For me, December ushers in a time of reflection.  It also tends to usher in a time of stagnation.  The cold, barren days of winter often leave me with a case of the winter blues.  I pull into myself, hibernating in my deepest depths until spring issues the first glimmers of rebirth.  Winter can be a time when my creative life slows to a standstill.  While honoring those seasons of our lives is of utmost importance, there are days when I feel the desire, the need, to show up on the page (or the screen, canvas, sketchbook, etc.) but feel as empty as the December sky.

One of the writing prompts I use to get the creative juices flowing is to write a poem based on a favorite poem.  I read something another inspiring poet or author has written, and then I write my own poem based on their style or the concept of the poem.  Then from there, I keep going until I hit my own stride and find the familiarity of my own voice.  I wrote the poem below based on Jane Kenyon’s poem Otherwise.

**********

Otherwise

I wake to the silence

of the house, pull

the heavy blankets

tighter around my body,

listening to the darkness

before rising from the

warm bed. It might

have been otherwise.

I watch my son dress,

his lean body wiggling

as he pulls his shirt

over his head.

It might have been

otherwise.  I dress

my own body,

gently aware of its

changing texture and

contours.  I sense

myself yield to

the dawn’s unfolding.

All day I hold

the soft overwhelm

of my becoming

in my cupped

palms.  It might

have been otherwise.

I watch the grey clouds

melt to a canvas of blue.

It might have been

otherwise.  I speak kindly

to those who cross

my path knowing

we are all pilgrims on

a long journey.  I honor

the currents of energy

that rise and wane

within.

Tonight I watch

the fire blaze as

the cat curls in

my lap.  It might

have been otherwise.

I watch the embers

turn to smoke and

soot, conscious of my

own impermanence. It

might have been

otherwise.  I think about

tomorrow, its challenges

and possibilities. I

whisper a prayer to

no one or nothing

in particular knowing

one day it will be

otherwise.

**********

Your poetry assignment over the holidays is to read a favorite poem and then write your own poem based on the poet’s style and concept.  Use this assignment as an opportunity to touch base with your creative voice during a time when the demands, stress, colder temperatures, and barren landscape can often pull us away from the connection we long to nurture with ourselves.

Many blessings to you this holiday season and as we walk spirit to spirit, hand in hand, into a new year.

by stacyey curnow

Most Christian traditions recognize the time just before Christmas as its own season called Advent. But you don’t have to be a Christian—or a member of any faith—to believe that the month before the beginning of a new year might be a good time to focus on things that matter, things like caring for, and celebrating our connections with, our families, our wider community, and even nature.

Each of the activities I mention here is good in and of itself, a fine way to spend some time during the coldest part of the year. But if you’ll also try them with a mindset that you’re laying the groundwork for a happier and more rewarding life in 2011, you may find these experiences and adventures even more rewarding. (If you do, please send me a note and let me know!)

1. Make homemade ornaments. (Christmas Ornaments Kids Can Make by Kathy Ross is a great resource that we found in our local library. The crafts are simple to make and use items you probably have in your house like construction paper and cotton balls.)
2. Make paper snowflakes to hang in the windows.
3. If you have a child, take some of their artwork (always abundant!) and bring it to seniors in a nursing home.
4. Write a real letter (as opposed to a family newsletter) to someone you miss.
5. Invite friends over for party. (Email me if you want tips for making a party easy and fun.)
6. Make gingerbread men cookies and decorate. (If you’re short on time, Wilton makes a nice kit with pre-made cookies.)
7. Make giant mugs of hot chocolate with lots of mini-marshmallows and sip, sip, sip.
8. Invite some friends for Christmas caroling in your neighborhood. Or stay at home and play charades, with a new “holiday songs” category. Here are some of our favorites: Five Pound Box of Money (Pearl Bailey), Jingle Bells (Clancy Brothers), Santa Baby (Eartha Kitt), Mele Kaliki Maka (Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters), Santa Claus is Back in Town (Elvis), Cool Yule (Louis Armstrong), Merry Christmas – I Love You (James Brown)
9. Take pinecones, smear them with peanut butter, sprinkle them with seeds, and leave them outside for your feathered friends.
10. Bring cookies or just visit with elderly neighbors.
11. On Christmas Eve: Open one present and have a pajama party, but don’t stay up too late!
12. Delicious food is each winter holiday’s gift. Enjoy potato latkes, Christmas pudding, sugar plums, eggnog, wassail…and, yes, even fruitcake. (I have a recipe for a truly wonderful fruitcake my husband asks for every year – I’m happy to share the recipe if you’d like to try it!)

So these are the ways I’m looking for – and finding – more joyful connection this holiday season. What are yours? Please share in the comments!

Stacey Curnow, CNM.  Stacey is a nurse-midwife and a mentor who helps you give birth to a life you love. You can find out more about Stacey here.

I’m a runner.

No, no, no, no.  Not the kind of runner that straps on expensive tennies and little protective pasties over my nipples.

I’m a different kind of runner.

I run from one big dream to the next. The second I get something under my skin–I sprint!  I’m always talking about what comes next.  Planning my next big thing. Discussing dream after dream.

For a long time now, I just felt that’s who I was. Slapped the ol’ “Go Getter” label on my back and hit the pavement.

But just recently, I realized something. In my pursuits to cross my next big finish line of dreams–my soul got a case of shin splints.

I was down for the count and taking a look at what all this running really was about.  And I got it.

I didn’t like it.

But I got it.

How many of you are runner’s as well?  Maybe you don’t run from one dream to the next–but you find yourself moving from one project to another–one idea to the next–maybe one lover to another–without ever really settling into anything.

Enough is enough.

That’s what I came up with.

All this running for years is because deep down, I never feel like I am enough.  I always think that there is something more out there that can complete me–that can make me whole–that can turn this Creative Juicy Life into a full fledge masterpiece.  Or even worse–I have this idea that if I’m doing more–taking on more–talking more about what’s to come–then, I’ll not only be enough–but I’ll be doing enough.

Exhausting.  No wonder my soul finally needed an ice bath.

So, I am officially retiring from the race.  No more running for me.  Instead, I plan to stick out the sedentary life of living one dream at a time, and letting that dream grow into a journey of it’s own–instead of just a trail of dusty tracks under my feet.

And you know what?  If we only do one thing in this life. That will be enough.

by kate swoboda

“The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.” –Joseph Campbell

In my coaching practice, it’s my job to step into the role of powerfully holding space for someone when they have difficulty seeing the forest for the trees, getting a larger perspective. It’s not uncommon for me to offer a gentle reminder for the person on the other end of the line that, in fact, crisis can be a divine opportunity. If nothing else, crisis can sometimes be the catalyst for moving and shaking in ways that one might not have otherwise risked.

But a few months ago–I was the one who needed some space held. I had been working for myself for 10 months, and now I was the one who couldn’t see the forest for the trees with my business. I was working, all of the time–coming up with new ideas, working on writing projects, guest posting, updating my site, refreshing content, running my e-course, The Courageous Year, doing more interviews. Along the way, I allowed myself plenty of permission for mistake-making and have some finely chiseled muscles that can do some heavy lifting when it’s time to stop, take inventory, and then make a change if needed.

But now I was tired. To stop and take inventory and change directions is fine a few times, but I had been doing it for 10 months. I had been working myself to come up with a constant stream of new content, for most of a year. I felt clear that I was being called to stop, but I also knew that I didn’t want to stop if I didn’t feel I was clear on what was next.

I’ve often said since I began working for myself that starting a business is the ultimate declaration to the world of personal responsibility. It is literally taking your life into your own hands in every possible way to say that you will steer your own ship. It was thrilling and exhilarating–and I was seeing quite clearly that I was suffering from burnout.

And yet, I resisted asking for help. Maybe I needed more time, I thought. Or perhaps I needed to read more (off I went for another trip to the library, or another read of the recent blog posts arguing both for and against turning off comments). The parts of me that are fierce and feisty wanted to figure it out for myself, while the parts of me that have a Vision for my life that are larger than Ego gently said: “Kate. Lay it all down. Slow down, for just a moment.”

So I called in the expert to hold space (for me, that would be Danielle LaPorte). I booked a one-on-one Fire Starter Session and took deep breaths because I knew that the biggest question on my mind was where to go next with the e-course meets e-book that I’d created and had been running for a year: The Courageous Year.

If you’ve ever created something or worked on a project dear to your heart, you know that it’s  your baby. When challenges arise, you don’t give up–you dive in to smooth over rough edges, to cradle your creation ever more gently. You ask for feedback. You take in everything you hear, and then you decide what is best for all concerned.

In the midst of our session, Danielle gave it to me straight, as I trusted she would. “I get hung up on the ‘year,’ ” she told me. “Can it be a…Courageous Season? Can I just have a Courageous Month?”

Here’s what happens sometimes when something is your baby: you’re willing to look past the imperfections, because you know that the basic character is just so juicy, true, and good. When I’d first come up with the concept and started writing The Courageous Year, I’d been so enthusiastic about the idea that I hadn’t given much heed to anyone who had said something like: “Does it have to be a Year?”

The grace of having someone else hold your work, your baby, tenderly in their hands, is that it gives you a moment to pause and stop having to hold it yourself. It’s hard to let go, isn’t it? But I did, using that session as a space to try out mentally imagining where I would go next. After my session with Danielle, it was clear to me: as much as my inner perfectionist wishes she’d gotten it right the first time, the heart of what I’d written in all of my books wasn’t about being tied to an entire Year. I had felt called to let that piece of my work go.

The heart of what I’d written was about Courageous Living, and if I was really willing to live courageously, that meant rocking as many turns as is it took to be able to stand behind what I’d created…and sit down, and give myself a break.

Refreshed by the call, I went back to my desk with a new vision: to create a series of Courageous Living Guides, and to keep the focus purely on the full-tilt love of writing, the questions that dug deep, and the wisdom of others who were willing to share what they knew.

To that end, I’ve been working on creating four new books that will be available in January 2011: Courageous Beginnings, Courageous Commitments, Courageous Passion, Courageous Power.

One year ago, I went to bed knowing that on Monday, it was time for me to take my life in a different direction. There were so many reasons why I knew that this moment was the time to start, but the question that loomed largest for me was this one: Would I be okay?

Behind that question was a desire to know that if I didn’t do it all perfectly, would I still be okay in the eyes of others, and–more importantly–my own?

And a year later, it’s a relief–a shaking, joyful tears relief–to know the answer. I had known it all along but had not ever tested it as fully as I had this year. The answer is this: regardless of the twists and turns of any challenge, when you stand naked in your own beautiful truth, and then you fully claim the journey you’ve taken as being your own, there is nothing more beautiful.

Join wishstudio contributor Shona Cole and other creative bloggers who live in
the Houston and North Houston area at a special  Blogger Meet Up!

Hostess:  Shona Cole, author The Artistic Mother

When: December 8, 2010

Time: 7-9pm

Where: La Madeleine in The Woodlands,
9595 Six Pines Drive, Suite 100, The Woodlands TX, 77380

Who: bloggers who would like to put a face and voice to a blog/name
What: a relaxed evening to chat and eat some yummy food with wine or coffee

RSVP: You can leave a comment on this post and/or send Shona an email at theartisticmother@gmail.com. Space is limited to the first 20 bloggers who confirm that they will be there!  Shona will post a list of who is coming as the RSVP’s roll in.  You can spread the word using this badge image.