The world needs to see us and the time is now.

We’ve just begun a new year and I feel cautiously relieved. The pressure on my shoulders has lifted just a bit and I trust it will continue to lighten, more and more. As the days unfold before us, I feel hopeful with a certain melancholy desperation, that we will dig deep and make lasting changes. I’m tired and I know you are too. But we must keep moving forward.

Life has been heavy lately. I’ve experienced arresting anxiety for the first time in over twenty years. Lasting for several timeless days, an anxiety episode is different now with a mature acknowledgment of the causes and symptoms. I witness, as if from outside of myself, the way my body and mind respond to the debilitating fear of impending suffering. It passes a little easier these days, as I recognize anxiety for what it is from an intellectual stance. I try to hold myself in grace and patience at the same time as trying to banish the experience with reason and strategy. I suffer while I sit in fear of suffering and try to intellectualize away the anxiety, with little success. It’s a mix of patience, breathing, and time that cause the episode to eventually come to an end. I know that building and maintaining a stable base of emotional, spiritual and mental health will help keep these experiences to a minimum.

I have recently clarified what I need each day, to feel happy, to have peace in my heart and to know that I am honoring my authentic self. I need to experience gratitude, I need to connect with my loved ones, I need to be creative, and I need to spend time outside. There is room for variety and improvisation within how these four needs can be met and I am energized by having narrowed this down to a very doable daily checklist. I feel empowered to take better care of myself through naming and committing to these vital actions. They are what I need to thrive and will help me continue to put one foot in front of the other.

I am happily looking forward to what I will create and express this year. I feel extremely grateful for the support I’ve gotten so far and also relieved to finally feel like I’m making progress. I’ve had the defeated feeling of spinning my wheels for years until recently and it’s energizing and exciting to be on the other side of being stuck in the mud. I can’t wait to share all the ideas I have, some of which are concrete and solid, just waiting to be put into material form. Some ideas are vague and fluid, while they float around in the ethers of my creative psyche until I illuminate them further.

I know in my heart of hearts that this year will be full of inspired work. What are you creating? I have no doubt that there is a wealth of innovation bubbling up from within us. Please know that I would love to know what you’re doing, thinking and feeling. If you ever feel called to contact me, do so. I want to connect with you and collaborate or share in our enthusiastic encouragement of each others work. I’d love to know what you’re up to. This is an unprecedented time, as has been said so frequently as of late, but it is true. And, we have responses to put out into the universe that need to be seen. Let’s do this together! What do we have to loose? There’s no good reason not to try. Even if we fail, progress will be made. The world needs to see us and the time is now.