On stillness, work, and insights...

Bit by bit I'm getting increasingly clear insights on the projects and products I'd like to create this year to continue the work transition I started in 2011*. I'm not sure they'll all come to fruition, but I certainly can't deny their presence.

* For all posts related to my work transition journey, click here.

Words, titles, and images are asking to be acknowledged.

Tea and Candlelight: Tools for Creative Business Planning

tea and candlelight: tools for creative biz planning

One morning journalling session produced an outline for an entire online course or program; another revealed an idea for a new booklet. An evening dedicated to business planning saw me complete the sentence "2013 will be the year that..." with "... I create and submit a book proposal."

WTF?

I also keep coming back to a series of mantras, or tenets, to guide my creative biz work this year. These are short phrases I can't seem to shake, so for now I'm choosing to go with them. (Stay tuned for another post, specifically on these tenets.)

The moral of this story, you ask? Two things jump out at me:

Insights, guidance and even more prodding questions come when we take time to be still, ask the questions, listen for the answers, and acknowledge them.

Some insights call for swift movement and adrenalin-filled action; others may ask for a more gentle approach, with more value gained by letting them percolate, or taking small, next right actions to see what unfolds.

Either way, we move forward.

~~~

What practices do you have in place to receive insight and guidance?

Are any of your ideas or projects calling for quick completion? On the flip side, are any of them calling for a more gentle approach?

Easing Into 2013

I am called to rest and putter, stepping away from creative work and play to sink into quiet time, books, hearth & home.

I'm tidying up my physical spaces, enjoying movies and documentaries like this one (if you're an artist, you'll love this insight into a painter's mind and process), this one and this one. I'm sleeping, reading, and doing a lot of research for a certain trip to PARIS. <giddy>

A Post-Christmas Treat

post-Christmas goodies from Amazon

It hasn't been all idle though.

I've been crafting a new website, feeling the time has come for a fresh look. Stay tuned for that and a bloggiversary giveaway (seven years!), the latter later this month.

Sneak Peek @ the New Site

a fresh new look for my website in progress - coming soon!

I also wrote this article for Scoutie Girl, about claiming our path into 2013 and honouring our transition pace into the new year. No one's keeping score on how quickly we make the switch.

My part time work is keeping me preoccupied and heading into a busy, challenging-to-me period.

All the while I'm reflecting on last year's accomplishments and lessons, dreaming of work and projects for 2013, still unsure of how I will convert my dreams to action and let it all unfold.

Life is uncertain. Life is good. Life is full.

~~~

How about you? What've you been up to?