There is incredible symmetry in a tree, between its inner life and its outer life, between its rooted memory and its external active presence. A tree grows up and grows down at once and produces enough branches to incarnate its wild divinity. It doesn’t limit itself—it reaches for the sky and it reaches for the source, all in one seamless kind of movement.
~ John O’Donohue, Walking in Wonder: Eternal Wisdom for a Modern World
This quote by the late Irish philosopher and poet John O’Donohue provides the perfect imagery as I reflect on my journey at the close of 2019. As this year marks the ten-year anniversary of my cancer treatment, taking a step back to look at the big picture since that turning point is more poignant and rewarding than ever.
I’ve written here about the gifts of stepping back for a wider perspective of life situations. An end-of-year review is a great way to do that on a broader scale. So, in what has become my year-end ritual, I’ve spent the last few days re-reading my journal entries from the past twelve months. (If you don’t journal, an alternative is to review your 2019 calendar.)
Reviewing my journals provides double value-added: 1) clarity on my 2019 Goals results and 2) insight on what sparks joy in my professional and personal lives. Joy signals that I’m working and living in alignment with my purpose, so these are the activities I should do more of going forward.
In other words, I have to take stock of 2019 before I can set my goals for 2020.
Coming back to O’Donohue’s tree image, the big picture for the year is one of upward and outward growth (lots of new branches!) and intense periods of my roots stretching deeper and wider below the surface. It hasn’t always felt seamless and sometimes my branches have to compete for space. But paying attention through meditation, journaling, and my other mindfulness practices has clarified which branches I want to nurture and which I can prune away next year, as well as which areas of my root system need more nutrients.
But before we look ahead, here’s the look back…
MY 2019 GOALS
- Deepen authentic connection with my family, friends, followers, and community. This means practicing mindful listening and sharing more of myself, even (especially) in vulnerable territory. – Hard to measure quantitatively, but yes. Practiced having difficult conversations, owned and shared the stories in my head that drove my reactivity, opened my heart, shared my truth, and allowed others to correct my false assumptions.
- Introduce mindfulness skills to as many people as possible, especially through Search Inside Yourself training for companies and organizations and customized group programs. (My big dream is to bring this training to the International Monetary Fund, where I used to work. Sharing my vision here to help make it happen!) – I’ll bring in some numbers for this one: 19 speaking engagements (trainings, workshops, keynotes, and conference breakout sessions) reaching hundreds of people. One of those trainings was for the International Monetary Fund Family Association, with another one scheduled for the same group in a couple of weeks.
- Inspire more people to cultivate a daily meditation habit. – My journal entries highlighted the enriching impact of my 30-Day and 15-Day conference call meditation programs, which attract people who are truly committed to weaving mindfulness into the fabric of their daily lives. This is another branch of my tree that grew stronger in 2019, including our first ever in-person gathering of the beautiful community of practitioners that has blossomed via our morning meditation circle. Registration is open for our next session, which begins on January 20, 2020. Click here to learn more and register!
- Increase collaborations with like-minded, heart-centered mindfulness practitioners, teachers, coaches, and consultants (common denominator = working to boost positive energy in the world). – Gaining momentum!
- Improve my love/hate relationship with social media. – I didn’t articulate this goal clearly enough in January. I enjoyed intentional social media use for most of the year, but ran out of steam on Instagram during the last quarter. Since I am an introvert, when I’m tired social media doesn’t feel fun, so it’s the first thing I let go of. That’s OK with me.
- Grow my photography business, bringing the positive energy of my work into more homes, offices, and especially healthcare settings. – This is a branch that didn’t receive as much sunlight and water in 2019 as I would have liked, but still had some joyful growth that I’ll be sharing more about in a few weeks. Stay tuned!
- Deepen my personal mindfulness practice by attending a week-long silent meditation retreat. – Check! My silent retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin County, California, was like Miracle Grow for my root system.
- Strengthen my photography skills and add to my collection at damselwingsphotography.com. A specific goal is to learn a technique called “light painting.” – As with all aspects of my photography objectives, this goal suffered in the wake of other growth in 2019, though I did learn the basics of light painting. The good news is that I have already registered for a challenging week-long photography workshop in Canada this summer. Yay!
- Maintain work/life harmony. – I did well on this in 2019, fitting in family trips to Belize, Alaska, Arizona, and a couple of visits to the family lakehouse in between work commitments and professional travel. By the end of the year, though, I was pretty exhausted, which may have set the stage for the long bout of bronchitis and pneumonia that hit me at Thanksgiving and lasted through December. I’ll be dialing back a bit on travel next year.
And that’s a wrap on my 2019 report card!
What about you? Have you taken a step back to review your year? I encourage you to give it a try as a stepping stone to setting your “live life to the fullest” intentions for 2020. Let me know how it goes!
As the curtain closes on another year, thank you for your continued support, encouragement, and interest in my work. I couldn’t be more grateful! Have a safe and joyful New Year’s celebration!
