My intention in 2020 is To Follow My Wild Heart. I don’t know what it means, but it feels exciting and edgy, and it will probably be a stretch. It also aligns with my overall purpose of Freedom Through Connection, and a purpose I share with a colleague and friend of To Be in Service to the Beauty of Life..
Over the years I have watched groups align (being the operative word) around an intention and seen it manifest merely through placing attention on it as the “boss” of the group. No task list required.
Resolutions are just strategies to achieve a larger intention. If we can get to the source, my experience is that we’re more likely to achieve it. Here are some examples:
– Resolution: “Lose weight” – more powerful intention might be “To respect my body” or it could simply be “To glow!” or it could go even deeper… why do I want to glow?
– Resolution: “Be nicer to my family” – more powerful intention might be “To put my family at the centre” or it could be “To embody peace” or something else
– Resolution: “To have more time for myself” – more powerful intention might be “To be kind to myself” or “To prioritise me” or something else.
– Resolution: “To bring people together in peace” – needs to start with me and probably looks something like “To be at peace with myself” – from that place I am more likely to achieve the first resolution.
Only we know what the real reason is behind the resolution. What does our heart long for at this time? What healing is required right now? Keep asking “why?” and going deeper. Is it what we really want, or is it our mother’s voice, or someone else whose affirmation we value? And if our intention is about impacting someone else, we probably need to start with us. It will ripple out. We can keep reviewing it until it feels right.
“You are the sculptor of your own reality – don’t hand your tools to anyone else.”
~ Jeff Brown
Each year my colleagues and I have an intention. Last year our intention was “To Nourish”. We badly needed to nourish and care for ourselves and that in turn rippled out into our communities.
The year before it was “To Embody Commitment”. Often when an intention is set, the opposite (the shadow) shows up. Our team went its separate ways, I left my corporate job of 10 years, and a beautiful relationship ended. Commitment was embodied big time! Commitment to other things, and Freedom Through Connection was born.
The year before that our intention was “To Embody Love” and I fell deeply in love for the first time, opening my heart in a way that had never happened before. My broken heart has allowed me to feel empathy and compassion for others in a way I never could before either; love was truly embodied.
So I’m excited about 2020. Already by setting that intention, I remembered one of Heather Plett’s online courses that I have access to called “Lead with your Wild Heart”, my uncle messaged me suggesting a ride out on his Harley, and my travels this year include a shortlist of places I haven’t been before including Iran and the Baltic states, and even tenting at a few summer festivals. Who knows what else will show up, what edgy decisions I might make, or what will change in me. Bring it on! I hope your travels through 2020 are full of meaning and connection too.
“I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.”
~ Joseph Campbell
