 |
| Self Portrait: Soaking up vibes at Squam Lake |
Today I am doing Day 2 and 3 together.
December 2 - Writing.
What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?
(Author: Leo Babauta)
Response: Jeez what DON"T I do to distract myself from writing and creating, let me count the ways. One big one that I can work on is cutting back how many hours I spend watching TV. The TV is on from the minute I get home until the time I go to bed, even if I am not sitting in front of it that whole time it is just on in the background, always.
I am going to make a commitment to myself and leave the TV off next week from the hours of 4pm to 8pm, with the hopes that I spend some of that time in creative space. I'll let you know how it goes at the end of the week.
December 3 – Moment
Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author: Ali Edwards)
Response: I was really surprised with this one, I thought I would not be able to come up with a moment that I felt most alive since this year was an emotional rollercoaster for me filled with anxiety and uncertainty but I came up with more than I expected.
If I had to just give you one moment in detail it would be when Jen Lee read a blessing I pulled from her magic blessings container during class at Squam Art Workshops. I still remember how it felt with her looking me in the eyes and reading TO ME.. really to me not just at me, do you know what I mean? The blessing was: "You don't have to get it right, just keep showing up with your whole heart!" that moment felt sacred, like there was nowhere I could hide from that message and I was being seen for what seemed like the first time.
It is so hard to describe this moment, I remember thinking Jen's eyes were so sincere as she spoke to me and the smell from the fireplace was in the air, the sounds were of the other participants waiting for their turn, the anticipation could be heard in their breathing but there was also a stillness, something big was happening.
There were so many moments during Squam where I felt alive here are some more because I want to acknowledge them:
Learning from and geting to know the lovely Queen of polaroid Susannah Conway.
Being taught songwriting by the amazingly talented, down to earth Jonatha Brooke.
Elizabeth MacCrellish reaching out and holding on my hands as I struggled with some anxiety.
Sitting by the fire at the end of the night with my Squammie mates, who I feel are now lifelong friends.
Jen Gray making me feel so at ease when she knew I was terrified during the songwriting class.
Walking through the woods with no fear morning, noon and night.
The wind and sun on my face as I stood on the dock looking out at Squam Lake.
This reflection has me seeing that athough my year was filled with much turmoil there were plenty of moments where I felt truly alive, even within that turmoil and not just at Squam. This online community I have been a part of this last year has been more of a blessing than any of you know.
I knew I would not be able to just pick one from that weekend but heck this is my blog and rules are meant to be broken, right!
Wishing you all a wonderful weeked.
Namaste,
Karen
2 comments:
What a lovely moment! Squam sounds like it was life-changing! Glad you had that during thisdifficult year.
I just discovered Reverb - great way to end the year.
Hooray for beautiful Squam memories! I know I'll be drawing off that amazing, powerful weekend for a long time to come. So profoundly grateful I was able to experience it with you!
Post a Comment