Let Your Flowers Bloom This Spring
PC: Pinterest
It’s been an interesting couple of months. January marked the end of my employment at InStyle. February had me recouping and recovering. March took me to Paris, and through it all I started to build up my freelance portfolio. I’ve felt a mix of stress and rest as I tried to figure out how to paint this year and make it work in my favor.
As we enter April, though, I feel the need to stop and reflect. What have I learned in these first three months? What worked? What could have gone better? But most importantly… do I feel good about myself now? The answer to the last question is the driving force to everything else. All good things come to me when I’m aligned with myself—when I love what I wear, what I feel, what I have at home, and believe in the future I plan on creating for myself. That’s the only time everything around me moves like a well-oiled machine. I find it difficult to enter this mindset in the winter, but with the birds chirping and the temperatures rising, I can finally shake off the winter gunk and invite a fresh perspective for Spring.
Here’s what I’m focusing on now: tending to my flowers and letting them bloom. I have some unique flower buds in me, and I want to see the various species blossom. That’s not going to happen if I keep staring at my neighbors garden. I’m also not going to see any growth if I keep criticizing how slow they grow. So with a gentle hand, a patient soul, and lots of love juice, I’m going to become the best botanist for my little soul. Here’s how I’m going to do it:
1. Stay Off My Phone
All the distractions are proving to be a little too much. I go to my phone out of habit, not out of need, and it breaks up my concentrations every single time. This doom-scrolling steals precious hours and valuable mental space, so I’m making a conscious effort to keep off my phone more.
2. Visualize My Best Self
One thing I stopped doing during my corporate years was visualizing my future. Not just my future, but picturing myself in the rooms I want to be in wearing the clothes that make me feel confident. I used to see myself in the highest light, and I somehow let the busyness of life take that away from me. So I’m reinstalling my visualization sessions—good thing is I can do that from anywhere, any time.
3. Do At Least One Thing For My Future, Everyday
There’s a difference between work that drains you and work that fuels you. I find that working on things like this website, my youtube, or my other various projects does the latter, so no matter how tired I am, I should always accomplish one task related to my future.
4. Meditate Once a Week
Meditating everyday is not realistic for me, but once a week? I can do that. As a longtime on again, off again meditator, I know how beneficial just a bit of mental silence is. I swear I turn into a better person after each session, and feel much more aligned with who I am.
