Is your life today what you pictured a year ago?

This year I set out on a mission: to get to know myself more profoundly than ever before, walk through my shadows, face my limiting beliefs, and allow myself to embrace the fullness of who I am.

All of it. That which society has deemed broken, deficient, wrong, rebellious, damaged, immoral, and not enough.

I’m fat, queer, a femme, and a recovering codependent. Wow, did I really unpack all of that this year? I’ll get into that over future blog posts, I’m sure, but it might give you a quick idea of the sorts of personal work I’ve been doing internally!

---

Almost every year since I was 18, I have done a twelve-month forecast overview card spread. I usually do it on New Year’s Eve, or within the first three days of the fresh new year.

This year, the message overall was clear: I must temper myself in order to achieve success. Think through things rationally and plan accordingly. Passion, but principle. Protect my investments. Mind my boundaries and take control. Lead my life by being true to my values and I will accomplish great things.

And, well, looking back, I sure did that and so much more!

The Power of a Year

Over the next 12 posts, I will release reflections on my experiences throughout 2022 where each post covers a bit about that particular month. 

But, today, I wanted to look back at 2022 as a whole. 

At the beginning of 2022, I wrote: 

“I am currently successful, but in an American Dream for the middle-class kind of way. I am exhausted and don’t have enough time to give back to myself. 

By the end of 2022, I’d like to feel healthy, rested, cared for, prosperous, caring, selfless, Self-ish, empowered, and capable. I want to spend more of my time writing, reading, collaborating, praying, and honoring the Wheel of the Year. I want to develop my ability to be restful, self-caring, spontaneously creative, actively learn, and deepen my personal spirituality.

Aligned Action Plan: I will get there by sitting down and blocking out time for my own tasks, priorities, keeping routines, and highlighting my health. In order to do that, I need to admit my own value, write more often, meditate and affirm more frequently, and eat well.”

First, in looking back I certainly feel that my measurement of success has changed overall from the beginning to the end of this year. 

I’m no longer willing to tie myself into that American Dream for the middle-class kind of life. I want to expand and be greater and to teach other people that they can expand and be greater too. I want to share that this whole class system of our society is a bunch of bullshit designed by those in power that end up keeping us small forever. I’m tired of being tired. Tired of being burnt out. And I’m tired of EVERYONE I know feeling the same, too. Exhausted. Surviving. Merely Getting by. 

All one needs to do is take a simple look at things like student loans and our education system, in general, to realize that it’s horrifically broken and is a pipeline for over-workers and over-functioners. It does not leave room to feel healthy, rested, or cared for. It might leave us feeling prosperous in a financial sense, but very rarely in a health and wellness sense unless we also take advantage of others. I digress… That’s a better topic for our podcast.

If success is defined as not being exhausted and having enough time to give back to myself, I am almost there. Today marks the beginning of my first three-week vacation from my day job since I was a public school teacher. The most I have ever taken off before was close to two weeks, but I usually max out at a week, or a 5-day stint. Therefore, I count this as a big win! I also did tremendous work on codependency and internalized beliefs that kept me small, scared, and quiet. I’ve finally admitted my own value more than ever before because I’m acknowledging that I need to take rest and allow myself these moments of non-work!

I’ve done okay with sitting down and blocking time for my own priorities, but it’s definitely something that I could use more work on. I’ve already gone ahead for 2023 and mapped out a day each month to plan, as well as blocking out all my vacations. Essentially, the organization struggles I had this year really taught me what I need to get straight next year.

I’ve definitely spent my year honoring the Wheel of the Year, and that has been profoundly shifting for me. I’ve recognized the importance of rhythm and ritual, and how much I think other people could benefit from bringing that into their lives. That’s why in 2023, I am launching the Silver Wheel Spiritual Circle. 

I’ve definitely been meditating more this year than I did in prior years (with the exception of when I first discovered mindfulness). I’m using affirmations daily now, and more frequently in my journals as evidenced by the sheer number of affirmations written for each month which I’ll be sharing over the next twelve posts.

Ultimately, I did not write as often as I would have liked in 2022. There were moments this year when I did quite a bit of writing, usually while away on retreat or just in journaling. I was also a part of two internationally best-selling books, Raising Wild Ones and Rebel with a Cause. I have two very big projects that I have faith will launch in 2023, as well as two more co-authored books I am thrilled to be a part of. 

I am hoping that with this blog series, I’ll find that joy of writing for myself and others again, and that it’ll light a special blogging fire for 2023. I’m ready to share my journey with others so that they can benefit from the lessons I’ve learned and get to know themselves more deeply, more quickly, and with far more compassion. That’s a big part of my mission!

So is your life what you pictured it would be a year ago? Leave me a comment! I’d love to talk!

---

What might happen if you gave yourself the gift of a year? The gift of coming present to significant, beautiful moments throughout each season? What could you become aware of? Grow? Discover?

If you’re wondering just how magical life can be, I invite you to join me for the Silver Wheel Spiritual Circle, enrolling now for the Spring 2023 cohort. We begin February 2nd, 2022. Will you be there? 

Check out more of our wholesome, uplifting content at LivingLUNAs.com or join us on Discord where we are most active by going to discord.me/livingluna and clicking Join Server in the upper right.