Soul Humming

Into the great wide open...

Good bye old year. Hello new.

Reflection, Evaluation, and Planning

 

 

I am not one to make New Year's Resolutions. I think they are a trap. I said this last year but I'm telling you again. I think we should all be trying to be better versions of our own authentic selves each and every day, not just on January First.

Still, I do think that the end of the year is wonderful time for looking back and taking stock on how the past year played out. I am a very introspective person. I am constantly weighing my decisions and choices and trying to figure out how they could be better, kinder, or more gentle. I have a hard time with gentle. And once you have kids every error of your ways is amplified and echoed back. So I am an enormous work in progress.

Very soon I will have my 47th birthday. I don't know about you but 47 sounds old as hell to me. Yet, I feel great physically. I'm getting outdoors and exercising regularly for the first time in a long, long while. I'm surrounded by good people whom I love who are supportive, smart, and make me laugh. What could be better?

And yet I am starving for so much more. When things get too comfy I am drawn to everything that terrifies me. I try to come up with new ways to shake things up, cut off the excess, and conquer new peaks.

One way I'm planning on making myself mildly miserable on the path to make myself better (I know how hard this is going to be for me, hence the misery) is to go along with Whole Living's 28-day Action Plan. I caught the tail end of it last year and so wished I had jumped on board in the beginning.

This year, my husband and I are going to do it together. So that will make it a little bit easier, I hope. But, feeding two little boys while on a detox from dairy, sugar, wheat and processed foods might make me a bit wacky. In the end, I know it will make me a bit better.

The plan is to change your diet fairly strictly for the first week in an effort to detox your body. This is combined with physical exercises to strengthen and detox your body, as well. And there is a media fast (no t.v. for the week which sounds like heaven to me) from the computer and t.v. There's a plan to de-clutter, simplify, and refuel.

By the second week the diet is less restrictive. It really is an attempt to establish an eating regime based on no processed foods but instead full of flavorful, healthy vegetables and lean, organic proteins. Each week reintroduces foods slowly and adds new challenges in exercise, simplification, and mental positivity.

I'm looking forward to the challenge. I know it will be difficult. I've done this sort of thing before and it is really hard for me. If you tell me not to drink coffee all I can think about is coffee. And I am a hard-core sugar addict. So there's that. But with preparation I am hoping to be successful by replacing coffee with caffeine-free tea and finding something (anything!) to combat the sugar.

Are you up for the challenge? Grab a copy of Whole Living magazine (it's a great mag by Martha Stewart) or follow This Link to get the plan. Here you can see the four weeks broken down onto one page. I'd love to have some friends come along on this journey with me. It would be wonderful to have you join in the challenge!

Top Ten Lists

 

One of my favorite things that rolls around at the year's end are all the top ten lists for books and music that were released during the past 12 months. Some of the best on-air  DJs are putting out music at KCRW in Santa Monica. Follow THIS LINK to see their top ten lists for best albums of the year. It's a great way to find new music. Amazon also has a year end list of the best albums and another one for songs. The lists are HERE. They cover a multitude of genres with everything from pop and country to Christian and blues.

As for me, a quick list of the 10 new albums I've been playing a lot would be...

1. The Black Keys - Brothers

2. The National - High Violet

3. Broken Bells - Broken Bells

4. Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More

5. Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs - God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise

6. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

7. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat the Devil's Tatoo

8. Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown (just got this one for Christmas but love these guys)

9. Fistful of Mercy - As I Call You Down

10. 30 Seconds to Mars - This is War (okay, okay, this actually came out in December '09 but my kids LOVED it and for a few months it is the only thing we listened to every time we got in the car or had breakfast)

I would love to hear what your favorite new albums or songs were this year!

Wishing You and Yours A...

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

I think Margo is sending a little bah humbug, too. :0)

My Morning

Inspire Joy

 

 

This talisman is a gift for my oldest son's teacher. When someone is special in the lives of my children, as she is, I like to make them a present at Christmas.

 

It has a heavy twisted chain, turquoise, shell, sari ribbon, brass, and a hammered sterling silver clasp.

Under the words, Inspire Joy, lies a little booklet created from pages of his homework in her class with small caran d'ache drawings I made.

I hope she likes it.

Oh the Stars...

"We are all in the gutter...

...but some of us are...

looking at the stars."- Oscar Wilde

A hammered copper Christmas ornament dangling with iridescent beetle wings.

A Gift for a Friend

Tomorrow I'll show you what is inside...

On my desk now...

Christmas Spirit

"A good conscience is a continual Christmas."

-Benjamin Franklin

It seems that more and more every year I hear people say that they just don't have the Christmas spirit. With Halloween decorations hitting the shelves while it is practically the 4th of July, we run right into Christmas so fast and furious it is a bit unsettling.

 

And as many people have had to cut back on frivolous things, Christmas can be stressful with all the shopping and constant urging to Buy, Buy, Buy. There are so many gifts to get. And the kids all want the newest technological gadgets, which can be very expensive. No one wants to disappoint. But no one wants to rack up debt either. That surely can squash your Christmas spirit.

I remember last year I felt pretty bah-humbug. None of my family is here. I haven't seen any of them for a holiday in the last 15+ years. Mostly, I put on a happy face and enjoy my husband's family. It is true what they say, you can never go home again. It wouldn't be the same, I suppose.

So this year, I wanted to try harder to feel the Christmas spirit. I don't just mean to feel the love of Jesus. That is of the utmost importance, don't get me wrong. But that's not exactly what I'm talking about. I mean to slow down, enjoy the season, and revel in the small joys. I want to use my words and actions to actually mean something. When I get a Christmas card, I want to appreciate it instead of sticking it in a holder and rushing off to the next item on my long to-do list. I don't want to wait to be invited, I want to create my own happy each day and share it with all around me.

I'm not up to anything magical. But I am making time to be with my friends. And when I am with them, I am engaged. I am listening and right there with them in the moment, instead of wondering if the bike I ordered has arrived on time.

I am making cookies and treats for the kids. And when they call me for the third time in a row to see the ridiculous things the dogs are doing, I get up from what I am doing to go to them. I need to give them my time, now, especially. They are small for such a short time and I can get caught up in shopping for them rather than truly seeing them. As much as they love new toys, I know they want their parents' attention and interaction even more. They want to be seen, as we all do.

And, it is working. I feel more calm this year. I've made things with my hands for gifts. I've put my heart into these things instead of just my debit card. I don't always make time to create gifts by hand. Life is too busy. So I hope these gifts are appreciated for what they mean.

To me they mean I Care. They are the simple paired against all that is gilded. And in sharing my heart through gifts, cards, hugs, walks, carols, and smiles, I discover that I am finding my way back to being full of Christmas joy.

How is it for you? Are you filling your heart with small happiness?

Are you taking time to be a Christmas angel for those around you? I hope that you are enjoying this season with love.