Breathe! Play! Okay!
What I'm thinking about at the start of February
Major shifts are here people. February feels like the official start to a new Earth, and the real start to 2023. Rejoice! I’ve felt a whoosh of vital energy in the first few days of February in a way that almost feels otherworldly. There’s an overwhelming sense of finally being able to drop the heavy bags I’ve been dragging along with me for years. I am alive. I am here. Anyone else? It’s as if there’s a clean slate and it’s saying, “Hey! Look at this! Push this button and you can reinvent yourself with very little friction!” What will you create? What will you become?
Something about this wave of energy feels different. Uniquely exciting. I am feeling incredibly optimistic in a way that I haven’t in a couple of years. It’s as if I suddenly notice a galaxy of captivating stars in the inky void that I was swimming in. How many of them can I create with? Bottom line—the time is now. Cartwheel in the grass! Laugh so hard that you clutch your belly in joy! Hug and kiss your neighbor and smile!
I bought Atomic Habits recently because the title has been thrown around so often that I felt like it would be a disservice to the cultural zeitgeist to miss out on reading it. I haven’t begun it as yet, but I did watch a quick talk the author held on the main takeaways, and one thing that has already stuck with me is making a decision non-negotiable—it gives your brain no way of of talking you out of doing it. In the past, I’ve certainly given in to this convincing voice, and I can distinctly tell you when I haven’t. Like my runs in college. I would go whenever I had written it down in my agenda, no matter how hot and humid it was.
Thanks to James Clear’s nudge, I’ve been scheduling in yoga classes as a part of my day that is non-negotiable. Going to yoga had become something that I was mad at myself for throwing to the wayside. Had my mat really been left unfurled for almost two years? For the past two decades, yoga has been my cocoon, my salve. It helped me unveil and acquaint with so many layers of my being. It connected me with my people—the wacky, feed your spirit and your body sorts of folks who like to gather and breathe in unison and chant and exhale with big unapologetic sighs.
I sat on my mat last night, my spine craving the erectness of the seated posture and joyfully settling into it. My hands fell into my lap, palms upward to receive. We were a full class—more than 30 of us jammed into my favorite DC studio. Our mats close. The potential for our bodies to maybe even touch. I was reminded of my breath(!) as the man next to me settled into his own practice, and let out a deep moan with his exhale. How gorgeous it is to be a part of this unapologetic humanity! Thank you for connecting with your divine self! We chanted, all of our voices coming together. Chills and sweat circulated my body in delicious unity. How enthralling it is to be surrounded by sound! And my own voice—that voice that has been sitting trapped high in my diaphragm, held back by fear and weighed down by grief—how it rose! I took breath from my belly and let my sound harmonize, escaping from upturned lips.
“We’re going to get you back in your body!” my teacher Gopi exclaimed, as she held my stiff, emotion-ridden hips with her ankles and coaxed my shoulders back, opening my heart to the class. She reminded me of my muscles and their range, and I felt like a newborn carefully being introduced into the new world in a candlelit room. It is gentle, it is sweet. None of it is serious. And it is time. I am waking up from an epic slumber, I am ready to be the childlike fool. We don’t have to carry the heaviness of our bones anymore! We can play, we can breathe and dance and make loud noise and belt out a song if that’s what we want to do. Now, we are grounded in the levity of what life has become. We have graduated into a world of air, one that is bouncy, bizarre, and sort of upside down. And we can thrive here. We are thriving here. Welcome! Look around.
A few things:
I developed two rolls of film from my trip to San Francisco to discover that one of the rolls was double exposed…again. For those of you who don’t remember, a roll of film from my trip to Israel was double exposed with shots of Washington DC. It was devastating, but also kind of cool. So, when it happened again I was a little annoyed, but, I’m choosing to see the humor and bright side of it. Double exposures are intriguing and magical. I’m embracing the fact that half of my SF memories are melded with forgotten imagery from my 2021 trip to Frankfurt and Maastricht.
I’ve suddenly become very aware of my exposed ankles. Suddenly all of my pants feel too short—getting dressed each morning I find myself glaring at my reflection thinking, “Are you getting ready to cross a flood?” My mum used to say this to me when I was young because my legs were always freakishly long for my body—a trait I inherited from her, and she from her mum. It seems as though the threat of low rise jeans have yet to cross into our stores, but pant lengths have noticeably dropped their hemlines to cover the tops of our shoes, and some even grazing the floor once again.
Green comet! In line with the energy I have expressed above, this special comet is making its closest contact with the Earth’s atmosphere since 50,000 years ago. I’ve been tuning in to some cosmic messages around this occasion and have learned that it comes bearing sparkling messages for humanity. Its appearance on 2.2 is also quite auspicious. I’m taking time to re-assess my aspirations and reconnect with my truest desires. The comet energy is here to fully support and catapult our purposes forth.
COLOR! Speaking of the green comet, I’ve been very drawn to green. I bought cute neon heart stickers in the color, a bottle of nail polish that I’ll be putting on soon, and I’m noticing myself saving clothing in all shades of green. Green is the color of abundance and of love. It’s the color of our heart chakra and represents compassion. Going with the flow of this trend and I’m hoping that it provides all of us with some gorgeous salve of prosperity in all of its forms.
I’m thinking about in-person and virtual gatherings as an extension of the On Holiday experience and community. I have some exciting things brewing, and would love to hear from all of you. What would you like to see? I can’t wait to share what I’m working on, and in the meantime, drop a comment. I love hearing from each and every one of you.
Leaving you with this video I found on a rabbit hole dive into the Home Depot jingle. I don’t have answers to your questions.