water: a practice, a companion, a teacher

water . customizable heart necklace in the shop

The word "water" kept showing up in unexpected ways this year. I think it began with this mug from The Universe Knows that I chose for myself when I gave them at the Pen & Paper Retreat in March. I started to think about what "be like water" could mean and why I was so drawn to the phrase.

mug from the universe knows

I kept picturing the way water flows in a creek through the middle of the woods as it turns and gathers small bits of things to carry downstream. It brought up the idea of creating space to invite in more ease and be open to the flow of things, especially things that are out of my control.

But of course water isn't always full of ease. There is the unpredictable power of the force that is the ocean. Standing at the edge of the ocean this summer while looking at layers of flotsam surrounding me, I had an image of the ocean as a womb that holds more than one could ever understand. Kind of like a woman. As I stood at the edge of the Pacific Ocean that day, I held hands with fear and bravery and made the choice to open up to an image of home while the waves crashed and the wind blew my hair and favorite green sweater.

Then there are the ways that I have felt parched this year. My body, my heart, my mind, my soul. Through the deep realization that I choose whether I water these parched parts of me came a new kinship with the word water. And it guided my decision to create a new series of programs with the theme "Water Your Soul."

In the last few weeks, the idea that I should claim this word as my teacher and guide kept tapping on me. I started brainstorming all it might mean: sea, space, salt, wave, parched, blues, flotsam, flow, lemon, quench, seaglass, womb, whales, kindreds, circling, mighty, ease, depth, courageous, lifeline, wandering, the earth's rhythm, the way home.

As I look to 2013, this is what I know: I want to create even more space within my home, my mind, my business, my family. I want to quench my unspoken desires. I want to invite in ease and trust the flow of things. I want to own all that rests inside me. I want to unearth my own unexplored darkness. I want to nourish and reconnect with my body. I want to spend more time with mother ocean. I want to find the rhythm of my own tide within. 

So I'm going to spend time with water this year. I'm opening up to what it has to teach me as I navigate whatever is to come.

Your Word

Are you choosing a word or phrase to guide you in 2013? I would love to hear about your word and why you are choosing it. Please share in the comments or send over an email. 

new three circles necklace in the shop

I am also excited to share that I've added a few new customizable options in the shop that would be beautiful talismans for your word or mantra of the year, including this new three circles necklace that can hold words from past years or multiple words or a short phrase.

If you are still looking for your word and feel drawn to choose one, think about doing the exercise I shared yesterday without a word in mind. You could just start writing, "2013 was the year I..." and see what surfaces for you. You could also explore the growing list of words and stories over on Ali's blog. So much inspiration found there. Or you could listen to my recording of the 2012 words over on Ali's site to see what word(s) taps at you.

And I feel moved to share that I am a "word person," so this exercise deeply speaks to me. I love words. I want to eat them with a spoon. And when I read poetry, sometimes I do actually feel like I'm devouring them. However, this practice might not speak to you. That is okay. Maybe there is a piece of art or song or quote that you see as a guide for you right now. Maybe there is a blessing, a prayer, a poem that you plan to reflect on daily or monthly. You can use this exercise as a jumping off point for so many ideas.

My intention with this practice is to give myself an access point for self-reflection each month. Working with the word "whole" in 2012 really pushed me to live deeper and wider and be less stagnant. I work with several mantras at any given time and often choose a new one at the beginning of a season or when something is shifting in my life. And taking the time to choose one word at the beginning of a new year just feels right for me.

a word to guide the way

My word of the year for 2012 has been whole. It has guided me throughout this year and truly acted as a companion during moments of uncertainty. Last year at this time, I wrote a post for Roots of She about how I hoped 2012 might look like if I lived from a place of "wholeness." I'm sharing it below because I think this is a beautiful exercise to do when thinking about choosing a word as a companion for the year. I have updated the closing of the post with a followup and to make it relevant for 2013. Tomorrow, I will share about my word for 2013. 

Living from Wholeness

For the last few years, I have worked with the practice of choosing a word to focus on throughout the year. I choose my word in December and then spend time thinking about it and journaling about it in early January. And I create a necklace with my word that I wear as a reminder throughout the year. This year, I also followed along with Ali Edwards and her “One Little Word” class.

I love how choosing a word invites me to let go of having resolutions I might or might not keep, and instead gently pushes me to look forward with self-kindness and think about how I most want the next year to unfold. As I think about all that could happen in a year, I want my word to be a companion that brings me back to center amidst whatever beauty and uncertainty await.

My word for 2012 appeared during a conversation with my friend (and incredible coach) Nona Jordan. As we talked, the word that kept appearing was “whole.” We talked about how, through my work I invite others to shine a light on their paths and their stories, and how I believe that in any given moment we can hold all that is real and honor it. We can hold the truth, courage, beauty, fear, and sadness that one moment can bring and still see the joy that surrounds us. This is living with an open heart. This is living with your whole self.

Yes.

And then Nona asked me a question that has deepened my experience with choosing my word: “What would this time next year look like if you leaned into living from a place of whole(ness)?”

As I thought about this question, I felt those pinpricking tears on the back of my eyes and began to breathe deeply as the answer settled around me, inside me. Here is a glimpse into some of the journaling I did after our conversation:

2012 was the year…

I showed up as me and shed how or who they think I should be.

I gave myself the gift of yoga several days a week.

I said “thank you” more.

I started fewer emails with variations on “I’m sorry it has taken me so long to reply…”

I trusted the answers I heard within.

I said “no” when my gut told me to.

I created stronger boundaries.

I shared the truth more.

I spent more time breathing than reacting.

I stood tall in the beauty and the shit that is each day, that is living, and I stayed true to me.

I gave myself the gift of knowing I am enough and believing it.

I learned to have more patience with my husband and remembered each day that he too is enough.

I spent more time nurturing relationships with my family and friends than I spent online.

I continued to let go of the expectations of others.

I opened my heart to love in ways I never thought possible.

As I read through this list again, I think I might stand in front of my bathroom mirror on the morning of January 1 and say, “As I focus on living with a whole heart in 2012, this will be the year I will show up as me and shed how or who they think I should be. I will give myself the gift of yoga…” and so on. I will say these words out loud and let these intentions sink into my cells.

Follow Up

As I look back on 2012 and the list of the ways I hoped to live from a place of wholeness that I wrote in my journal, I'm choosing to be gentle with myself. This year I learned that coming from a place of softness and ease is a piece of living from wholeness for me. No, I didn't practice yoga several times a week in the way I intended, but almost every day I did pause for a few moments to breathe, usually over a cup of tea, and to just be right here choosing to pay attention even on the days that were the most intense. This is living from wholeness...listening to what I most need each day to be able to show up as my whole hearted self.

This word whole will be one of my teachers and guides for the rest of my life. I will return to it again and again, and in 2013, I intend to begin each month as I did in 2012: writing in my journal using the prompt, "The ways I hope to live from a place of wholeness this month..."

An Invitation

As you look to 2013, consider choosing a word to focus on as a practice throughout the year. This word could represent what you hope to manifest or the light you want to feel as you experience all that is to come or the companion you feel you most need right now. Maybe you already have a soul mantra or phrase or quote that you use as you navigate your life.

After you choose your word or phrase, I invite you to think about what this time next year might look like if you gave yourself the gift of really living your word or phrase. Consider making a list that begins with “2013 was the year I…”

And if you want to carry your word with you, I'd love to create a Soul Mantra for you so you can keep it close.

a little water for your soul

 

Earlier this week, I recorded an audio love note for the women gathered in Water Your Soul, and today, as I'm safe and cozy in my little home with Ellie Jane and thinking about my family gathered in Indiana for my grandfather's funeral and thinking about families on the other coast continuing to gather for funerals in a community that experienced the unthinkable last Friday, I feel deeply moved to share those words here with you today.

In the short audio, I share a few thoughts, read "A Morning Offering" by John O'Donohue from To Bless the Space Between Us, and share a chant. (It is about seven minutes long.)

My hope is that it will support you in creating space for a few moments of stillness this weekend.

Follow the directions below to download the audio and listen to it when you need a companion in the quiet over the next few days.

Peace and light on this Winter Solstice,
Liz

Notes about the Audio: Follow the instructions below for your operating system.

Windows: Right-click on the link to the MP3 file, and choose the option for Saving the link or target (Save link as, Save target as, Download link, etc.). Double-clicking the downloaded file will open it and begin playback.

Mac: Hold down the option key and click on the link to the MP3 file. It will download to the Desktop (or other folder you specified in Preferences). Double-clicking the downloaded file will begin playback and add the track to your iTunes library.

Love Note

leaning. listening.

pausing in the dusting of snow we had for a few hours

Over here I'm leaning into softness and drinking mugs of spicy tea and letting in the grief and distracting myself with an audio book and several rounds of Mahjong and turning up the Christmas music and baking banana bread and noticing the ways I am loved and watching the wind blow from the kitchen window and trying to loosen my grip on expectations and wearing my favorite clothes and finding more patience inside me than I ever thought I could uncover and trying to remember that I can let in more ease with each breath.

Each day, I'm trying to create the space to listen to what I most need as I navigate what this season holds this year.

I do this for me because this is the only way I know how to make sense of this crazy, beautiful life. And because I trust that when I can show up as my most real, true self, I am also showing up for others in the ways they need me to.

What do you need?

Give yourself the gift of listening to that answer today.

a prayer.

here

a few good reads

A few good reads that have been filling me up lately:

1) Loving the Fall 2012 issue of The Studio Voice, which is a beautiful new publication from Amelia Maness-Gilliland. So delighted to be featured right next to my friend Jen Lee. Subscribe and find submission guidelines here.

2) The "Becoming" issue of Sprout Magazine is full of so much goodness. Amanda's online magazine looks gorgeous on my iPad. Looking forward to the December issue next week.

3) I've just begun listening to Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I'm becoming a bit obsessed after seeing Lincoln. I loved the movie so much that I want to go and see it again. (Not. Kidding.) 

4) This week, I began a new ritual of reading one poem as I stand in the kitchen and drink the first few sips of my morning cup of tea. This week I've been exploring A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver and Red Suitcase by Naomi Shihab Nye.

5) And a few blog posts that have resonated lately: "When Being Seen Is An Inside Job" by Jen Lee, "Thoughts on Working from Home" by Jenna McGuiggan, and "As Loud As I Wanted" by Molly Wizenburg.

6) While freshening up my studio altar space and the books I keep beside it to turn to during the day, I spent some time reading through the essays in Lanterns. I love this little book and the essay I have in it remains one of my favorite things I've written. It's about how we can hold space for one another. The book is full of beautiful stories, poems, and photographs that celebrate connection with your kindreds. When I grabbed the link to Jenna's blog post that I linked to above, I noticed she's having a sale on Lanterns for those needing a last-minute gift for their kindreds. Learn all about it here. 

7) Oh and you really should read Sam's monthly Bookishness column over on Chickadee Road. I smile through the whole thing every time and then add a whole bunch of goodness to my book wishlist.

holiday shop notes

the accidentally left justified but still true "you are loved" locket
in the shop and on sale

Thank you so much for all of your holiday orders! I'm sincerely overflowing with gratitude over here. While in the studio this weekend, I came across several lockets and simple soul mantras waiting to be used in necklaces, and I decided to put them all in a sale section in case you need a last minute gift. And one night last week while working a bit too late, I hammered a handful of You Are Loved lockets like the one pictured above. Notice how it is a wee bit left justified? I got into such a groove that I didn't realize I wasn't centering that last word. So I've also put those in the sale section here as everything about them is perfect except that one little off-kilter issue. 

a new mysterious listing in the shop

Sometimes when I'm hammering, words tug on me as though insisting to be hammered into metal for someone to wear as a talisman for their journey. In the last few years, I've learned to listen to words when they tug on me. This means though that I sometimes have a little pile of words hammered into circles just waiting for a home. I've put a new "Mystery Soul Mantra" listing in the shop at a special price (25% off) to give you a bit of an excuse to buy a present for yourself if you need one or a special price if you need to get a handful of gifts for friends. When you buy this listing, I will take a breath and listen for just a moment and then choose a Soul Mantra for you. A little woo woo and hopefully a lot of fun. 

Important Dates :: Please note that this Wednesday is the last day to order a customized item from my shop. The shop will stay open through December 19 and I'll be shipping all US orders by Priority Mail by December 20 so that they will arrive in time for Christmas. I'm still shipping international orders, but I can't guarantee their arrival at this time. I'll be closing for a week to enjoy time with my family and then will reopen on the 27th with a few new Word of the Year necklace designs. 

Sending you so much light and peace today...

Liz