Piece in Chaos

I’m currently sipping a Baileys on ice, as if I’m exhausted from the year that’s been, but we’re almost in February. Surely things ‘should’ have taken off by now. In many ways they have, but that’s the kind of month it’s been: intense.

For most of my late teenage years and now my early twenties, a huge recurring thing I’ve learnt is to breathe. There’s nothing wrong with sitting back for a moment to take it all in, to remember your body and its need to be free once in a while from all the shackles that we place around it in society.

Who knows the reason, but January, for me at least, is often the most intense month of the year. Christmas holidays bring families and friends together, parties are everywhere, and many of us are in a transitional period with work or study. That and we’ve lost some sleep on the booze! But really, the people you’re around and the good times you have remind you just what you’re living for. I guess that makes us all a little emotional, especially if things aren’t quite to plan, something needs to change or you’re reflecting on all that has been. I find January is the month of decisions and the decision to change life for the better.

Some of us may be thinking that these decisions are meant to be in the form of resolutions. I don’t believe in calling these ‘resolutions’ because they just don’t stick. Resolutions are temporary when the decision to change life is long-term. I’ve started hearing a few people say they feel upset with themselves because they haven’t stuck to their plans to eat better, exercise more, or whatever else they desire to do. All I can say is: stress less, there’s more to the year and you’ve got time. It’s the ‘shoulda’s’ that set us back and it’s important to go with the flow and stop worrying about those things, just do what ya needa do, right now!

Change starts from within and if you want it to occur, start.

This is my beginning of a better year, a year in which I give my creative outlets more attention (hello you!), a year in which I learn my own truths and understand myself better (here I am), and one in which I will focus on balance (let down my barriers, I’m not always right). It’s a constant work in progress.

What am I going to do to make these things happen when everything else is spinning around me?

• Go to my creative outlets (art, writing, photography)
• Eat well
• Exercise (walk, weights, jog, sex)
• Get out into nature
• Take moments
• Get into yoga
• Cuddle
• Listen to music and stop moving
• Go to the grass roots, don’t settle for ‘that’s just the way it is’; research
• Drink water
• Rebel a little
• Breathe.

Give yourself a break. It is the start of the year and it is only the beginning of better things to come. Enjoy it. You can find the you that you want to know.

A quote to enjoy (even if it’s from Apple): “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.“

A little symbol I found that may be a good mantra to live by:

‘Sesa wo suban’ (‘Change or transform your character’)

Symbol of Life Transformation

Peace,
– Julie