Podcast – Looking forward to 2017
Click Here to find all the podcast episodes shared so far.
If you listened through to the end, then you’ll know that I’m no longer sharing full length transcripts. While I loved sharing the transcripts, it was just not sustainable for our business. It came down to either publishing less frequently or shutting down the podcast completely, and I made the simplest choice possible – just stop horsing with the transcripts Leah!
Simple and Open. Those are my words for the year. I want to be open to working with more quilters, collaborating to create beautiful projects, and open to new experiences and opportunities to learn.
I also want to work simpler with less complication and fuss. I tend to over-optimize things and make them so complicated, heavy, and confusing I struggle to finish anything. No more. Simple is the way to go.
But optimizing things feels like a core part of my nature. How can I change something that seems so intrinsically tied to me?
Affirmations. It’s been awhile since I pulled them out in a serious way. The last time was when I was pregnant with James, and he’s going to turn 10 this year. Somewhere along the line I let go of this awesome habit for change and forgot how powerful it could be.
Before you click away with an eye roll at how silly this sounds – consider this – how many times do you think thoughts of frustration and impatience throughout the day? More often than thoughts of joy and contentment?
Over time the thoughts you think most often plow a rut through your brain. Quite literally – the more often you think about something, the easier it will be to have that thought again and again. And the resulting feeling that accompanies that thought will follow soon after.
So thoughts of anger and resentment, if allowed to fester and build will only become more frequent and accompanied by stronger emotional reactions. It’s easy to see how Mrs. Twit went from looking pretty and happy to ugly and twisted just by thinking ugly thoughts.
But what if you could counteract the negative stuff to tip the scales in the other direction? What if we had a fail safe built into our life to tip the scales to happier thoughts?
Is that really such a silly thing to do? I don’t think so. This is why I’m using affirmations again on a regular, consistent, and dedicated basis.
I’m combining affirmations with a japa mala from meditation which helps me keep track of how many times I’ve repeated an affirmation. This is a chain of 108 beads I hold in my hand and as I say an affirmation, I slide a bead down the chain.
I usually do this either right before falling asleep or as the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning. It’s a wonderfully relaxing practice and I often find myself falling asleep with the beads in my hand.
Will this actually work? Will affirmations give me some magical juice to stop optimizing and simplify my life? I believe it will. I’ve already seen some helpful changes just in the last few days and this new habit is so relaxing and easy I see no reason not to continue it.
So that is my plan for this coming year! I’m looking forward to working with simplicity and becoming a more open, adventurous person.
What is your word for the year? What do you want to see change in 2017? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Let’s go quilt,
Leah Day
Consider is my word for this year. I published my first quilting book last year and am doing some teaching this year and am taking the year to consider where I really want to go with all of this…
My word this year is Positivity. Leah, I want to thank you for giving me the courage to JUST GET STARTED. I was full of excuses as to why I couldn't achieve my quilting dreams…no time, no space, inadequate machine, blah, blah, blah. The real reason was fear…I was afraid to fail, afraid to try and screw up, afraid to invest time and effort in something that might not turn out perfect. I stumbled across your blog while I was researching longarm machines (while whining that I couldn't afford one!) and read your post about being able to quilt anywhere, even in your closet, and I got inspired! I got some folding tables, got my machine out, and started QUILTING. Thanks for all you do to inspire and motivate quilters. Keep on encouraging people! The most powerful words in the universe are "Yes I can!"
That is a wonderful word Suzy. You're right, it's a good step to stop and consider how you want your life to change. Switching a craft to a profession does change things so I'm glad you're going into it with your eyes open. Good luck!
That is such an excellent story Amanda! You're right – you really can quilt anywhere! I have managed to quilt in many less than ideal situations and I made it work and I made many beautiful quilts with very limited resources. You just have to really WANT to do it, and you have to be fearless in the face of all those voices saying you can't do it. Thank you for sharing!