Creating something new-ish
The power is in small shifts
Start fresh without starting from scratch
Midsummer is here and something small has shifted. It is still summer, yet a tad more hot, humid, slow or fill in the blank with whatever you are feeling. The cycle of birth, death, rebirth are always present and sometimes we can look at nature and the seasons as a guide.
For me, midsummer feels somehow slower and faster. My energy feels slower, yet the days are longer and time feels full. This time of the season, we are more settled in the energy rather then it feeling new.
Many of us have had our first trip of the summer, day at the beach or camp session for the kids. The familiar feels comfortable to me and yet there is still a desire to create something new-ish.
New-ish is the new of midsummer. There is more soft and slow, more stretching and lounging and wanting to continue to enjoy the present moment and cherish this time. That includes saying yes to what lights me up and saying no to what doesn’t feel right.
This can be hard because we often want change. We want to see it to believe it but the seasons and cycles might have other plans for you. We may judge ourselves for slowing down, reading books and watching shows instead of being at a high level of productivity. Or we might have had plans that seem unlikely now. Those yes’s may become no’s and vice versa.
A few summers ago I had a conversation with a friend regarding changes that sparked huge insight. I was ready to change my business path and kept thinking or dreaming it was the whole new big thing, a fresh change, a total 180 from where I was at. This was exciting for me but also overwhelming and made me feel like starting fresh was a huge thing.
She reminded me that this change was probably not as big as I thought and even one or two degrees in a different direction would hit the mark for me.
I didn't understand at the time that small changes based on what I already knew to be true are more aligned than big magical plans.
Part of me really didn't want a one or two degree change, it wanted the 180 - that part is known as the ego. It saw change and fresh start in a rather rigid way, it wanted to throw away everything that didn't work and never repeat it.
But, of course, what about the good? What about what I learned about myself in those experiences? Why start fresh when there's so much wisdom and truth that I've cleaned.
The answer to that has to do with fear, control and pain. We don't need to erase our past to create beautiful lives. We don't need to start from scratch. We can slow down and with the light of awareness learn, grow and let go.
Many of our life learnings are not a straight path, it's a cycle and it repeats in different seasons in different ways and each time — you learn, you remember, you grow, you change something small but you don't need to start from scratch.
Repeating cycles isn't a bad thing, it's how we learn and each time it takes us higher up that ladder but only if you slow down to remember without judgment.
Judgment will be present and loud until you shush it and you start listening to a deeper voice. A deeper voice that says everything happens for a reason, you are capable, and then take the tools forward. With permission to add upon them slowly and lovingly based on whatever season you are in. Like a yoga sequence — everything builds upon everything else.
Questions to Consider?
What small shift are you feeling internally or externally?
What is no longer working and wants to stop?
What might “new-ish” mean for you in this season?