Art and Life - Unpacking and Wrapping up the Year!
Here we are in December! How fast the year has gone, and you can be forgiven for thinking that the piece of art I created (below) looks like something I made way back in Autumn...but it's not, and although Autumn itself feels like a life time ago, the many months of dry and the fierce springtime winds have provided much pondering and a lot of leaf matter left on the ground, which you can see I have gratefully recycled.
Like any writer does, when I gathered up these natural gifts, I couldn't help but admire their beauty and then of course, I had to decorate it with words! Perhaps because it's so ingrained in me (to ascribe a word or a label to things) I'm not too sure? but this was a nice way to journal for a change...
Actually, as I created this I didn't do it with an idea or words in mind. There was no clever, concise, or deliberately designed way of thinking, but instead, I just went with it using my intuition, and flowing with how I felt in that moment. As I walked through the trees and gathered the materials, listening to the music playing from my headphones, and watching the way the leaves danced in unison as the winds bent their branches...
And that's kind of how I write too. I like to call it an "intuitive" process, but a lot of writers refer to as "pantsing" which ultimately means you don't have a plot or some structure in place around your writing before you actually engage in the act.
But back to unwrapping or reflecting on the year. And oh, what a year it has been! One of the calendar affirmations I put on my phone this year that chimes everyday at 11:10am is "In 2023 your will and intention is to begin a successful new career, publish a bestselling book, and travel to Europe." I may have had high hopes and expectations there, but those who have read my book will now know I'm big on intentions and affirmations. And considering that at least one on the list has manifested by the end of year, (one out of three ain't bad!) I am feeling a sense of achievement and fulfilment at such a heart warming and rewarding year.
And who knows? with a bit of consistency, effort, and magic, the other two intentions may well come about in time!
Guidance and Manifestation
Also mentioned in my book is the fact that I've always been pretty in tune with my intuition and the act of observing. There are so many tools out there for guiding us in our decisions and finding the best possible solution or way forward. Although I occasionally use oracle cards or tarot, such as this one I pulled the other day,
I also check in with what the other more logical side of my brain is telling me. Sometimes this means there is a dissonance (or argument) between what my heart and what my mind says, and this usually means I need to do some more investigating and feeling into the situation. As they say, the body is a barometer, so checking in with how your physical body feels around a situation is a good way to access your deeper truths. Sometimes the answers don't come quick or easily, so having patience is also a virtue when one is trying to work these things out!
But as I pulled this card the other day I knew it to be a fair dinkum sign, (forgive me, I'm both an Aussie and a country girl born and bred ;) This card just resonated in my heart and with my head so strongly.
Because I'm so ready for something new! Which is great considering a new year is just around the corner and soon we'll all be frantically running around wrapping up gifts and then unwrapping them and hopefully having a really good time and reflecting on the year that was.
For now, it seems a bit too busy as we race towards the end of the year to do this "reflection business" in a proper way. And I must admit, I've jumped ahead a bit on the unwrapping part and got in on gifting of some Christmas gifts a little early, by ordering a couple of books...but who says you have to wait until Christmas to buy a book?
In fact, you might fancy buying mine for yourself or another here:
The journal particularly, is a great way to start the new year and if you follow it through the whole year I assure you you'll have gathered enough information and insights to write 5 books of your own!
I've always loved receiving a book. There's something special in both the giving and receiving of books. I recently purchased these two gems for my love and myself. Looks like he'll be happily baking and I'll be creatively daydreaming - what a combination for the senses! :)
We all need a summer holiday read or just something to read in the summertime when it's way too hot to venture outside. I'm hoping that I can pull together some focus, willpower, and motivation to keep writing a novel I've recently started.
I can't give too much away here yet, but all I can say is that it's both challenging and fun to write from a different character's perspective.
For me, the fun comes in accessing your imagination and designing your character's life, but it's really daunting and hard work too, because I'm finding you really have to think a lot harder with a novel, and holding it all together. Plotting and structure really does take on a whole new level with a novel.
So this means the intuitive process that I'm used to writing in has to balance out with an equal amount of rationality, hard facts and structuring, so it appears real (even though it's a made up story).
But though I procrastinate some times, it's a goal I've had for a while (to write the novel) and I know if I keep chipping away at it, then it will eventually materialise. I think there's probably some wise, elegant Chinese proverb to explain this theory, but like quotes from movies or books, I always instantly forget them!
So as much as this post feels like I've just been rambling on (like I do so well!) there is a purpose to it too. It's not only to connect once again throughout the madness and the chaos of the end of year, but to say a genuine thank you to you for this connection, and to offer you blessings for what is to come.
And a reminder: What is to come for you? in 2024?
If you really have no idea maybe you could start with my suggestion and just pull an oracle card and wait and see how you feel about it or notice what thoughts or feelings come up?
And of course as the curious little thing that I am, I'd love to hear what responses you have or what cards were pulled in the process! Be sure to leave your comments below, or send me a message. I'd love to hear from you, and I promise to write back :)
Best of luck, blessings and chat soon!
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