The Art of Being Aware

Every January I think of a word I want to take with me throughout the year.  I don’t make new year’s resolutions, no need to give myself another excuse to worry about failure–as an artist, I am a master at that worry. Instead, I think of a word that is a daily reminder, a trigger to something important or what I feel should be important.  I gave this challenge out to an old friend of mine.  She responded right away and asked me what my word was.  I didn’t know at the time.  I had jotted a few words in different journals and had to taste them for awhile.

This week it came to me: AWARE.

This is a loaded word, one that doesn’t come easy in our busy culture.  A culture that can make you feel guilty if you make time to relax or stare at a sunset until you’re too cold to stay any longer.  If you aren’t going mock 10 then something is wrong with you.  This year I choose to make moments each day that I’m aware of the small things, the dirty things, the beautiful things, the things that might be needed from others.  I will be aware of body language from others so I can choose how to respond instead of breezing by without noticing joy, pain or laughter.

This morning I am starting with purposeful slow breathing, a few notes in my writers journal and this post.  It starts now.  Hello 2015, lets see what you have in store…

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