Not a girl for resolutions, but all about reflections.

I've never believed in "resolutions," but always in "reflections." Reflecting is an open-ended culmination of tangible experiences and how our actions have impacted and shaped them; for me, lasting positive change(s) means remembering where I've been and how it relates to where I want to be going--it doesn't mean saying "I will/won't _____ in 2014." For me, that's intangible and broad, and lasting change means scaffolding for myself new ways of thinking about things and taking apart any habits that aren't positively impacting my life. Old habits die hard when we try to "break" them; but, they will dissipate when we take them apart piece by piece. Everything starts and ends with the mind and our habits of thought. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.

I really don't care about "New Years" - on any given day (you and) I can make the choice to improve or worsen. That said, since I'm always reflecting and/or journaling anyway (See picture to left - yes, I write for "fun" and always will; although, it isn't really that it's fun it's that I just...have to...words hit the page and the rest is history or something) I'm thinking I might just post a reflection-a-day or so - until Jan 1...for whatever purposes. My own, really. And because I think if more people showcased on their "walls" their imperfections - balancing it with strengths, but not solely "keeping up with the Jones'" as 95% of people wind up doing without even realizing it (TIME and Harvard have both done studies on how FB has changed our brains; this isn't just my yogi-ness speaking...but, that too) ...I think people would see that we're all human and the only person you should be better than is the person you were the day prior. My first reflection to keep in mind going forward ("in 2014")...

1. Don't react, step back, then act.
There's a lot of power in just "sleeping on it," or even simply declaringa few hours before responding to any given person/entity about any given thing, regardless of pressure. Almost everything in life can freaking hold its horses; if I've learned anything, it's that. So commonplace is a false sense of urgency. Also making this harder, I think, is this Godforsaken era of too much "contact" and too little COMMUNICATION. These are not the same thing. Human beings were meant to speak. Interpret body language, facial expressions, tone. We were also meant to have off-switches, and the ability to be fully in a given moment. Screen-free. Now, with 35023 types of social media, email accounts, work systems, instant messengers, etc...people have grown to expect immediate responses and we live in an era of immediate gratification. For me, more positive responses to stressful situations/people/experiences is a matter of simply eliminating the rush factor. And if that's a problem, it will no longer be mine. There's a saying, "if the culture doesn't work for you, don't buy it." So, there it is. 

(Trying to go back and find things from my Facebook, so that I can compile them here. I'm always writing, and always losing my writings.) So, this blog is going to be a lot of random ramblings, in no particular order...and probably without an overall theme. Ha, hopefully no one really sees it. In a few years, I'll begin one cohesive work. ;)