The Intentions We Set...
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Hello friends, Since the solstice, I've been starting every morning by lighting candles and stating my intentions. Then I meditate and make a cup of tea. I'm really enjoying this pattern, and am using it to carry me through to the next calendar year. As a matter of fact, I just ordered a Moleskin daily diary as a gift to myself. I plan to write three daily intentions down each morning, plus my writing plans and business tasks for the day as a way to focus both my attention and my intention. I just got the notice that the diary will arrive on December 31st. That's New Years Eve, for those of us on the Gregorian calendar. Perfect. Now, paper planners like the one I snapped a photo of don't work for me, and never have. Yeah, that's one I bought years ago. See how empty it is? Also I haven't kept a journal in decades. But this new, simple, daily diary plan? Something in the idea appeals. Partially because my work causes me to spend so much time on screens, especially now that I read novels on a tablet. The only books I read in print anymore are non-fiction. I crave the tangible of a good pen, a sturdy diary, and smooth paper the way I crave the daily walks that get me out of the little office nook in my home. In my digital-first life, I need a direct connection to the physical. My theory is that our subconscious is best tapped through the physical world. It has a direct line to our animal nature that comprehends things like candle lighting and walks in the rain or snow. So, increasing my engagement with physicality is another of my intentions, New Years Eve rapidly approaching or not. We all need the physical—especially those of us who don't have physically oriented jobs—as our screen time trackers will likely show us. So, as we close out one calendar year and prepare to enter another, are you evaluating your life patterns and intentions? And how will you include your relationship to the physical world? Best wishes - Thorn This is the last week to get Bookshop Witch for free, either direct from me or on your favorite retailer! You can also request it at your library.
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, This has felt like a hard week, globally. Even as I watch events unfold from our comfortable home, I feel the psychic and emotional pressure. People are in danger, including in my home communities. Despite my relative privilege, I’m in danger, too. I wanted to name this pressure, in case you also feel it. But, here’s the thing, unless we need to actively get loved ones to safety right now, we need to choose to feel these emotions, and then regulate ourselves as best we can....
Hello friends, There’s a question we likely hear all the time: “How are you?” Or “How you doing?” Or “You good?” Sometimes the question has meaning, but other times is just a series of polite noises, asked in public by someone we barely know. The intention behind the question depends on the tone in which it is spoken. Sometimes the question needs the conjugation of the verb “to be.” Other times, the verb gets dropped altogether, in a more casual rush. And here we are, back to tone, because...
Hello friends, The world is often filled with noise. What helps you listen? It took me many years to learn to listen deeply, instead of trying to anticipate. Trying to anticipate was my child-self’s way of keeping safe. Not that it always helped. Not when violent outbursts were random. But I tried anyway, baking that pattern into my body and mind. Eventually, I realized I wasn’t giving others a chance to really express themselves. I didn’t give myself a chance to express myself on a deeper...