Dear Friends,
Welcome to my first Blog of 2014!
I hope you all had a fulfilling festive season and enjoyed Christmas (if that is the festival you celebrate) and rounded off the end of the year in a way that felt appropriate to you… and hopefully had some fun!
I decided that my end of year theme would be ‘Celebration’! I had a very full year with lots of wonderful experiences, particularly the birth of my new book The Art of Birth, and several art shows that found lovely new homes for many of my paintings. As the year drew to a close and my projects were completed, I felt the need to celebrate my achievements and spend time with all of my somewhat neglected friends. I really enjoyed my New Year’s Eve party where everyone danced, ate, drank, sang, chatted and stayed so much longer than they intended because they too were having so much fun… yay! I am sincerely grateful for the opportunities I had in 2013 and after a bit of a rest I’m rearing to go… look out 2014 🙂
The thing about ‘new year’ is that we all make these massive pledges to change our lives and do things differently because ‘this is the year’ that life will ‘go according to plan’ (or words to that effect) – the New Year’s Resolution! What we forget is that life is a continuum and just because the clock strikes midnight, it doesn’t mean a miraculous metamorphosis is going to occur magically before our eyes. As the saying goes… Life goes on… Once January is underway and the first sign of obstacles arise, or the virtues of the new diet begin to wear off and one surreptitiously falls off the wagon, a feeling of disappointment can set in that maybe nothing much has changed after all. One needs to adopt a more long term strategy and a commitment to make our lives as wonderful as possible all of the time – not just amidst the new year champagne haze – and also remember that there will always be ups and downs and that is ok. It is ‘how’ we react to these fluctuations that matters. What will you make when life gives you Lemons? 🙂
I totally believe that reflecting on the year is a great way to ‘round off’ or have closure. How did it go? What worked, what didn’t and immense gratitude for all the achievements and the lessons. Then consciously contemplating on and setting our intentions for the new year will lay a positive foundation. How do you want it to look? What would you like to achieve? What do you want to manifest. A good way to begin, in a simple, fun, easy yet powerful way, is to create tangible intentions on paper that will harness the energy in the direction you wish to travel. You may be surprised at what comes true. So instead of feeling despondent when something shows up to challenge you… just ask: what is this trying to teach me? And affirm ‘out of this situation only good will come’ (this affirmation is by Louise Hay). Here is an exercise which will help you focus on what you desire for the new year. Bon Voyage 🙂
Exercise:
What you will need: Paper/cardboard/canvas (whatever you fancy), Prit Stick glue (or PVA), a bunch of magazines of your choice (any will do if they contain images that will inspire you), and additionally you may wish to have some pastels, pencils, felt tips, glitter glue, sequins or anything else which takes your fancy.
Firstly, give yourself permission to PLAY and remove your perfectionist hat! There is no such thing as a ‘good’ picture in this exercise, this is for your enjoyment and it’s your business. Try and work quickly and spontaneously and let your imagination wander around and feel into what you might like to manifest in the new year.
Secondly, don’t go and get all worried about the ‘HOW’ of what it is you would like to manifest. How is also none of your business although you may have some idea of how the how will work! E.g. you might have a product to sell and if you sell enough of this product you will be able to afford that trip to Spain that you’ve been dreaming of. So you could ask to manifest X amount of sales of this product or you could ask to manifest that trip to Spain and maybe the funds will come from another source (and so on).
Thirdly, find a comfortable place to work and set our your materials. If you like, put on your favourite music, light a candle, burn some incense, or whatever will help you get in the zone. Take some deep, cleansing breathes, have a stretch, maybe close your eyes and let your mind wander and see what desires come up.
Then, flick through the magazines and find images and words that sum up what you want to manifest. You can also draw and write on your page. You may wish to concentrate on specific areas, or divide your page into segments, such as: Relationships, Home, Money, Travel, Spirituality, Family etc, or concentrate on one subject, or create a kind of visual Mind Map.
Enjoy and have a very fruitful 2014!
Warm wishes,
Alex xx
Here is one version I did earlier.
Alex Florschutz
