I shared a little slice of my vision. A world where beauty and communication ignite luminous change in the world. This vision is idealistic. It is supposed to be. It is aspirational, compelling me to step up and inhabit my values everyday. It inspires me to discover myself, to take responsibility for the spheres of my life, for every thought, action and word is a reflection and expression of me.
Goodness, that is a lot of pressure non?
As I learn to Live Lightly maintaining mindfulness is THE challenge; sometimes exhausting, often uncomfortable, always truthful. However as I embrace Luxurious Simplicity, illuminating change in myself through self-discovery, and in the world through my actions, this increasingly consistent reflection in action is becoming more like an accomplice, a partner in delight!
I have been sharing my story of learning to Live Lightly across the spheres of my life. These spheres are seamlessly interconnected. I DREAM to discover myself, define my values, envision my dream world, and focus my intention. My MIND and BODY are one. I choose BEAUTY and LOVE in all spheres. HOME is as much about a physical space, and stuff as it is about loving connections, creating sanctuary and living my passion through WORK. And PLAY means pushing my boundaries, stretching my MIND, testing my BODY, opening up in LOVE, creating HOME in ever-changing situations and catalysing change through BEAUTY in my WORK, while honing new skills and seeing the world!
Life is a series of growing pains.
For me the teething and learning to walk years, the gap-toothed years, the gangly awkward years, the rebellious year and the early self-discovery years, gave way to a less physically obvious, though no less awkward, time of ineloquence.
Life is happening, it is change, it is a dizzying universal highway. Through Living Lightly I am creating the space I need to be able to live mindfully amidst this perfect chaos. I need space to discover myself, to find the words to communicate with grace and vulnerability. As the spheres of my life align with my values, vision and focus, holding BEAUTY as my lens, I begin to inhabit, reflect and express the most gorgeous version of myself.
Learning to communicate with vulnerability and grace.
Now that I am mindfully aligning life with my values, it is learning to communicate with courageous vulnerability and grace that is tricky. I know who I am, but there is often a disconnect between my core and how I express myself. Now that I am more conscious, the me I see in conversation, or on the page, often feels like a confused player in a game of Chinese Whispers.
So in taking responsibility for my expression I must also remember to treat myself gently and with love, when I fall short. I would never expect perfection from one of my Loves. I practically fall over myself, effusing giggling compassion at the mere hint of a bumble. So why do I expect faultless articulation from myself?
Sometimes my Love is so enormous I cannot hold it.
For one second longer. Nor can I convey it. It comes out in spurts of bossiness, or concern, or drama, or nagging, or neediness. I want to say ‘I love you’, ‘I love having you in my life’, ‘knowing you are here on Skype makes me feel safe and at home, even here in the outskirts of [insert city here]’, or ‘the time we were hanging out and I laughed so hard lemon tea came out of my nose, never fails to cheer me up when I am stressing out’, or the more scary ‘I would be lost if I lost you’.
Lost in translation, in the space between my heart, my mind and my mouth, these words come in their place: ‘I think you should do / see / say / wear / eat / go here / there / this / that / not this / not that’ ‘I wish you would’ ‘Why don’t you’ ‘I want’ ‘I need’.
Other times, I want to share my whole heart. Instead of letting it shine quietly, I open my mouth and a torrent of woowoo verbal nonsense surges, followed by an expression, a pleading doe-eyed ‘do you understand?’.
Other times my passion for design and sustainability overflows. What begins as an innocent afternoon tea becomes an impassioned one-sided speech. Inevitably I look around from on top of my soapbox (where did that come from I wonder?) in mortified wonder.
I have shared too much, and too little. I have been shy with my words. I have been assertive. I am learning to inhabit myself, allowing the words to flow in resonance, in conversation.
Mindfulness is the ultimate Catch-22.
When I am mindful, I am mindful. But when I am not Designing, acting without thinking, thinking without acting, acting without reflecting, how do I reengage? It is the slip-ups that act as flags. Without these stumbles to jerk me back into consciousness, I wouldn’t know I was veering off course, and mindfulness might ebb away unnoticed.
So I am learning to be mindful and to communicate honestly and openly. With this comes responsibility. I am responsible for what I create. Full Stop.
This is where beauty comes in.
As I learn to communicate, pouring myself, my time, my attention, my ideas, my words and my love, into the vision of the world I want to create, I must choose in each moment to conduct myself with grace and vulnerability.
When I tell a story, am I being honest, and if so, is expressing my truth creating beauty? Is this action another little step toward creating my dream world? Am I courageously inhibiting vulnerability and grace?
Am I Living Lightly?
Will this question be enough to breathe life into my idealistic dream world? I hope so.
I would be delighted to Tweet you!
What are your wildly idealistic dreams? Are you able to communicate with grace and vulnerability? How do you find the words?
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