Next stop... 2012!

Well, if any one of you out there is at all like me, the holidays can feel like a train. Moving strong and fast with the start of Thanksgiving all the way into the New Year and leaving you with the feeling of "What just happened? I was so busy for two months and now it's all over?"

I have struggled with this 'swept away' feeling most of my life. Sometimes I just need to stop going and going for a moment, to realize that I've nearly run myself ragged and into the ground with busy-ness and spinning of wheels, only to leave myself tired and unfocused on the fact that a New Year is coming!

So I am trying to slow down and cease my wheel spinning, so that I can move forward and spend my time in a way that reflects my values. 


This train called life don't stop for nobody, unless you are the conductor. 


How can I jump into the conductor's seat? First, I will take some time to take a step back. A good friend of mine and I were chatting today about the crucial nature of the "step back" in making life's most positive moves forward. Without that time and attention to reflection, you will continue to struggle like I have with that same old swept away feeling. Living intentionally feels so much better than treading water. The tough part is, it takes personal responsibility. 

This is something you are deeply aware of if you are an artist. Nobody is begging you to achieve. There are millions of people out there who want to make it as an artist and if days go by and dust collects on your canvases and paint tubes and brushes, nobody is going to be there to take responsibility for that except you, when you get to work. Same is true for anyone else and any other goal. 

When I was training for the marathon, I trained about 95% of the time by myself. This is why, in many of the marathon training books I read, they recommend to you that you tell every single person you can about what it is that you are doing. That way you are at least held accountable to the fact that people keep asking you about your craziness when you are training. 

"How's that running going? Did you win the race?"
(subtext, you might be a little crazy)

Same is true of anything else. Work on it with yourself and be brave and open up and share with others what it is you are working towards. 

Again, I say, this train called life wont stop. So, take a moment to reflect, so that time doesn't pass you by. I have to remind myself of this time and again. There is no time like the present. No obstacle not worth fighting through, to seek your passion. To live your dream. To nurture yourself and thus others and thus the world. 

It always amazes me to hear the stories of people who have radically changed the world for the better, only to hear that it started with something so tiny. Such a tiny thing they noticed or began to do differently, that then grew slowly over time. 

A short poem:
For 2012, I have a few big things that I want to work towards, 
but I will need to do it just a tiny bit at a time. 
A little each day. 
Rolling along. 
Not being swept away.

Happy New Years to all of you out there! May you find and nurture your art!

-Court