Spark Clarity: Self-Care for a Wild New Year
#2 of 6: Vision & Structures for Creating Space
Last week was the introduction to my new series on true self-care. If you didn’t read it, start here!
This week we focus on why being clear is vital to whole self-care.
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CLEAR: vision, structures, and discipline (from love, not punishment)
Self-care requires having a clear vision and the discipline and structures to focus on what you really want.
This aspect of self-care is connected to the element of air and the direction of the east: the sunrise, new beginnings, and the clarity of dawn.
Imagine having the perspective of a bird, being able to see your life from a distance so you can hold your biggest vision and create structures that open more space and time in your days.
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Vision
Why is vision connected to self-care? Because vision invites us to be intimate with ourselves, to delve into what we truly want. Self-care is relational, and deepens as we comes to know our self so we know how to bring care to the being that we are.
When we don’t have vision, when we are not clear, we are likely to get bounced around by the needs and dramas and dreams of others. Our attention is easily hooked by the latest news or the latest trends. We end up only doing what is in front of us, which leaves no time and space for our larger creations and dreams and wants.
Get clear:
What do you want more if in your life? Here is a list to get you started:
__Time in nature
__Time with friends
__Time for creativity
__Time to rest
__Time to dream
__Time to exercise
__Time to cook
Now pick one of these things to focus on. This is your vision. Craft the sentence to include your desire and your why, and make it active. You are going to create the time, based on your desire and intent and vision.
I will create more xxx to xxx because I xxx the feeling of xxx
So mine is:
I will create more time to knit because I love the feeling of yarn in my hands and making things for people I love.
Now I have a vision, connected to a feeling.
When we vision we start small and then build. It takes practice to craft bigger and bigger visions and then create the structures to move towards them.
Here is an example of a big vision:
In five years I will be living in my off-grid house, feeling content, and working with apprentices and leaders on the land to help shift the paradigm from judgment and fear to love and embodied wisdom.
Now, it is not enough to just have a vision. We must then follow this up with action.
The action of self-care is all about doing more of what we want to be doing; the self-care of crafting our life consciously.
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Structures
Spend a week holding that eagle-eye view of your life, and notice where you get stuck, confused, or detained by something physical or mental that is holding you back frustrating you. And I don’t mean other people— look for places where there is a hitch in the giddyup of your day to day tasks or larger projects.
Again, we will start small and then explore how this same action can be expanded to your larger vision.
One day many years back I realized how much time I spent looking for my car or house keys. Instead of continuing to judge myself and feel frustrated by my lack of awareness (which caused me to never have enough space or vision to come up with a creative solution) I zoomed out, getting a birds-eye perspective.
“What would help me to stop losing my keys?” I asked myself with curiosity.
I made two changes that day: I put a nail in the wall by the door to hang my keys every time I walked into the house, and I found a clip to hang my keys off my purse.
Then I made a commitment to my new structure.
It took a bit of time to shift my old pattern, but soon I discovered that I was less frustrated and more trusting of myself.
Creating solid structures is a form of self-care. First, we have a vision for what we want more of in our life. Then we start to see the places where we are out of alignment or we are wasting our precious energy.
The next step is to ask yourself really fabulous, inviting questions.
What structure would help me xxxx?
What support do I need to xxxx?
What can I change to create more ease?
What do I need to clear, discard, or revamp to save time in the long run?
Sometimes we don’t look at a structural level because we are so busy doing. But if we don’t step back and hold a bigger vision we will never create the space we need. Structures take time and energy to set up. Yet the rewards are immense: more focused time, less scattered actions.
Again, start small. What one structure can you put into place to shift one day to day habits toward more calm clarity?
Take the week to explore, and make at least one change.
Vision.
Structure.
For our bigger dreams we want to open the portal of our intuitive vision.
The clarifying questions and crafting of supportive structures should help you have more space to listen to your intuitive nudges and signs.
Hold the vision in your being, and keep opening and asking for support and guidance from your guides / ancestors / higher self.
Remember you don’t have to do this alone; you have allies and friends and fellow creatives to inspire and guide you.
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Discipline
Vision and structure have a third friend: Discipline.
Discipline is what moves us from vision to reality, a spark of an idea to manifestation.
Now, discipline can come from punishment, judgment, and force.
One star, don’t recommend.
Using fear or force to take action may work in the short-term, but it is damaging on our bodies and psyche in the long-term.
Instead we want to tune ourselves to the clear discipline of the warrior.
When done with commitment and clarity, discipline is part of your healthy, supportive self-care circle.
We must harness and grow our capacity to hold ourselves accountable to our own visions and the structures we create to support our dreams.
Discipline from the heart of a warrior says “I will” even if we don’t know how.
Discipline from the heart of a warrior is our willingness to start even when we are afraid.
Discipline from the heart of a warrior is our commitment to stay true to ourselves.
Discipline from the heart of a warrior is our commitment to stay true to values.
Discipline from the heart of a warrior is our willingness to get the training and skills we need to continue on our path.
What does discipline mean to you? How can you invite in discipline as self-care?
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Next week’s writing will be on Self-Care #3 of 5: The Fire of Nourishment
See you there!
Ash
This is so rich and inspiring. I am doing reflections every day and your questions are really helping me to hold the small & large visions… I feel I’ve always been a warrior for my love & purpose but in the context of self care it is so welcome & needed … thank you 🙏