
Happy Lunar New Year, Friend!
We've swam through the tide of 2024 into 2025 and it's now time to shed all that no longer is in alignment with our purpose.
"Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” - Meister Eckhart
There is nothing quite like having a child to set you back to being a beginner again. Each morning is a new opportunity assess your priorities, the lifestyle patterns you've grown into, the way you communicate, and the way you handle stress. While you might be in phase in your life where you don't have a little one at home, you likely have an understanding of what it’s like to set a goal to clarify some area of your life or another.
For me personally, my goal these past 8 months has been to be fully immersed and present in the "now". Shedding off the skin or "old habit" of mindlessly scrolling on my phone throughout the day has been both challenging and illuminating. With little eyes constantly watching and observing my daily behavior and patterns in efforts to seek connection, to put the phone down and be present for connection has been a great responsibility. We think so little of the damage the lack of connection between us and those in our immediate proximity by way of the interference of phones and devices because more often times than not, those in our proximity are also on devices. With more evidence ever than before showing the negative effects and damage this causes, I am determined to "be the change". Without going into great detail about this, I think it's safe to say there is certainly some merit to connecting with those around you and in your immediate proximity without a phone in your hands or a screen in your face. This simple idea might seem so obvious when it comes to work interactions, meetings, and interviews. It might even seem obvious when meeting with friends for a coffee or cocktail and chat. Then why is it so difficult to practice in our own homes or when we are spending time with those who matter most? When you’re at home and with your family investing precious time to "pay" attention should be the obvious and easiest answer. We are always investing one way or another with our attention. That investment is either in connection or a lack of connection.
We get to choose daily.
One of my teachers used to say "the observer effects the observed". Up until now I only understood this lesson from a teacher / student dynamic in the studio or as it relates to paying attention to your breath and heartrate. With Hope constantly observing my actions and reactions, I understand this lesson in a new facet and how it relates to daily living. Living in limbo between an 8 month old and a 16 year old has me exploring this lesson from multiple angles. Refinment of ones attention is one of the most powerful lessons we can allow ourselves to lean into.
Do you find moments in your life where you suddenly sit or stand a little taller when someone walks by? Maybe you change your tone of voice or even how you speak? This behavior is normal and it's simply a response for attuning yourself to your environment and the "observers" in your life. This attunement does not happen while we are staring blankly, with eyes glazed over like zombies at our devices.
What if we all turned off our devices or put them away when we are in the presence of others and instead attuned ourself to our "highest version of ourselves" - or better yet, to the "fruits of the Spirit" rather than what we think is expected of us? By attuning to the fruits of the spirit we can dissolve comparison and shame, welcoming in instead a measurement of God’s good and perfect love.
Galations 5:22-23 says "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things there is no law."
How might we embody being more loving?
More joyful?
More peaceful?
How might we be more patient, kind, good, faithful, and gentle?
How might we practice self control?
When I scroll on my phone, I think on these things. I have become very aware that the tool we use for connection is more often times disconnecting us from the world and the people immediately around us. The world beyond the screen, so immersive, so "real" and while can expose us to beauty, more often times than not exposes us to posts and comment reflecting the opposite traits of the fruit of the spirit, filling our minds with stress inducing toxicity.
In this next season I'll be working diligently on modeling the patterns and behaviors I'd like for little Hope to embody. It's no small task, but I welcome it. But isn't it kind of the point? I encourage you to join me in a collective goal to take time to clarify ourselves so we can be at cause vs at effect. Let us be the change we wish to see in the world vs simply responding to the external (online) stimulus presented to us through the endless scroll that is social media.
I think we could all agree that we can move forward into this new year with a goal to be a little more mindful of how we show up - for ourselves, for our families, and for the world we live in.
Enough with the deep thoughts for now...
As it is late.
Tonight I type as my sweet babe sleeps.
It is time I turn in as well.
For now,
more breath,
more rest,
more love,
more peace.
Until we meet again, Friends.
With Love,
~ Rhonda Wilson ~
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