A Year to Clear Read online

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  I'm ready to take a chance on . . .

  I believe this is what's holding me back from acting . . .

  Taking a chance has paid off in the past when I've . . .

  DAY 114

  GATHERING BEAUTY

  There's a potent energy when we gather the things we love in one place—even if they're just pictures of the real thing.

  One of my favorite places to organize what I love through pictures is Pinterest. It's a personalized online gallery that you decorate and populate with things, places, and ideas that interest you.

  From jaw-dropping photographs to laugh-out-loud cartoons, I now have over thirty collections ranging from cozy and sparkling home spaces to simple organizing solutions, dreamy landscapes, guilty pleasures, inspiring books, and amazing art. Beautiful photographs do wonders for my soul. I am soothed and expanded when I steep in their beauty and move them around.

  What soothes and expands you? What makes your heart sing?

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  These are some things that soothe and expand me . . .

  These things make my heart sing . . .

  DAY 115

  PICTURE THE LIFE YOU WANT

  Making ideal image posters, or vision boards, from photos, images, or words is a powerful way to play with intention. It can help to visualize, get clear, act “as if,” organize our life, see everything in one place, make room for ourselves. When a vision board is a vibrational match, it can help us remember what we love, what we want to attract, and where we want to be going.

  It's not difficult to picture the life you want. Start by gathering images that make your heart sing and place them on a poster board, bulletin board, or refrigerator door. Look at them every day for at least a minute. Imbibe their energizing power and beauty.

  Watch what happens when you allow the reflections of your best self to shine through and work their magic.

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  When I picture the life I want, I see . . .

  Words and images that support this desire are . . .

  DAY 116

  HOW TO REALIZE YOUR DREAM

  Today's a big day. Are you ready? Because I'm going to offer you my best tips for realizing your dream (or anything, for that matter)—whether it is writing your memoir, shedding those twenty pounds, or living in a clutter-free home:

  Be clear on what you really want: Write it down and define what it looks like. Feel your desire down to your bones. Once fired up, the intention machine will deliver the goods. Be sure you want them.

  Act as if your dream home (job, relationship, body) already exists. Enliven it with all of your senses. If it's publishing a book, for example, see yourself at a book signing; feel the soreness in your hands from signing hundreds of books; hear your fans gushing over your gleaming book cover and beautiful headshot.

  Do one thing a day (preferably at the same time every day) that moves you closer to your dream. Adopt the phrase “I choose ease” as your mantra.

  Keep your tasks simple so as not to elicit a stress response. If you notice yourself feeling overwhelmed or losing hope, dial it back. Think “doable” just for today, and allow the next step to reveal itself.

  Stay true to your self and try not to let other people's opinions, and your own critical mind, sway you. The part of the mind that doesn't like change has a way of derailing our best efforts by drawing to us people and situations that don't serve or support us. Try not to give in to the noise.

  Be aware of transitions. Sometimes as we get close to realizing our dreams, we might bump up against some resisting behaviors. If you feel more cranky than usual, or are ready to throw in the towel, this could be a sign that you are about ready to birth something big. Hang in there!

  Let go of attachment to the outcome. Attachment stops the flow of energy. Letting it go creates openings and opportunities that could lead you places beyond your wildest imaginings.

  Be open and have fun! Allow the magic of your deepest intentions to reveal itself.

  Close your eyes for a moment and ask your soul what it wants to do today. Take a minute or two to listen, and then follow through using these eight tips as your guide.

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  Today my soul is calling forth . . .

  One thing I can do now to move toward realizing my dream is . . .

  DAY 117

  THROW YOUR DREAMS INTO SPACE

  In her diary, Anaïs Nin writes,

  Throw your dream into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.

  Spend a minute today casting your deepest hopes and dreams into the wind, like seeds. Let them go with fluidity and ease. Ask to be shown signs of new growth and life in ways that you will easily recognize.

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  Today I'm casting these seeds . . .

  I'm seeing these signs of growth . . .

  DAY 118

  CAN YOU RECEIVE?

  Of the many pearls of wisdom that have been uttered by the wise and generous Oprah Winfrey, it is this question that works on me every time I land on it: “Can you allow yourself to receive the fullness of your success?”

  Can you allow yourself to receive what you most desire? Can you allow yourself to receive divine inspiration? Can you allow yourself to receive the universe's abundance of riches and blessings?

  For me, the answer, of course, would be yes! That would be success. So why is it so hard to receive? Why do we choose scarcity over fullness? Why do we play it safe and act smaller than we truly are? Maybe those are the questions we should be asking (and clearing).

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  It is safe for me to allow myself to receive because . . .

  Breathing in fullness feels like . . .

  I am infinitely deserving of everything I most desire because . . . (Notice the part of you that doesn't quite believe it yet.)

  DAY 119

  CHECK IN—SOUL CALLING

  If we were to peel away all the layers of our physical, mental, and emotional self, what we would be left with is the core of our being—that immutable, divinely guided, infinitely intelligent essence that makes us the unique beings that we are: our soul.

  This week was an opportunity connect with the soul: to clarify and anchor our deepest dreams in ways that the heart can relate to; receive fully what we most desire; and make room for our soul's true calling by letting go of attachment to specific outcomes.

  What have you learned this week about your soul? How do you know when your soul is calling?

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  It is my soul's yearning to . . .

  I know when my soul is calling because . . .

  Times that I have followed through on my soul's calling . . . (and how it made me feel . . .)

  WEEK 18

  LETTING GO, LETTING FLOW

  The starting point is realizing that letting go is not a dramatic moment we build up to some time in the future. It is happening now, in the present moment—it is not singular but ongoing.

  —Judy Lief, “How to Let Go”

  DAY 120

  FAVORITE SONG

  There's an adorable sepia photograph that made the rounds on Facebook a while back of a little girl standing in front of a street musician. With arms flung up and bent backward, she appears to be in total ecstasy. The caption reads: “How I feel when my favorite song comes on.”

  That's me in a nutshell. If a song comes on the radio that I adore, chances are I'm going to swoon, if not rise out of my chair in unmitigated joy like I'm at a revival meeting.

  What makes you lose yourself in joy, even for just a few seconds?

  Try it: Dance or move to one of your favorite songs today with the intention of releasing a thing, a thought, or an issue that makes you feel stuck.

  Be loose. Be liquid. Be yourself.

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  Songs that make me swoon . . .

  What makes me lose myself in joy . . .

  DAY 121

&nbs
p; WHAT DOES SPACIOUSNESS FEEL LIKE?

  If I were to describe what spaciousness feels like to me, it would be something like this:

  Frictionless: like sitting in a glider rocking chair.

  Buoyant: floating in the warm sea.

  Perfectly synced: when all the green lights sync up perfectly, or when things work out perfectly without my having to try so hard.

  Cozy: crawling into a warm bed after taking a hot bath.

  In awe: the rush I get when a huge plane takes off.

  In joy: laughing so hard it hurts.

  Effortless ease: when nothing sticks, jangles, rankles, hurts, or perturbs.

  Trusting: feeling held by the divine order of things.

  Spaciousness isn't just a concept. It is a tangible and sensory state of being that you can tap into and cultivate.

  What does spaciousness feel like to you?

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  What spaciousness feels like to me . . .

  Times in my life when I have felt most spacious . . .

  DAY 122

  MELT INTO SPACIOUSNESS

  As I see it, melting is what being human is all about: Melting attachments. Melting unfinished business. Melting fear. Melting resistance. Melting into Oneness. Melting into the truth of who we really are . . .

  Melting.

  Yes. It can be that easy. When we allow it.

  What is your soul wanting to melt into today? Allow it.

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  My soul wants to melt into this today . . .

  What it feels like when I allow it . . .

  DAY 123

  HOW FLUID CAN YOU BE?

  I am mesmerized by this black-and-white video on YouTube of a guy dancing in a backlit space to Parov Stelar's song, “All Night.” There is something about the way he moves with effortless ease that puts me in a delicious trance. He's liquid motion. Or butter.

  Try it: Spend a minute today watching the steam undulating from your tea—or a cat, a baby, anything or anyone that moves with complete fluidity and ease.

  Watch and learn. These are great teachers.

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  Watching fluidity makes me feel . . .

  When I'm fluid, I feel . . .

  DAY 124

  SPACIOUS MAGIC

  I feel it when I put the dishes away, fold the laundry, or fluff up the sofa and pillows before going to bed at night. It is the spacious infusion that results from housekeeping rituals that I repeat every day.

  Realized and harnessed by simply being aware.

  When you insert awareness into any ordinary task, and repeat it every day, you create a sense of ease and fluidity that can only be described as effortless, spacious magic.

  Try it: Choose a daily housekeeping task that you usually do on autopilot. Insert pure awareness for at least one minute. Repeat this every day for a week, and see if this simple daily tending doesn't lead to an opening—a peephole of spacious ease—that wasn't there before.

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  A daily task that I can take on as an experiment to cultivate spacious magic is . . .

  When I insert pure awareness into the task, I notice . . .

  DAY 125

  TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT

  It doesn't take much to move stuck energy. Sometimes just making a slight pivot in a new direction for a few days can help break up some old, stuck patterns.

  You could take a different route to work, or go left instead of taking your usual right turn in the supermarket aisle, for example. You could get up fifteen minutes earlier, or lollygag in bed fifteen minutes longer. You could shower in the evening instead of the morning, or sleep on the left side of the bed instead of the right. You could have a cup of tea with honey instead of your usual coffee, cream, and two sugars.

  You could respond instead of react.

  As the Sufi poet Rumi reminds us, “Very little grows on jagged rock.” What is something different you can try today that will help you loosen up some of the crusty stuff?

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  Something new I can try today is . . .

  Going off-road a little bit from my usual routine feels . . .

  DAY 126

  CHECK IN—LETTING GO, LETTING FLOW

  The focus this week was to loosen and melt some of the crusty resistances that keep you stuck in old ways. The poetry of the thirteenth-century Sufi mystic Rumi is particularly helpful with this. Trying something new that doesn't activate the fight-or-flight response can also break up stuck patterns.

  What has helped you feel greater fluidity, ease, and spacious detachment this week?

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  Being more fluid feels . . .

  Some simple housekeeping tasks I can do to help me cultivate spaciousness are . . .

  WEEK 19

  FILTERS AND PERCEPTIONS

  We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.

  —Anaïs Nin, Seduction of the Minotaur

  DAY 127

  MISSED PERCEPTION

  A number of years ago, the Washington Post conducted a social experiment. They had Joshua Bell, a world-class violinist, play six Bach pieces in a DC Metro station during rush hour. In forty-five minutes, thousands of people walked past him, and only six stopped to listen. About twenty gave him money. When he finished, no one noticed, and no one applauded.

  On his blog, Jeff Bridges (yes, that Jeff Bridges—The Dude) framed this experiment by asking what this tells us about perception:

  In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

  Do we stop to appreciate it?

  Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

  I want to think I would have stopped and appreciated Joshua Bell's artistry and skill, but I probably would have walked right by, too busy worrying about getting to an appointment or catching the next train.

  Imagine what we might see and experience if we simply slowed down a little bit. If seeing more “out there” is a function of how clear we are within, imagine the beauty that would not go unnoticed.

  Now that's an experiment worth trying.

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  Beauty I'm noticing right now . . .

  One way I can invite more beauty into my life is . . .

  DAY 128

  POLARIZING FILTERS

  You don't need to know much about photography to know that the viewfinder of a camera will capture what it sees, and the shutter will click on a moment, freezing it in linear space and time. The more sophisticated photographer can manipulate and control the outcome of her images by increasing or decreasing the shutter speed, by adjusting the aperture, and by adding different lenses and filters. By mounting a polarizing filter, for instance, she can remove the harsh glare to create a richer, darker, more textured shot. A telephoto or macro lens can capture sharp detail; a fisheye lens creates an interesting, distorted fishbowl.

  What do your inner lenses and filters look like? To what extent have you amplified, enhanced, distorted, blurred, cropped, or polarized the reality of who you are? What does your world look like through your “rose-cluttered” glasses?

  Better yet, what does your world look like when they're clear?

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  One thing I can see with greater clarity about myself since I began this book is . . .

  One way my clearing is changing the way I see myself and the world is . . .

  DAY 129

  POPPING PERCEPTIONS

  In response to the question, “What is bubbling up since you began your clearing journey?” a student responded with a very creative suggestion—one which seemed, coincidently, to bubble up on the spot (thank you for this wisdom, Tammy!):

  As I asked myself the question, “What has been bubbling up?” my initial response was, “Nothing, yet” . . .

  Then, within the disappointment in myself for not integrating anything mentally or having the time to physically DO something to support the lessons while they were fresh in my head, the image of a bubble stayed with me.

&
nbsp; Could I possibly release thoughts or ideas into my own beautiful bubbles, and then, one by one, release each bubble into the air? We all know that bubbles do pop in reality, and I will allow my personal ones to pop, too.

  That pop would then release my idea/thought, again. I will watch where it goes in its newfound freedom. If it comes close to me as it falls, I can choose to consciously catch it and reclaim it, or just let it go, allowing it to fall away from me. Its energy will return to the earth, where it is neither good nor bad . . . . It will just be neutral energy since it is no longer powered by me and my own perceptions and beliefs.

  Hmmmmm . . . I think I will try this :-)

  Don't you just love how the creative mind supplies us with what we need?

  What “perception bubble” would you like to pop today?

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  A perception that doesn't serve me that I could release today is . . .

  When I contain the thought in a bubble and watch it float away (and pop), I can feel myself . . .