How Do You Want to FEEL?

How do you want to feel?

What will you do to feel the way you want to feel?

I ask myself these questions almost every day as a way of checking in with myself. Three answers always come up- Peace, Joy, and Love. Yeah, it's all rainbows and butterflies, but it's so much more. 

Peace

For me, peace means living with ease, being well rested, quiet, zen, safety, security, care-free, freedom to be myself. It's a quiet feeling, where I can fully relax, breathe, and know that all is well. 

Joy

For me, joy means feeling alive, looking at the world with awe, feeling inspired, excited, happy, motivated, freedom to explore, learn, and grow. It's expansive, big, like I can do anything, running through the fields with arms wide open kind of feeling. 

Love

For me, love feels like belonging, being fully accepted, being seen and heard, gratitude, giving, serving, connection. 

Connection

I keep coming back to connection. What does connection mean to me?

It means being first and foremost connected with myself- in body, mind and spirit. I do this through self-care practices of yoga, meditation, journaling, oracle cards, dance, food, therapy, learning, sleep, being in nature, in solitude.

When I have fulfilled my basic needs and am feeling centered and clear, I can move outside of my own body into my physical surroundings and connect with others- my relationships, my home, my work space, and more nature.

When I feel connected to the people in my life and my surroundings, I can give even more and I ask what can I offer the world? What am I naturally talented at? What do I love doing? How can I combine those and serve my community?

It starts within and moves outwards, expanding infinitely with love. 💖🦋✨🌈☀️🌴🌱💚

What Makes You Come Alive?

How does inspiration feel? 

It fills me with life and energy. I feel propelled forward, ready to make magic. It lights me up, sparks a fire within me.

“Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
-Howard Thurman

What makes me come alive?

Songs whose sounds surround me and lift me up.

Being able to get into a challenging yoga pose that I’ve been working on- the sense of accomplishment.

Getting into a familiar yoga pose like Warrior 2, and letting the feeling of openness and power course through my body, heart, and mind.

Talking to people that are doing awe-inspiring things in this world.

People who are so passionate and in love with what they do that I can feel the fullness of their hearts. I can see the sparkle in their eyes. It inspires me to do something that incites the same energy.

The warm sun, breath of the tide, and glittering water.

The rustle of a breeze passing through trees.

Silhouettes, patterned and overlapping shadows created by golden light filtering through leaves.

Mountains rising up so high, a landscape that reminds me of the power and history of Mother Earth. 

It’s easy to feel alive and inspired in the summer when the city is electric, but summer’s gone again and I’m feeling the city retreat into itself. The cold forces us inside. The persistent gray clouds press down, heavy with the winds of winter. So I guess this post is really a note to self, a reminder of where to find inspiration, of what lights me up, what makes me come alive. 

This picture was taken on one of the best days. I felt alive, free, and utterly amazed to be surrounded by such beauty.

What makes you come alive? Who or what inspires you?