I imagine people will look back on 2020 as a year they will never forget. A year where many things that were planned to happen didn't and many other things did happen in their place. A year of shifts, a year that revealed us, awoken us, and hopefully started to heal us. I imagine that we will look back on this year for years to come, remembering where we were, what we were doing and how we felt. While I am quite sure whoever coined the term hindsight is 20/20 was referring to perfect physical vision 20/20, I also want to say that hindsight is 2020 will now forever remind me of the year 2020 and the insights revealed along the way. And that these insights will help us envision what new reality we want to create as we move forward and go back to a new kind of normal.
Because I love lists, boiling things down and reflecting, I want to share some of my 2020 insights. Some of physical things, some are ideas, some are routines or experiences. I would love to hear if any of these resonate with you and what your 2020 insights were.
1- Breath work is magic. In case you haven't experienced it yourself, I cannot encourage you to in any more exuberant way than this ringing endorsement of #1 spot on the list. I leaned in hard to breath work through a newly online practice (thank you, Libby @libberated) that I had started in the end of 2019. If it is hard for you to sit in meditation without drifting to another place, I encourage you to seek out more somatic methods of mediation. One size won't fit all and not every method is for everyone, but if your feeling curious or connected there are a variety of online resources that you can tap into. For me, breath work reminded me of how strong and capable my intuition is after years of indecision and outsourcing my trust to others judgement. Additionally, it helped me when changes were abundant and I allowed me to see that I am in control of my inner dialog about what those changes mean. I built my container, stuck with things that were uncomfortable and ultimately reconnected with my intuition and my strength.
2- Belief system reboot. Hello, belief systems. You have been the quiet ghost at the table of all of my (perceived) failures, values, relationships, etc. etc. Now I am giving you a makeover and inviting you to the table, properly. Acknowledging where you have held me up and where you have held me back. 2020 made me aware how much these impact my inner dialog and every relationship I have outside of that. I look forward to continuing this work in 2021.
3- I <3 Trees. Holy crap, I love trees. I always have. Then for some reason in 2020 I had this insatiable desire to be near trees. Touch them. Sit under them. Feel their shade, their strength, and their wisdom. They remind me of how it feels to be grounded and rooted. Thank you trees, for cleaning our air, providing shade, and your grounding effects.
4- Sleep is a worthwhile investment- I've never been a terrible sleeper but this year a few tweaks to our sleep related items were absolute game changers. First of all, after years of a too small queen mattress, when we moved into our new home, we invested in a king bed. The luxury of enough space alone has been huge. But we also made an investment into a MyGreenMattress and it is glorious. Super sustainable, no off-gassing upon arrival, and extra support in the hip and back area. I LOVE it and can't believe I waited so long. Second of all, we had to get some new sheets for this new bed! I had made an order for SolOrganics when I ordered the mattress and sadly they were a bit delayed and we had to purchase some in a big box store to get us by. The difference is shocking. The subtle difference of softness and comfort of the Sol makes me want to wash them and put them right back on instead of swapping them out for the second set. Lastly, I started wearing an eye mask every night, and instead of waking up at 6 AM every morning like I have most of my life, I can make it to 7 some days and that, my friends, is a sleep miracle!
5- Sacred Sunday night is self-care. In a year where some routines dug in and some went completely wayside, one routine I leaned in on was a few simple Sunday afternoon/evening routines. My absolute favorite (and relates to #4!) is washing my sheets every Sunday so that Sunday night I am excited to crawl into clean sheets. I also add a little lavender essential oil into my (otherwise unscented) laundry detergent. It feels like a luxurious hotel...ahhhh! I used to plan outings right up until the end of the weekend Sunday and sometimes felt a little frazzled Monday , and now I try to save some time Sunday evening to decompress, make lists for the week, take a bath, read, journal, stretch, meditate, light a candle and savor the last of the weekend. Doing this has had a profound effect on how I feel when I start the week and I am taking this one right into 2021.
6- Insights on insight timer. Holy (very relaxed) cow, this was a big one for me. I started this more regularly over the summer and it stuck without much effort because I felt the positive impact. I usually listen one when I first wake up, before looking at or consuming any media. I put my headphones in right in bed so I don't bother anyone else. I have also used the headache release, get back to sleep, abundance mindset, Sarah Blondin's beautiful writings and so much more! I have the free version and there are literally thousands of lovely guided meditations. My app tells me I have meditated for 8600 minutes this year. That is an average of 23 minutes a day (though some of that is spent meditating while sleeping. :) ) I am feeling like getting to 30 minutes a day may be a goal for 2021.
7- Paint is pleasure. Painting has been something I have fallen back on occasionally as a creative outlet. In May of this year I did a paint and play creative session with an artist friend and it was a glorious reminder of all the creativity that exists in me (and all of us!). Maybe painting isn't your thing, but I encourage you to allow a quiet moment to allow yourself to be called to some sort of creative/creation. Maybe it is sketching, or pottery, or writing, sewing, woodworking, writing the alphabet out of nature items or writing quotes in fun handwriting, it doesn't matter what the thing is, just that you allow yourself to connect with the parts of that you desire to be creative and find pleasure in the process. For me, connecting with abstract art/painting, I could let go of the need to perfect things as I go. If fact, the messier and more unbound I allowed the process to be, the more I liked the outcome. If that isn't an analogy for life, what is!?
8- Use the damn thing. I can't tell you how many things I have saved throughout my life, only to realize when I go to use it, it's past its window or no longer serves me. First and foremost, I realize this was a lack mindset in saving everything for a rainy day or future use. That this moment wasn't special enough for this special item and that if I only had one of it, I would want to spread it over time. I had a few beautiful skincare products that I treated as on the shelf items this year, that turned/went bad (which happens with natural products) since I had held on to them so long. Hello, reminder that we don't need to save the things we love for only special occasions. Enjoy the oil, use the dishes you like, wear the sweater, and relish in the knowing that these items CAN be replaced and that there is enough abundance to do so should you need it.
9- Average goals. This may sound a little counter-intuitive. Who wants an "average" goal when they can have an exceptional goal. Anyone who knows me well, knows I love variety. I rarely follow a recipe the same way twice, I don't like to have to follow a well defined process...I just don't and never have. When I started wellness coaching this year, and talked through my goals with my coach, she understood quickly that my goals would need to be structured differently than most. One thing we tapped into was AVERAGES, and I feel the need to share! For instance, if my goal is to get my step count up to 5500 a day, or 100 squats a week, or 95 grams of protein, I feel much more connection to counting a weekly or monthly average as opposed to confined to daily measures. Then if I have an off day, my eye is on the prize of weekly or monthly numbers rather than the defeat of missing a day. This has been critical in my path of creating balanced, intuitive health in 2020. I will take average goals consistently over perfect goals occasionally.
10- Skincare > make up. if you stuck with your daily get ready routine while WFH this year, I commend you friend! I, however, did not. I LOVE makeup, haircare, bodycare and skincare and have been drawn to all things related since I was...oh...maybe nine years old cruising the aisles of walgreens with my chore money. Once we started on full time WFH and shelter in place, it took me awhile to get into a routine of balance for my morning and getting ready. What I found is, makeup just didnt fit in this phase of life. I stuck hardcore with my skincare routines and found my makeup going further and further back in the cabinet. I still used my brow gel and tinted SPF moisturizer but that was about it. The handful of times I wore mascara, my eyes felt tired and realized I really didn't like that feeling. I am looking forward to trying to incorporate this new found love of a fresh(ly skincared for) face into the future. Skincare beats makeup every time and this was a good reminder.
11- Hair care matters. Okay, I know we just talked about skincare, but I want to leave a separate line item for hair care! I have been using Monat on and off for about two years and while my hair had been healthier, I still felt like I needed to wash daily. This year I played around with different shampoos and in various orders and I found a combination that allows me to go up to four days with just some dry shampoo at night in between. Since I was, oh, thirteen, I have been washing my hair once and sometimes TWICE a day if I had something in the evening. The over washing made my scalp itchy but also oily so I just had to keep washing with no end in sight! Being home helped, as I could play around with going an extra day or so without being in the office where I just couldn't manage to see people in person with such greasy hair. If you are struggling with this, I assure you that there is a path forward without a daily hair wash, I am proof! The amount of time it saves me to do a quick no shampoo show and letting it dry (especially in the winter when cold wet hair makes me feel freezing!) is now time I can use for something I would rather be doing which makes it even more valuable that I figured this out this year!
12- That special thing within you deserves to be shared. The last thing for today that I will share, is that there are stories within you that someone needs to hear. After starting a book writing course with Seren, writing a book still feels daunting but what feels less scary is simply putting words on paper. Yes, writing is about you. It is about releasing the real or fiction stories that exist in your mind. But that alone feels kind of, well, self promoting. When you realize that your words, in whatever written form (social media, blog, card, letter, book, poem) may change the life of someone else, that is when I hope you start to feel some courage to write or speak them into existence, and then share them. That is what I am doing with this blog and why I am here today sharing these words with you. I hope you find some inspiration, comfort, curiosity, or simple entertainment that sparks motion in your heart today to do something that lives within you that you haven't felt comfortable to share before. If I can do it, I promise you can too.
Comments