn’t be afraid to do something wrong sometimes, not afraid to lapse into some mistakes. To be good — many people think that they’ll achieve it by doing no harm — and that’s a lie… That leads to stagnation, to mediocrity. Just slap something on it when you see a blank canvas staring at you with a sort of imbecility.
Vincent van Gogh
Braveheart, as the calendar year concludes, let’s hold this space with compassion and acknowledge that Life itself is like a blank canvas.
- So, it is vital that we resist being “afraid to do something wrong sometimes [and] not afraid to lapse into some mistakes” — because everything is part of living and learning within the dailies of our wild and precious lives. 🧡
During this in-between time let’s celebrate that we have lived through a lifetime of our worst days and overcame (what, at first, looked to be) impossible challenges.
- Let’s allow for the rise and fall of a feelings, and let’s trust that living is change — and change guides us to living more (and more) of what matters most to us.
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. 🎉
Hope is deciding to say: “No matter what comes my way, I am free to pace myself through this.”
Morgan Harper Nichols