One of my most simple strategies for personal growth is related to what many of my friends have been doing for the past few years: creating yearly themes based on a single word. I did that for a long time before it became popular but my focus was always more laser-like: I created theme months.
Now I have balanced that strategy a bit with an overarching theme for the year followed by monthly or weekly themes. It works for me on several levels.
One, it helps me to stay interested in my annual theme or word. If I don’t pull my theme off the shelf for some playful, reflective time, by February I have forgotten it.
Two, it helps me to be flexible and add a Julie-esque flavor to “Everyone else’s rules.” I am a rebel. I am whole heartedly opposed to “rules” or “do it because I said so”s.
Third, it helps me adjust accordingly so that I don’t fall into that either/or trap of “Complete focus or zero focus.” My theme stays relevant and I stay current no matter what happens to show up in the path.
I realized this morning I had yet to create my theme for this week and my mind floated over a variety of possibilities before “outreach” took away my breath and gave me back my attention. Add my yearly theme of “Abondanza” to it and voila! Just what I need for a fabulous week.
Abondanza Outreach this week also feels like a bit of abondanza inreach… like I want to feel into myself a bit, to come to know myself more deeply.
I am somewhat of an introspection queen, a deep thinking junkie of sorts, but this time of year has a tendency to focus toward outflow and other flow rather than “What is rumbling within me?”
When I juggled possibilities of focus this week I couldn’t help but look toward my August 8 Writing Camp and other projects right around the corner I thought “outreach”. I have been having such fun with networking and making new friends it felt perfect.
It is perfect, especially when balanced with its sister, inreach.
Too much of either makes for a flattened spirit of Julie and right now, thank you, we won’t be having any of that!
I even wrote a Cinquain Poem on the theme thanks to a photo prompt at Magpie Tales:
Outreach
Lift up ~ over
tumbling laughing loving
Freeform satisfaction flows through
Reach out
= = =
What did you notice in the poem?
I noticed I was writing about business and outreach, which means marketing, networking and growing my business. I noticed that in the poem I relate to outreach as “tumbling laughing and loving.”
What would happen to my business if I thought of outreach/marketing as one big abondanza fest of tumbling and laughing and loving? It puts an entirely different spin on it which says to me…
I have some copy to write… with abondanza outreach as my focus, it will definitely be… different.
= = =
Interested in August's Virtual Writing Camp? Check it out and register now to reserve your seat. We begin August 8.
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© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott
This is post 25 of 31 in July for the Ultimate Blog Challenge ~
