Taking Action
What does it mean right now in this moment?
This month for the Kaleidoscope Project we were offered the prompt “what does taking action mean”. From day one, I have let this thought permeate my subconscious for the month and to my surprise, every post I made was related to this from how I deal with overwhelm, grief, and anxiety presently in
The Things That Keep Me Sane
If you have been following my story for a short time, you know that I have a lot going on and much of it is challenging, scary, lonely, and grief filled. With all of this swirling around my daily life, I decided to reach out to a grief therapist to help me process it all. Imagine me, the introvert, setting up my computer, signing in, and meeting my ne…
to developing my skills as a better and more present person through looking people in the eyes (and developing the confidence to do so) in
Windows of the Soul
As a super skinny, more comfortable with animals than people, awkward young girl with thick glasses, frizzy hair, face buried in a book most of the time, I found conversing with humans quite challenging and intimidating during my youth.
to writing at your worst - those times you think the world wants to only hear how great things are like the perfect photos versus what each day REALLY feels like in
Writing at Your Worst
Yesterday my alarm went off for writing time and I promptly smacked the off button and ignored it. I huffed as I did it and all I could think was “I am in no mood to write anything.” Later in the day I explained to myself that I shouldn’t write when I am depressed, sad, angry or having a bad day. And then I thought, but shouldn’t I?
and as I round out my writing this month I see a million different pathways here from the concept of contraction versus expansion, giving back to the community in everyday ways, to being more present and kind to everyone you meet through your words and deeds, to giving yourself some grace every now and then.
Taking action isn’t just about “doing” something. It can be about being better, choosing to follow a different path in your life, releasing something that no longer serves your highest self, dreaming bigger, building your confidence, accepting where you are in the moment, and/or holding space for yourself or another with love and kindness.
This week I had acupuncture with a new acupuncturist and as we talked about what was going on, she shared a bit of herself too. When she reached for my hand to take my pulse, she asked me if that felt okay for her to hold my hand that way. Her hand was warm and soft and healing. Her hold was kind and caring and present. Every step she took she explained what she was doing and when a needle hurt, she would gently place her hand on the area as if to say, it’s okay, I have you. She would ask me if that was okay, if I felt okay, and I felt SEEN and HEARD. It was a shared experience and she told me at the end that when she helped people, she often felt better in the same energetic areas she helped others feel better during the treatment. It was a priceless gift of healing she offered me with her attentiveness, sharing, and presence.
This is what taking action means to me personally. BEING attentive, listening, holding space, being fully present, sharing compassionate energy, offering a healing space of inspiring and supportive energy.
We are all in such a rush that we have forgotten what it feels like to sit and calmly listen to another’s words before rushing in to share our thoughts or rush off to another appointment or thing on our to do list. We have forgotten how to be in space with another person not looking for what we can get out of it but what we can share between us to inspire and support one another. We are distracted by the selfie and snap a shot for social media that we miss the beauty of the moment - the watermelon pink clouds at sunset, the purr of a cat settled in our laps, the sound of rain on the roof, the feel of our beloveds heart beating beneath our palm.
This is our time. It is our time to choose how we live this one beautiful, crazy, wild life. How will you live it?
Aprille XXoo
P.S. Stay tuned for my end of the month posts related to my continuing exploration of taking action…
I love this, a full month of taking action, it prompted me to read the two posts I'd missed too.
I've often wondered about acupuncture, some people swear by it but I'm sceptical. I suppose taking action and trying it would give me an answer one way or the other.