I’m proud to announce that I’ve finally compiled, edited, designed, and published my first eBook, Electrate Essays. To snag yourself a copy, visit my website: http://meredithshadwill.com/electrateessays.html. After purchasing, your copy will arrive within 24-48 hours. Hope you enjoy!
I’m taking a leave of absence from my blog, most likely until the end of the month. This gluten free experiment has brought up other questions about my health, and these are serious matters that I need to address without the guilt of leaving my sites untended. In order to cultivate myself, I must care for myself. And I won’t buy into that whole “a writer must write everyday to be a writer” nonsense — every other person gets vacation time and sick days. This writer will write one more thing before putting up the keyboard for a couple week’s respite.
Where I live, spring has come early. Spring is the perfect season for cultivation — the ground is thawing, rainstorms come to water the ground, and the sun stays out longer to shine down love and happiness. Gardeners head outside to weed, till the soil, and plant seeds. Here’s the March Cultivate 2012 prompt:
What would you like to weed out of your life? How can you till the soil of your life? What seeds would you like to plant this month?
I’d like to weed out some clutter that I don’t feel like packing and unpacking. Yes, I still have that decluttering project that I keep putting off in true procrastinator fashion. I’m digging through the dirt, turning everything over, in hopes of finding a good place to plant some seeds of serenity, sanctuary, and comfort. I’ve set an April 1st moving date in the hopes that local landlords will cooperate with regards to a new home that fits my needs and budget.
I have a lot of things planned for March. I’ll be crossing some items off of my List throughout this month. I’m looking forward to spring and all the new opportunities and freshness that comes with it.
When February began, I said we’d be taking leaps. Here’s your prompt for today: What leaps did you take in February to cultivate yourself?
I began February with high hopes, but I seemingly missed my opportunities. Instead of throwing in the towel and abandoning my project, I’m choosing to turn the page on February and welcome March with a renewed sense of hope. We might not get do overs, but we do have the power to leave the past where it belongs. I may, however, abandon plans to hold a conference. I haven’t seen enough interest in the Cultivate 2012 project to warrant a conference this year, so I’m going to put those energies into other efforts. That’s not to say there couldn’t be a Cultivate 2013 conference.
The Cultivate 2012 project started as a means to help me help myself, with a tiny bit of hope that I could touch someone else’s life in the process. I’d be content at the end of the year if the only life I touch with this project is my own. If you’re content with your life as it is, by all means keep relishing it. But if you, like me, see room for improvement, take the time to be proactive and cultivate those improvements.
Up until this month, the words seemed to just flow freely from my finger tips. Posts were plentiful. Then I set out to take leaps, and apparently I leapt straight into a brick wall. Stunned silence took over, and thus the ebb began. Everything operates in cycles, though — or it seems that way. The seasonings are currently cycling out of winter and into spring in the northern hemisphere. Cherry blossoms began blooming down the road. The Carolina chickadees returned. Daylight lasts longer. I’m sure during the coming week or so we’ll see fresh, new leaves unfurling from the tree branches. The flow of life will commence, culminating in the summer and early autumn harvests.
However, I’m currently experiencing a writing ebb. My words may be fewer, but perhaps the flow of spring will inspire the amateur photographer in me.
It is not happy people who are thankful. It is thankful people who are happy. — Unknown
In the spirit of promoting happiness and cultivating an overall sense of well-being, I’ve decided to list more items for which I’m grateful.
Several thoughts to meditate upon crossed my mind this morning. Ultimately, it all pointed back to a main theme — dealing with disappointment and strife. Yet this was not what I had envisioned for 2012. I had envisioned growth, change, and cultivation. I had envisioned living the dream and really living — not just surviving the day to day. Today’s need to decline an apartment essentially compounding everything that’s occurred in the past few days, and an overwhelming sensation of defeat and loneliness washed over me. Is Mercury in retrograde again or something?
I’ve actually sat here with this in draft format for a few hours now. I’ve been overcoming the initial disappointment and frustration that came with my back-step into the land of the unknown — the land of uncertainty. I know that something will come along, but I want that something to come along right now. However, it serves as another reminder to take better care of myself and to cultivate the life I want to live.
Yesterday I spent the majority of the day battling the evil D. It wasn’t until I finally decided to get cleaned up for the day — at around 5PM — that I told myself it was fine to feel the emotions that came with it. It was just a day, and it would pass, like it always does. Somehow, that made me feel better. It picked me back up and gave me hope again. I’m thankful for the ability to see the bigger picture, and I’m thankful for this new-found ability to let go of the guilt that comes attached with negative feelings and emotions. I’m also thankful for:
May this Thursday give you much to be thankful for as well!
Happy Valentine’s Day, cultivators! Regardless of your opinions of the holiday, today is a great day to spend some time with yourself to take care of yourself — to cultivate that life you want to live. We’re mid-way through February, so it’s time to check in with ourselves to see how we’re progressing in our plans to cultivate ourselves. Here’s the mid-February Cultivate 2012 prompt:
Take some time today — a few minutes, an hour, whatever you can manage — to write a love note to yourself. Tell yourself what you love about you, and make a promise to yourself to take better care of yourself.
You don’t have to share what you come up with, but you do need to discipline that negative self-talk. Whatever negative thoughts come to mind need to be chastised with words of love and encouragement.
Edgewater Drive
