Ready for Change

Everyday in December, I’m noticing one thing that I am grateful for, celebrating, proud of, or loving about myself from this past year. Join me?

For the past few weeks, I’ve loved that each morning I took time to connect with things that I’m grateful for and celebrating. I’m going to continue the practice throughout December (and quite possibly beyond), but from here on will be reflecting offline. Because above all, right now I am grateful for the chance to unplug. 

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Everyday in December, I’m noticing one thing that I am grateful for, proud of, and/or celebrating as I look back on 2010. Join me?

December 14: Celebration: An Opportunity to Contribute

This year, I’ve taken political and volunteer action in a more immediate arena: my own community. I’ve sat in at City Council meetings, I’ve written, emailed, and phoned councillors, I’ve signed petitions, and most of all, I had the exceptional experience of volunteering for Jonah Schein’s campaign for city council in my ward, Ward 17.

Today, I celebrate that I’ve had these opportunities to contribute. I celebrate that I live in a democracy, that I have the ability to contact Toronto’s municipal leaders, that I have skills that were valuable to a community endeavour, and that people trusted me to contribute to their cause. I gained more than I gave.
 

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Everyday in December, I’m noticing one thing that I am grateful for, proud of, and/or celebrating as I look back on 2010. Join me?

December 11: Grateful: Generous People

I am grateful for the many teachers I have had in my life this year. Some of them are formal instructors, some are friends, some are in my professional network. Some of them are paid for their teaching, others share their wisdom freely. Some of them don’t even know me, or that I read their books or their blogs, and that I learn from them.

I am grateful for the generous people who have taught me.

p.s. One of them is Tanya Geisler, who wrote about being generous to a fault (the woman lives it!). 

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Everyday in December, I’m noticing one thing that I am grateful for, proud of, and/or celebrating as I look back on 2010. Join me?

December 10: Grateful: Friends Making Music Together

Some of the musical moments I’ve enjoyed most in the last year:

• gathered around a binder of guitar tabs in Vancouver with my friends Jess and Ian, playing and singing
• May 24 weekend at a cottage with three guitars, a banjo, and beautiful voices
• singing and jamming with Inaam and Sara… everything from 90s shoegazing to Teenage Dream. Yes, we did.
• piano stores that have let me waltz in and play their pianos for ten minutes and then waltz out.

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Everyday in December, I’m noticing one thing that I am grateful for, proud of, and/or celebrating as I look back on 2010. Join me?

December 9: Celebrating: Three Months Married

I’ll always remember 2010 as a year of celebration, because it’s the year that I married the love of my life.
 

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Everyday in December, I’m noticing one thing that I am grateful for, proud of, and/or celebrating as I look back on 2010. Join me?

December 8: Proud Of: Tenacity

I found the above beautiful lithograph by Angelita Surmon when I googled images for ‘tenacity’.

Merriam-Webster tells me that one who is tenacious is “persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired.” As I look back on my 2010, I am proud of my tenacity in building my own business doing work that I love, creating a life that allows me to live my values, and for living in line with my intentions. 

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As the end of each year draws to a close, I find myself overwhelmed with all things December, and yearning for a quiet space to reflect.

Last year, I decided to do something about it, and I instituted Two Hours of Perspective, an intimate gathering for folks to reflect on the year past and look forward to the year ahead.

I’ll be hosting the 2010-2011 Two Hours of Perspective gathering on January 22, 2011. You are invited.

Two Hours of Perspective, 2010-2011 edition

Between holiday parties, friends and families, and the onslaught of year-in-review lists, where’s the time for us to think about what our last year meant to us and where we are in the bigger story of our lives? It’s here, at Two Hours of Perspective.

In a two-hour, intimate group gathering, I promise to provide thought-provoking questions, good conversation, and quiet time for contemplation and journalling. I’ll arrange the questions and conversation-starters, chart out the flow of the two hours so that you get personal and private reflection, and the chance to reflect with others, and I’ll have some art supplies and wine/eggnog/something on hand. You bring a journal or notebook, or anything else that will help you look back on the year past and look forward to the year to come.

I look forward to welcoming you to reflect!

When: 3pm-5pm, Saturday, January 22, 2011
Where: St Clair and Dufferin

Please RSVP for event details by emailing laurajoanne |at| gmail |dot| com.

As always, please feel free to share this invitation with others who might be interested.

New this year: I’m planning on a spin-off group from Two Hours of Perspective, inviting people who are interested to commit to meeting monthly (virtually or in person) for all of 2011, building off the reflection and intentions you set during the January 22 event. Imagine a community coming together to support each other in our 2011 endeavours, and to hold that community all year long. Join us!
 

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Everyday in December, I’m noticing one thing that I am grateful for, proud of, and celebrating as I look back on 2010. Join me?

December 5 and 6: Gratitude: Public Transit and ViaRail

Particularly during a month when Toronto’s entire transit plan is threatened, and during a year when mayoral candidates called my beloved St. Clair Right-of-Way a fiasco, I’m reminded of how grateful I am for the public transit that does exist in this city.

And given how often in the last four months I have run off to Ottawa to visit the man I love, I’m also immensely grateful for ViaRail. Train travel makes me happy. 

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Everyday in December, I’m noticing one thing that I am grateful for, proud of, or celebrating as I look back on 2010. Join me?

December 4: Celebrating: Loving My Home

In 2010, I’ve had the gift of living in two homes that I’ve loved, and I’ve created spaces that nourish and sustain me. 

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Everyday in December, I’m noticing one thing that I am grateful for, proud of, and celebrating as I look back on 2010. Join me?

December 3: Gratitude: My Sister’s Editing Skills

All year long, any time I’ve written a newsletter or created a client form, I’ve sent it first to my sister, so that she could cast her keen eye over it. Seriously, who else would have caught that the past participle of “whet” is “whetted”? 

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