Claim Your Strength

My daughter and I went to the Women's March event that was held in our city today and I am happy that I went. You see, I struggled with my decision to attend for several reasons. One, I don't like large crowds, it makes me anxious and they were anticipating a large group of (and there were 26,000) people to attend. Second, I didn't want to be in an atmosphere that would be negative - I was unsure of what the message was for the march, was it an "anti-Trump" march and I didn't want to add more negativity into the world like that, but then I saw the message on the local women's march website which stated, the following:

1. Not a protest - it's a rally for action, which means we urge everyone to stand with us; all ages, gender, races, cultures, orientations, religion, education, political party and abilities. We want our government to know that we stand together for change.
2. Promote nonviolence - empathy with the intent to learn about each other. No matter our personal views and judgement of others we have a common goal being guided by basic principles of human rights with a value on human dignity.
3. Hear our voice - we call on all defenders of human rights to join us. March is the first step towards unifying our communities, new relations and create change.

I could get behind that message. And so as the days went on, I still was debating about whether to attend or not, I struggled because in all reality, there is little difference with the two parties. I don't agree with Trump, but I also didn't agree with Clinton and the nastiness that occurred between both parties is so ugly, both self-righteous with the games they resort too. So, I didn't want to add to that energy. I also realize that politics for the most part is all smoke and mirrors anyway and we are and have been divided for so long, that I wondered if this would be something that caused more division or not. So, I had no idea what I was going to do because I really did like the message. A friend reached out and asked if I was attending and so I shared my concerns about attending and we talked. She told me that she saw this an a opportunity to spread a positive message and that participation turns the focus from negative to empowerment, or hope. A chance to realize you are not alone, to learn and to takes steps to building constructive endeavors. 

And I knew she was right, I knew that I not only needed to attend, but that I wanted to attend. I needed to hear her words and to find strength among this sea of people from all different backgrounds emanating this force of positive energy, which would ignite a fire within each of us. And it was amazing to be there, to be part of this movement. There are times when we need to be encouraged, supported and reminded that we are all capable of creating a world where we are all accepted, reminded that together we can be a great force of change. 

Yes, we have a new president and only time will tell what kind of president he will be and admittedly I'm not impressed, however, anger, judgment, frustration, and fear feed into the negative and destructive elements and I will not fall into that. I hope that he turns out to be a good president because at the end of the day, if he is not, we all lose, each and every single one of us will lose. But my hope that he does well, does not mean closing my eyes and putting my head down. 

I will continue to stand up for everything I do believe in and if that means working harder to fight for those things then I will be ready, the fire has been ignited within me thanks to the energy of the 26,000 people I was with today. 

Sometimes we all need to be reminded of the power in gentleness, the fierceness of compassion, and the strength of love which connects and grounds us from all of the craziness that surrounds us.  It was a blessing to be among such a crowd and reminded of the goodness of the human spirit. 

"Human potential is amazing...We have the capacity to create a world that is peaceful...one that spreads kindness and love rather than hatred. If we believe it to be so, it will be our truth, and we will create it." Kristie Bowman

Cheers to a New Year

Well it is officially 2017 - another year filled with a renewed sense of possibility. I will admit that 2016 was a great year for me and for the family overall. I was looking at old journals and realized that I made the intention to build and live a more positive life back in 2010 - it doesn't seem that long ago that I made this intention. It has been a seven year journey and although I still have days that are challenging and there are days where I may lose my temper or I may even fall into a depressed state, but my overall resolve and spirit has changed, I am more relaxed, more positive and I don't let things get to me as I once did. I am becoming more confident and embracing my inner warrior spirit - to live with purpose and passion.
And through this self-discovery realizing what I want in my life and what I don't and certainly what I will not tolerate - so this year will be the biggest intention that I will be setting for myself. Slowly we have been decluttering and moving away from "things" to only keeping those things that bring us value and joy and my intention for this year is to go through all of my belongings and remove more than half of what I have accumulated over my life. I have always been a collector of "memories," and save various things and they do bring me joy, but I'm sure I can let go and as far as my clothes - I've turned all the hangers around to see what I wear and don't wear over the next few months to give me a better idea of what I can part with. It will be interesting to see if I can part with more than half of what I own especially if our goal is to downsize our house too.
Yes, we have only been in our house for a year, renovating and fixing it up, but we want smaller - with a family of four and several pets, we are not going to go tiny, but we've looked at plans and have conceptualized what we want and it falls around 600sqft.
By downsizing, it will allow us greater freedom to live and do what we really want to do. The kids are on board and actually excited for this journey, so we shall see how things come around over the next 12 months.
I'm pretty excited for this journey - I've been wanting to downsize for some time, I've wanted a tiny house, well ideally I'd simply like to toss the kids in an RV and just home-school and travel the world, but I think I'm the only one who wants that lifestyle. And you know what, things may change - initially, no one in the family wanted to downsize, no one wanted a tiny house and I knew I couldn't force those things upon everyone else and thought in time things will fall into place when the time is right and that time is now. Sometimes that is the best - knowing that things fall into place when it is meant to be.

So, whatever your intentions are for the new year, I hope it brings you joy and I wish nothing but happiness and love to fill your life. You only have one life to make your journey yours - so surround yourself with your passions, make yourself uncomfortable by doing something different - you never know how it will change your life.

"Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter.” - Howard Kushner