My new friend Michelle, creative career coach extraordinaire, really motivating gal & super inspiring blogger, thought it would serve me well to participate in her 1 Thing in 2010 meme.  Simple questions can be really tough to answer!  She was right.... it did serve me well.  Working through these questions has helped me focus even more on the task (and year!) at hand!

Be forewarned, I talk in the third person, reminisce about high school, argue with my gremlins and get real in the following: 

1. If you were only allowed to have 1 Intention for 2010, what would it be & why?  I have so many dreams for the coming year, so this question is a tough one.  I’ve settled on my word for 2010: Spirit.  The word spirit encompasses my dreams so well.  When I was a Senior in high school, I was voted “Most Spirited” and it was well deserved, if I do say so myself.  You see, I put everything I had into cheerleading.  I gave it my all.  I lived and breathed cheerleading.  It was the one area of my life that I felt it was ok to truly show my spirit.  It felt safe, so I let it shine. 
   
   As time went on, I made some choices that put a damper on my spirit and for a while. I wandered aimlessly, doing what others thought I should be doing.  But these past few years have changed things dramatically.   I’ve found a few new places to once again, let my spirit shine.  Places that feel safe enough to let down my guard, embrace vulnerability and shine.  A few of those places are my blog, my art and with my cheerleaders - my friends that really see and get me. 
   
   So my one intention for 2010 is to be spirited, always.  If that means setting boundaries so that nay-sayers and party-poopers don’t rain on my parade, then that is what I intend to do.  I will not allow my spirit to be stifled this year.  I will seek positive, supportive people and make an effort support them right back.  I will get out of my comfort zone more often and seek opportunities to share my spirit.  Overall, I just want to kick fear to the curb and be myself.  


2. If you were only allowed to have 1 Goal for 2010, what would it be & how can you achieve it?   I’m not liking these singular questions.  I think “one” scares me.  It has an “only” ring to it.  A “not enough” vibe.  I recognize that there is no actual validity to that thought and it’s not completely rational.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing to do one thing... it’s just... hard to choose.  I mean as soon as I verbalize what that ONE thing is, it feels like an all or nothing.  I’ve been avoiding answering these questions since Michelle posted them the other day.  Actually, I’ve been avoiding doing any writing at all since she asked these questions. 
   
   What the heck am I afraid of anyway? 
   
   So... enough avoidance.
   
   One goal. 
   
   One.
   
   K.I.S.C... Keep It Simple Carmen
   
   My goal is to
   
   here comes the internal dialog again...
   
   aaaahhh this sucks.  why can’t I think of one freaking thing that I want to accomplish.  only one, it’s not that hard.  shut up gremlins.  no judgy judgy.  it doesn’t have to be perfect.  it doesn’t have to sound perfect.  it doesn’t have to be some extravagant charade that will draw in oohs and ah, it just has to be real.  like back in cheerleading, when you were getting ready to try out for ESU’s squad.  That damn back handspring was your nemesis.  Oh you could do it alright, you were just so afraid you would fail that you didn’t even try.  it wasn’t until the day of try outs that you got up the nerve to actually do it.  after that it was no longer lingering over you.  hell, you did like 8 in a row one day on the school lawn.  you were freaking brilliant and yet you were scared to let your spirit shine.  shine on carmen.  you can do this.  it’s ok to say that your goal is a single back handspring... who cares how simplistic that sounds.  really.  what is your goal now?  what one thing do you want to accomplish this year more than anything else?  what matters most?  what can you not live without?  what would leave you beaming from ear to ear?  what is your one goal?  is it quitting your job?  is is earning enough to buy dan a boat?  it’s ok if it’s something “sounds” simple.  just spit it out already! is it defining your business?  is it learning to plan?  is it getting organized?  is it writing a business plan and figuring out what it is that you want to do and how it will look? 
   
   That’s it.  My one goal is to write my business plan. 
   
   I’ve actually already started on this task numerous times, but when I recently discovered Lisa Sonora Beam’s book, The Creative Entrepreneur, I finally felt like I could do this and have it make sense.  I can really get behind the idea of taking a creative approach to business planning!
   
   Now I just have to do the work and find some accountability partners and cheerleaders that truly “get me” and can help hold me to it.  Who wants to be on my squad? Tryouts are ongoing! 




So... hard work + accountability & support = success for this one goal.




3. If you had to do 1 New Thing in 2010, what would it be? Will you commit to it now? Volunteer in my children’s classrooms.  Yes, I’m committing right now.  Due to my work schedule, I’ve not been able to attend many of the kids’ school functions and activities during the school day.  I think it’s really important that I make being there a priority.  Literacy Week is coming up and my daughter’s teacher asked me if I would come in an talk to the 2nd grade about my experience (so far) with writing my book.  I said yes before I even realized that my work schedule would make it tough, so technically, I’ve already committed.  

   
   And I won’t be backing out. 



4. If you had to get rid of 1 Thing in 2010, what would it be & why? Procrastination is a major source of stress for me and it’s self imposed.  Getting things done early will set a good example for my munchkins and it will alleviate some of my stress.   


5. What have you achieved in 2009? List it all!  The past year rocked my socks off.  If 2010 is anything like 2009, it’s going to be absolutely incredible.  Back in November, I blogged about my intentions for the coming year and I did a little reflection on the previous year.  Here’s what I wrote:  

“A year ago, I sat and wrote my intentions for the coming year and I wondered what it would take to make some of my dreams reality.  I decided that even if I didn’t know exactly what to do, I had to begin.  And so begin I did, and it paid off bigger than I thought possible. 

We moved into our new home in December and in January and February, my home studio started coming together.  Early in the year, I did everything from paint really big, to learn image transfers and managed to have a few creative breakthroughs.  

I had my first expo in April and I launched a really big dream.  My tribe had a growth explosion which became the TCWAA in June and in July, the Spill It Online Workshop was dreamed up. I quickly realized it was much bigger than just a workshop and in August, it became a book proposal.  

The proposal was accepted in September and in October, the online workshop launched.  That dream that launched in April was realized in November when my artwork and blog were featured in the Winter Issue of Artful Blogging magazine.

And that brings us back to November, the present.  This month, I teamed up with a friend to launch a shared dream... one that you can join us for in the spring, the Art & Dreams Bound retreat.”

Wow, it’s really exciting to re-read all that and it feels pretty amazing!  Thank you Michelle for the push! I'm looking forward to another amazing year!!!  And getting my business plan finished too! 

Loads of moto,
Carmen 

♥♥♥

P.S.  If you get my newsletter, you already now that you can pop in every Tuesday in January for a new journal prompt and get a small sample of Art and Dreams Bound!