It’s easy to forget in this frenetic world that the deep well of connection to ourselves and to life is the soul of creativity.
So I’m taking some time off from my usual routine this week to reconnect.
What’s bubbling up, so far, from this spaciousness in the midst of pre-holiday activity is a set of questions. (Aren’t the answers we’re so often seeking actually just better questions?)
Here is my year-end meditation, or remembering, for you to try if you’d like. You can do this in a journal, as I did, or do it out loud with a friend, someone you feel really safe with.
You can answer all three questions, or choose one (I found that answering just the third one led me into the others).
When you are still and connected to yourself, what do you know to be true?
What do you know about what you need, what you desire?
What qualities do you want to welcome into your life as a new year begins?
Here is what I wrote in my journal:
More ease, more lightness. More belief that ease and lightness are possible.
More openness and reaching out.
More trusting in myself and in life.
More acting on my intuition, more quickly.
More noticing what works for me, less dwelling on what doesn’t.
More decision-making from a place of calm and peace, less decision-making from a place of fear and anxiety.
More time spent in nature, with animals and trees.
More face-to-face meetings with friends and potential friends.
More kindness.
More patience.
More showing up for myself.
More acceptance of what is, and more recognition that accepting it doesn’t mean I won’t change it; it just means I’m not in resistance.
More sparkle, more dazzle, more glitter (I’m not sure what this means yet).
More fun and play.
More permission to ask for more, even when things are “good enough.”
What about you? What do you know to be true for you as we move into a new year? What qualities do you want to welcome?
Wishing my dear readers, clients and friends a beautiful and peaceful holiday season with plenty of connection to yourself.
above images ©2014, Jill Winski
the artist's nest 
Great post Jill – wonderful and thought-provoking questions to lead into the new year 😉
For me, when I am still and connected to myself, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am most alive when I create – usually in the words on page type of creation 😉 It’s funny, because it’s not always about crafting some new story or philosophical insight and publishing it as a post. Rather, it is just as therapeutic for me to read others’ work and reply with my thoughts (thanks for that insight, by the way) 🙂
It’s not really fair that you’ve stolen the qualities I would like to welcome in 2015 🙂 If I had to choose just three, I would say courage, intuition, and vulnerable authenticity.
And a bit more sparkle would be nice also 😉 Like you, I don’t really know what that really means yet, but I think I have some ideas on how it could come to fruition.
Thanks for another wonderful post and best wishes for an happy, joyous, and warm holiday season that overflows into the new year and well beyond!
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What a beautiful response, Dave! And I agree with you that reading and responding to others’ work is a vital part of the creative process, too, and really makes me feel alive. It’s so important to both create and be nourished by the creativity of others. I’m so glad you mentioned that. Here’s to your welcoming of courage, intuition, and vulnerable authenticity — love that! And sparkle, too, however it manifests itself. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing, and have a wonderful holiday season!
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Thanks for this wonderful post Jill, and for sharing your own responses to these insightful questions with us. This is what I just wrote…
When you are still and connected… I know that there is actually nothing in this life to fear and I laugh, and remember the surest way to banish peace, creativity and well-being is to lose myself in the wish to be or do something other than I am.
What I desire…I know that what I truly desire has at its core the means to bless and serve the whole, which though it of course includes me, is not limited to me and my personal needs. I desire to find my way of truly being of service.
The qualities I’d like to welcome…are more softness and vulnerability, the willingness and courage to cultivate genuine compassion and the joyful freedom of spontaneous creativity.
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Harula, I absolutely love your answers to these questions! So beautifully expressed! This is brilliant: “the surest way to banish peace, creativity and well-being is to lose myself in the wish to be or do something other than I am.” What a truth that is! Something I learn again and again. 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing, my friend, and I wish you a beautiful 2015!
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