I took a hiatus last year from writing my Intentional Living Newsletter, but I am back!

My goal continues to be to provide my readers with concrete information and ideas for living their "one wild and precious life".* 

For those of you who made New Year's Resolutions in January and  have already  failed to achieve them or have long since forgotten what they were.....the focus of this newsletter is to describe a more creative approach to yearly change, which I briefly described in my newsletter in February of 2011. Although New Years is far behind us, and Spring is here (hurrah!),  many of my current clients have been experimenting with this approach and I feel inspired to write about it -- just in case some of my readers are still looking to create change in their life this year.   

*Poem by Mary Oliver  

Choose a Word   

The approach is simple.  

Rather than create a list of   

"have to do" or "should do" "didn't do last year but will do this year" directives  -  choose a powerful, meaningful word and commit yourself to that word for the entire year.  

Some of my clients' words for this year include: Fearless, Delight, Initiate, Resolve.  

My word for the year is Creativity.

How to Choose Your Word

This can be challenging, as many of us have a long list of goals we wish to accomplish. (Do I  really have to choose only one word? Yes! But I won't tell anyone if you cheat and choose two!). Others know quickly and intuitively which word they want to grab, explore and experience, as it is often a theme/problem/complaint that keeps appearing in their life. Some of my clients have found it useful to go over lists of words, and some  research the meaning of words, to make sure it is exactly what they want. If the word has no "juice" for you, this approach won't work. It must have meaning.

Some Words to Ponder  

Here is a beginning list of wonderful words:   

Gratitude; truth; steadiness; calm; compassion; humor; empowered; play; engage; authenticity; courage;

receive; nourish; spontaneity;adventurous;self-reflection; letting go; confidence; ease; fun; love; presence,

Then what?  

The fun begins!

Your chosen word becomes your Guiding Principle for the remainder of the year. You have set your Intention.  It is a word to reflect upon and observe in yourself and others. For example, if your word is "presence", you might begin to notice when you are not present.  You might notice how you feel when you are with someone who is present. You may explore and learn more, about your word through magazines, books, stories, newspaper articles.  Some of you may wish to collect objects, quotes, images, printed material related to your word and put it all in a basket, a file, a vision board, or even in a computer file.  In other words, you begin to FOCUS on your word.    

Why is practice so important?  

Our brains are made up of billions of neurons. Neurons connect to one another, forming pathways that relay information. When we begin a new activity, we are actually forming a new neural pathway in our brain.  The more we practice that activity, the  more we strengthen that neural pathway in the brain, and the easier the skill becomes. If we practice for a short time and then stop, the pathway is poorly formed and we will naturally relapse/fall back to stronger and deeper pathways (often called "ruts")  in our brain. This phenomenon is called neuroplasticity, and it is good news for anyone interested in change.

 If this approach interests you, I urge you to try it and to keep at it all year. If you forget for a week or two, get back on the horse, so to speak. Each action is building a pathway in your brain, to support you in your goal.

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