Saturday, January 2, 2016

It's a new year, and a new life!

I thought a lot yesterday about a phrase from my youth. How many of you remember hearing/saying "It's the first day of the rest of your life." It's particularly appropriate to me as this year is the beginning of a new phase for me. 

210 days and counting. I spent a lot of "background time" yesterday while I was cleaning and labeling files, getting receipts and records put together for 2015 taxes, and getting my files labeled and put together for 2016 thinking about my new life and where I'm going. What I want to change, and what I want to keep from the past. I realized that I'm not very good at change. And I am excited by change. Quite a dichotomy!

One of the things I was thinking about was how when we put our intentions out into the Universe, they have a way of coming true. Our words have meaning and resonate with our unconscious mind, helping us to achieve our goals with little effort. My nieces are wont to choose a word for each year that has meaning for them and the things they want to accomplish in their lives at that point in time. I decided that would be good for me to do as I'm embarking on a whole new life that I have no way to chart out and plan. So being an overachiever, I have chosen two words. My words for 2016 are adventure and exploration. . I want to move a little out of my comfort zone and do things that are slightly different, challenge me as a person, and excite me. So that’s where I’m going this year. 

I also am going to try to make a conscious choice each day to live without anxiety and stress and just to work calmly and efficiently through the day  in order to let go of things I'm not pleased with, and be happy with what IS. 

I have thought long and hard about SWAP this year and think despite my work load, I may be able to accomplish the 11 garments in the four month period. I have my first planned garment fabric, a medium weight grey wool flannel prepped by washing in Eucalon and hanging on the shower road. It just needs to be pressed and then it's ready to hit the cutting table. 

While that was prepping, I started on something else. One of the goals this years is to do something sewing related each day. It calms and centers me like mediation. My first garment of the new year may or may not be part of my SWAP. It would work, but it's not in the plan as yet. It will probably be held in abeyance unless it is necessary for the appropriate number of garments. It's a light weight cardigan in a grey and indigo fairly loose boucle style knit. Lovely fabric I got in my recent mini-binge at Girl Charlee. Here's their fabric swatch as my photo isn't good color wise. 


They call it a Hacchi sweater knit, and it's still available here: http://www.girlcharlee.com/violet-blue-black-boucle-stripe-hacci-sweater-knit-fabric/famous-designer-p-11580.html?cPath=90_126

I'm using a TNT pattern for the cardigan. Petite Plus now evidently OOP. Today I'll finish it up and hopefully post the finished garment tomorrow morning. 

I hope your 2016 New Year's Day went well and perhaps you had a little time for your own creations! 

More later,









4 comments:

  1. Hi, Lynda - is the 210 days when you can retire and move back with your husband? Your post resonated with me because I realized that if positive statements put intention out into the universe so do negative statements. I really need to clean up my self talk! I have a crazy schedule but also want to schedule some time each day for 30 min each of exercise and sewing.

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    1. Yes, Susan, it's 210 days until I go. And yes, I had a spirit guide who reminded me almost weekly that everything we say or think goes into our subconscious and hangs out, reminding us every time we start to do something. If we can eliminate any negative talk, especially about ourselves and our bodies, we can really start to transform our lives. My friend Barbara also reminds me frequently to see everything going "easy and effortlessly" and it reinforces the idea we don't need to always be stressed and crazy. I'm going to be working on that all year long! :-)

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  2. Your plan sounds exciting..........just keep heading in that direction!

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