Adding A Little Zest To Life

At the beginning of the year, I received a random card at a Seattle Unity service that was entitled zeal. I hadn't really used this term before though but I immediately liked the sound of it. I had already set an intention to have more fun and be more playful, because I found myself getting really serious and not having much fun as a result, so this card reinforced that intention.

That is about the same time when the Fun-A-Day project appeared out of the blue and was like an answer to the winter blues I had been facing. I had SO MUCH FUN during the month of January creating something new each day and posting it on my blog as Daily Creativity! And this started a daily habit or practice for me, of posting a little something each day, like a reflection, a photo, a short poem, or an inspiring quote. I have had a lot of fun sharing and posting everyday on my blog and one of the most fun and creative parts is brainstorming about a new theme for the month or sometimes just listening to my inner voice and focusing on what I need to focus on in the coming month.

So this month, I have chosen Zest & Zeal. I intend to bring more awareness to the art of having fun and how to add more zest and zeal to everyday life. This can be anything really and I can't wait to see where it leads. I really had NO IDEA that joining the Fun-A-Day Challenge back in January would lead to all these different daily practices each month--February brought Abundance, March brought Self-Love, April brought Grace, May brought Surrender, and June brought Goodness. I love that I can sum up 2014 in these beautiful words, actions, intentions, and practices--creativity, prosperity, self-compassion, graceful living, letting go, and owning my goodness.

And now I'm adding a little more zest and zeal to my days by choosing to focus on:

lively feelings of enjoyment and enthusiasm that increases energy in pursuit of a cause or an objective

And my cause or objective is to be more playful and recognize and honor all the zest and zeal already in my life. :) Just in the past 2 days, I've found zeal in nature through discovering a beautiful pond filled with momma ducks navigating through the lilypads and dragonflies hovering just over the surface.

I have a feeling that I'll be finding zest and zeal everywhere and I can't wait to share with you what I discover this month. :)

Where do you find zest and zeal?

Sweet Surrender in Real Life

Before I even knew it, I decided to dedicate this entire month to the practice of surrendering and letting go. And boy, have I had many opportunities for both this month! Yesterday I said "see you later" to my esteemed colleagues, many of whom I have worked with for almost 7 years advising pre-college immigrant and refugee students from over 35 different countries as they began or continued their educational journeys here in the United States with English classes. Now I have been given a new opportunity in a different college to help students plan their education and future careers through individual advising, coaching, and leading workshops. I feel as though I have been working towards this new adventure for some time now and I look forward to gaining more coaching and workshop experience while helping more students achieve their goals.

From going through all the papers, files, emails, and memories I have accumulated in almost 7 years and feeling so loved and appreciated by many who I have shared the best and worst of times with, I have realized that what really stays with us from an important life experience is who we got to know and what they shared with us or what we learned from them. The inspiring stories of courage from students who fought their way to make a better life here in the United States, the uplifting passion projects of colleagues that have motivated me to work on my very own passion project, the daily care, concern and support from cherished friendships turned lifelong kindred spirits, the vast range of perspective on living life, and the inner awareness gained from all of these experiences are what I want to take with me from this.

So I must keep that in mind as I go through material items, because these items can be replaced or found again, if needed. But they do not compare to the priceless value of friendships made and lessons learned that I will take with me wherever I go in life. No one can take that away from me, it can't be lost or misplaced, it has become a part of me, and I am a better person for it.

Letting go requires A LOT of faith. I must trust that what I wrote is true--I will not lose the value of the many kindred friendships and invaluable lessons I take away from the past 7 years. I trust that these experiences, this wisdom, all the support I feel will help me move forward and help guide me in this new adventure. Nothing is lost. And so much has been gained. From moving on in my career, I am now able to reflect and see these past experiences with a little bit of distance which makes me more aware of all I have gained. And for that, I am grateful.

Gratitude helps us through transitions in life. I am a little nervous about all the unknown that lies ahead but I am also confident that I have what it takes and will be supported on this journey, no matter what. And that's a really good feeling.

Practicing Letting Go Through Collaging

Funny, I've been reading about the benefits of collaging to prepare for a session I'm leading at the end of the week for a campus community event on collage art as a creative stress management tool, and several sources say that collage art is recommended when you're feeling stressed and feeling a lack of control over your present situation. This is because in collaging you get to control which pictures and words you choose to include in your unique expression of art. You're in charge, and this process of creating gives you the sense of control that you felt you were lacking beforehand. 

At the same time, through my own collage creations, I'm finding that collaging has helped me let go and just soak in the art that I'm creating. I let go of a need to strive for perfection or stress about where each piece will go in the collage. There are really no rules when I collage and this is a very freeing and forgiving process as a result. I am in charge because it’s my creation, and I always enjoy seeing how the pieces turn out. In creating in this way, I develop and practice a greater sense of self-compassion too, because I'm not hard on myself if I paste a piece I've torn from a magazine in the "wrong" place, because I always paste something over it or bring in other pieces to compliment the misplaced piece if I really don't like how it looks, but that hasn't really happened in my collage process so far. I don't strive for a masterpiece, I simply create and create and enjoy the flow that comes with this freeing practice. I enjoy the energy it gives me, the inspiration it calls forth in me, and I enjoy sharing what I've created with others. So far I've worked on creating an inspirational collage art journal in the company of friends two times and both have been such wonderful experiences. I love seeing what others will come up with and feeling their inspiration levels rise at the same time.

My collage creative process reminds me of the balancing act of maintaining control of our responses in life while letting go of the need to control everything else. This is truly an art. I have dedicated this month of May to learning and practicing the art of surrender, and so far this daily focus has been so helpful when I run into a situation that I cannot control. I have also been using a new app I found called Mindfulness Daily that reminds me throughout the day to focus on the moment, notice how I'm feeling both physically and emotionally, and if there is anything beyond my control that I can accept for now. This last part has helped me practice letting go in the moment and has reminded me to take a breath and feel grateful throughout the day. I think the combination of dedicating time to express my creativity, along with focusing on what I can control in each moment is proving very helpful in remaining centered no matter what's going on around me.

These are several of my collage creations that I made on Sunday.