Month by Month in 2018

I love beautiful things, especially beautiful art, so I get excited at calendar buying time (aka, December). It's a chance to purchase 12 prints of images I like and hang them on my wall to enjoy throughout the year. Usually I try to stick to one or two calendars I hang in my home and office... but this year, I found myself buying a third. This one, Nikki McClure's 2018 offering, had to come home with me. I'll tell you why: The art is beautiful and inspiring; but more than that, the words chosen as a theme for each month remind me of what I do, daily, in my therapy practice. (Click on the calendar image to follow a link to Nikki's website).

Here are my thoughts on each month's theme:
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January: RECTIFY- We repair our mistakes, apologize, make right what we made wrong. We let other's know where they have harmed us. We heal our relationship with ourselves, halting self criticism and embracing a more loving way of relating to our experiences. 

February: RENEW- We let go of what is over, set free what needs releasing, and clear out our closets to make room for the new. We forgive. We shed our skin so our new, bright, shiny coat can be seen. We plant seeds, dream, scheme and find inspiration in life's incessant insistence on creation.

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March: ASTOUND- Life astounds us, and we astound ourselves. In the midst of boring, mundane, predictable daily life children are born, illnesses are healed, art transcends, and life, if we choose to see it that way, is a miracle. As we look for the incredible in our daily lives we are sparked back into our passion, gratitude and humility.

April: RALLY- I see two meanings in this. First, it's the energy we muster in the midst of difficulty. So often clients are inspired to enter therapy just at the moment when their ability to rally is faltering. After weeks, months, years of white knuckling our way through life, sometimes we come to the point where we need someone to help us recharge our reserves of determination, will power and grit. The second meaning in rally is about when we come together to let our leaders know how we want to be represented. We rally to show our strength and will. Either way, rallying is about coming together and finding strength in numbers. 

May: INSTIGATE- This is about stirring the pot. We cause a ruckus so that the status quo gets shaken up. We don't settle for an for institutional prejudice, systemic discrimination, or for silencing campaigns. We speak up so our truth is heard, even if it rocks the boat. This word scares me a little bit, because it often refers to the sparking of hurtful or harmful acts or events. I'm going to embrace it here and see it as the courage and tenacity to defy the collective when what is widely accepted and practiced by many is harmful to some.

June: EARTH- When I ask clients to talk about places where they feel relaxed, at ease, and free, the vast majority talk about experiences in nature. Our nervous systems evolved over many thousands of years to feel most comfortable in rhythm with the natural world. The pain of environmental destruction that we all take part in is something we need to grapple with and attend to as we navigate the emotional realities of the environmental challenges we face. And in the midst of that destruction, we need to find time to celebrate ourselves, and our place in the wildness of our world.

July: TIDE- We are bound to the cyclical ebb and flow of life. Life will naturally shift over time and the more we can ride the waves, the better we'll feel. The more we are of the ocean, not just in the ocean, the more serenity, resilience, and ease we experience.

August: FORWARD- No matter what obstacles have gotten in our way, what setbacks we've faced, what sadnesses we've endured, our way is always forward. Sometimes going forward means going back to a place we've been before, or restoring a relationship from the past. Regardless, the movement is forward towards growth, evolution and maturation.

September: DEFEND- Here we protect the vulnerable. We foster the needy. We attend to our most sensitive inner selves. We find strength in the ability to balance our strength with our fragility and to honor both parts of ourselves, and of those around us.

October: RISK- My work with clients is all about risk. I'm taking a risk, and so are they. We're trusting each other to build a relationship that will survive the precarious waters of life's challenges, both in session, and in the wider world. I like to think that this month's theme is a celebration of the strength it requires, and also the potential for benefit, when a risk is taken.

November: TAKE ACTION- Sometimes we ponder, inquire, explore, and feel. Other times we strap on our boots and hit the pavement to make the change we wish to see. Also, It's election month. Get out and VOTE for what you believe in!!!

December: CON NOSOTROS- We're all in this together. Internationally, multiculturally, interfaithfully. Let's live in the world as if we were a community because, well, we are. 

So there you have my thoughts on 2018 as inspired by Nikki McClure's calendar. What inspires you about the new year?