It’s July! And that means this month will be all broken up for me in terms of writing blog posts. Because life is busy living up the summer…it’s too short to not be enjoyed! But I will want to keep coming back whenever I can because writing makes me truly think more clearly about my life.
Anyways, the beginning of July means that we are in the second half of the year.
For me that means that its a good time to think about some intentions for the rest of the year. Now that the time period is shortened, it is actually easier to think what would I like to do for the second half of the year. Because doing anything for 6 months is easier than doing it for 12 months…right?
And maybe goals or intentions should be set for a smaller time frame to help with adherence. As the author Anne-Laurie Le Cunff talks about in her book Tiny Experiments, we need experiments with a fixed time frame to help us navigate our interests to see what we want to do more of, or get rid of.
Anyways, I am going to think about things I want to do more of. Maybe, it wont happen every single day. I will keep trying to do it as often as I can, but not hold myself guilty if I am not able to. The aim is to get better at doing things, or doing things that help my life get better. And having guilt or shame around missing it only makes it harder to come back to, or sticking to it in the longer run. Because of all the attached negative emotions around it.
With that idea, I want to do more of these things. But with a positive inviting curious mindset. And see how I do at the end of the year in terms of my progress, or effects my life.
To keep life simple, and not to over-complicate things, I am keeping a small list. So I don’t overwhelm myself and run far away from my goals in no time! Yup, that happens…
Here are three things I want more of in my life for the next 6 months:
Drawing
I had planned to draw everyday this year. It did not happen. But I truly know the value of this exercise for my art practice. So I would love to come back to this practice in my life with a renewed intention. I want to keep reminding myself how much I need it. And how much I actually enjoy it once I get started…I want to draw most days, and as little as 5 minutes count. To stay accountable, I will post my weekly drawing on Instagram as I used to.
Quiet Time in the second half of the day
I meditate every morning when I wake up. But I feel the need to sit in peace a second time during the day. Just to get my bearings back. All the running around during the day and keeping a mental list of everything I need to take care of, and all the conversations or reading or being on the internet really does wear me off. If I spend a few minutes in peace- without dwelling on anything or being in a conversation with anyone is seriously refreshing. With that idea, my quiet time as I am envisioning it could be a nap, a walk around the block, a few minutes of mindful breathing, or a meditation sit- any of it counts. And as little as 10 minutes count.
Ground Sitting
I am starting to realize, with my body getting older, how much wisdom there is in sitting on the ground as our ancestors did…without back support and without legs hanging down. The way earth and nature intended us to be. So spending some time sitting down using my back muscles, and mobility of my knees and hips would be a good thing if I want to keep my functional mobility and strength for a while to come. With that idea, and with knowing that my body actually enjoys sitting on the ground when I take the trouble to, I hope to spend 30 minutes of the floor every day- while reading, or while watching TV- mostly the only time I sit besides eating or being on the computer for work. I think my body, and my yoga practice will be better for it!
So those are my 3 simple goals or intentions for the next six months. I hope to do them with a mindset of positivity, and adding to my life.
And hopefully make good differences in my life 🙂