100 things that made me grow (2018)

Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist, inspired me with his 2018 list, so I made my own:

  1. Mountain Biking. The first day of the new year I went on a group ride with Absolute Bikes in Sedona, AZ. I started the year outdoors and with friends.
  2. Honoring the current power of Saturn (structure/containment) and Pluto (transformation, death/rebirth) meeting in (my) sun-sign Capricorn (ambition/determination/earth) – an event that happens every 350 years – by making a goal for 350 years from now. Evolution, harmony, Earth, innovation, and Beauty will still be important to me in 350 years. Cosmic goal-setting. The macro informing the micro.
  3. Declaring out loud that I am having fun when I am having fun. Woohoo! It’s contagious!
  4. Slowing down and noticing the aliveness of air on my skin, small habits, anger and loss, and buds on winter trees.
  5. Borrowing money from a friend (and paying her back) to buy a used Ford Focus for $1300 after being carless for eight years. Though I still make it a point to ride my bike almost everywhere, my life has become less isolated.
  6. Rewiring my body/brain with a five minute pleasure ritual every morning.
  7. Taking my sensuality ritual to the next level and awakening more pleasure and passion by taking the Jade Egg Masterclass with tantric relationship expert, Layla Martin.
  8. Completing the Elevate Your Asana 30-day Yoga Challenge at The Yoga Experience in Flagstaff. The practice deepened my commitment to yoga and I made yoga friends.
  9. May Cause Miracles.
  10. Chanting: Om Eim Hrim Klim Chamundayei Vicche Swaha. Translation: Om and salutations to she who is radiant with power and wisdom.
  11. The Five Love Languages
  12. Discovering that one of the most important things for me in relationships is to know my partner has my back.
  13. Deeply diving into astrology, and getting far more out of it than ever before.
  14. The Five Sutras of the Aquarian Age.
  15. Interviewing healers and Earth activists Jonah Jensen and Will Reynolds – A Conversation with Place: Returning to our Council.
  16. Being turned on to the spooky psychedelic rock of Jess and the Ancient Ones.
  17. Talking with yogini and poet Rachel Heart – Embodying Shakti.
  18. Amanda Palmer and strength through music.
  19. Chanting to Durga: Om Dum Durgayei Namaha
  20. Swimming in the waters of divine discontent, we emerge transformed.
  21. Embodying the rising of Goddess Feminine Energy with community in Rachel Heart‘s yogini circle.
  22. Nothing Compares to You
  23. Walking at twilight and watching the light shift on the aspen trees.
  24. Digging local Flagstaff band, Planet Sandwich.
  25. Collecting images for a weekend in Tucson with my friend Leslie. Talking with her about love, color, mountain biking, yoga, food, cracks in the sidewalk.
  26. Diving deep and and participating in Stand in Your Strengths training with Jenean Merkel Perelstein. I’d been wanting to do this for years – an investment – and – well worth it.
  27. Hugging trees.
  28. Listening to my gut and my girlfriends and releasing an ex rather than letting him back into my life.
  29. Trusting in creating space for new love.
  30. Making forgiveness a practice.
  31. Receiving the idea for a masterminding course to release in 2019.
  32. Being willing to let go of self-doubt.
  33. 100 squats a day for 30 days (and beyond).
  34. Reviewing my goals three times every morning.
  35. Modeling for life drawing classes at Coconino Center for the Arts.
  36. Chanting to Radha: Om Parama Prema Rupaya Namaha for 40 days. Translation: Om and salutations to the supreme Divine Love, coming in a recognizable form.
  37. Creating new rules and beliefs for myself regarding my spirit, love and love relationships, self-worth, my relationship with money, my physical body, creativity and creative expression, transformation, power, friends, community, and wisdom.
  38. Asking myself the question: What does it feel like to be supported?
  39. Understanding on a deeply profound level that I am my own source of security (not a man, not an institution or a job). Opening to learning security in creativity.
  40. Exploring the idea of home. Declaring that home is where I can be wild and weird.
  41. Listening to Terence McKenna lectures.
  42. Getting an astrology reading by my friend and reiki teacher, Geordie Numada.
  43. Keeping a Success Journal.
  44. Writing in my Gratitude Journal.
  45. #metoo
  46. Choosing to experience a healthy, happy sense of self-worth in all life situations.
  47. Checking in with the four feelings of Dr. Gary Salyer’s Love GPS for conscious, lasting relationships. The four feelings are: feeling welcomed with joy;  worthy and nourished; cherished and protected; power and choice with voice.
  48. Chanting Aham Prema 125,000 times. From Shakti Mantras, by Thomas Ashley-Farrand: With this simple mantra, you affirm your own essential nature as one of Divine Love. The vibration of this mantra begins the process of transforming your entire body, being, nature, and spirit in . . . your own particular emanation, of Divine Love. 
  49. Feeling my wings of freedom grow and remembering how to fly!
  50. Calling in a new partner who is kind, gentle, creative, and loving.
  51. Debbie Baxter and the Nest Project
  52. Heather Bleasdell, Citizen Witch ~ Never Give Up, Always Surrender
  53. Christine Blasey Ford
  54. Softening. Allowing vulnerability to be strength.
  55. Resuming my career as a musician, after a 14 year hiatus.
  56. Standing up for myself at work and demanding civility and respect from clients.
  57. 5 Steps to a Radiant Practice with Jeff Masters.
  58. Practicing pranayama as the fastest way to radiance.
  59. Leading the Absolute Bikes “Ladies Sunday Funday” mountain bike ride.
  60. Choosing who I want to partner with romantically rather than waiting for a partner to choose me.
  61. Falling in love.
  62. Training my brain to be a lucky person.
  63. Sending handwritten thank you notes.
  64. Reminding myself, “With love as my guide, I expect miracles.” (Gabrielle Bernstein)
  65. Taking a real vacation, and not bringing a computer with me.
  66. Revisiting Why the Body? and still finding truth in somatics informing creativity.
  67. Discovering Parvathy Baul’s haunting performance of “Hey Kaala!” – an intoxicated love cry from Radha to her Dark Beloved, Krishna.
  68. Knowing practicing true self-care means always being myself.
  69. Seeing my day job an opportunity for practicing love, service, and gratitude with whomever I come in contact with.
  70. Going to a lecture on Maha Mudra Tantra during the Blissful Mind Retreat at the International Kadampa Retreat Center in Williams, AZ where my friend Randi was staying for a visit.
  71. Understanding on a deeper level that as a teenager I was expected to and had to make major life decisions for my survival before my brain was completely developed. This understanding has me feeling less ashamed of the mistakes I made during that time.
  72. Experiencing ease in deep commitment.
  73. Wondering on what level forgiveness allows freedom, and being willing to find out.
  74. Being truly grateful for my life.
  75. Feeling true gratitude and love for my friends.
  76. Obtaining  digitized videos from my friend and guitar player Sanford, of our 90s punk/garage band, The Halfbreeds. Slowly uploading the videos on youtube.
  77. Acknowledging that it takes strength and faith in allowing deep change to occur in my life.
  78. Seeing my co-dependent patterns and consciously releasing them.
  79. Journeying through the land of hot flashes, sleepless nights, and herbal remedies, and loving my body through it all.
  80. Dreaming of a future with a (my) man who dreams of making me gluten-free pancakes in our yurt next to our permaculture garden.
  81. Making a list of all the movies I’d like to see and actually watching some of them with my honey (who happens to be a film maker).
  82. Regularly showing up and performing at the Lucky Jam hosted by Lucky Lenny on Thursday nights in Flagstaff. Getting to know and play with lots of musicians in town.
  83. Visiting MudShark Recording Studios and feeling excited for the potential of recording there.
  84. Saying “YES” to creative projects.
  85. Keeping a budget.
  86. Attending the week long Chakra Yoga Intensive with Ruth Hartung (Sraddhascar) at 7 Centers Yoga Arts in Sedona.
  87. Loving Kundalini Yoga and adding aspects of it to my workshops.
  88. Learning how to expand my aura and how to make myself invisible.
  89. Working consciously to release beliefs that no longer serve me.
  90. Co-leading a Women’s Community Circle with Rachel Heart and Cat Coscia at The Yoga Experience with a focus on community, power, and Winter Solstice intention setting.
  91. Asking, “What if I let this be easy?” and “How can this be more fun?”
  92. Starting a series of oil paintings called “Sky Pixel” at the behest of my college art professor and amazing artist, Laura Sue King.
  93. Going to Daytona for Christmas and meeting Paul’s (my boyfriend’s) family!
  94. Falling in love with Paul’s family.
  95. Playing guitar and singing with Paul and his brother Pete, and performing for his parents.
  96. Finding out that I am really good at playing drums during a cerebral “spazz jazz” jam with Paul and Pete and making a recording called Night in Port Richie.
  97. Giving reiki, receiving reiki.
  98. Riding bicycles on the beach and watching the sunset with Paul on my birthday.
  99. Offering a hand-written poem, a tarot reading and a blue stone as a gift for Christmas and having it well-received.
  100. Hanging out with my aunt and mom who drove all the way from New York to visit me. They loved Paul and we all celebrated New Year’s Eve with dinner and singing.

 

 

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Holly hails from an illustrious lineage of fortune tellers, yogis, folk healers, troubadours and poets of the fine and mystical arts. Shape-shifting Tantric Siren of the Lunar Mysteries, she surfs the ebbs and flows of the multiverse on the Pure Sound of Creation. Her alchemy is Sacred Folly — revolutionary transformation through Love, deep play, Beauty, and music.

4 thoughts on “100 things that made me grow (2018)

  1. Holly.
    Austin K came onto my radar late last year. His weekly blogs (and a lot of his work/play) resounded with me immediately. I’ve always been one for lists anyway, so his & this ^ make a lot of sense too! Thanks for following & for sharing your great list – sure looks as if you took the best from a great year!
    Keep on keeping on.
    Nick.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Nick. Sometimes it’s work, the conscious effort of noticing what’s good and how things turn out – and completely worth it. So much navigating in life!

      I’m enjoying your stories – they take me out of the mundane work-a-day world for a few minutes and let in other realities that linger like incense.

      I will keep on keepin’ on! Same to you! -HT

      Liked by 1 person

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