2020 word of the year – Aware!

I have been choosing guiding word for the year since 2007 and whether I consciously analyze it or not, in the hind sight it always seems to bring forth experiences in line with the intention I set for the year. 

This year I’d want to be more aware about my existence on this earth. 

Aware of how I spend my time, my money, my attention… 

More aware of who grows my food and how. More aware of the choices I make when I choose to eat out and the hidden ingredients that seem to sneak in. More aware of how my meats are raised and how much of it am I consuming.

Aware of the clothes that I use and my actual need for them. The clothes that I do buy, who makes them, are the makers fairly compensated for it. What happens to the clothes that I decide to discard from my closet. 

Aware of my thoughts and my actions. What is my motivation and what impact are my actions or reaction creating. 

Last year's word for the year was connect. And although my hope was to connect more within the community, it was focused inwards and I realized all the things that I didn’t know before. Just sitting with yourself and your thoughts can create so much awareness and I hope to continue to do the same. 

I don’t want to set out goals since I don’t yet know what I’m not aware of, but I guess the years forward will guided by this word. But I do have a rough process that I intend to follow. 

• I’d like to join a CSA (community supported Agriculture) for my and family’s need for fresh produce, so we can eat in season and support the sustainable farming methods. 

• I’d like to limit the number of clothes that I buy/acquire in the year to 12, and that includes everything from socks and undergarments to saris. 

• I’d like to limit my media consumption and enforce screen time usage on my phone and find more time to finish the books that I have started reading and never finished. 

• I’d like to maintain a food and health journal, so I can keep track of my migraines and health issues as well as my eating habits. 

• I’d like to continue my breathing and meditation practice and get in at least 300 – 10-minute sessions in the entire year. 

• I’d like to categorize and organize my crafting supplies and be more aware of the stuff I already have and map out a plan to complete projects that are still relevant. 

With all that hopes and promises, Happy New Year! 

Would love to hear about your intentions for the year! 

Connect - Word of the year 2019

Three quarters of the year 2019 are almost behind us and it seems like a little late to be introducing ‘Connect’ my word of the year. But as they say, better late than never.

Besides, there are things happening in my life and provoking thoughts as a direct consequence of choosing this word that it seems like a good time to talk about it. And perhaps, I have a perspective to share now that might have been very different at the beginning of the year.

A bit of a general thought, I’ve been choosing Word of the year since 2007 and even if I decide that I won’t choose a “word of the year”, I invariably do. At the very least, it sets an intention for the year, makes you aware of your thoughts, brings perspective to the abundance or lack of the word (intention) in your own world (quite a mouthful there).

And for a believer like me, I think more than just bringing my awareness to situations, the universe creates and attracts circumstances and draws me closer to what I truly need with the intentions I set for the year.

My intention for setting this intention was to build a community, feel like I belong and feel more connected to fellow humans that I share this journey with. Mostly the horizontal connections… I took a few initiatives to feel more connected; I reached out to people with similar interests, I went on more walks and more coffee dates. There were a couple initiatives that I shared/ started on social media, both of them related to my fondness for the six-yard unstitched fabric – the saree. I organized local meet ups for women who love to wear sarees.

And I started an Instagram group for building sisterhood around a traveling saree very much based on the movie ‘The sisterhood of the traveling pants saree’.

Here’s what I wrote on my Instagram post:   

Have you seen the movie- the sisterhood of the traveling pants... it’s about teen girls finding comfort and support in their friendships. I was watching the movie and realized that the craving for sisterhood and support and the longing to belong that the teens in the movie were seeking exists even when we get older.

With that intention, I decided to share my saree and sisterhood strength with Ramya and all others who’d like to join the sisterhood. #sisterhoodofthetravelingsaree

The intention of the sisterhood is that the collective feminine power will bring us what we desire and most need at this juncture in life.

Please let me know if you’d like to join and follow the tag to see who is contributing to the sisterhood before you. If my saree is taking it too long to reach you please reach out to others who might want to become your support system and start another #sisterhoodofthetravelingsaree in your community, in your family, among your friends (real or virtual). If you don’t wear saree, share a t-shirt, a dupatta, a bracelet whatever binds you into sisterhood.

And talking about sisterhood, why leave the men out they probably need the support of the feminine energy the most and an avenue to express their solidarity.

Whatever it takes, sisterhood, brotherhood, a saree or a bracelet or just a prayer, please reach out, support and be supported in turn, now is the time... Please tag #sisterhoodofthetravelingsaree so we can follow you and see how you are bonding and how your common intentions are bringing us all together.

Like I've said before, I set intentions, but I don’t get to determine the path, often universe sends me what I need at the moment and although my word ‘Connect’ was for my horizontal connections, strengthening vertical connection was part of the divine plan.

I was thinking about doing a 100-day project, but I wasn’t sure if the time was right to commit to something too time-consuming since my plate was full and was going to get worse in May and June. The 100 Day project kicks off in early April.
So, I kept it simple and my target was, one month of self-care through at least 5 minutes of daily meditation. I was easily able to manage that, and I continued it for May and most of June as well. Most days my meditation sessions were more than 10 minutes but there were days when I needed to squeeze in my meditation in the car at a parking lot while waiting for kids at their activities. I managed a 90+ day track record but then travel schedules upset it and I didn’t quite make it to the 100^th day, not a very good track record there.

I came back from vacation and slowly settled into a routine and I was missing meditation, and this time I knew that I wanted something deeper, something more guided to continue on this journey. I joined a local group for just that purpose, my vertical connection and my inward journey and guess what, found a bunch of people on that exact same journey and a community formed around our practice. I’ll talk more about the program once I’m a little more experienced with it but needless to say, the word ‘Connect’ is leading me on journeys that I didn’t plan for. And as soon as I think I have figured it out, it changes again, just like life itself.

So, the journey continues- inward, outward, vertical, horizontal and sometimes it sits still within me and those are the most precious of moments.

And as I mentioned in the beginning about sharing about my word in the 9^th month of the year gives me a unique perspective that I didn’t have at the beginning of the year, well, looking back at my list I realized that I had chosen this word – ‘connect’ for 2014 as well and had I written about it at the beginning of the year, I would have been very tempted to change it but I’m glad I didn’t and even though the word is a repeat the journey is as different as day and night.

Word of the year 2018 - Active...

It was incredible to usher in the new year 2018 on a Monday... the last weekend of the year was slow and contemplative and I am so thankful for it.
As I looked back on the year 2017 and my word (phrase) - 'show up' for the year, my biggest take away is the persistence to keep following the plan despite the results. 2017 for me was not a year of results, it was about burning the midnight oil and keep plugging away even when nothing seems to be moving on the surface.

Another very important lesson was setting priorities... you'll achieve only what you make time for and even though I don't have sprouts to show for the hard work, I know in my conviction the seeds that have been sown.

After last few years of forging (2015), surrendering (2016) to the path that's in front of me and showing up (2017), it is time to take charge again and the word that I have chosen to set that intention is 'Active'... My commitment to staying active is for my body and for my mind.

For my body, I would like to eliminate extracted sugar from my diet and limit the consumption of high glycemic index foods to special occasions only. Also, a minimum of 10 minutes of activity each day and ideally a 30 minute work out. The goal is to cut out the crap and to move more...

For my mind, I would like to carve out time for contemplation and be more deliberate in my thinking for day to day tasks and yet, be more strategic towards long term career goals. Staying on top of current research in the field and carving out a detailed action plan would help keep my mind active and my knowledge relevant.

I'd write a more detailed post to wrap up 2017 but today being the first day of 2018, I wanted to usher in this new milestone in time with hope and a plan for the future...

'Wish you a happy 2018'  

Guiding word of the year 2017... Show up!

I have been picking a word for each year for past ten years…

Art work by Kal Barteski

After choosing guiding words for so long, this year I was stuck and couldn’t come up with one word. I gave up on continuing to think and chose a phrase instead – Show up!

Word for the year 2016: Surrender

2015 was the tipping point year, things slowly changed and then one day everything changed all at once. We must have been building up to the threshold for past many years but it all happened now.
It was a pivoting year on so many different levels and while it had beautiful moments, on a personal level it was a year of crisis.
And during these moments of change I kept hoping for that voila! moment that would make sense and will complete the picture and I would know the destination waiting for my at the end of this path. And that is the reason for my new year wish to everyone… 'May we discover happiness in mediocre'. That we don't keep holding our breath for the perfect moment, perfect partner, perfect job but look for joys in  ordinary moment. Because if you want to be happy just be, don't put conditions on your happiness.

2015 Word of the year... Forge

Forge, Forge, Forge ahead... is my inspiration word for the year 2015.

Connections!

This post has been in the making for quite sometime. I started, stopped, restarted and all through it the story kept evolving and now it looks nothing like how I had intended it to start.

But before I begin my story, here is a beautiful article about the connections within… 

Fear of Silence by Thich Nhat Hanh 

'Connect' was my word for 2014 and looking back I think the word manifested itself on several levels.  Around the end of 2013, when I was trying to come up with the 2014 word, I struggled with the thought that the word is not complex enough but continued with it without understanding the full impact of its presence in my life.  And now as I look back at 2014, it is coming to me that the intention I chose was so appropriate for the way things have shaped around me.

One Little Word for 2014: Connect

There is a saying in Hindi that roughly translates into, ‘Faith can turn a rock into God’. This little word is turning out to be so, I believe in it. I have had second thoughts about having a single word as my guiding mantra but at the end of the year, I often look back and see how opportunities came and guided me through my intention.

This year my intention is: CONNECT

I started thinking about my word for 2014 a few months ago, many words came across as I slowly turned them in my head to see the possibilities they carry as they gently float by in the wake of my thoughts. For some reason, I thought it very difficult this year to find one word to be my intention. I saw myself as expanding and ready to soar and see where the winds of change will take me and yet I wanted to be rooted and be honest to myself. I imagined myself with multiple words, directing the different facets of my life that I am looking to bring to light but nothing seemed right.

It was a few weeks ago during a run on the treadmill when I was experimenting with the way my feet touches the moving strip (toe first versus heel first and the area of the sole) that the word ‘Connect’ floated into my thoughts and kind of stuck. It didn’t seem right at first and definitely not all encompassing but as I mulled it started to make sense. It’s not a complicated word and certainly not the one with deeper meaning but it can be interpreted in so many ways to give it such profound meaning.

I’d like to CONNECT to my inner self, my unnoticed thoughts and inspirations.

I’d like to CONNECT deeper within my physical body, practice yoga more frequency, meditate and understand what my body is telling me.

I’d like to CONNECT better with my family and friends, be there to listen and to understand and expand beyond the Facebook updates and text messaging. I’d like to hear their voices and give real hugs, share meals and play games.

I’d like to CONNECT with like-minded people to expand my venture; I’d like to meet more artisans and collaborate and find more people who are willing to look at real art that defies trends.

And just like that, I was CONNECTED to my little word for the year 2014… 

One Billion Rising - Twin Cities Valentine Day Event

My word of the year for 2013, to inspire me and to guide me is 'Action'. I put my intentions out to the universe at the beginning of the year and even though I have been actively working towards my intentions (betterment of the underprivileged) for past 4 years or so this year I plan to roll out a project of my own. There are a lot of things (mostly talks of collaborations) in the pipe line and I'll keep you posted as dreams start taking physical shapes. 

One of my big goal is to work for the safety and security of women and so this twin cities Valentine Day event for One Billion rising was just in line for my thoughts - to raise  awareness, to find more ways that we can help locally. Often words like 'the oppression of poor' reverberates life in a third world country but you'll be amazed to know how many people need support and strength to stand up for their rights even in the developed countries... 

There were several V-day events in twin cities this year but I went to this particular one at Powderhorn organized by a very good friend and activist; an out door event with several fire pits to keep us warm and a hand held light for stage lighting, on a cold 18 deg F day. Sisters' Camelot provided warm soups and baked goodies to provide warmth, inside and out... 

So, here follows some pictures and no words... 

New Year, New intention - take 'ACTION'

Happy New Year Folks,

I wanted to do a wrap up of year 2012 but too much is going on in my mind right now to quietly reflect on the lessons learned from the experiences. I will get to it someday but right now I need to share the excitement of all that that is about to come.

I am standing on the verge of a cliff and I see a village of possibilities ahead of me and I know in my heart that I’ll be there in no time even though I don’t see the path yet. I feel the moment when the wind is gathering under the wings and it’ll soar up in no time. It is my year to take ‘ACTION’ and materialize the ideas I have been exploring, the plans I have been making …

Last year’s intention was ‘Do’ and I did a lot, a lot of things that came my way and needed my hand, I just kept flowing with it. I didn't get far with my to-do list but was constantly Doing things as they needed to be done. As I said 2012 would be a topic for another day but right now I want to feel the excitement and the trepidation that come along with all new things about to come… I need to take ACTION…

I need to take ‘ACTION’ to provide means for the underprivileged so that they can become self-reliant and find motivation in their lives without much external interference.  

I want the children to get basic education and women to find safety for themselves and their family. I want rural artisans to find a market for their products and be able to provide for their families. I want people to confront their problems, talk about it and find solutions.

I think if people just own their responsibilities and help their own selves, keep their actions in check and take only what they need, the world would be a much better place. And I have to do my part to make it a better world. 

DO…

I am a ‘Doer’ and so when this word popped up as an inspiration for the ‘word of the year’ in my mind, I had to dig deeper and realize what prompted the thought and it wasn’t difficult to see what I am being guided into.

‘Do’ with intention, attention to detail and a big picture plan.
If you have read me before, you know I believe in the universe and look for signs while following my intuition closely. So, it’s tough to ignore signs when it’s asking you to ‘do’. I have to explain this in the same thought process as it came to me so pardon me if it feels choppy or random blathering…

I am constantly busy and setting 15 minute times to attend to chores is a most favored way of getting it done. If you noticed my graph for the miles run, it had most miles in the week before I was set to finish it; make a last minute push which is just in time that you still maintain the illusion that you finished it comfortably and you still have energy left over. If I set a target to practice my dance 25 times before my Saturday class, I usually squeeze them all in on Friday night… Do you notice a pattern here?

Yes, I ‘do’ too and I’d like to change that. Faith, intuition and belief that it will all work out is wonderful perspective to hold close to your heart but it doesn’t replace the work that needs to go into pulling it together and I have never been afraid of work, may be lazy at times but never afraid to work.
And work is beautiful; it shows and feels good to ‘DO’…

So the plan is to do with intentions of getting it ‘done’ and not in a last minute rush but at a steady pace following a plan and monitoring progress… I have made a few goals, some that I can quantify and express like the list below and others that I’d rather not because I’d rather drink 64 ounces of water each day than set an yearly target and meet it by mid-year and exhaust the allowed water quota for the rest of the year…
LOL! Ya, I am totally capable of doing that.

In 2012, I plan to…

Run 500 miles

Bike/Walk 250 miles with family (in addition to personal runs)

Make 366 Scrapbook pages

Do 12 art projects (paintings)

Document my projects better at work

Chart a path for my dream artisan project

Focus more on consumption and less on acquisition

Nurture and grow

Drink more water

Eat more vegetables

Better attend to the household chores

Finish old projects before starting new ones

Take action

DO MORE….

I found this inspirational quote at Karen Russell’s blog and it will serve as a perfect lighthouse during stormy weather… Where will I be in a year from now?

Time is inevitably going to pass and one year from today,

You can find yourself in the exact same spot you're in now,

You can find yourself further away from your goal or

You can find yourself closer to your goal –

So where do you want to be a year from now?

BTW, Happy New Year 2012

My word for 2011

Faith is the reassurance that you feel when you see a car parked with its light on in the far corner of the white snow covered parking lot amidst emptiness lit gently by the glow of the unknown. I don’t know if one ever gets to find out if that car was actually a security car or just another car waiting at random or in fact a predator lurking for a weak link.


I am a person of strong faith; this faith has been thrown across the room, slammed on a mirror, thrashed in sludge and there have been many moments where I thought I lost it but no, it came back all the time, shinier and stronger than I ever knew it before. I think even those very few and scarce moments when I couldn’t see it, it was because my eyes were clouded and it indeed was carrying me through.

This past year with every realization I thought ‘Faith’ should be my word for 2011 not because I want to strengthen it but just as a tribute, to show my thankfulness for its presence. As the year was coming to a close I meditated over my needs and the areas of possible growth in the coming New Year and I realized that I have everything physically possible for a good life and thank goodness the realization of the many blessings god has bestowed me with. All I need to do is to arrange and organize to not be overwhelmed by it; that seemed like a very physical world goal and I needed something deeper and a more soul conscious goal. I mulled the thought many times and it dawned upon me that I am making things so much more complicated and my mind rather than narrowing down on an anchor floated and choked in muddled water… And with that thought appeared my word for the year, ‘Simplify’ – inside and out.

I plan to take things one piece at a time but while I make plans I have this faith that now that the universe knows what I am seeking, it will guide me and pave way for me to reach my goals.

Because POSSIBILITIES are endless …

Fifth day of year 2010 and hopes from the still New Year are immense. I don’t make New Year resolutions because I don’t want to look too far ahead. Each day, each moment is filled with so much possibility that it seems futile to forego the present to dream or plan a tomorrow that eventually might not come.
Lately I find myself say this sentence a lot, ‘I was just thinking about you’. Not just people, but to books and songs and pictures and emails. I don’t know if my thoughts are attracting events of if I am anticipating things before they happen but I am enjoying it anyways.
Sometime in November I was in an all day work meeting and since the table was equipped with colored pens and pencils, I doodled on my agenda sheet to my heart’s content. Last week, as I was flipping through my folder while sitting at another meeting, I found a string of colorful triangle flags drawn with the word ‘Tibet’ written next to it. I was so excited to find it cause I think it was a few days after I drew that, that I started reading the book ‘Heaven Lake’ by Vikram Seth. It’s a travelogue of sorts of his travel as a student from China to India via Tibet and Nepal. I was totally engrossed in the book and in fact I had cut down my running speed to walking so that I can read it while on the treadmill since there wasn’t enough time otherwise. It might not mean anything, may not have any correlation, but it’s hard to convince me otherwise, I am a Believer. I consider it love, love from the universe….

The other day I was up at 3:00 am and randomly some images crossed my mind from when I was barely a teenager and my first crush and how angry I was at god when his Dad was posted to some other city and he moved. I look back and think, silly me, I was a child… And there have been several moments in life like that, where I cried and prayed desperately and wished for things and people and I still do but in the big picture I don’t yet know where I am supposed to fit.

Somebody is fitting the pieces together and turns, rotates, flips and squishes each individual piece to see what fits where and in the end it will all work out. No piece is useless, each have a space to fill and it the end all of us together with our talents and quirks will complete the picture. So, in the long series of words all I meant to say was that I don’t want to plan the future, here and now is beautiful and I want to explore the possibilities of today, of this moment whatever it may be, it may make me sad or happy but it still contains multitude of possibilities and I want to focus on that.

I guess, now it’s pretty obvious but I should still write it out, my word for the year 2010 is ‘Possibilities’…

Word for the year 2009

I had decided to not pick any word for this New Year.
It seems silly to use just one word as your guide/goal for the entire year and besides I am no where closer to realizing the goals (Love for 2007 and Balance for 2008) that I had set earlier.

Even though I realize that time is constant and unaware of any units that we may use to define it with, I had high hopes as we crossed this milestone but just one week into the new year and I am feeling worse than before... everything around me, built by me is tanking... my work, my relations, my home... nothing is where I expect it to be!
So I did decide to pick a word to be my constant guide for the year....

P E A C E

When I am agitated or disappointed a very dear friend often reminds me:

‘There is nothing outside you that disturbs you’.

Using this saying as my inspiration, I’d like to find peace with in me and then hope to be in peace with my surroundings. At this moment I feel at a loss, as if I have no control over anything and I am worth nothing... truly despicable, completely replaceable...
I feel that way within me and that’s how people around me feel about me, I hope to feel better about myself in this passing year and when I write about my journey through 2009, I hope it ends on a happier note...

LOVE

My chosen word for the year is 'LOVE'.

Terminologically speaking:
Love is a basic dimension of human experience that is variously conveyed as a sense of tender affection, an intense attraction, the foundation of intimacy and good interpersonal chemistry, willing self-sacrifice on behalf of another, and as an ineffable sense of affinity or connection to nature, other living beings, or even that which is unseen. It manifests itself in feelings, emotion, behavior, thoughts, perception and attitude. It influences, underlies and defines major patterns in interpersonal relationships and self-identification.

I chose this word not for it's definition but my goal this year is the 'discovery of Love', that I have in me for myself, for others, for the human kind.
And to cherish the Love that others express for me in their words, actions and emotions and also the one that they sometime fail to express...

Its very easy to feel left out and unwanted and bury yourself in pity and feel a victim but its tough to remember good times and laughter and LOVE, especially in hard times so this would be my attempt to collect all that LOVE that we have for each other and compile it so that in rough times, harder times it would remind us of the Love that we have for others and others have for us, develop a support system that can pull us out of any slump in our spirits that we might encounter in future...