Believe In 2021

This year I was invited to participate in a program called Holiday Council through a company call StrateJoy which has helped me work on my upcoming plan for 2021. As in years past I chose a word (or theme) for the year: BELIEVE.

In years past I’ve tried a variety of methods to create New Year’s resolutions and they’ve all worked in some ways and not worked in others. I’ve really appreciated the using of the one word and having a bracelet from My Intent as a reminder over the course of the past couple of years. It’s been really helpful in keeping my theme to the forefront of my mind. And this year is no different.

As part of the Holiday Council program, I’ve worked through some introspection and visualization to help me figure out my theme and what are called your “ways of being” and ultimately I’ve created a vision and some goals.

2020 has been many things for me as I’m sure for many of you. I’ve gone back and forth being angry, frustrated, and annoyed and then appreciating the exploration, introspection and reflection this year has provided to me when I’ve lost so much of what I used to value for my extroverted self. This year has really been a chance for me to investigate what I miss and why. I’ve been able to focus on what I did to stay busy versus what has been fulfilling for me. I’ve also had a lot of time to think about what I do at home that is just keeping me occupied versus what actually feeds my soul. I’ve also realized that what satisfies me is also not always what entertains me; for example: while I am no stranger to TV and this pandemic has definitely resulted in everyone in this house spending more time in front of screens for “good” and “bad” reasons I’ve noticed that if I sit in front of the TV (or social media doom scrolling) for too long I generally feel worse and it’s not the rest or relaxation I was looking for. I have realized I actually miss the days of waiting all week to watch the next episode because then it felt special. In these days of binge watching, TV doesn’t necessarily cultivate the same brain break if I sit and watch it too long; soon what began as a chance to rest and be entertained becomes a slide into laziness and malcontent.

This pandemic has resulted in beginning to ask myself: is this activity keeping me busy versus or fulfilled? This question has become a really important metric for evaluating my activities during this pandemic and something I plan on continuing to use going forward.

In my reflection throughout 2020 I’ve been really starting to focus on writing and using it as an outlet so a good friend recommended that I write out my future visualization for the end of 2021 as a way to help see the goals for this upcoming year. I wrote a letter from future me and was able to use that to write a poem as my vision for 2021:

In a year where you can be anything
Be Enchanting
Don’t fear the magic
Don’t be afraid to sparkle
Be Satisfied
Life is never perfect
But it can still be amazing
Be Adventurous
Don’t silence the call in your soul
Don’t be afraid to jump
Be Wild
Set your heart free
And sound your barbaric yawp
Be Sexy
This body gives life
This body loves
Believe in the year
Believe in all it can be
Believe in the pain
Believe in the pleasure
This is your year to Be
Enchanting
Satisfied
Adventurous
Wild
Sexy
And Believe in, above all else, yourself

After I wrote the poem I came up with a vision board to go along with it but doing it this way seemed to help me really connect with my goals instead of just picking images that I may want to guide me through 2021. I was able to connect with a why, then create a what, and then figure out the how.

Believe in all the possibilities for 2021!

I hope you have a happy, healthy, and joyful holiday season.