Hey, All~ Happy Monday! How are things going for you?

The last year has provided us all ups and downs, but I think through it we’ve also recognized where we can expand upon our strengths and try new things. From my vantage point, some not-so-subtle occurrences have been happening lately; I mentioned one of them in the last blog post.

When trying to get one’s proverbial and literal act together, yours truly is very go-with-the-flow. I can look back at my life and see how I’ve been, and sometimes still am, pretty conflicted.

The Past Me was a “Planner to the Point of Perfectionism” meets “Hippie That Wants to Live on a Mountain (Solo).” In roles with others, I worried about being perfect and that no mistakes could be made, even learning lessons. On the other side of the spectrum, the Hippie on a Mountain craved getting away from it all and spending hours in meditation and yoga positions without a cell phone. Admittedly, this is still appealing on occasion. Overall, it’s been a mix of controlling too much to not wanting to deal with what is.

Do you feel conflicted, like there are multiple sides to you that war with each other, or try to take charge in leading your life? Or, have you been so conditioned to think and act a certain way you don’t know who you are deep down? Better yet, where have you been and where do you want to go?

Some of these questions are pretty large, or they take time to come to terms with and that takes different tactics. One of the resources I’ve found incredibly helpful was a video created by Christina Lopes about the North Node.

Honestly, I don’t know enough about astrology to feel confident in reading the information without Googling it. However, after some Googling and valid researching, themes began showing themselves in areas of growth: organization, planning, writing, communicating, etc. Oddly enough, all of these skills can be utilized in multiple facets of my life.

North Node discussions aside – can you use some help with organization? I know I can. Because 2020 has been full of whiplash, it seems like any help to simplify, prioritize, or parse down complexities, is useful. I heard it said best today, on the Lesbians Who Tech summit; a speaker phrased it perfectly and I’ll paraphrase: “2020 is the year that just keeps on giving…”

So, in the face of all the gifts from 2020 – let’s get our collective, proverbial, tangible, stuff back in order, yeah? We are so close to seeing 2021, but why wait to change some behaviors until then?

Here are five methods I’ve used to be better at organization lately, and maybe they’ll help you:

1) Get Curious

What the hell does that have to do with organization, Virginia? Well, if we don’t get curious about trying new things then we can’t grow, right? The pretty horrid thing about 2020–which is completely natural–is that a lot of us, myself included, have been wanting to put our heads in the sand until all the insanity is over. It’s not been easy with systematic inequality coming to the front page (as it should); COVID; election craziness; economic recession; job and life loss; health disparities; etc. It’s mid-November and the gifts keep on comin’ so now is a great time to throw our hands up to the Universe and get curious about what we can do differently, because that is what is in our control– what we can do individually.

2) Be Open to New Modes of Thinking & Acting

Speaking of what’s in our control: being open to new modes of thinking and acting will help us expand ourselves. We can throw visualization boards together, talk affirmations in the mirror, and mantra out how we will change for the better, but it can help to actively shift ourselves in physical, emotional/mental, and spiritual ways. Despite of the shifts and transitions that are happening, there is a chance to live a balanced, holistic existence if we get a little creative together. What fulfills you for your physical, emotional/mental, and spiritual health? If you don’t know, that is totally ok – start reflecting on possibilities and tangible actions that can “fill your bucket” today and start practicing.

3) Work on Consistent Planning and Activity

Full disclosure: I am, by nature, an Ideas Person – I’m an INFJ at heart and can be a pretty abstract thinker. Lately, I’ve been getting the message to be grounded and objective more often. It took a minute to compute, honestly, because a lot of my life has been walking, to a degree, in a Freedom Loving style. But to move forward on the Soul journey, my ebb-and-flow life needs to meet consistent planning and activity to balance goals and priorities. I’ve definitely gotten things done in my past, but the ride might be a wee bit easier with more constructive, tangible focus going forward. Does any of this resonate with any of y’all?

Four tools of mine, if it’ll help you, are:

• Working with others for accountability partnership and clarification of goals and priorities.
• Breaking out the whiteboard from the moving boxes and going all color-coding.
• Purchasing another planner (to be discussed later on the site).
• And most importantly: I made up a holistic practice for myself, a 5-10-15-20 “rule” of sorts, to get focused. I share it with the FSW Circle, so if you’re interested click here and you’ll get the mini-guide for free.

4) Remember Planning and Production Takes Short-Term and Long-Term Practice

The fun part of being ebby-and-flowy (new words) is that feelings, actions, and directions, come and go. They also come and go probably too often. If we can’t stay grounded in our work, our life, or while trying to live as our Best Selves, we may move in directions that don’t serve us as deeply. Been there, done that.

A big takeaway: practicing means not perfecting, but rather committing. Again. And again. And again.

The old days of perfectionism don’t serve me, they don’t serve you, and sometimes we need help with getting better at what we need to focus on. Honestly, we don’t need to freeze up with perfectionism, we just need to walk step-by-step while learning. Sometimes we can’t just do it Solo and we may need to work with others who provide a message of support, to learn more about our paths. Like my following Christina Lopes, working with Sam Jennings at 360-Clarity, or finding a Cru, to name a few. While you read this post, I hope that I, too, can help you practice what you would like to work on. Again, 2020 has made us all do a double-take and possibly say, “Maybe this is the year to start to practice ________ and try something new.”

5) When Feeling Anti-Organization and Unfocused Do Something: Pump Yourself Up.

It might sound odd, but if the mind freezes up and gets all blank with anxiety, maybe try moving your body however you can. Meditation helps, too, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes shifting physically can help as well. It’s like jumping the battery on a car: it’s a physical movement that can get the body going and then the mind might be more open to working.

For instance, today I’ve been working on business and holiday prep, so my mind was going a wee bit fuzzy by 3:00 pm. To bring myself back to an energetic state and get more done, I turned on Pandora and was greeted with Shakira’s “La La La.” It made for a freeing danceathon with the dogs, which brought me back to the computer with more gusto. Tell me, what do you like to do to jump start your body and mind to refocus in?

Dearests, we have 45 days until 2021 begins. We can glance back at 2020, or even our whole lifetimes and hold onto regrets, should’ve(s), could’ve(s), and more. But it may help to start to organize ourselves to move forward as well. This isn’t to be insensitive to what’s happened in each of our lives. On the contrary, in looking at ourselves today we can be sensitive to who we are and what we can become. That’s really all we can do at this point, is to be present. Then, the next day, as we are in it, we move forward in that moment.

I’m here with you and ready to help you grow, pivot, and thrive. Or, if you’re not there: to cry, to grieve, and to come back to center ready to change and commit to it. We know deep down, in our infinite wisdom, what changes we can start to make – let’s get organized and help it happen. Feel free to let me know what you’re struggling with right now and we can help reshape things together. Send me a message or feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll know how best to help you regroup and refocus. Blessings, Friends, and I’m sending good vibes as you go through your days ahead!

PS) When posting this at first, I forgot to title the thing. Yep, organization is a work in progress and laughing at the “oopsies!” works too. 🤣