Yesterday marked another New Beginning, Chinese New Year, this year marking the Year of the Snake.
Last year, the year of the Dragon, was all about Transformation. Think of it like a caterpillar going into its chrysalis. If we embrace(d) the energy that was available, this is what is/was possible. A COMPLETE CHANGE OF FORM!!! Kind of cool to think about, don't you think?
This year, courtesy of that powerful serpent energy, is all about shedding. It is about emerging from the chrysalis. It is about letting go of what needs to be left behind: your old stories, your old habits, and emerging as your 'new self'. I like to think of this as being more YOU than you had ever dared to be before. It isn't about being someone who you think you should be, it is about being brave enough to show the world the REAL YOU.
Ok, so being the very intentional being that I am (or am aspiring to be), I made a 'plan' for this emergence, this re-birth if you will. How was I going to show up this year? How could I get in touch with and then stand forward in an even deeper, truer version of myself?
In that first post of 2013, I told you about how one of my intentions was to try to 'get bored'. To do less. To simple 'be' more often.
How am I doing on that? Well, to be honest, it has been a struggle. I am learning though, and this intention stays with me, on most days anyways. Learning to simply allow myself to be is really challenging for me. It is learning to embrace that 'contraction' part of the cycle of co-creation.
Something that I neglected to tell you about my New Year's list and traditions is that I also like to pick a word each year. A word, much like an intention or a mantra, can be used to ground my experience. To help shape me. To help me receive. To help me Serve.
My word this year was discipline.
Now, before you quickly jump to conclusions and perhaps even exit this post, let me clarify something.
The word discipline has a really bad rap. Typically, when people think of this word, especially when used in conjunction with New Year's resolutions, they are thinking about it in terms of its harshness. It is often associated with holding oneself to strict standards, and followed up with punishment if there is perceived failure.
This is not the kind of discipline that I am talking about. I am using this word with the intention of loving myself more deeply, not punish myself.
When I wrote the word discipline down in my journal, around it are 5 principles or ideas:
1. Be even more disciplined with my food.
2. Be more disciplined with my belongings.
3. Be more disciplined with my practice.
4. Be more disciplined with the voice in my head.
5. Be more disciplined with my consumption.
I started off writing this post with the intention of expanding on all of them and going into more detail, but holy, that would make for a long post. Instead, I thought it would be more fun to expand on each one of them - making a series of blog posts instead.
If you are interested, stick around, and check back often - 5 more posts will follow to round out the series. Also, feel free to throw your ideas/two cents in. Let's get this conversation started!
PS - a lot of these are FIERCE Integrity topics!
Much love,
Maren
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