an intention to guide you

In November, the idea came to me to offer an intention necklace in the shop - something for the person who likes the idea behind choosing a "word of the year" but doesn't want to choose one or one hasn't presented itself yet or something for the person who just needs some extra reinforcements any time of year. I wanted the gemstones to represent several different types of journeys a person might be on right now, while inviting in strong guidance and support. I also knew I'd be creating a special mantra with each stone, so I wanted stones that felt ready for that kind of goodness.

So when Bonnie and I went to the gem show in late November, we were looking for gorgeous, unique stones that really seemed to hold the magic of this idea.

Here's what we found:

Aquamarine: For courage, growing trust, and connection to the sea. 
Your aquamarine mantra for the year: May I listen to the brave wisdom within me and open my heart toward the peace that awaits.

Rose quartz: A stone of the heart.
Your rose quartz mantra of the year: May I feel supported as I open my heart toward self-compassion and love.

Kyanite: A stone for speaking your truth, it is deep blue in color.  
Your kyanite mantra for the year: May I connect to the wisdom and courage within me and tell my story.

Moonstone: A stone for beginnings and connecting to your light and to the divine feminine. The stone used in this offering is cloudy white in color and sparkles in certain light. 
Your moonstone mantra for the year: May I seek the stillness I need to connect with the light within me.

Amazonite: A stone of courage and truth that soothes the spirit. 
Your amazonite mantra for the year: May I remember to show up as me and let go of what I no longer need.

Amethyst: A stone for comfort, peace, and becoming.
Your amethyst mantra for the year: May I embrace my journey of becoming and remember to seek and ask for the comfort and support I need.

You can find this limited edition offering right here. You choose the gemstone that represents the intention you'd like to hold at this time in your journey, and I'll choose one just for you from the olive wood bowl that holds them on my studio altar. We also include a little card with your stone's intention and mantra.

And if you're looking for an even more personal experience and special necklace designed just for you, check out the Soul Talisman offering to see if it feels like a good fit for you. I can even include your word of the year with that special offering.

open :: my 2015 word

As I mentioned yesterday, my word finally presented itself while I was listening to Elise and Ali during Elise's podcast. Eleanor and I were driving back from a quick trip to Portland and she was sleeping, so I was able to catch up with a few episodes. When Ali talked about open, her word from 2013, I felt my shoulders relax and my heart expand and I knew I'd found my word.

Usually I share my word at the end of December. I'd planned to share how I was going to work with four words this year, but I just couldn't figure out how to talk about them, so I knew I hadn't quite found the right practice for me. 

That said, I think working with multiple words is an awesome idea and I am actually going to keep those four words + "open" front and center for me this year. Each of them appeared in the brainstorming exercise I did in my journal above: rise, peace, allow, and delight.

I've started this journal that's going to focus on "open." It's where I'll be putting my responses to the prompts in Ali's One Little Word class (which is an awesome way to help you keep your word visible throughout the year - I highly recommend it!) and where I'll just be touching base with myself about how I'm staying open...how the word is affecting me...and what I'm learning along the way. I'm excited to try this method. I can imagine it holding other journaling that feels connected to my soul care practice right now (for example, I'm adding some journaling from Viv's Cultivating Self-Care class).

For a peek at how I created another journal that brought together all I was learning from my 2012 word "whole," see this post.

Here's what I know right now: Open has four really important meaning/intentions for me this year.

1) Staying open to connection: I continue to feel a deep longing for in-person connection on a much more frequent basis. My summer watercolor picnics were one way that I tried to create this for myself and others. I hope to do more things like this and just risk saying, "Want to meet up for coffee?" more often this year. I felt a shift already happening this fall and I want to push myself to keep going, to keep staying open, and to allow space for that connection in my life.

2) Keeping my heart open: This one is especially about my marriage. Since Ellie was born, there are parts of me that have been more closed than I ever imagined they could become, which is in such contrast to how I've felt so broken open in so many beautiful ways these last few years. The first year of her life was such a hard one for me, and I put up some walls for self-protection. As I've said to a few close friends, the first two years of motherhood felt like I was literally keeping her alive while she was on heart medication before and after her heart surgery, and in many ways that was true. And when you're in that kind of caretaker role while also growing your business, sometimes the little acts of connection and intimacy and love give way to the to-do list and the need for deep self-care and rest. The ability to vulnerably say, "I miss you and I need a hug" felt very far away. Right now, I'm asking myself, "How can I be even more open in this moment?" and seeing where it takes me/us. Jon and I also going back to a practice I shared here, where we're going to write letters back and forth in a journal. A simple way to just reconnect. I probably won't be sharing too much about this here (we'll see), but it is an important part of my personal practice this year.

(Note that I'm not looking for advice about this but am instead sharing a brief glimpse into our world because I know it might help someone else who needs to add a similar practice to their intention for themselves and their family right now. Thanks for understanding.)

3) Open to change/feeling uncaged: This connects to wanting to feel freedom as I make some changes to my business, specifically with the ecourses and retreats I offer. No big news yet as I'm in the beginning dreaming stages with some of it. But I'm excited to be in this place of "newness" and possibility again, even while I'm grieving letting go of some things. I'm interested in seeing how the practice of being open helps me heal from this grief (and other grief in my life).  

4) Open to the unexpected, to delight: When a customer ordered the phrase "rise and shine" for her word of the year necklace, as I was hammering it, I got this image of how the sun opens up the possibility in each day and how we have the choice to rise and shine and be in this light or to stay closed to what is waiting for us. We can rise up each day. We can stand in our light. We have the choice to be delighted by this possibility or ignore it. I want to stay open to the delight waiting for me each day. 

What word are you working with this year?

If you're still deciding, one idea would be to try to the brainstorming exercise I did in the photo above. I put my word in the middle of the page and just started writing words and phrases that felt connected to it, then words connected to those words etc. You could do this with several words you are thinking about working with. Get curious. 

And if you have your word, I'd love to know what it is. Share in the comments please. (And maybe even try this exercise with your word as you think about the practice you're creating for yourself right now.)

Thanks for being here beside me,
Liz 

a word of the year

The practice of choosing a word for the year is one I've been doing for about five or six years now. Sometimes this practice feels like it deeply affects my journey, and other years I realize that my word isn't really doing it for me and other words begin to take its place. 

This year, I thought I was actually going to focus on four words. They each kept appearing again and again and seemed to represent different ways I want to grow and feel right now. But then on Saturday, while listening to Elise and Ali talk about the One Little Word practice, my 2015 word appeared. I'm going to share more about it and how I'm going to work with it tomorrow.

Today, I want to simply invite you to think about choosing your own word or theme for the year. 

One way to do this is to think about how you want to feel in 2015. You could literally write at the top of a piece of paper "In 2015, I want to feel..." and just start journaling. Notice the themes. Really describe how you want to feel and why. See what comes up for you. From there, make a list of words that represent this feeling. See if one stands out. And then live with it for a little while. 

Here's a post where I talk about how I used a similar idea with my word for 2012: whole. That post gives you a few other ideas to help you choose your word.  

The new whole heart pocket talismans pictured at the top of this post are just about my favorite thing ever that I've created for Soul Mantras and Other Stories. I love how they literally look like little heart rocks. They're thick and perfect for carrying in your pocket, putting on your altar, placing next to your computer in your cubicle, or giving to a friend. Find them here (and if you want to order four or more, send me a note for a special discount code).

There are also several new "word of the year" designs in the shop, which you can see here.

Throughout this week I'll be sharing some thoughts and resources around this idea of choosing a word or intention to focus on for the year. I'll even be sharing thoughts around letting go of this practice if it doesn't work for you and will give some other suggestions about what you could do instead.

Remember, working with the practices that most support you is the goal here. Always.

welcome 2015

Eleanor Jane :: January 1, 2015

Eleanor Jane :: January 1, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

Each year I take a photo of this amazing creature wearing this shirt. It makes me so very happy. She loves life so much. May I always remember to help keep that spark alive within her.

Yes.

"Mama, this is my superhero pose."

"Mama, my favorite photos are the ones where my hair is flying and crazy and I'm dancing."

I hope you always love those photos honey.

our little tree

This year we have just a little tree and it makes all of us so very happy. It looks like a Charlie Brown inspired birch tree trimmed with lights.

It has a few gifts from Nana and Papa underneath and Eleanor can hardly contain herself. We're hoping for snow when we're at Grandma Fina's this time next week and she's already planning the cookies she'll be making and games she'll be playing and and and and. 

Four is awesome. 

Hope you are soaking up the holiday goodness in your corner.

And this is the part where I say that I know how intense this time of year can be. Having my own moments of it here even with the awesome. As you walk through your own stuff in your corner, I hope you remember to let someone know when you need a hug. Seriously. Let's make that your homework: Ask someone for a hug today. 

Love to you,
Liz 

tea for one

As part of my current collaboration with eBay, I recently wrote a guide about taking the time to drink a cup of tea as an act of self-care. If you've been around here for a while, you know that one of my go-to self-care moves is to focus on my senses, and in this guide, I dive into how drinking a cup of tea can actually be like a senses meditation.

You can read it here and other guides I've written for eBay here.

The photos with this guide (including the one above), taken by Vanessa Simpson of Focus in Photography, make me so happy.

listening with our hearts

Over here, I believe that sometimes we have to turn to the words of others when our own words fail us. I've been turning to Mister Rogers for wisdom often throughout the last year or so, well really for the last 38 years. 

Did I tell you the dream I had about him earlier this year? In the dream, I walked into a classroom in the preschool I attended just as the kids were running out to play for recess. Mister Rogers was standing in the classroom. I walked over to him and began to tell him all that his work has meant to me and how he was instrumental in teaching me so much about love as a child. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes and said, "Teachers like you must keep doing the work I was doing." 

When I woke up, my first thought was, "I'm so glad I was able to tell him what he meant to me before he died." And after a few moments, my fuzzy, just-awake mind remembered that he's been dead for years. Months later, it still feels real. I have to remind myself that it was a dream, yet I also feel so grateful for that moment with him even if it was imagined.

As you walk through whatever you are walking through in your corner, I hope you'll keep listening with your ears and your heart. I hope you'll keep asking questions, even when it feels awkward and hard. I hope you'll realize that just starting the conversation, whatever it may need to be about, is one step closer to love.

Be kind to each other, to yourself, today,
Liz 

*****

I sent this note to the beautiful souls on my newsletter list over the weekend and thought you might want to read it too. To receive love notes like this in your inbox just about weekly, sign up for my newsletter here.

love this :: scoutmob favorites

For a few weeks now, I've been curating my favorites from Shoppe by Scoutmob over on Pinterest. Shoppe by Scoutmob is an awesome site that supports makers by giving them a platform to sell a handful of their goods. It is full of gorgeous, fun handmade items. Here are a few of my current favorites:

The Hanging Air Plant Terrarium Kit by Makerskit looks awesome! I'm in love with air plants (read all about my adventures with them here). This kit would be a great gift for just about anyone in your life. 

The Deer Antler necklace by PeachTreeLane is unique and so beautiful. Love it. (I also love the Birds on a Wire necklace by Metamorphis Metals.)

The Original Baconkit by 7th West Charcuterie is literally a DIY bacon kit. This is beyond awesomesauce for the bacon enthusiast in your life.

Cold Brew Coffee Kit by Coffee Sock Co. Cold brew coffee is my new favorite thing; it's a lot less acidic and makes my body happier. I'm buying it at a local market and making it at home. (Meg shared a great DIY last year.) This kit is awesome and the perfect gift for the coffee connoisseur in your life. (I'm also really tempted to try this Highbrow Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate.)

The Johnny Cash quote print by Hey There Design is one I can't stop sharing on Pinterest because I just want everyone to read it. When asked about his description of paradise, he said, "This morning with her having coffee." Dude. I am smitten. I have to admit that I became a Johnny Cash fan only in the last few years. I missed out on really "getting" him when he was alive. I'm now in love. His music. His story. And this quote. Yes.

(Not pictured) The Leather iPhone Earbud Keeper by Stock & Barrel is an awesome stocking stuffer and something I totally need because I always get my earbuds tangled (not to mention that I just drop them whenever I'm done and I can't ever find them). They look beautifully made.

After putting this together, I realized that I shared several kits. There is so much more over on Scoutmob, but these are such unique and fun gifts. As an adult, we rarely have that joy of a "toy" to actually play with on Christmas Day. The kits mentioned are each things that the recipients could dive into during the holiday season so they could exercise that creative longing inside them. I love that. (There's even a DIY cheese kit and all you need is milk! And a gin kit! )

Note: The links above are affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission when you explore Shoppe through these links.