Tag Archives: intentional living

CALM Beckons

Posted on by
6

The word that has found me for 2025 is CALM. Living here at the ocean’s edge, where the waves crash and whisper against the shore in their ever-shifting dance, CALM feels like a powerful anchor, a guiding star.

As I sat in meditation, contemplating this word, its essence seeped into my soul, hushing the clamour of my thoughts. CALM, I realized, is not a destination but a way of being, a gentle unfolding. For me, CALM represents:

  • Clarity: Seeking clarity in my thoughts, actions, and decisions, I invite peace to bloom within and radiate outwards.
  • Alignment: Aligning my actions with my values, I weave a tapestry of inner harmony.
  • Lightness: Cultivating a lightness of being, I allow joy and ease to flow through me like the tide.
  • Mindfulness: Rooted in the present moment, I create fertile ground for CALM to blossom and flourish.

Looking back on 2024, especially the whirlwind that followed our decision to leave Calgary and embrace island life, I recognize that CALM was often elusive. Amidst the chaos of sorting, packing, and moving, amidst the bittersweet farewells and the daunting unknowns, CALM took a backseat to the relentless demands of “getting it done.” In that frenzied focus, I lost touch with my inner sanctuary.

But now, I whisper, “Hello 2025.”

I am beginning anew. Beginning again to breathe in the salty dawn, to find the stillness within, and to radiate peace like the soft glow of sunrise.

Three months have passed since we arrived on Gabriola, though with visits to my loved ones in Calgary and Vancouver, I’ve spent a precious month away. As I reflect on this new beginning, I realize that two months is but a blink of an eye in the grand tapestry of time. I breathe deeply, releasing the anxious whispers that urge me to “settle in” faster, to do more, to be more.

My monkey mind, ever restless, has been chattering lately, insisting that I “get more done,” that I “get focused,” that I “get cracking.” But the truth is, I have accomplished much in these three months. Our home is cozy, most of the boxes are unpacked, and a sense of belonging is slowly taking root.

I adorned our home with festive cheer, baked cookies and cakes, and crafted small gifts from the heart. I even wrote two short stories, now whispering to be edited, and rekindled the flame of a book begun during my Irish adventure in the fall of 2023.

A dear friend once gently suggested I be kinder to myself, that I release the unreasonable demands I place upon my time and energy. At the time, I laughed, quick to assure her that I was indeed kind to myself. But in this nascent year, in this embrace of CALM, I recognize the wisdom in her words. CALM requires me to let go of expectations I would never impose on another. It is an invitation to surrender to the gentle rhythm of life, to savour each day as the precious gift it is.

Hello 2025. I am here, present and ready to embrace you, with open arms and a tranquil heart.

_______________

If you have found your word for 2025 and would like to share it, please do in the comments below! Perhaps your word will inspire others…

Breathe In. Breathe Out. (My Daily Intention)

Posted on by
2

Where do you spend your time?

Are you constantly running forward and backward, replaying the past and worrying about the future? Are you constantly trying to play catch-up with time and running out of minutes  in the day to get it all done?

Stop.

Breathe.

Slowly.

In.

Out.

And with every breath in imagine that you are drawing in pure energy filled with peace, love, joy.

Breathe out and with every exhale, imagine that you are releasing pure energy into the world. Peace. Love. Joy.

Breathe.

In.            (slow down)

Out.

Breathe.

Yes. what happened in the past was awful. Hurtful. Mean.

Forgive the past.

And yes, it’s easy to get caught up with feeling the pressure of so much to do in order to be ready for tomorrow.

Let go of worrying about the future.

Breathe into this moment, right now.

Feel the vitality of the goodness of the air pouring into your body. Feel its pure energy transforming your woes, fears, and worries into Peace. Love and Joy.

Just for today, spend your time in the place where you have limitless possibilities to experience all the goodness that is present, right now.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe.

Namaste.

There is purpose in everything.

Posted on by
9

Beaumont helping me write

         Beaumont’s purpose is to help me write

Over at Leading Essentially, my friend Ian Munro has been holding a conversation on living on purpose. He is intentional in his approach, organized in his thinking around the subject and has created a pyramid to depict what he describes as the Four Levels of Living Purposefully.

In his post on Saturday, Four Levels Of Living Purposefully, Ian describes Level 1, Perform tasks, as that place of our to-do-lists. Getting things done.

Level 2, Self-awareness, is about being conscious of the demands on our time, internally and externally, and making conscious choices that support our sense of purpose in the world.

Before we can manifest our purpose in Level 3, Embracing purpose, Ian says we must take the inner journey to truly feel it, breathe it, know it so completely that its pull is ever present in everything we do.

The fun begins in Level 4, Engage. The ability to live and work in a way that is completely fulfilling to us.

I love how Ian is so clear on living purpose. In his post, he cautions that living through the four stages can be cyclical. We’re not on purpose at all times, and we’re not clear on how our purpose is being manifested at all times. We move back and forth through the stages.

For example, yesterday I cleaned my office at home. The inspiration to get rid of clutter and excess paper came from next weekends neighbourhood clean-up — deliver your junk and unwantables and give-aways to the community centre on Saturday and they will haul it away. How perfect is that? And what a great reason to get busy getting rid of things we don’t need.

Now, cleaning my office doesn’t sound like it’s very on purpose. It’s more a Level 1, perform tasks kind of thing.

But, there is a deeper reason for doing it, a heart-calling, purpose driven motivation.

I don’t work well in cluttered space. I know. I know. I can hear my sister Jackie spluttering into her coffee as she reads that and I can see my daughters rolling on the floor, laughing out loud right now.

I am known for my clutter. And it’s true. I love the ‘Zen’ look, I just don’t create it very well!

Regardless of my comfy environment-seeking soul, I like to work in tidy. I think more clearly, create more freely when my senses are not constantly bombarded by clutter flowing all over my desk and in the room around me.

And my office was cluttered. Very cluttered.

So I cleaned.

At the time, I wasn’t creating a difference in the world, or living on purpose, or so I thought, until this morning when I read this quote from 18th Century educator, Horace Mann, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”

And I rethought my cleaning yesterday.

What if, cleaning my office was necessary to get clean on something I’ve been niggling away at but never completed? What if, to clear my mind and make space for my creative writing process to awaken, I needed to unclutter my writing space?

 

The book I have been sporadically working since leaving the homeless shelter where I worked 3 years ago, still calls. It still pulls me with its desire to be expressed.

It is part of my purpose “to touch hearts, open minds and set spirits free”.

As Ian says in his post, “We can’t actually live our purpose if we aren’t willing to do any work to make it happen.”

How we express ourselves in the world is a reflection of our understanding of living purposefully.

What is ‘the victory for humanity’ I want to win before I die?

That’s in my intention statement which follows my contract and purpose — “to create a world of peace, love, joy and harmony.”

“I am a trusting woman touching hearts, opening minds and setting spirits free to create a world of peace, love, joy and harmony.”

And I can’t do that if I’m not writing, not sharing my experiences and the lessons I learned about love and life and compassion and kindness working at a homeless shelter.

And I can’t express myself clearly if my work space isn’t clear.

So… it’s all about purpose, just expressed differently in everything I do.