Fresh Beginnings by Glenda Myles

A strong, disciplined mind, which anyone can cultivate though daily practice, can achieve miracles.       --Robin Sharma

January is the launch of a new year. A time of new beginnings. We begin the year with fresh ideas, hopes and dreams for the days and months that lay ahead.

It reminds me of the first day of school when you had fresh paper and binders filled with the dreams of possibility.

I start my year understanding my core desires, the words that guide me, my non-negotiable items for the year ahead and my guiding principles.


My core desires

1. Love. To love myself and others and to act accordingly. To send out love and compassion to all.
2. Learn. To continue to learn new things and apply all that I am learning in service of others.
3. Abundance. To find financial success with my new business beyond what I have experienced in the past.
4. Give Back. To enjoy the freedom of my entrepreneurship by giving back to others, to being of service, to practice humility.
5. Travel. To see new places and enjoy new experiences. To soak in new cultures.
6. Teach. I love leading workshops, consulting with clients, showing them how to do things, and helping people in general.

My words for the year – Strategy, Passion, Blissiplines

Once again this year I got My Word Goddess Guidance readings from Amy Palko. My goddess for 2013 is Athena, the warrior Goddess. And the word that I selected from her is strategy. Looking at the big picture, my dreams and desires for my life and strategically deciding on the next move so I can live my life fully.

In order to do that I must indulge in my passions and bring passion to all that I do. The right attitude can change the whole game. Part of this effort is not only the attitude but giving me the time and space to indulge in that which fills me up, brings me joy, and energizes me. 2013 will see me bring new programs, new ideas and new passions into being.

Discipline is the bridge between goals and victory. Blissipline is taking that same concept but applying it to the things that bring you bliss/joy. Do what you love consistently, do the work consistently and success will follow.


My Non-Negotiable

I have non-negotiable items that are to be done with consistency - daily or weekly. As Brian Johnson would say, when you do things persistently, patiently, diligently and playfully you are bound to be successful.

1. Sadhana: Every morning before all else do my yoga, meditation and chanting practice
2. Unplugging: At least 1/2 day off technology every week
3. Study: commit to regular study hours every week to ensure I get the most out of all the courses I am taking.
4. Self-care: do something every week to take care of myself
5. Network: Meet one potential or current client every week.

My 2013 guiding principles

1. To live in alignment with my thought, words and actions
2. To live an authentic expression of my Self
3. To practice compassion with self and others
4. To work with others to support my business goals

How do you start the year off?

What do you do to prepare yourself for the fresh start?


Glenda at Myles Ahead Studio is a professional marketing strategist working to bring more creativity into business and make more ideas come to life. 

Start by Angel Young

Start now. It's January. The traditional time of New Year's resolutions. The trick is to choose small things. You don't need to map out your whole life right now! How about one thing? After all a little light can build into something brighter.

• Maybe buy some flowers for yourself
• Or do a little sketch
• Or workout how to get your stuff on etsy
• Or draft a blog post
• Or choose a supportive word for the year
• Or just take the time to dream a little, to start making new world in your own mind. It's a pleasure in itself.

Sometimes it's also about stopping. What can you stop doing? Watching too much TV, working too hard, prioritising everyone else above yourself? Maybe just pick one thing and see how you get on. No need to get dispirited as change has moments of flow and moments of stasis.

The main thing is just to love yourself - start respecting yourself and your own needs and the rest will follow. Maybe the answer is just to start there.

Angel lives in the UK and loves film photography.

Beginning the year.... by Lisa DeYoung

...with trust in my heart!





I love this quote by Goethe, and I have this little piece I lettered – framed and hanging in the bathroom of my studio. I come back to it often as I begin – an idea, a project, a practice, a plan, a connection; or begin again – a broken promise to myself, a practice gone by the wayside, a forgotten dream.

Trust is a concept I thought I understood, and yet I always let trust for myself go by the wayside.

During Circe's Circle this past fall the love and support of the women in my circle taught me what trusting truly means – and how important (albeit vulnerable) it is to fully live one's dreams.

I am beginning, again, to really trust myself. It feels different this time. I can sense how this trust will allow me to more fully live (my dreams). And I am already experiencing doors opening in front of me.

I will use the love and support I received in Circe's Circle to begin again, whenever I need to – for I know that trust is an ongoing journey that sometimes requires starting along a new path.

And so I start the year using Trust as my word to guide me. I know there is power & magic in it.


Lisa, aka the mountain mermaid, is a creative, independent spirit who loves to explore and play outdoors. She lives in the Colorado Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Embracing her creative life is an ongoing adventure, and a journey that she loves and trusts more each year – and hopes to inspire others to do the same. She is also a budding entrepreneur with a virtual assistance business.

Big Wishes for 2013

The team at Creative Dream Journals answered this question....

What is your
Dream
Wish
Blessing
for each other and for the world in 2013?

...here are our collective WISHES and DREAMS for 2013.....

My wish for every person in the world is that they get a big hug from someone who loves them. ~ Kim

My wish is that we connect, learn to listen, share ideas, and create synergetic solutions in our world. ~ Alli

I dream of deep connection with the beautiful women in this circle, and for peace and joy for all the beautiful women (and people:) in the world. ~ Lisa

I wish for all my circle sisters the joy of being inspired and living your best dream. For the world I wish to create together the world we wish to live in. To live with respect for one another. Happy 2013. It's ours to create with what we will. ~Valarie

My wish is that everyone is able to find love in their heart for themself and then is able to spread that love throughout the world so that we can all live in peace. I am also looking forward to getting to know all the ladies of the circle on a deeper level. It will be so much fun watching everyone grow, and dream, and accomplish so many wonderful things this year. ~ Ginny

For the world, I wish for the love that binds us together and nourishes us, and I especially wish for this love to brighten the lives of children, animals, the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable. For every person in the world, I wish happiness! For my dreamer buddies, I wish for exciting, unexpected, happy creative growth as you become ever more amazing. ~ Kelly

May the magic of your heart reveal itself to you. May you find the courage to follow where it leads. This day and all days. With love ~ Jamie

 

The Art of Surrendering by Glenda Myles

"Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” -C.S. Lewis 

Surrendering to your dream, to your purpose, to your life....requires you to let go of the life you are holding onto so that you can grab hold of the new.  

"The word "surrender" is often interpreted as giving up, as weakness, as admitting defeat. Although this is one way to use the word, we will use it in a different way. Surrendering means letting go of your resistance to the total openness of who you are. It means giving up the tension of the little vortex you believe yourself to be and realizing the deep power of the ocean you truly are." -David Deida

It's been a long time coming.

Many may think it took too long.

"Oh, I thought you already did that" they would say. "No, I hadn't" would be my reply. Secretly feeling the pressure over the last 1-1.5 years, but not surrendering.

I had my reasons, as I am sure we all do.

I am a single mother who has survived and thrived because I focused on providing for my family. There are lots of people without work, how can I give up my good job for the unknown? What if I don't succeed? Am I just going through some mid-life crisis? Have I completely lost my mind?

Surrendering to your dream, to your purpose, to your life....requires you to let go of the life you are holding onto, that identity, so that you can grab hold of the new. And sometimes if you are unwilling to let go, the Universe helps you out. 

That's what happened to me. The universe pried it out of my hands. It was jarring for a moment. Then I realized my hands were free. And with my hands free I was able to reach out for that dream that had been in front of me for so long.

And then.

Relief. Now feeling relieved, the pressure off, I have fully surrendered to the Life I have been longing to live. A level of contentment, happiness, has settled in that I wasn't expecting.

Surrendering has opened my heart and my mind. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Glenda at Myles Ahead Studio is a professional marketing strategist working to bring more creativity into business and make more ideas come to life.

Why Can't It Be Diamonds? by Ginny Lennox

When reading Jamie Ridler’s blog not too many years ago I learned of the practice of picking a word for the year instead of making a New Year’s resolution. I loved the idea and immediately chose the word Sparkle. I don’t think I am an introvert but I am very quiet in many situations. I decided that it was my time to take a chance and step into the spotlight just a little bit. I wanted to sparkle and it was fun to think of this as the word that would lead me throughout the year. I was explaining what I was going to do to my yoga teacher and said, “Of course when I say sparkle I don’t mean diamonds.” Before I could continue she asked, “Why can’t it be diamonds?” At that moment, I realized even though I had picked the word sparkle I was already limiting all the ways I could sparkle. I was choosing a word that would help me grow and change but I was putting boundaries around that idea before I even got started.

I’ve been learning to sparkle ever since. Sometimes it’s through the clothes I choose to wear. Other times it is through the words I write or the pictures I paint. Recently I have decided to enter the world of creativity coaching and help others to sparkle.

It’s been a little intimidating learning to sparkle but it has been fun too. Every time I say that I am an artist or a writer or a coach my light gets a little brighter. I still don’t have that diamond but it’s not because I’m afraid to want too much. The sparkle I am looking for comes from within. You don’t need diamonds to make your light get brighter and brighter. It comes from knowing who you are, what you love to do, and sharing your dreams and yourself with the world. Then it is easy to sparkle!

I hope that everyone will have a wonderful holiday season filled with love, laughter, and lots and lots of sparkle!

Ginny believes that each and every day is filled with special moments to be enjoyed and treasured. On her blog, Special Moments in Time she encourages everyone to recognize and celebrate their own special moments each day. 

Winter Pause by Angel Young

Sometimes it's just too hard.

It's been like that lately over here. Several family members have been diagnosed with cancer, and have been facing very tough times. Work has been soo busy - I travel a lot, and I feel like my feet have barely touched the ground. I've been trying to iron out some health issues of my own.

Wow I feel tired.

I'm the sort of person who normally keeps going until I fall over. Now I have a few days of breathing space it's starting to seep out of me. I just haven't had the time to do anything creative at all. All I can do is let go. I'm allowing myself, perhaps for the first time in my life, to take an easier option, to not work as hard, to finish earlier, to go out for lunch. I'm not quite sure where this ridiculous work ethic stems from. Sometime in childhood for sure. But I'm getting older, and hopefully wise enough to see that I can't please everyone all the time, and no amount of effort on my part can fix everything. It's difficult for me to be in this place - normally I'm a getting things done, taking people with me sort of person. But for now everyone will just have to take themselves, and I'm going to continue to rest until I feel whole again.

It's really a winter feeling. Packing up, folding myself away until the renewed energy of spring arrives. So here's a picture to remind us all that winter is about quietening down and being still.

Angel lives in the UK and is hoping for snow this winter.