My word for 2009 is EXPERIMENT.
If I present myself with a new behaviour and tell myself I’m doing it because it’s good for me–like getting enough rest, eating right, swimming, not isolating myself too much from other humans–it opens the door to my inner rebellious teenager. This part of me is really good at saying “screw you, I’ll do as I please.”
So this year it is my intention not to engage in that inner parent vs. inner brat dance.
What I am going to try is experimenting. Be a scientist of your own spiritual experience. I like science. I like research. I like discovery and logging results.
And so.
What I propose for myself in 2009 is that I try doing some things I do not want to do. Just to see what happens. A series of experiments. Some things will be things I dread doing or fear doing. Others will just be things I don’t feel like doing. And then I am simply going to keep notes on how it felt, what happened, what didn’t happen.
I think I’ll make up a template or form to be filled out for every experiment. I’ll want things on there like what feelings arose in my body before, during and after, how my experiment affected those around me, what my ego had to say before, during and after. Do you have ideas for other questions that should go on the template?
How about experimenting with things that look like they might be fun, taste good, feel good, make you happy, be creative to do…why do they have to all be difficult or negative or frightening to start with? Wondering.
And btw that banner you liked on my blog today is the place were stars are born in our galaxy. I talk about it earlier in the blog or on artquiltsbylynn blog. You can read about it there if you like. ;-) It’s hanging right now at the local art gallery. I put it in a black shadow box and the light shines on it illuminating all the sparkling fibers…looks great if I do say so myself! ;-)
I am with Lynn on this one, however doing things that you fear, can be so inspiring once you see, there was nothing to fear. Having said that, doing things that are fun is inspiring too.
This is your experiment and you can do what ever you want :-). It is a lovely idea, please let us know how it goes for you. XOXO
Experiment is a great word for you Kelly! I love the way you dissect things.
I can understand doing something like public speaking if you fear it, in an attempt to de-sensitize yourself & overcome your fear, but if you really dread something & you’re going to feel bad afterwards anyhow, why do it? So no playing with spiders, okay?
Trying new things that are uncomfortable rather than dreadful is a more positive approach. Like joining a laughter group where everyone stands together and laughs themselves silly =) or a poetry reading group if shyness makes you uncomfortable.
Asking your inner child how she felt would be good on the sheet too.
Did you see “Yes Man” starring Jim Carrey? It’s a comedy, based on a true story – about how a man’s life changes when he starts to say “Yes” to everything. Good message in it.
I remember in science class having to write out the Hypothesis we were testing, then the equipment and method.Finally the outcome and whether it proved or disproved the hypothesis. I’m sure an old science textbook would give you a great textbook. A good experiment for a feeling based person to use her objective side.
a great template was what I was meaning to say.
I am experimenting too. :-)
http://lovingtheexperiment.blogspot.com
I think experimenting is fun. :-)
Excellent idea Kelly. Maybe other questions or things to note will arise as you begin and continue the notations. I am very right brained myself, however I come from a very left brained, scientific family. At times I have had charts for various things I was attempting to do. They are interesting but in the end I realized that I need to focus more on my intuition about things.
I agree with those above though who say maybe it would be fun to do this both with difficult things and with fun things. Wow. What fun to compare the inner feelings between these two. Or would that make it too complicated.
In any event. Here is what I told my Dad when he said he couldnt cook. I said Dad, what you do is experiment. You are a scientist, you know how to do that. No one is born knowing how to cook. You try this, you try that, you experiment. However he did not follow my advice. :)
For me, a big thing is to look at how I feel about it a day or two later – sometimes it has an impact on me that doesn’t show up right away. (Positive or negative, I mean, either way.)
Perhaps a rating system (1-5? 1-10?) for how scary something was and how good/bad it felt during and after? Just to quantify it a bit more than “it was good” or “I felt okay”.
“Inner parent vs. inner brat dance” — I love that. I may have to borrow it! Happy New Year, friend!
Does this mean I can drag you to a Red Wings game now? :-)
Kelly, I love EXPERIMENT! It is gentle and kind and exciting, keeping with your general path lately. Invigorating!
I love how you are going to be the observer. Remember that the observer changes the experiment…and the observer in this case is the center of the experiment. So maybe lots and lots of questions about the observer…
Great discussion, too!
xxoo, O