i thought about putting this post up on January 1, but i was really enjoying having a quiet, introspective New Year's Day. i think it may have been the first New Year's Day where i didn't turn on the TV. no Rose Parade, no bowl games. we had chilly rain off and on all day. it was a good day to stay in my jammies and robe, sit in bed surrounded by magazines and make a few collage pages in my big spiral notebook. although my notebook was inspired by Lori-Lyn's "spirit notebook" (1:45 mark), i've taken to calling mine my 'look book.' that's a phrase that's usually more associated with fashion or design, but it seems apt since as i'm flipping back through pages i often think, "oh, look, i forgot about that!" how quickly i forget about dreams i've had, thoughts that have suddenly leaped to mind, things that are like huge neon arrows pointing in the direction my path is headed.
when i read Barbara Sher's Wishcraft 30 years ago, there were some concepts that really jumped out at me and stuck with me all these years. one of those is the idea of touchstones. Barbara talks about touchstones in the Wishing part of her book. she uses the example of two women who wanted to act. both had the same goal, but their touchstones were very different. one wanted to be an actress for "glamour and publicity"; the other wanted to to do it to gain "acclaim for fine acting." Barbara says, "Your touchstone is the emotional core of your goal--what you want and need from it, what you love best about it." Barbara writes, "...if you can put your touchstone into one or a few words, it will not only help you pick a target that's loaded with the kind of sweets that nourish you, it will also show you how to design the shortest, most direct and gratifying route to that goal, and it will get you to the essence of any goal that looks impossible." (italics hers)
last Thursday i watched this video by Lori-Lyn. passion was her word for 2010. at the 2:40 mark in the video, she talks about how she moved passion to the forefront of her actions in 2010, "i made my passion my primary occupation." well, duh...right? except...i don't do that a lot of the time. i have often made other people's passions my primary occupation. i even sometimes do it on this blog. you know how it is in the blogosphere--some meme gets started and pretty soon many of us are jumping on the bandwagon. Reverb 10 was a perfect example of that. i had no intention of participating, but i'd been suffering from blogger's block--feeling at a loss as to what to write about here. so at the last minute--just before the first prompt was posted--i decided i'd do a month of Reverb 10 just to have some writing prompts. but the prompts weren't speaking to me and i knew that early on, yet i still kept at it for most of the month.
why was i suffering from blogger's block? because i wasn't focused on my passions. i was unconsciously focused on your passions. i honestly didn't realize i was doing that. i'm sincere when i say that i don't write this blog for an audience. that goes against what all the blogging and branding 'experts' tell you to do, but i learned years ago that--for me--it's not a healthy way to blog. no wonder i was blocked. i was writing primarily for myself, but trying to find subjects that might interest you. i know, it doesn't make sense, hence the block.
one evening last week, J was at a gig and i was working on something. at one point, i wondered what time it was, figuring i'd been at it for maybe an hour. i'd been at it for four hours. my jaw dropped. when was the last time i'd so completely lost track of time? i love when that happens! it was such a big reminder that most of the time i haven't been putting my passions first. it's time to stop using my passions as filler--to be squeezed in around other much less important activities.
yesterday as i was looking ahead to the new year, i thought about this blog. i briefly considered having a posting schedule. i love how some blogs post certain things on certain days. i could see how it might lend a rhythm to the week. but there's a powerful truth i know about myself but didn't actually own up to until last week: i savor ritual, but hate schedules. i innately rebel against them. so there won't be a weekly posting schedule here. and i may take weekends off from blogging, but since i don't like schedules there won't be any hard and fast rules. if i feel like blogging on the weekends, i will.
the only thing i can tell you for sure about the year ahead on this blog is that Mondays will feature a new interview at La Salonniere. my interview blog has quickly become a passion. i'm so grateful to the four women who launched it with me in December and i'm really excited about what's ahead for 2011. you can click that beautiful badge in the sidebar (created by Irene Nam) at any time to jump over to La Salonniere.
2011 is going to be all about my touchstones. my touchstones. my passions. and that, my friends, is my word for this year: passion.
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