Intentions for a New Year

Happy New Year!

I discovered recently that setting my intention for the year requires being organized—both inside and out.  After a very busy fall season, my office had become quite cluttered and looked like a cyclone had rushed through my small and cozy space—leaving me feeling a bit disheveled and unfocused whenever I sat down at my desk. The piles of filing, lists of To Do’s and my impending project files seemed to bring out a sense of overwhelm for me and was distracting me from actually getting things done.

So, right after the holidays, I blocked out some chunks of time on my calendar for office organization.  I cleaned, I filed, I purged and shredded old files that were no longer needed and I even culled the books on my bookshelves and organized the books and materials I want to read in 2016.  Now, one thing you need to know is that I’m not structured by nature.  It certainly isn’t a thinking preference, in any case.  But, I am visual and I do like things to have a place.  I find a clean desk opens up space in my mind to think and create in ways that a cluttered office simply doesn’t.

In the process of organizing my office, I also made a visual vision board… and cut out creative photos and quotes and things that inspired me, and placed this on the wall right next to my desk.  The colors and words and the visuals are a great daily reminder of what I am up to, what I love most, and what I aspire to accomplish and even “be” in the year ahead.  My vision board reminds me that I have a passion for travel, for solitude, for discovering something new, for adventure, for remembering to recharge and for settling in and doing stuff like reading great books, playing music and doing yoga.
So, my office is finally clean, for now.  And the open spaces on my desk and on my shelves actually feel inviting and bring a sense of calm and flow… which brings me to my intention for 2016.

As I was thinking about my intention for 2016, I kept coming up with statements that had to do with moving mountains, about pushing the envelope, and doing more.  After my office was uncluttered, I realized that last year was, in many ways, about pushing the envelope.  I learned new things, created and conducted new programs, facilitated a program in Africa, and even joined the volunteer fire department in my community.  Many of these milestones required a great deal of mental and physical exertion and had me focused only on the task at hand and the one that came right after it.  In another words, there wasn’t much room for reflection, for planning, and for solitude.

Now don’t get me wrong here.  I loved pushing the envelope and I’ve grown as a result of my focus this past year.  But, as my office became uncluttered and my mind became clearer, I realized that pushing the envelope wasn’t sustainable for me and it required a constant movement of energy, with little renewal in between all the pushing.

So, this year is my year of being in flow.  And what that means for me is that I get to create some calm and ease around all of my “ doing”, but being in flow is actually more about “ being.”   I am quickly discovering that some of the same tasks I accomplished last year can be accomplished this year, but with a different focus on my energy—the energy I expend and the energy that renews.  Being in flow means that I can trust my intuition, tap into my inner wisdom, and trust that I can flow rather than push and get the same amount done, only with more energy, vitality and vision.
And as far as the being goes, I am now making more room for the adventure and the solitude… for discovering and for settling in and enjoying the pleasure of the moments I’m experiencing right now.

So what is your intention for 2016?  And how will it shape you on the inside and out?  For me, I discovered that I had to clean my desk and attend to the outer clutter in my life, in order to unclutter my mind and remember what makes me feel alive and is most important.