Give Yourself Permission

I did a 15 minute meditation this evening. I also had the house to myself so it was convenient. Today was a weird day but I’m glad I got to have some time to myself to sit and just be. No judging. No trying to change things. It feels good to let things go. After I finished my meditation, I took a moment to enjoy my tea before the family returned home.

I haven’t been meditating as much while trying to manage everything. I’m glad I could give that time to myself. It can feel sometimes that it’s not worth it. That I might as well do something else. But when I get to stop for a moment and give myself permission to just be, it feels better than surfing the web for a moment.

Grow into Something

I learned to knit a scarf today! It’s exciting to see it slowly grow into something other than a ball of yarn. I’m taking my time to master the tension and fixing my mistakes without having to start it all over. It’s fun. I popped on some weird youtube videos and knitted the day away.

Have you tried anything new lately?

Words to Support Words?

I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Despite what Mr. Emerson may feel, I appreciate a good quote. There’s a quote for everything. All I have to do is think about how I felt or what actions stood out the most to me, and find one word to describe it. Then I add the word to Quotes about [insert description word here].

What kind of tricks do you use to keep yourself writing?

Jayne Press

What’s it all about

“The mission of Jayne.Press is to inspire growth and respect real life content within New England. Jayne.Press will continue to find ways to increase in community, create a place for individuals to write real life experiences using creative ways to advance inner growth, and provide an outlet from mundane lifestyles. Jayne.press will continue to evolve along with readership.”

Wow these are some big missions. I’m going to tackle all of these but I think I work best unconventionally. Time to revisit and rethink this. Back to the drawing board!!

Abundance Affirmation

I am one with the Power that created me. I am totally open and receptive to the abundant flow of prosperity that the Universe offers. All my needs and desires are met before I even ask. I am Divinely guided and protected, and I make choices that are beneficial for me. I rejoice in other’s successes, knowing there is plenty for us all.

Louise Hay

I read this and had to share it. Sharing is caring. I am a fan of throwing affirmations in my mix of good habits. They bring it all together and seal the deal for me. I used to search and search for affirmations from outside of me. Once I took full responsibility for my desires, everything chilled out. I felt loved, and it came easy. Do you know why, because I learned to talk through my vulnerabilities. I learned to listen to my limited thinking and how to replace it with new affirmations. It changed me.

Have you benefited from affirmations?

…”Little Minds Shrink”…

I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.

Leonardo da Vinci

What powerful words. Big brains smile in trouble! Gather strength from distress!! Grow brave by reflection!! If I had to pick one of these as my biggest challenge, it would be reflection. This blogging thing at the end of the day. Trying to reflect and learn from my day everyday is hard af for me. I try my best to find quotes that reflect my experience from that day but there are also times I just pick a random quote and run with it.

For today, this quote is encouraging to me mostly for the second part.

..”they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.”

There’s so much freedom in this statement. An approving conscience. My own principles. I’ll take it. It may take the extra work to reflect daily on a basis but if this sense of freedom is where daily reflection brings me, I’ll do it.

Which one is most challenging for you?

You Should Understand

As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand.

Ernest Hemingway

As a writer, it is my job to understand humans as they are. If I place even one person under a microscope, I lose the context of their entire being. I remove them from their experiences, their feelings, their dreams, and place them in my own world. A world (your world) that they know nothing about.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s situations where making a judgement call in needed. I’m not referring to the type of judgements where life and death are at stake or business calls. I’m talking making judgements that would otherwise not affect your day to day living.

Why is it important that writers understand?

When we take time to understand those around us with an open heart/mind, we can write authentic characters. We can even guide our characters out of darkness and into the light, something we may not have access to in reality. BUUT what’s more important than getting a good story is that we can truly connect with our fellow humans on a much deeper level. What other reason to write than to make sure those around us feel less alone?

Imagination

The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

There is freedom in imagination. The trouble comes trying to bring your imagination to reality as a creator. I do feel most times when we bring our imaginations to reality it takes away from the fantasy of it all. It gets lost in translation and since reality has its limits, we often have to cut out the stuff that made it what it was. Don’t get me wrong sometimes things translate into reality flawlessly and you forever change the way people see their own reality. What an honor that can be. At the end of the day, imagination is where I find freedom. My craft is doing my best to bring those snapshots to into this world the best way I can while leaving some for myself.

To Expanding and Beyond!

“The real way to find love is to know that you’re made of love, and to choose to share it with the whole world without expectations.”

Ana Moreno

It really hit me today how important it is that I search for the love I need inside myself. Inside myself as in to not search for or expect it from others or anything else outside me. What made this really hit me was a collection of daily journal questions I’ve put together for my journaling routine. I’ve been really thinking about the goals that I have set for the year ahead, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to get focused. I started last night with the questions about my goals. Today, I took time throughout the day to think about what my aligned actions would be and even checked one of them off the list today! Any other day without the journaling, I would have spent my time doing other things due to my limiting mindset. I don’t want to limit myself anymore. But this just proves I’m learning and expanding. I’m outgrowing the expectations I set for myself last year and this means I have to adjust my mindset to make room for bigger and better things!

This entire year ahead gives me feelings or fear, adventure, excitement.

What kind of practices do you when you begin to outgrow the kind of old mindsets that if you stayed in them they’d would become limiting?

Beauty

Let us live for the beauty of our own reality.

Charles Lamb

Things change when there’s clear lines of communication. Everyone is more confident when they feel understood at a deep level. In order to be understood, there has to be a few different levels of communication. First is body language. Then context (as in environment and culture). Then tone and language choice. Those followed by understanding and absorption by the listener is what it is to communicate. But is there more? Is there a level of communication that surpasses the four things I mentioned?

“It’s different now that I know you can hear me and I can hear you.” Said a man to his long distance girlfriend on his cell phone. “I’ve always been able to hear you. I just didn’t realize my phone was on mute.”

With that being said, we still live in our heads in a way that can more fantastical than we can communicate within our limits of communicating as I mentioned above. BUT then there’s art and imagination! A world where the way we choose to communicate to our audience is unlimited. Don’t forget how beautiful you can create your own reality to be.