2017

oh my gosh.  i'm so over 2016.  what a ridiculous year.  so much craziness, so much divisiveness, wars, tragedies.  personally, things weren't quite so bad for me and my family, but it was definitely a year full of opportunity for growth, haha.  but because of the state of the world, the depressing and horrific news that comes in on a daily basis, the world losing its collective mind, it has been hard for me to not let it affect me.  of course so much disunity, injustice, and hate is going to affect my heart.  but it has almost been disabling and definitely anxiety inducing for me.  i just don't understand why people can treat other people so horribly.  anyway, i don't want to write about all of that right now.  i want to look forward.  i want to talk about 2017.  and my plan for it.

i have been doing a lot of praying, reflecting and a lot of planning and goal setting lately.  i want to simplify and streamline.  i feel like i have learned a lot this last year about myself and for some strange reason i have more of an idea of what i need to do and how and where i want to focus my energies.  i'm not normally a new year's resolution type of person, but i realized a little while back that i haven't really set goals for myself for awhile.  especially this last year, i have just been trying to get by.  and it feels very reactionary and not at all proactive.

recently i participated in a 21 day spiritual recharge facilitated by two wonderful Bahai mommas, and it was so so so amazing and helpful and kind of felt like a springboard to my goals for 2017.  in fact, it was during one of my prayer and meditation sessions that i solidified some of my goals and actions required to get started.

so.  on the top of my list is to remain consistent about setting aside time every single day to recite prayers, meditate, read the Bahai writings (and other inspiring writings) so that i don't become so engrossed in my daily routine and forget.  or that i rush through, praying without feeling or focus with my kids in the background screaming for trail mix.  what has been so helpful about the 21 day spiritual recharge was that i was reminded the importance of raising children based on the Bahai Faith, and that in order to do that i need to model it myself, and in order to do that i need to take the time for my own soul feeding activities.  which i already know logically.  but i actually started making it a priority.  so i want to continue that.

next, i want to tell the people that i care for and love, how much i care for them and love them.  who knows what's going to happen over the next few years, and really, you never know when anyone's time is up, so i really want to take the time to let my friends and family know how i feel about them.  i always think about my friends and family, but i want them to know that i do and how much i appreciate them.

i also plan to continue and hopefully expand some of the community building activities i am involved in.  i believe that in order to see change in the world, it needs to start at the grassroots rather than top-down.  which means getting to know neighbors, the kids and parents that my children associate with, other parents in the area, whatever.  just as long as we can work together in an effort to get to know each other, raise children with morals and values, and do what we can to build a community that is integrative rather than destructive.

and a big part of my goals is to streamline.  everything.  and perhaps minimize.  and simplify.  whatever isn't working, fix or get rid of; whatever is toxic, replace with something that promotes health; things that i'm keeping around because i feel guilty to get rid of them or because i have always just had it around, repurpose or donate.  i want to go through and overhaul everything.  my beauty and personal products, clothing, books, kitchen stuff, kids toys, dvd's, cd's, anything broken, not functional for my purpose, harmful or not something that i love gets chucked.  and will be replaced or i will learn to live without.  one example is my beauty products.  i have about 50 different lipsticks and lip glosses, many are very similar shades, and lots are years old.  i want to save a few and throw away the rest.  my skincare; i want to use non-toxic, cruelty free, and very natural products.  my whole beauty routine is even different already.  kitchen stuff---we have a few gadgets, but if we have 7 different spatulas that are the same, or utensils that are chipped and dangerous, or containers that are missing lids, etc, then that will be consolidated.  i'd like to replace things with more reusable products and have begun to do that already; i bought some cloth napkins to replace our paper napkins, some microfiber cloths and rags to use instead of a million paper towels, stuff like that.  i'm probably going to write another post about all that stuff later.  but, i look around our house sometimes and even though we don't have soo much stuff, i sometimes wonder why we have some of the things that we do.  for example, last year we had the electrical done in some rooms so we could install ceiling lights.  that way we could get rid of some of the floor lamps that we had that were causing stress when the little ones try to take them down.  but i never got rid of the floor lamps.  we just had new ceiling lights in the living room, and 2 floor lamps and one table lamp still.  it looked so crazy!  so i finally just got rid of the floor lamps and moved things around and it looks so much less cluttered.  and even though we really liked those lamps, we have had them for 7 years and they no longer serve a purpose.  i tried to see if i could use them elsewhere in the house and they are just not needed anymore.  so we are giving them away through the "buy nothing" group so that someone else in our community can enjoy them in their house.  it felt soooooo good to get that taken care of!  so i am on a mission to do that in the rest of the house, and essentially in all aspects of my life as well.  i'm pretty excited about it.

so there it is.  my 2017.  all about simplifying, holding those people that i care about close and make an effort to spend time with them, building community, offering service, and putting effort towards living for my soul.  to be honest to myself.  to be one "whose feet walk upon this earth even as their souls are soaring through the high heavens".  which essentially means to be detached from all the materialism and not be caught up in all the worldly dross.  and it's going to be challenging.  but i have to try!  i need to move forward, to progress.  and these action items were born out of prayer and meditation, so it's a good place to start!  i'll post here and there about these new enterprises, and i'd love to hear about your ideas, suggestions and experiences that may help me along my path!

here's to 2017!