Generosity 2.0

As you know if you keep up with this blog at all, I chose the word Generosity to move me through the next 12 months of 2016.

It has held a surprising kind of energy and there have been pleasant and unexpected results already.

I tend to be practical. By practical I mean that I’d pick Sears Toughskins  jeans because they would last literally forever. Why buy one pair of awesome fitting brightly colored adorable fashion pants that will make me happy for a short time when I can own a dozen pairs of  uncomfortable, stiff-legged but inexpensive britches that will never – ever – wear out? Verrry practical.

In other words, I am decidedly un-generous with myself.

2016 Patricia Scarborough  A Warming Breeze, 12x16 oil  This painting has been donated to the Fillmore County Hospital Foundation for auction on February 13th. Generous, eh?

When the word generosity was whispered gently in my ear I imagined selfless giving, donating gallons of blood or showering crowds of people with dollar bills. It never once occurred to me that I would be the recipient of my own new found benevolence. 

What does self-altruism look like?

I usually spend more time charging forward with my head down and my eyes closed than I do considering if I'm headed in the right direction. The first few weeks of the year it has occurred to me that personal generosity allows for time to consider which path, if any, is worthy of my bull-in-a-china-shop-ness.

I've realized a calendar is as much for opening up as it is for filling in. Rather than squeezing events in and around, I'm allowing empty spaces. Several exhibit opportunities have come calling recently and it was a surprise to hear myself say Thanks but no thanks. 

There has also been a new-found charitableness toward my own shortcomings. Suddenly I am willing to wipe out entire paintings and start fresh, just because. The paint in my drawer isn’t good for anything until it is squeezed out and mixed, beautifully or badly, but mixed and used liberally. My ear catches the whisper of generosity as I prepare my palette.

These weren’t planned events. I’m as surprised as anyone. As  my own private stash of generosity builds, I find there is plenty to share. 

Speaking of generosity, I really am donating the above painting to the Fillmore County Hospital Foundation. Show a little generosity yourself and call Christin at 402-759-2426 to place your bid.

A Year of Generosity

Our first, second (and third) snows of the year have been cleared away, the calendar pages have been flipped over, and a stack of brand new shiny resolutions wait like little puppies, hopeful against all common sense to be adopted.

 I've shared this many times before: resolutions and I have never gotten along. In my mind a resolution requires a powdered wig and a gavel, a Robert's Rules kind of vote complete with a second, and two-thirds vote for approval. Resolutions seem to be stamped with an expiration date, which means you either did it - or you didn't. Once you've done it, well, what next? And if you didn't do it? Then what?

Rather than resoluteness as an improvement plan, I have used Christine Kane's Word for the Year tool to challenge and encourage myself toward goals and general self betterment.

The point is to select a word that will lead you into and through the next 350-some odd days ahead.
I've used Up, Engage and Allow, which have been instructional and very useful. I'll also admit that I had totally forgotten one year's word. Maybe that year's word was "resolution".

This year's word came to me unexpectedly but quite clearly, like a Eureka! moment in the shower.

Generosity.

Before long it became clear that it was meant to be my word, as over the course of the morning I had multiple opportunities to give it a workout.  Evidently the universe believes I need some schooling.

Generosity is about  amounts of things; time, kindness, patience, help, and yes, money. Generosity toward others, and perhaps even especially, toward myself. Generosity in spirit and from my pocketbook.

I'm anxious to experience how the thread of generosity will weave its way through my life in the year.

How about you? What word works for you?

Extending West

My last post described my approach to New Year's Resolutions. Or rather, my refusal to make them.

I've gone for a different approach the past few years which has proven to be growth-inspiring and deeply moving in some quiet, personal ways.

I pick a word that resonates deeply in my heart, and use it to gently prod myself into new ways of living. I've chosen the word 'extend' to take me into the coming 12 months.

Already I'm seeing a broadening of my experiences. Don't read too much into this; I'm not stretching my way into hang gliding or joining the circus. There will be no checking off of bucket lists or mountains climbed.

In the first eight weeks of the year my experiences have extended to dipping my toes in the cold Pacific ocean, watching whales make their way south, and enjoying fog obscure most everything around me.

As I sit here curled up in my comfy chair staring out the window at piles of snow left from the last storm, my memory extends back to this lovely get-away and a grateful smile spreads across my face.

Extending into the New Year

By now many of you have already checked off your entire list of New Year’s Resolutions. Others of you have already forgotten what you promised, and still others are still trying to knock out resolutions from decade ago. How's that last 10 pounds coming?

If you’ve been keeping track of me, you know that I’m not a resolution kinda gal.  There’s nothing about January that inspires me to change, unless it is to move south.

Rather than promise to become a thinner, smarter, taller or just plain better version of myself, I prefer to pick a single word that can be used as a guide during the coming 12 months for deeper, more honest living.  

In past years I've used words like allow, up, moxie (yeah, that was a bad choice. I allowed myself to give up that one). Engage was so engaging it lasted two years. 

The word extend came to me quietly a few weeks ago while sitting in my thinking chair. It's a cozy place I curl up to corral important thoughts and start my day. Other more dramatic words had made the initial list; seek, courage, power, fearlessness … words that require a red cape to complete the ensemble.

I'm too old for spandex and the last time I wore a cape it got caught - well, never mind that.

E x t e n d

A word for the year must be heartfelt and true, created for your own personality. It should encourage growth while supporting all that has come before. Extend seems to fit that bill.

To extend is to draw out, stretch, prolong. To make more comprehensive. It works figuratively as well as in the literal sense.  I can extend my painting sessions, or extend a helping hand. Perhaps a breaking point can be extended just a few more inches. I envision a bridge spanning a vast chasm. I think the reaches of my comfort zone will get a workout.

and then extend a little bit more

It's a year long process, so where this word will lead me exactly I don't know. That's one of the benefits of the process. So, I extend to you an invitation to come along with me. What word will guide you this year? 

Another Word For The Year

It’s nearly time to sweep the year 2013 out the door and welcome 2014 with open arms.

2013 Patricia Scarborough San Gabriel Trail Head   The last painting of 2013.

If you’ve stuck with me for the past 4 ½ years, you may recall that I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. Using the first day of the new year, when everything seems bright and shiny, seems to bring on a bad case of over-reaching. I’ll lose 20 pounds! I’ll start that orphanage! I'll find a cure for stoopid!

Resolutions feel so…resolute. There is is dogged determination, obstinacy and self-assuredness. There is fortitude, grit and pluck and motivation, all of which sound like exhortations plastered on the walls of a fitness center.  Which, by the way, is where many resolutions go to die.

I’m a believer in Christine Kane’s Word Of The Year plan. In 2006 she wrote about choosing a single word that you could hold in your heart and use as a guide throughout the year. She called it a Resolution Revolution.

In a nutshell, by choosing a single word as a guide for the next 365 days, you give yourself room to grow rather than a pass/fail box to check off.

Several years ago I chose ‘engage’ as my word of the year. Consider the difference between this word and a resolution:

Resolution - I will spend 6 hours in my studio.

Engage - I will engage in my studio space.

4 hours,27minutes...

Can you feel it? One has me watching the clock, the other is immersion in a space designed for creativity.

I didn’t achieve engagement; there was no little plastic trophy or floppy rosette to set on a shelf.

Best Engagement Achiever?

 The act of engagement came quietly and gently and settled in like a a comfy old sweater. Or like a collection of finished paintings hung beautifully in a gallery.

In the end, engagement in my studio, classes, conversations and painting brought forth nearly 50 paintings in one year. Imagine if I had simply resolved to finish 50 paintings in one year? There's a failure waiting to happen.

27 more to go...can't do it...Mommmmy...

On to 2014. This year I have chosen the word ‘allow’ to guide me. I’ve got some thoughts of how this will unfold, but since this is an organic, heart-felt exercise I’ll try not to start out with preconceived notions. I'll allow it to unfold. See how easy it is?

How about you? Are you going to check off a box? Or are you going to fill your entire year with a fresh kind of motivation?

Up-ness

Greetings Dear Reader –

Those of you who follow this blog (hi Mom!) recall that I’m a not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions. A more helpful method of self improvement or growth, in my opinion, is choosing a word to serve as a guide for the next 12 months.

Over the years I have used words like ‘engage’ or ‘focus’ to lead me through times of growth, languish, tension or ease. I found that a simple word whispered into my inner ear could lift or push or validate my actions in a manner far more deeply than any resolution could.

When the calendar reminded me that it was time to pick a new word for 2013 I imagined something exciting. Charge! Leap! Courage! Effortlessness!

The word that appeared unbidden was “up”.

“Up”?  Gee, I was imagining something more…exotic. 
The more I pondered my list of uplifting words, the more often the word “up” came ... up.

Have you ever noticed that when something is on your mind, you experience it more often?  Like forgetting your purse and seeing traffic cops at every corner. Or giving up sugar and the neighbor, to whom you haven’t spoken in years, brings over a pile of cookies just because. Or pondering the word “up”, and finding that it comes in handy in all kinds of situations.

I cleaned up some files. I’ve upped my exercise routine. I’m aware that I tend to knit my eyebrows and am making a conscious effort to lift them up, coincidentally lifting my attitude.

Who knew such a tiny little word would worm its way into my daily life and have an impact in such a short time? Up is not just a direction. It seems to be a call to action as well; get up, up-level; buck up; be up to it, upscale, be on the up and up, upbeat, sunny side up.  What else? I can have an uplifting attitude,  I can update my website. I can up-end my schedule, or upset the fruit basket – all good things in their proper context, which is to pay attention and grow. Up, of course.

At The Burkholder Project in Lincoln, Ne. proprietor Anne Burkholder arranged to put carpet up on the walls of a vacant studio space. 

Anne Burkholder herself

She then offered this prime space to a select group of artists, including me.

I signed up, and recently hung up a group of paintings on the wall.  Stop in and see what's up at the new Corner Gallery at The Burkholder Project.
 

I'm up for 2013. Are you?

Up for the Year

It’s time for New Year’s Resolutions!!

Or not.

I’ve never been one to jump on that bandwagon. My thinking was, why pick one day of the year to decide to do something (or quit something or lose something?  Why that one day rather than any other? Couldn't I accomplish that feat any other day of the year - and without all the hooplah?

What makes the day of January First so powerful that all promises to self will stick?

Poof! It’s January First and I will be very organized!        

Poof! It’s January First and I will lift great weights over and over and run miles and miles and lose 10 pounds and inches and inches!

Poof! It’s January First and I will get along with everyone (even if they’re idiots)!

Poof! It’s January First and I will achieve all the great things I’ve not been able to achieve up to now!
 
Seems to me the key to change resides within, rather than with a number in a square under the heading ‘January’.

A more helpful  tool, in my opinion, is Christine Kane’s Word for the Year.  Go on ahead and read what she’s got to say. It’s pretty heady stuff.

This is my 4^th year of choosing a guide word to move me through the next 12 months.  I can attest to the power and growth of starting a bright and shiny new year this way, having chosen Moxie last year.

Of all the fancy words that could have drifted across my brain pan and heralded change and excitement, challenge and delight, the word that came to me for the next 12 months is “up”.

No compassion, generosity, effortlessness, engaging, gratitude, abundance, growth, creativity, delight, presence, courage, confidence, releasing, trusting, expansion, exploration or adventure.

Up.

Up, as in heavenward? (Look up)  Increasing? (Pile up)  Finishing? (End up) Growing? (Up your game)

Up as in eyebrows lifting, mouth curling in a smile, chin higher?

I'll let you know. Looks like I've got something to learn.

How about you? How will you move into the next 12 months?

My Word 2012

Happy First Day of 2012.

It’s a new set of months, 12 of them coming at us all shiny and new, unbent, unbroken; hopeful like a brand new pair of jeans.

It’s also the day we dread.  It’s New Year’s Resolution Day.

I'm suggesting you try something different.

 For the last 4 years I have followed the wise guidance of Christine Kane, counselor and visionary to millions.  Rather than start the year with a resolution, which feels all burdensome, more of a millstone than a touchstone and generally doomed to failure, Christine offers a kinder approach: the Word for the Year.

Having a Word for the Year is more like having a guide than a goal. It’s a word you can whisper softly to yourself multiple times a day, or rattle yourself with when necessary to get on track. There is no use-by date, no shelf life, no feelings of failure.

The first year I replaced my resolutions with a simple word, I chose “engage”. It was a beautiful word to accompany my journey through a year of immense growth and change as I developed my art practice.  Engage worked so well I used it a second year as well.  Using the word engage was infinitely more powerful for me than any resolution charging me to Do Better, Try Harder, Achieve More. Engaging was measureable immediately, kinder to myself and others, and useful in nearly every situation.

 Engage, as in connect, involve, mesh.

Last year I got flashy and chose moxie.  Originally a name for a soft drink years ago, it became synonymous with spunk and courage.  I had spent weeks looking for a good word, sounding them out and imagining their usefulness.  Moxie sounded dashing and fun. The image in my mind was of a certain artist in 6-inch heels and jaunty beret, striding confidently through each doorway swung open just for me.

If you’ve ever worn 6-inch heels, you can see right away what a bad fit that was.  My rakish beret was more Princess Beatrice  than courageous, although now that I think of it, wearing that hat took guts.

In other words, moxie was fun to think about, but just not … real. At least not for me.  Moxie will be relegated to list of Not So Good Ideas along with the “new” recipe for Coca-Cola and my stylish Crocs.

There's just no excuse for this.

This year’s word is a better fit. Interestingly, it seems to have found me.  In a weird sort of way I have become aware of the word “awareness”. I accept that it’s been following me around for quite some time and expects to be invited in to stay. Rather than look for a flashier, sassier more interesting word, I’m going to accept the kindness and guidance of the universe and go into the year 2012 holding hands with awareness.

 I’m framing awareness as a call to enlightenment, appreciation and understanding, all of which I could use a little more of. It’s also pretty open ended and useful in many contexts. I can hear it being used by our local deputy (Ma’am, are you aware of the speed limit?)  or by Handsome Husband (Hon, are you aware of that thing on your forehead?).  I’m really hoping to hear it whispered to my deepest self, shedding light on my motives, my attitudes and my preconceptions.  It’ll be interesting to see how this concept infiltrates my actions and supports/challenges/awakens or otherwise lifts me to a higher level of being in the world over the next 52 weeks.

Think about it. What word will guide you through the coming year?

I Got Moxie

Haven't got your resolutions for the New Year completed yet?
Hold on a sec, and consider a new approach.

Christine Kane, singer-wongwriter, life coach and all around fabulous human spirit, has an inspired way of looking at how you can move into your new year.  Go ahead, take a peek, I can wait.

Who among us hasn't made a laundry list of goals and achievements for the coming 12 months?  It's de rigueur don'tcha know? Usually the list starts off with something about weight, or getting in shape. Move on to being nicer, or more tolerant or less meddling.  In the case of creative types, add a museum exhibit or a major award in a juried show.  Wrap it up with global peace and puppy for every child. Did I mention getting in shape?

You know the scenario.  February rolls around, your righteous indignation is the only thing getting a workout and there's no more time to get into your studio than there was last year.  The world is still at war and those darn kids won't leave their wii's long enough to even notice there's a dog chewing the furniture.  Another set of resolutions bites the dust.

A few years ago I took Christine's nudge to a new life to heart. Rather than make another resolution that would only gather dust, I selected a word to hold in my heart during the new year. The first year I chose the word 'engage'.  The visual for me was two gears moving together to mesh, thereby moving an entire set of gears and machinery into motion. Whispering engage into my own ear helped move me up into higher levels of self awareness, creativity and health. It was gentle and yet persistant.  It was a powerful enough experience that I used the same word again the next year.  The benefit is that there's no achieving a particular result or completing a singular task thereby ending the exercise. It's truly a gift that keeps giving all year long.

   This year my word will be moxie.  Originally the name of a carbonated beverage in the first decades of the 1900's, today moxie has connotations of pep, determination and spunk.  Feeling uninspired today?  C'mon, get some moxie!  Need to make that appointment but feeling kind of shy?  Moxie! Ready to move a new direction with my art?  You got it - moxie. And conversely, when I need to back off, rest and reconsider, it'll take moxie to allow that too.

Plus, it's just plain fun to say.  M o x i e.

The Cowardly Lion was given the word courage by a kind Wizard.  It was just a word, but what a word it was.  The Tin Man likewise. Scarecrow's word for the year was brains, which opened up a world unknown to him before that moment. How would they have grown had the Wizard asked them for their New Years resolutions? Chances are they'd be right back where they were when Dorothy found them.

Lay down your list of resolutions and start fresh.
What will your word for the new year be?