Making a Connection

I began thinking about my word for 2013 late December, and immediately the word "cohesive" came to me. I have to admit that I although I know and use this word, I wasn't entirely sure what why it would have come to me so swiftly.

On the second day of the new year, I had narrowed down what I wanted my "word" to represent: slowing down, attention to detail, thoroughness... and one which would encompass my health, my well-being and the connection between my mind, body and spirit in all that I do.

Connection...

• with people, from my past, those around me now, and those yet to meet... 
• with the land, the rocks, the trees and the ocean that surrounds me...
• with birds, fishes, animals...
• with the food that I grow to eat...
• with whatever I am creating, writing, painting, designing with fabric...
• with whatever I am doing...
• with the events that make up my day...
• with my clients...
• with my business...
• with my body...
• with my self...

I knew that this was the year of connection, of really being present at all times, in all that I do and with whoever I'm with. And that began with myself, truly re-connecting with who I am and what I am here to do.
To re-engage a loving relationship with my body, so that it knows, without a doubt, that I am there for it, so that it may, in turn, continue to be there for me. To understand the connection between what I eat, and how I move... to how I feel.

To slow down and truly connect with people, not just brief encounters that leave an emptiness in our hearts. To remember, unequivocally, that I am an integral part of nature, not separate from it. To seek connection with the other beings that share this earth with us.

To recognize that we are all in this together... the planet, nature, all the species, every single human... just trying to get from one end of this life to another, as best as we know how.

So I had found my word - CONNECTION


In the writing of this blog post I looked up the meaning of the original word that had come to me: "Cohesive"

The root word "cohere" has the following dictionary definition:

• stick together, remain united, be logical or consistent...

The adjective "coherent" means:

• able to speak intelligibly and articulately, being logically consistent... and in reference to physics:  having a constant phase relationship...

The noun "cohesion" is defined as:

• the act or condition of sticking together...

I can definitely see the connection...


So what's your word for 2013, and what does it mean to you? I'd love it if you would share it with me here...

More from the "Wonder" Book

I finally made a choice for my "Wonder Book" for this year - a beautiful little red Chinese "Diary" with a cover made of silk fabric and edged with tooled canvas. Measuring 5 x 7 inches (125 x 178 cms) it fits snugly in any bag, and has, very approximately, 380 pages, allowing me to do double page spreads when the need arises. With designs already faintly printed on the page, the wafer thin paper accepts light watercolour washes surprisingly well without buckling, and handles as a whole assortment of markers and crayons quite nicely.

Here are the start of a couple of pages. The first represents the year long Giraffe Class I am taking with  Carla Sonheim, an absolute dream come true for me. (this was actually my first quick giraffe sketch... from a photo!)

The second page depicts the day we spent last weekend on Mudge Island, where I often go on retreat to house and cat sit. It is always a journey to another world for me and I loved how the old sailing ship already ensconced on the page fits right into the theme.

Both pages are unfinished, designed so that I can go back and forth as the days go by and add little touches. Together with a tiny art kit I sit up in bed in the evening and reminisce about the little "wonders" that have made up my day, or week.

So what else might find their way into these pages? Here are some more examples from my own life recently:

• the day Juniper, one of the lovely cats I cat sit who is painfully shy at the best of times, came to lie beside me, turned over, and presented herself for a long, delicious tummy rub...
• the email from a friend, written in gratitude, that sent tears coursing down my cheeks...
• the quiet meal we shared last Sunday with a very precious person in our lives...
• the walk I took earlier today which soothed my weariness...
• the comment from a client, that reminds me why I do what I do...

Years ago I knew a very wise young man who believed that his day could begin anew whenever he wanted to. That even in were late in the evening of a rough day, he got to start that day afresh. I think this "Wonder Book" should be a lot like that, not restricting it to having to start at the beginning of a calendar year, but allowing us to begin, at any moment of the day, the week, the month to make a brand new start.

I don't have to fill in every day, but I do try to find one little seed, one little nugget that stopped me in my tracks, took my breath away. Something that reminds me of who I am, why I am alive, and why this life, even on the worst of days, truly is quite wonderful...

So what would fit into your "wonder" book today? Have you begun one already? If so please send me an email with photographs so I can feature them here on the blog. 

The "Wonder" Book

Often a new idea emerges from a series of separate events. On New Year's Eve, there was a quote posted on my Facebook page that read:

 

Stark, to the point. No discussion. Serious food for thought...

On New Year's Day, a second quote appeared:

 

Now there was no ignoring it... 

A few weeks previously a wonderful suggestion did the rounds: to take a glass jar and fill it with all the things that you are grateful for during the year ahead, as they occur, and then at the end of the year, open the jar and read about all of the wonderful things that have happened to you.

I had read a great blog post a while back about a man who, instead of writing about his day, sketched it. His daytimer page was filled with tiny images recording the special moments of that day.

All this, combined with an urge to have more connection with every aspect of my life this year, sparked an intense desire to begin keeping a book that would record the wonder that each day brings. I journal extensively and would never want to be without one, but this book would contain those precious moments, those things that mean so much at the time, but are so often forgotten in the busyness of our days.

I began the search for the perfect book. Would it be a daytimer, plain and simple, with a day for each page. Or a book that contained.365 pages? What size would it be? Spiral bound or hard bound? Lined or Unlined? These are individual choices that only you can make. Those who make their own journals may consider making signatures of 8 folded pages for each month, giving in total 32 sides to work on, binding them together at the end of the year in one book. The choices are endless.

After scouring the stores for the perfect daytimer, I have narrowed it down to three books: a regular daytimer, a blank sketchbook and a beautiful little Chinese diary that I already had at home, with fine paper that already has light sketches on it, perfect to doodle with.

So what can you record in your "Wonder" Book? Whatever made your heart sing that day...

• a photo you took of a special sunrise...
• a quote that touched you to the core...
• a sketch of something happened...
• something someone said to you that meant more than they'll ever know...
• a link to a thought-provoking video that shifted your thinking...
• another person's thought that inspired you...
• a piece of something that you want to keep for any reason...
• a line from a book that spoke to you...

It really is endless. Limitless. What can you think of that would make it to this list? I'd love to hear your ideas.

We're not that far into the year that we can't begin this now, with what was wonderful about today. And we can forage back to the last week for something each day that meant something special. That stopped you for a moment, made you think, took your breath away or simply caused you to smile...I'll be sharing my first few "wonders" over the next few days, and would love to post some of yours in the upcoming weeks.

Our lives are so fast these days and I am hearing from so many how much they want to slow down. Maybe this is one way to savor our days, recall magical moments, remind us of what really and truly matters. I wonder...