Intention and the fall equinox

I find myself wanting to pinch myself lately. I am experiencing life like I haven’t since childhood, not stateside anyway. I have built-in tinker time almost on the daily. This is time to ponder, to straighten up, to organize, to weed, to contemplate, to play, to move furniture, to walk around my house and simply take it all in. Thursday I even spent a whole day at a state park with a dear friend. We packed provisions and spent the afternoon resting on blankets under the big blue sky. We felt the warm wind of the last days of summer and we listened to it blow through the leaves of giant trees. I vacillate between gushing gratitude to the universe (mostly) and succumbing to nagging ancient guilt that speaks up now and again to challenge me,

who do you think you are, barefoot and playing with plants, sitting and sipping tea …isn’t there something you should be doing? producing? achieving? 

This old voice had so much time to develop and guide my decision making that I can hardly expect that with a only a few years’ practice it would dissipate forever. It still speaks up though I am now much better equipped to handle it. Normally, with a few affirmations, deep breaths, and reminders to myself that I set intentions years ago for this very life-style —because I believe in my core that I deserve (and everybody deserves) a life with rest and beauty and reflection— my feet can land back on the ground and my body can return to ease. Sometimes I even become overwhelmed by the warmth and interconnectedness of the universe and the agency that I employed to co-create with her.

In 2015, after years being unhappy at a well-paying and well-respected job, I started working with intentions. I did all sorts of exercises: envisioning and journaling about my “perfect day”, playing with end-of-life scenarios that included looking back on my life and asking, was it a complete success?, writing big-sister-like letters to myself from the perspective of an 85 year old me. I contemplated the question, would I wish my life for my kids? why? why not?  All this reflection, journaling and discussion with trusted humans allowed me to become clearer about my values, gently aiding me in setting intentions for the life I want to live.

Looking back, I think that before all this intention work I believed I needed to have the present a bit more sorted out before I could begin envisioning the future. Like I couldn’t take a break to think forward when the list of today’s todos was incomplete. Oh, and there was also that damned aforementioned voice telling me maybe I wasn’t worthy of so much consideration. (That’s another blog). But because I felt supported by women who had a bit more exposure to the art of intention setting than I did, and because I felt bold and brave from the collective energy of my first women’s circle, and because of the not-so-romantic but oh-so-relevant adage you do what you do until you just can’t do it anymore, I started playing with the magic of intention.

I share this because as the seasons are transitioning and Fall Equinox is upon us (equal light, equal dark), this is the perfect time to set intentions. I’ll leave you with this.

Intention is the act of asking the universe for what you desire.

Intentions are like seeds. Plant them, water them, and wait patiently. (No amount of forcing will cause the seed shell to split and life to emerge).

Intentions serve when we shoot them out into the galaxy to land as our guiding light.

Intentions color our vision, for where we’re aimed determines what we see.

Intentions open our eyes to interconnectedness and magic.

Want to set your own?

Purposely set aside some time. Put on something comfy and pour yourself something yummy. Choose a pen you love and a journal that makes you happy. Then, contemplate the following.

How do you want to be?

What do you want to do?

How do you want to feel?

Share your intentions aloud with the universe. That’s it. No todo list. No game plan. No timeline.

Revisit your intentions often and let them guide you to make decisions that will help you cultivate them. Notice how the universe starts conspiring with you giving you opportunities to choose alignment and growth.

Let me know how it goes.

Happy Fall,

mm