Filter Your World

This letter was written to my subscribers to close 2017 and open the doors to a wildly blissful 2018. I felt the urge to share here, as well, as I believe we all need a little "real talk" this time of year. Enjoy x

Happy New Year Folks!

I trust you had an eventful 2017 full of love and laughter, as well as tears and lessons learned, which make the joys of life that much sweeter. I hope you also made an effort to sneak in a few choice dance moves (the worm is my go-to), relished time in nature, created space to daydream (did someone say hammock?), and that you fashioned unexpected friendships, as well as deepened your connection with long-standing buddies.

As we step into 2018, I want to offer an approach that has been useful to me over the past few years, in terms of commencing a new year with purpose and presence. Taking a tip from the practice of yoga, I started created intentions rather than resolutions. Darling Magazine asked me to write a piece surrounding this process. The full article, “How to Create An Intention for the New Year”, can be found here and thoroughly explains the why and the how. But since we’re all friends here, I’d love to go more in-depth utilizing my own examples.

The first time I did this (years ago), I created a very audacious intention. It was also rather reckless, though at the time I felt it necessary. My phrase for the coming year was “Get your heart broken”. Wow, pretty real, hey? (Note, if this is too real for you, there is an unsubscribe button at the bottom, no judgment.) Here is a short backstory on that rash intention: in summation, I felt like I needed to break. I was numb. It had been a long time since I shed a tear (years). I also felt like any wounds I had weren’t healing, but instead life was laying scar tissue upon scar tissue, merely masking and suppressing. I sensed I needed to be ripped wide open to feel again. In short, I wanted to let the bad in so I could soak up the good. That was quite a year.

This year, my intention is different. (If you’re wondering how the above went, let me know, we’ll have a chat ;)

Much of my current Type-A tendencies result from an underlying belief that I need to do and accomplish more, simply to be enough. I was the kid that was supposed to "go places"; I was pre-med and graduated Magna Cum Laude… Aaand now I teach people how to make shapes and sit still, and I also scribble words on paper (insert emoji of girl with hand on face). Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my job(s). They fill me up like a happy sea sponge at a water park. However, I've given myself the complex that I have to do way more to live up to the life I was supposed to have. I even took the LSAT last year for hell of it. I mean, come on little Kacey, move on so grown Kacey can relax into her life.

I've spent these last ten years chasing things like a retriever on a treadmill trying to catch a tennis ball hanging by a string. To put it succinctly, there’s always going to be another ball. (Does anyone else feel like success is a word that is wildly misused? That’s a whole other piece for another day.)

For 2018, my phrase is “I am enough”. There is no underlying goal. No resolution. Instead, just a thoughtful cue. What’s more is I have the ability to believe this phrase, right now. Not when I shed ten pounds, get published, run a marathon, etc. I just need the occasional nudge to remind myself significance lives and has always lived inside of me.

If you’re wondering how your intention will help shape your year ahead, use my year’s forecast as an example:

Everything I do consciously will be run through the filter of this phrase “I am enough” (of course, much will happen unconsciously and hastily, because I am very human and undoubtedly impulsive). But… I will make an effort to pursue things because I have the desire to birth them or to share them, or even to pay bills (because there is no shame in the latter). What I will not be doing, however, is endeavors simply to heighten my worth. My worth is up to me, before and after the fact.

Looking ahead, the New Year is a kaleidoscope of opportunity. Your intention is merely a filter you add to this lens. Point it toward the light, give it a twirl, and cast wildly bold hues on your coming year.

 I hope this real talk helps you to have an honest conversation with yourself about what will inspire your 2018. I want all the firecrackers, party horns, and sparklers in the world for you. ;)

Cheers + Epic Midnight Dance Moves,

Kacey Janeen

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