the creative minimalist

darren r hill : writer, minstrel and journal keeper

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My new journal and planner set-up for 2019

It’s a new year and my new journal and planner set-up is taking shape and beginning to work. Here’s a quick introduction to what I am doing and how.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
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My word for the year 2019

Happy new year, I hope it’s good for you. For the past few years, and like many others on the planet, I have chosen a word for the year. It’s a focal point, a little aide memoir to keep me on track. I print it out and keep it handy.

I began last year putting things into place. As I did this, other things fell into place. Those who manifest out there would say that’s how the universe works, those who believe in a Protestant work ethic would say it vindicates an individual’s hard work. It’s possible that both are different sides of the same reality. In the end, a lot changed for me during 2018.

As I enter 2019, the blocks are in place. I have new, and more, goals and the tools to achieve them. What I achieved last year will enable me to grow more this.

I have therefore chosen, as my word for 2019  founded.

Far too often my actions are paralysed by dreaming, waiting for the future and saying things like I can do this, or that when I have x,y or z. But this year I can and will focus on what I can achieve now.

  • I am here and ready

I am founded like a city, an institution or some other event. Founded represents more than existence for me in 2019. I have existed for far too many years; now I am founded.

2019 is all about doing what I have set in motion. It is all about doing what I am supposed to be doing. I am founded, therefore I do.

  • doing the best in my vocation
  • growing in my creativity
  • getting out and about
  • building friendships and deepening relationships
  • …

These things will happen because I am founded, founded in 2019. I have a mission statement, goals and projects to follow and complete.

Have you chosen a word for the year? I’d love to hear what it is and why, so leave a comment or link below, and may you have a wonderful 2019.

 

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
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A review of Embrace 2018

Embrace my word for 2018

So it is the end of the year. Like all good list keepers, I am looking back on how things have gone. It is always helpful to look back, but not to dwell.

My word for 2018 was embrace. The aim was for me to listen to others. It was an attempt to understand differing opinions, to see opposing viewpoints, the beliefs and feelings of others. I did. I embraced. I think I am a better person for it. But has it diluted who I am and what I stand for? Or has it built a better foundation on which to build upon… only time will tell, as always.

In addition, it has been…

  • a year of new friendships
  • a year of new opportunities
  • a year of goals reached and achieved
  • a year that has provided a platform, a cornerstone for the next

My MBTI (Myers-Briggs) is INTP or was when I last tested. In most conversations, I say ‘I think…’, which ties to the T. It is a good exercise for me to focus on my feelings, so they don’t get overlooked. I feel like I am ready for a lot of things. Having achieved some of my goals this year, I want to achieve more next. In short, I feel good.

Any year where I can say I feel good is a successful one. I hope you, dear reader, feel good too. I’ll be sharing my word for 2019 in the next post. I’ll see you then, and when I do it will be a new day, a new year and a new moment for us all.

 

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
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A Winter Solstice Celebration

Winter solstice

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, today marks the Winter Solstice. It is the day marked by the shortest period of daylight and the longest night. It is midwinter, even if the weather hasn’t reached its coldest or its most harsh, that is often still to come. At a time of such metrological and astronomical lows, why is there an abundance of ritual celebrations?

I remember stories or is it just my imagination, of Neolithic people praying to the spirits of the local flora, fauna and lights in the sky, pleading that the sun would return in all its blazing glory. Their prayers and sacrifices, always around a burning fire, were a call for the current period of darkness and infertility to be banished.

However, to see these ancient animists in a negative way is a disservice. Wisdom would have walked among them. Some would always know that the world went through cycles. And those who held such wisdom were able to demand the greatest sacrifices from the people… or am I just too cynical?

I am a syncretist (“cyn”cretist!) at heart. It is easy to hold as one, the plethora of myths and legends that abound at this time. An abundance of rituals and celebrations gravitate to this time of year. Solstice, Yuletide, Christmas etc. The similarities resonate; light, darkness, new birth, potential, death and salvation.

The solstice is an astronomical fact. Our myths and legends interpret that fact; interweaving our beliefs, faiths and hopes. As the earth lies barren beneath the short-lived daylight hours, we consider what lies beneath. The land is full of dormant seeds. Roots stretch and reach and seek nutrients. Other creatures hibernate, waiting.

The moment of least realised is the moment of most potential

There is potential. The sun will again lengthen the daylight hours. Plants will grow. New life will begin. But we can’t see it. We can’t feel it. But we can believe. We can have hope.

Things are dark, they should get lighter.
Things are bad, they should get better.

The wisdom of the solstice is one of hope, hope for the light that is to come.
Hope for the future. That is why we celebrate at a time of scarcity. That is why we survive because we can imagine and realise what could and can be.

Happy Solstice.

 

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
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Planning and journaling the pLAnarchy way

Planning and journaling the pLAnarchyway

I am going through a major overhaul of my planning and journaling set-up. My desk is currently buried beneath various journals and pens. But this feels like it could be a major step forward.

The video isn’t my normal journal type video and it is partly here to show that I am not slacking… at least not too much.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox
If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

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