Intentions for 2020
Any opportunity to set intentions and reflect on the past, all the good and the bad, is a valuable opportunity. I honestly cannot believe that it is already 2020. I remember last New Years eve I was texting all my friends who were out celebrating the new year while I was in my dining room, rewriting my BC supplement essay. I was bummed I couldn't be out partying it up, but getting into BC was my priority. Everything works out the way it is suppose to. It is kind of wild how much can change and how fast one year comes and gos. Think about all the things that happened to you this year that you didn’t know or expect. All the unknowns that are now known. All the people you met, things you did, places you traveled, food you ate. So with the new year already among us, take some time and think about the experiences you hope to have over the next year. Maybe you want to feel what falling in love feels like, how radishes taste when you get them from a local organic farm, how the rainforest sounds, how the stars look in Wyoming, how it feels to be flexible and strong, or maybe you hope to understand what you purpose in life is. I believe through reflecting and setting intensions our path becomes more known, and isn’t what we are all searching for the truth?
This year, this decade, I have a few things that I hope to successfully add into my life. Attributes that I aspire to emulate in my everyday life. Things and practices that I think will help me to be better, happier, and healthier. I hope reading my intentions helps you discover your own. Here are a few:
Have strength - I haven’t always been a leader. I was always a leader to some people but I would also be following others. Essentially I was the middle of the pack. But for a little while now I have been doing my own thing. I am finding my sense of style, my own beliefs, aspirations, I have been finding me. I have found a lot of me, but I have so so much more to discover! Ek I cannot wait! That being said, the more I find my own path and create my own trail the more loving and supportive my supporters get and the more feathers I seem to ruffle for those who aren’t my biggest cheerleaders. Many people make efforts to vocalize their love and support, especially for this blog, for which I am beyond grateful for, because of you I have strength. Strength against anyone who may criticize or judge me. For so long I cared about what others thought of me, and although I still do to some degree, my intentions for the new year are to be so filled with love and strength to not let exterior negative energies, judgments and thoughts affect me.
Play more - I love Boston College so much for so many reasons. But one thing that I am not as crazy about is how serious everyone is. I mean it is great how serious people are about their studies, grades, going to the gym, whatever it is. But sometimes for me it is too much. I am goal driven, but I refuse to sacrifice my present happiness and health for a possible happier tomorrow. I have a friend who once told me they made themselves miserable all four years of high school, so that they could get into their dream college and then be happy for those four years. But you know what? No four years of absolute bliss, is worth four years of being miserable. Time is time. This year I am seeking playful souls. People that are ambitious and plan for the future but who also don’t compromise the present. I truly believe that happiness through a mindset of “oh but once I achieve this I will be happy” is challenging to find, and harder to keep. Remember what it was like being a child? It was magical. My Magic is everywhere even my Adulthood post really dives into this idea. I must find magic in the work I am doing to allow more space for magic later, but not compromise playing and being happy in hopes of being more happy later. That’s lame and doesn't seem like that good of an investment.
Meditate - Meditating is something I have tried here and there but never successfully stuck with. I genuinely believe that it is instrumental in the ways that it can help clear, shift, and positively impact ones mind. Yet, it is something that is usually at the bottom of my priorities list. My hope for this year is to be more centered and grounded and I plan to do that through meditating.
Be Stylish - Since I went to an all girls school where we had a uniform I didn’t pay much attention to my everyday outfits. Recently though, more than ever I have been really fascinated with fashion and how to dress. I just added some beautiful pieces to my wardrobe and although I love my sweats and matching pj sets I hope to use my clothes and sense of style as a way of expressing myself in a sort of art form.
Read more - I spend a lot of time searching for moments, epiphanies, moments of revaluation, but what I really think I need to do more of is read. To discover or experience things in real life you must be in the moment but through stories or even movies I often find that I can have these beautiful revaluations or alternative perspectives come into my view before I could even conceive of what I was searching for. If you think about it, we are only able to know all that we know today and be so advanced in our technologies and ways of life because of the knowledge learned and discoveries made before us. Through books I believe I could better understand the world and life as a whole.
Spend more time with my family - I lost my grandfather about a month ago and family was the most important thing to him. I just really realized that family is the only thing that will always be there and I am so lucky to go to school so close and be around so much love that I really need to appreciate it more. Honestly, my family is so wholesome and hilraous sometimes I look for friends who can really make me geek or people who are willing to go on adventure walks and have deep conversations, when all along I have my family I right there to do that with.
Disconnect to reconnect - I went to diabetes camp, no seriously, for 11 years, and we did not have cell phones or wifi or anything like that. It was great to just get off the grid for a little. Obviously now I need to be on my phone and computer to check emails and receive phone calls, but for the things that can either be done over snap or in person, I want to choose in person. Real conversations. I love instagram, if you didn't already know that, and I love posting pictures that for me mark memories in my life that I love. I will not stop posting but maybe scrolling. Although, over the years I have followed so many wonderful accounts that usually when I go on insta I leave feeling so inspired and happy, so I guess if technology is leaving you feeling like that it is good, hey this blog is technically online and to write this I am on my devices but I feel so good when I write on this blog that I think it is a positive way to use technology. My intention is to do as much in real life with real people, face to face and the things that I do online or on social media have to provide positive and empowering energy back to me and if not, I simply do not have time.
Try not to procrastinate - I procrastinate with work and it results in me putting in the same amount of time and energy just with added stress, any way I can eliminate stress in my life is a step in the right direction. Stop procrastinating, just get it done!
Prioritize my own growth - Learning to say “no” to activities and people who are not helping me grow. “Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind” mentality. I have seen and felt how powerful my energy is to people, whether it is people telling me how much this blog has impacted them and how much they love it or simply being around someone and seeing their energy shift. My energy is powerful and that makes it valuable. It cannot be wasted and must be given to people and activities that help me grow, learn, and love more.
Spread and be love - I want a life full with love, therefore I must spread and be love. Focus on the positive and the beauty not the negative. Seeing the glass half full or half empty does not make the amount of liquid any more or less so why not see it half full and enjoy it. Love attracts love, hate attracts hate. I wish to spread more love and be more love in 2020!
Bring manifestations to life - I have a blog post that I am working on that will reveal my aspirations and dreams as of right now. Who I want to be, what I want to do, how I want to get there, the dream life. Although I can’t buy the farm or have the children just yet I can still manifest the proper things to bring me closer to obtaining this dream. I have the power to manifest anything into reality I just need to be intentional and grateful.
Eat with intention - Over the past year I have really shifted my mindset when it comes to eating. I don’t eat so that I can be a certain size or weigh a certain weight, I eat to nourish myself and the planet. I have talked about it before on my blog in my Eating Fresh post, but I believe we are focusing on the wrong things when it comes to eating. We are being taught, in subtle ways everyday that beauty is a certain size, thicker hair, or flawless skin. And so we take the approach of counting our calories, dieting, taking hair, skin, and nail supplements, and putting chemicals onto our face to ward away the imperfections. However, if you take some time to look at the big picture and honestly educate yourself on foods i.e. organic vs. processed, local vs. imported, the effects of pesticides etc. You will come to better understand food and how important it is. I have a very high pain tolerance for things when I believe they are beneficial to my health, I am willings to drink or eat or get a shot of practically anything if there is proof it can be beneficial to my well being. I have friends who eat salads because there are less calories in them than the burger that they actually wanted. However, when you do the research and understand the ways that fast food burger you so badly wanted was made; how the cow was treated, the conditions it had to live through, the added chemicals to allow it a longer shelf life, than maybe you won’t actually want that burger so badly after all. It is the lack of knowledge and the lack of desire to know that I think really affects the choices we make when eating. I truly believe the more natural we choose to eat, the easier it is for our bodies to maintain healthy body weight, hair, skin, minds, joints, teeth, bones, and overall health and isn’t that the kind of beauty we all strive for? Any educated person will agree that the cleaner you eat, the better you look and feel. This year I am going to continue to eat with intention and try to understand to a deeper degree the journey my food went through before it arrived on my plate. (P.s. sugar is my absolute favorite and I love to eat it, but I make serious efforts to understand and learn about the food I eat and have it be the freshest and most natural quality it can be.
Sleep more - Honestly, I think most of the stereotypical New Years resolutions could easily be solved by getting more ZZZs. Feel better, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. I need to make more time for sleeping, and not just sleeping in more but going to bed earlier.
Carry only the necessities - I read something the other day about a man who was carrying paint into his home. He said that he spent like 10 minutes trying to open the door but was too stubborn to ask for help or to put the paint down, and as a result he ended up falling backwards spilling the red paint all over himself. An unfortunate event but a beautiful metaphor. He compared his paint to the weights we carry throughout out our day to day life. We carry our fears, our todo lists, our worries, other peoples issues, and so so many other unnecessary things. We will probably never be able to not live without carrying these things, at least to some degree, but we don’t have to carry it all day everyday. We can also recognize through this metaphor that it is extremely challenging for the doors we wish and hope will open to open if we are carrying all these things. It is amazing what comes to us when we stop desperately searching for it. I have heard time and time again, “A boyfriend will come when you are not looking for one” or “You will find your calling in life by just having new experiences not planning so much” and the truth is sometimes we must put down our fears of rejection to find love, or put down our desperate search for the next thing to allow these things to happen naturally. No plant goes faster by constantly touching it and moving it, growth happens naturally. Have good energy, be aware, have good intentions, and let the universe carry your load, it is much stronger. For this year, this decade, this life, I aspire to only carry with me what serves me, to trust that the universe is working in my favor, to carry more love and appreciation for all that I have and all the amazing people in my life, to carry more books, more laughter, more self love, more vulnerability, more strength and more trust in myself with me as I take on the journey on this beautiful life. So my final intention for this year and beyond is to carry what I need, carry what serves me, carry it well, with poise, class, a smile, and authenticity.
I hope these New Years resolutions or 2020 intentions help you set your intentions for the new year. You may have just one or two or 2020 of them! Regardless I love hearing from you guys and I really try to get back to everyone who contacts me in a timely fashion with serious time and effort in my responses to questions and gratitude. Thank you so much for being with me on this journey, for following me, listening to me, and providing me with so much love and strength to share more! Since June, when I first launched my blog, I have had over 12,000 reads in over 22 countries! Thank you for a wonderful 6 months and here’s to a new year! I am wishing you and yours the utmost love and prosperity in 2020!
Love Always,
Casey
