Emerging from the New Year’s Lull

I am considering how to emerge from the “Lull”. I’ve been working on so much behind the scenes and in my head. Caught up in the doing and not the showing and telling. Coming to terms with, acknowledging, establishing, understanding, and claiming my inner and outer worlds.

I always struggle with what is important enough or necessary enough to share. I would tell you anything but where to start? Where to put your attention and my energy?

The answer is somewhere, anywhere. Because if you wait until you create the perfect online plan or platform to start, you’ll have waited too long. It’ll be 5 years from now and you’ll regret every painful moment that’s passed as you allowed fear to make your living choices for you.

Kick him right out of the driver’s seat, thank him for his input, tell him you’ll take his alarming edicts into consideration, and speed down the woman’s way highway. So this is me putting some metal down.

I’ve got #OurCreativeJanuary wrapping up. I’ll be starting The 100 Day Project on January 31^st. See the100dayproject.org for more information or reference this blog post.

I’m taking a break from aiding my Mom because frankly her lack of gratitude and perpetual pushing away began to feel abusive. I’ve been expected to show up for her all of my life by both of us. Maybe I don’t need to be so swell.

The word has just come in that my daughter is going back to school next week so this provides a huge relief in terms of space and quiet for me to create. She’s still my hat at home.

And I’ve begun a weight loss journey to bring myself back to a place I recognize and admire myself. Using some different psychological techniques via Noom and it’s OK.

I am also committing to showing up on my blog every Tuesday as I still am working on my blog revamp. I feel like it needs to have a soft launch by March 1^st. We’ll now see won’t we? I am intending to come back to posting Tuesdays and Fridays here again . Have begun to warm my engine up.

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I am a community kinda person and am always practicing Intentional Intouchness.

I live for conversations.

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Our Creative January Challenge for 2021

Announcing an Our Creative January Challenge to start off 2021 on the creative right foot . A creative community challenge I am hosting on Instagram.

Since 2017, l’ve dared to host #ourcreativeselves community projects and #Soul_selfie challenges. As l continue to emerge from my creative and low self-esteem shells, these challenges have given voice to both my creative and soul searching selves and my communities.

I forget this. I forget myself. Often. So this coming year, l want to remember myself and engage in more community challenges.

Because they’re fun.

Because l enjoy playing with like-minded people.

Because this will help heal our collective souls.

If you’d like to, join me in #OurCreativeJanuary IG project. Using this hashtag and the #ourcreativeselves tag, we’ll post pictures on Instagram of whatever we’ve created. Post them daily, bi-weekly, or weekly and see what others have created. Create with words, collage, paint, music, clay, food, or a new vignette in your house. If you like, tag me in the post too @shalaghhogan . And for the rest of the year, I’ll be joining Nina Spolar for #my52in2021 and #createtoconnect to post creative endeavors and stay connected with #Ourcreativeselves people.

Interested in reading my future ponderings on Creative Soul Living?Subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my weekly posts via your emailbox.

Find me on Instagram to see my daily pictures,

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Or come find me on Twitter or Pinterest too.

I am a community kinda person and am always practicing Intentional Intouchness.

I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.

Moments of Profundity

I tried to sit with my thoughts today. To write. To extract some sort of profound truth from my day. And my brain said “sploop”.

Moments of profundity sometimes won’t show up on demand betwixt days and days of 7 year old daughter harassment and 15 year old son idiocy. So be it.

It may be enough that I breath today. And that’s OK.

Happy Monday and I wish you profound moments in the coming week. I find life is a little more fun with profundity.

Interested in reading my future ponderings on Creative Soul Living?Subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my weekly posts via your emailbox.

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I am a community kinda person and am always practicing Intentional Intouchness.

I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.

Take a Perfection Break in December

I love the way careful empowering ideas and inklings spread in my online communities. This week what I heard was slow down. Perhaps we need to agree to take the month off together. Yes, I am still the event planner for December and that is a lot of work in and of itself. So maybe I need to let go of the rest of the “shoulds”.

Maybe it’s not the best month to start a diet. Or create a regular exercise routine. Or write a blog post everyday. Or gather more email addresses for our businesses. Instead, I look forward to creativity galore, because to me, Christmas is the penultimate creative holiday. Spiritually and decoratively.

I don’t think I need to ask for anyone’s permission but my own to let go of the control of all the doing and start letting my sense of fun and adventure take the reigns. Perfectionism doesn’t belong in my life this month because it is not a month about fear. It’s a month about family, love, and fun. A reverent month to allow space to see what unfolds.

Interested in reading my future ponderings on Creative Soul Living? Subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my weekly posts via your emailbox.

Find me on Instagram to see my daily pictures,

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Or come find me on Twitter or Pinterest too.

I am a community kinda person and am always practicing Intentional Intouchness.

I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.

Our Parents and Ourselves

Anne Lamott said “Write as if your parents are dead.” In an attempt to save people from your truth, you censor yourself from writing about your pain. This pain has made you you and may have been caused by them. And this mutes your most important story. And now Their Shames have become yours. You were made complicit to their crimes against themselves and to you. If you tell, you’ll be bad. Ungrateful. Naughty.

She added, this, “Remember that you own what happened to you. If your childhood was less than ideal, you may have been raised thinking that if you told the truth about what really went on in your family, a long bony white finger would emerge from a cloud and point to you, while a chilling voice thundered, “We *told* you not to tell.” But that was then. Just put down on paper everything you can remember now about your parents and siblings and relatives and neighbors, and we will deal with libel later on.”

I say, let them sue me. I’ve got nothing left to lose. I’m not that close to my parents. Is my debt payed off. Or do I have to keep the shame silence to their grave and then tell all.

I hardly ever speak about my family. Once when I did, I got calls from both of them to let me know they did not appreciate being spoken of. Even if what I said was true, that’s not what we do. And I got another call out from my Aunt blasting me for my lack of gratitude. I’ve been given so much, that should buy my devotion and silence.

I feel my heart ache when I read stories about people who are close to their parents. Who grieve the loss of their parent as a piece of themselves leaving the earth. I feel for and admire them for their grief. Perhaps I should say envy them.

Maybe Anne Lamott had self-involved parents too.  I have yet to delve into her works as much as I might like. Got busy birthing a baby right around the time when women start their introspective reading journeys in earnest. 

I am trying my hardest to make sure that my daughter and son both know I love and support them, that what they seek in the world is both out there and inside them. I am just a cheerleader. It’s about them not me. Khalil Gibran’s poem ‘Children’ says it all:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you.
And though they are with you, they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite.
And He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hands be for happiness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
So He loves the bow that is stable.

Do your best and let go of the rest. If you’re not helping, you’re hurting. And do unto others…

Interested in reading my future ponderings on Creative Soul Living?Subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my weekly posts via your emailbox.

Find me on Instagram to see my daily pictures,

friend me or like my page on Facebook.

Or come find me on Twitter or Pinterest too.

I am a community kinda person and am always practicing Intentional Intouchness.

I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.