Happy New Year, everyone!
Please pardon my month of silence…
I chose not to blog at all last month so that I may savor December 2017 – and the last 31 days in my initial year of simple living and intentional work.
And for the most part, I believe the month off from writing rewarded me well with the following:
- a very welcomed snow day home (spent reading a good book and sipping on hot chocolate spiced with cayenne pepper – Mmmmm!!! My latest PMS addiction…),
- the final inspiration needed to complete a crafted home decor project for a friend,
- long work hours in retail that taught me valuable business lessons (like how important it is to take note of shoppers’ seasonal buying habits if I want my own venture to flourish financially too),
- the honor of accompanying my supervisor to a city council meeting where a resolution was read naming December 21, 2017 National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day – a day recognized by community members with a memorial walk in remembrance of those who died while experiencing homelessness during the year,
- an unexpected meeting to discuss my qualifications for potential opportunities ahead,
- enough days off in a row from both jobs to have ample time to spend the holiday weekend visiting my parents and older siblings (cause time spent with family is always humbling and healing for the soul),
and – last but not least,
- an overall sense that through the relationships I’ve built as part of my work in the nonprofit sector, I’ve come to develop some pretty solid ties within the local community and broader region where I currently live.
Whew, that’s a mouthful…and a month full!
But through it all – the work days, the reading breaks, the holidays, etc., I waited patiently for guidance from my inner voice on how to approach the coming year. Should I continue with the life vision I had in motion before the start of 2017? I mean, it’d been working for me all year, so why stop the music now! For sure there’s more I could accomplish in the areas of life, work, home, and hobby through my now-established new mode of thinking.
Or…should I assess the 2016/2017 vision board goals I’ve completed since June to chart a new set of simple yet intentional goals for myself – ones that will again challenge me to move beyond whatever current career/life/family/home “comfort zone” I’m in.
“You have to hear your voice before you can follow it.”
-Janet Echelman, artist (from Roadtrip Nation: A Balanced Equation)
Well, as tempting as it was this fall to just continue rolling on into the new year with the same vision board as last fall, I opted in the end – thanks to that small, still inner voice prodding me on – to take stock of what I’d learned, experienced, and observed in my world over the past 184 days. And, with an eye to the future, I would bring to a close this vision’s year of discovery in order to craft a new one.
So, for inquiring minds, here’s a quick recap of my past six months:
July 2017: “Indomitable”
July was dominated by my assorted experiences while prepping for, attending, and recovering from the 2017 National Conference on Ending Homelessness and Capitol Hill Day in Washington, D.C., organized/hosted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
From working with my supervisor to create a D.C. “Schedule of Activities” for our trip (to include the National Harbor, Dumbarton Oaks, Comet Ping Pong, as well as a few unplanned excursions), reaching out to old friends to schedule possible meet-ups during my stay, and attending relevant sessions and hearing both Dr. Ben Carson (no comment) and U.S. Representative Maxine Waters (yaaaaaaaasssssss!) give individual keynote addresses during the week-long conference, to, on our team’s last day in town, spending an entire 6 hours exploring the relatively new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture…
Simply put – July was awe-inspiring and really set the bar for my second half of 2017!
August 2017: Regroup, Refresh, Resume
August was consumed by me helping our AmeriCorps members complete requirements during their final month of service, along with assisting my supervisor in hosting their “graduation” ceremony and completing our grant’s end of year survey project.
Though the month started off light with another overnight work trip – this training occurring in state (that unfortunately ended with me leaving early because of a wisdom tooth that needed immediate removal!), it quickly took on the weight of work pressure I’d not quite experienced up to that point.
From executing a memorable afternoon event for our 20+ “graduating” members and their guests but witnessing a not-so-memorable eclipse two weeks later (due to phenomenon-related cloud coverage) to co-leading a training session with my supervisor for the second time in two months and spending a Thursday off in my local Urban Ministry’s food pantry conducting a survey/volunteering to pack and hand out over 100 bags of groceries, I finally felt the fullness of my job’s role at this nonprofit.
I also came to realize how “in the same boat” we all truly are. For example, when you have a servant’s heart but live paycheck to paycheck, you could be helping a person in need of food security one day and easily be that person in need the next. This I know for sure. There were many a day – especially, throughout 2017 – where I slid from one side of that equation to the other. And while volunteering at the intake or reception table and in the food pantry that particular Thursday near the end of the month, I greeted need. I chatted with generational poverty. I delivered bags of groceries to the working poor. And she looked like me… he looked like my brother… that couple could have been the age of my parents… and that family represented my neighbors, my community, and our nation.
Lesson learned: no matter what anyone thinks, no one is too high above or too far below the poverty line to experience the realities, pressures, blessings, and economic whims of life.
September 2017: Coming Full Circle, Starting Anew
September was, essentially, marked by statistics. So, here’s a summary of that month…by the numbers:
- $17,000 – the amount of AmeriCorps education funds I helped the program director award in 1 hour on Tuesday, September 5
- $23,000 – the amount of AmeriCorps education funds I helped award to 8 new program alumni in less than 1 hour on Wednesday, September 6
- 6 – the number of blog posts I wrote in one week (for publication in September and October) and the number of times I ordered, purchased, or designed sample products/supplies for my developing crafts business
- 19 – the number of new and returning AmeriCorps members we on-boarded during our program’s orientation week for the 2017-2018 service year
- 4 – the number of days our member orientation lasted (to include daily icebreakers, a member policy/service contract overview, timesheet training session, and on-site tours of 5 out of 8 service locations at our partner non-profits)
- 218 – the final count on veterans served during the annual Triad Stand Down for Veterans, which happened to be our new AmeriCorps team’s first community service project for the year
- 18 – the pairs of earrings I made in one day for future sale online
- 3 – the pairs of shoes I purchased for a steal in one payday (out of pure need, and not to splurge), to include a pair of new Asics sneakers and two pairs of casual dress shoes (clogs by Born Concept and casual flats by Clarks)
October 2017: (theme left blank or… “Work, Work, Work – Again”)
October, honestly, came and went in a flurry of work – much like June. I mean, starting on Day 1, I worked 20 days straight – either at one part-time job or the other – before landing on my first day (actually, a rare whole weekend) off. And then, in true workaholic form, I rounded out the remaining 9 days of the month… yep, you guessed it… working.
Any October highlights I still recall? Of course! There’s…
Participating in the community’s annual CROP Hunger Walk. Celebrating current and former supervisors on National Bosses Day. Attending the 2017 North Carolina AmeriCorps Member Launch Day. Stepping up to manage our “Stranger to Neighbor” training day, led by the director of FaithAction International House.
And, enjoying the creativity of visitors to Old Salem through the carved pumpkins they left on display along the fence surrounding the town’s square for Halloween!
November 2017: Making “Big Magic” Happen
Well, of course you know how November (my “month of me”) shaped up, thanks to my previous blog post.
So, let’s move on to the vision board recap, shall we!
2017 Vision Board: “Experience Creates Vision”
So what did I accomplish during my (continued) year of simple living and intentional work? Well, surprisingly, a good deal – and, referring back to my vision board often for re-inspiration definitely helped keep me on track to achieve this.
Starting at the top left-hand corner, moving from left to right and then working my way around clockwise on the vision board (pictured above), I’ll explain each focus area – its purpose and results.
“A Taste for the Exotic” – Health and Wellness
Healthy living starts with healthy food…and as the board states “incredible ingredients make incredible meals.”
My year of mindfulness while grocery shopping and meal making not only brought me to a greater understanding of how to prepare good, tasty (meaning, well-seasoned) foods but also a true appreciation for its purpose – to nourish our bodies and supply us with the energy we need to fuel our life’s efforts.
However, by the end of 2017, I had come to know of a third crucial role food plays in our lives – it contains and carries our traditions (whether it be cultural, spiritual, or regional) forward. It holds our memories, stores our histories, and transfers the very earth we live upon to our bodies. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust” – we humans carry our hometowns, our backyards, our regional/national lands within us every time we consume a plant, animal, or genetically-modified food source from that place!
We truly are what we eat.
And, knowing this inspires me to dig even deeper in my parents’ memories – back to when they kept a garden, raised livestock, hunted wild game, foraged herbs and roots, and small-farmed tobacco for additional income. Thankfully, most of this happened during my youth. So, even if I can’t tap into their stored knowledge, I have the memories of knowing what that knowledge tasted like, looked like, and smelled like.
“Imagine If There Were No Gravity” – Career and Personal Goals
#changedestiny is one of many motivational statements (and my favorite) placed within this section of the board. “Claim your spotlight” is another. But the message I kept returning to again and again was the Norman Vincent Peale quote:
“Enthusiasm spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment.”
This quote provided me with the answer I needed whenever physical exhaustion questioned why I worked two part-time jobs and creativity complained about how routine my weekly schedule had become. It also served as a great reminder of an early chapter in The Alchemist where the shepherd boy, penniless in a foreign country and now in need of a new job, approaches a crystal shop owner for work to earn enough money for a meal. Time and time again – before and even after being hired, the shepherd boy’s enthusiasm to work hard and try out new ideas for bringing in more customers (like polishing the crystal and serving tea in the sparkling glasses) would result in one desired effect after another until he accomplished his ultimate goal of earning enough money to move on in his personal journey.
And the same applied to me. Time and time again, before and even after being hired by my two current employers, the more I tapped into my enthusiasm to work hard and try out new ideas, the more I found myself accomplishing larger tasks and personal creativity goals that continued to move me along on my intentional life journey.
“Home… there’s no place like it.” – Home
Finding a decorating style that speaks to my personality while staying true to my budget was the focus of this section. But, simple as it may sound, this focal point on my vision board remained untouched (and a source of underlying frustration) until midway in the year – the point when I finally had the time and funds available to actually move essential furniture out of storage and into the apartment. YESSSSSSSSS! Shocking even now to still admit, I had lived for almost an entire year with nothing more in furnishings than an air mattress, two folding chairs, one folding table, a few storage bins, and a fully stocked kitchen with no furnished dining area.
Now, that’s minimal living at its extreme – especially for someone who’s not a total minimalist.
However, during the remaining six months of 2017, creating a home for myself through added decor slowly evolved from me just browsing decorating boards on Pinterest to binge-watching interior design-focused YouTube videos to finally (finally) hanging prints in the living room and bedroom – plus, starting the assembly of a cool business gallery wall in the spare bedroom/office.
But, there’s still plenty of work left to be done in bringing this section of my next vision board to fruition (as you can see in the photo below, which is still true to how this part of the apartment looks now). Hmmm… taking Baiyina Hughley’s 30 day makeover challenge (an online course for transforming your home in 30 days) is sounding more and more like the way to go!
One “Home” goal that will remain the same: keeping a minimalist’s approach to how much “stuff” we move and/or bring into the apartment while maintaining a clutter-free home in spite of my growing stock of business supplies and crafting materials.
“Your Fearless is Showing” – Spiritual and Emotional Wellness
So much packed within this section speaks of my self-worth to my heart and for my spirit!
For example, the message “I AM… LOVE… Big. Beautiful. Alive!” is my way of reminding myself that I am a representative, a piece, and an agent of God. The great “I am” and “Love” are both biblical references or titles used for the Creator; paring these with the punctuated words big, beautiful, and alive, I created a bold statement that reinforces this immense idea of having the Almighty alive within me and how beautiful being a positive force of energy (love) in the world can be when you consider the growing number of those in need of His warmth and reassurance.
And this statement isn’t just about me, but everyone!
In tandem, another extremely relevant message that caught my eye often whenever I glanced at my 2016/2017 vision board in passing was the following Malcolm X quote:
“Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it.”
What a powerful declaration of truths and self-determination, just as applicable in the times we’re currently experiencing in America and beyond as in the times generations before us lived through when he first spoke those words.
And the thoughts that come to mind now upon meditation on this quote are:
Indigenous sovereignty… Cultural/family reclamation… Cooperative economics…
In essence, new social movements within our communities made possible and effective through unity, collective work, and equal responsibility. For sure, there’s plenty more to be done in this area, so I will definitely carry Malcolm’s sentiment (along with the seven principles of Kwanzaa: umoja, kujichagulia, ujima, ujamaa, nia, kuumba, and imani) over onto my new vision board for the new year.
“Live Your Best Life” – Beauty and Life Goals
I’m looking at a life unfold
Dreaming of the green and gold
Just like the ancient stone
Every sunrise I know
Those eyes you gave to me
That let me see
Where I come from
-Lyrics from chorus to “Green & Gold” (2015), by Lianne La Havas
Images of confident Black women in bold stylish clothes, allowing their hair to exist as free as can be, dominated this section of my vision board the same way it does in this music video for Lianne La Havas’s song “Green & Gold.” As did empowering statements to “live your best life” and “be your own modern classic” nudged me on to experiment with beauty products without feeling bound by society to immediately use them on a daily basis.
Case in point: the four tubes of lipstick and one lip liner I purchased in June… that I have yet to wear a full day beyond the door to exit my apartment!
Was this a splurge? Yes…and no! Because all were purchased while on sale at a chain drugstore, and based on my research, have a shelf life of two years (the longest of most common cosmetics). So, that’s two years of time I have available to use this product practicing how to blend colors, playing “dress up” on a day off, or possibly even wearing semi-regularly before it expires.
Or…
I could continue reveling in my new found appreciation for Vaseline‘s lip therapy lip balm and be done with it all. And, along those same lines, embrace my inner minimalist’s desire to simplify the number of beauty and household products I use by paring them down to those that are all-natural and/or multi-functional, like olive oil.
As opposite as these two examples appear to each other – purchasing items I may not even use while looking to downsize the number of items I do, they represent the overall “beauty” goal I had in mind for this section of my vision board: to assess what I currently use, explore what I don’t, and find a healthy balance that suits me (and my budget) best.
“Experience Creates Vision” – 2016/2017 Vision Board
To be honest, the goal mentioned above was the ultimate one I had in mind that fall of 2016 when creating my vision board for the new year – an approaching span of time full of unknowns except a hopeful employment opportunity (or two), a rebirth of this blog, an enthusiasm to start nurturing the business seed I’d planted way back in Fall 2015, and a fierce determination to act more and worry less.
Assessing what I currently use, exploring what I don’t, and finding a healthy balance of food stuffs, personal items, household supplies, work commitments… everything, really, that best suit my needs and my budget is the new system I live by.
But, I’m super excited to see what 2018 has in store – what new mantras, experiences, challenges, heartbreaks, opportunities, and goals via a vision await!
Here’s hoping you have an excitement for what lies ahead in your 2018 too!
(And, if you’ve powered through reading this to the end… there’s nothing you can’t accomplish for yourself, your family, and your community in this new year.)
Blessings.
Lucretia By Design, LLC 