For about ten years, I kept scrapbooks. Scrapbooks filled with images and words that I found inspirational and which all amounted to a sort of dreamscape of hopes for my future. Having floated around through university and jobs, in search of a place of work that was fulfilling and a home that was comforting, I looked to other people's existences to help me find my own.
Now in a job that I love, a home that I adore and in a life which is becoming more and more like the pages of the magazines that I aspired to be a part of, I can view the scrapbooks that I painstakingly filled as a collection of intentions for my future. This intention setting has moved from something unintended to a very definite process that I undertake every few months, to help keep me on track and as a reminder of what I really want and need in my life. The process helps me to clear my head of all the things that I get distracted by and helps me to find some clarity when sometimes I feel quite befuddled.
I take time to sit, to think, to light a candle, say a prayer and make a list of things that I hope to happen, priorities I intend to make and nourishment that I need. It doesn't take long, but it is quality time and it does me the world of good. In due course I revisit my lists of intentions and say a quiet thank you for all that has been received.
Intentions are like prayers. You clear your mind, state your case and leave the rest up to God, the universe and everything, allowing life to come together before you in ways that you hope and dream of.
It works. Try it.
The summer is over. A new, autumn term begins and the smell of crisp mornings and dewy grass is in the air.
I am anticipating good things.
I have decided to move in a new direction and having toyed with the blog world before, I felt that now was the time to restart, to move in to a new chapter. This September marks a new beginning for me, in many ways, and I am glad.
As I progress through my teaching career, and build on long-held dreams and important ambitions, I feel blessed to be in a space that allows for reflection and growth, all at the same time. Life grows and changes and as trite as it may sound, it moves in ways that we can not predict or dream of.
Bear with me as I gather my thoughts, stay focused as you gather yours.
