Verbal Excursions

(AKA – TEN THINGS I WILL STOP DOING IN 2010)

1. Taking home crap. Receipts for groceries that I am going to eat. Business cards from people I don’t plan on working with. Those stupid address labels that come in the mail from my insurance company. The free magnet calendar. I have no use for them – I don’t want them – and from now on, I will not stuff them into my purse, or my pockets. They will not cross the threshold of my home or office. I will refuse them outright (or if refusal is not an option, I will swiftly transport them to the nearest garbage bin).

2. Checking Facebook or email obsessively. Hey Self – guess what? You are not so important that you need to check email more than twice daily. In fact, fifteen minutes in the morning, and another thirty in the evening – Monday through Friday – should be more than sufficient to handle the current flow of communication. I’ll be testing this theory til the end of February, to see how it impacts my connection to the outside world (I’m thinking – very little.)

3. Supporting big business. Borders, Home Depot, Starbucks, Quizno’s, Bank of America… I drove through a good portion of the states this year, and I was surprised and appalled to see how much of it was exactly the same. I am done contributing to the homogenization of America. I am making a commitment to shop locally whenever possible, and support the mom n pops of business.

4. Giving gifts out of a sense of obligation. This does not mean I will stop giving gifts – just that I will stop buying them when I find myself acting from a place other than that of inspiration. So, if you do receive a present from me this year, it will be even more special, because it will be heartfelt.

5. Slaving to the man. That’s right – by the end of this year, if I am not employed full time by yours truly, then I will be in a position which rocks my world so hard that it makes me eager to dive into my day, and labor for the love of it.

6. Heeding the naysayers. These are the people who will read #5 and tell me that I am crazy to leave a secure job in this economy, that this is a bad time to strike out on one’s own, etc etc etc. I won’t be listening.

7. Paying bills. By the end of 2010, I will be completely debt free. I will celebrate by automating the payment of any bills which I can’t eradicate forever (for example, phone service). These expenses will be very minimal.

8. Participating in one-sided relationships. I started this as a test project in the final months of 2009, and guess what? It’s amazing how much more free time (and less stress!) I have, when I just stop showing up for the people who don’t return the favor. At first, I had the fear that opting out of my one-sided relationships might create some conflict, but to the contrary – it seems mostly to have gone unnoticed. I suppose that kind of proves the point, huh?

9. Committing to everything. For many years, if you needed a go-to guy, I was it. But I’ve found that constantly committing to support the undertakings of others has left me with very little time for my own. So if I am not absolutely passionate about the (project, committee, event), I’m going to have to sit this one out.

10. Providing justification. A friend reminded me recently that NO is a complete answer. ‘Nuff said.

So – what declarations can you make that will take a load off, instead of adding to your to-do list? What are your effortless resolutions? Hit me back!

*muchlove*
Verbal

Sometimes you’ve got to let everything go – purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything . . . whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you’ll find that when you’re free, your true creativity, your true self comes out. (Tina Turner)

Much has been swirling in the ether lately. I’ve been doing alot of thinking on this past year – what worked for me? What didn’t? Where did all my good intentions go? What happened to the ideas I had? The creative endeavors I planned to undertake, to nurse from infancy into reality?

For a year in which, in theory, I had all the time in the world – one of my biggest regrets is that I spent very little of it doing what I actually wanted to do. I spent alot of time spinning my wheels, wondering why I just couldn’t seem to set a spark to anything new in my life. But like a fire, you’ve got to rake the ashes to give your new fuel room to breathe. Even the most inspired ideas, relationships, and dreams need room to stir – cut off the circulation, and even the freshest will go stale.

For most of my life, I’ve carried around a ton of rubbish – literally and figuratively. I’ve done an amazing amount of purging this year, in many areas of my life… but this week the laser beam of my focus will be centered on The Last (and Greatest) Purge of 2009. Because I’ve decided that, in order to bring new (and better!) things into my life, I first need to create some space. When my time, brainpower, and resources are consumed by things that don’t matter to me, there is nothing left to devote to the things that do. If my mental and emotional space is cluttered with useless knickknacks and meaningless frippery, when inspiration comes knocking, there just isn’t room enough to invite the muse in for a drink. So, if I don’t need it – if I don’t desperately crave it – if it doesn’t bring me joy or bliss or laughter or pay the goddamn bills – then it goes!

I’ll be holding a private ceremony to incinerate some of the detritus – including a box of depressing old poetry I’ve been lugging around for years (much of it written between the ages of 12-22), a hundred letters in which I am dumped by old boyfriends, and all of my journals from what I’ll kindly refer to as “The Dark Ages”. I’ll also be making a list of The Ten Things I Want More Of In 2010, as well as Ten Things Which I Will No Longer Do In 2010 (stay tuned – these posts will be coming soon).

So, what have you been holding on to that you should let go of? What sundry items (or ideas, or themes) would you toss into the burn barrel? And what will you hope to cultivate in it’s place? I would love to hear your thoughts.

*muchlove*