First of all, I wish you a very warm Happy New Year.
This is going to be a rather long newsletter so please take a moment to breathe, return to yourself and I hope you be with me fully as you go from one line to the next, without rushing, without skimming.
This too can be a practice.
I hope the new year’s enthusiasm is still with you, and if you haven’t found it yet, I hope you create enthusiasm for yourself and renew yourself for the new year.
As for me, it took some time for me to get the new year’s enthusiasm as well.
My new year started with getting a fever and then as I had to return to Kolkata for work, I needed some time to feel settled down.
I am now here in Kolkata with my mum, my dog Missy (Bella’s daughter) and my two cats- Elsa and Ariel.
For those of you who wonder where my father is (since I hardly mention him), he passed away in 2015 due to cancer.
Just this morning I and my mother were talking about how it is going to be 10 years since his passing.
I simply could not believe it.
2015 seems like just yesterday. He is still so fresh in my heart and mind and still, it has been almost 10 years.
I think of him and pray for him every day.
…anyway…
I was talking about my new year here.
As a creator, my striving is to always have a high life state and give my emotional and mental well-being its highest priority.
I don’t know how people create in pain, in sadness and by being hard on themselves.
For me, I simply cannot create unless I am in a high-life condition feeling joyful and happy.
I feel that the state of life I am in gets transferred to the things that I do and also determines how people end up feeling from the things I write and create.
If I am happy and hopeful, I feel this happiness and hopefulness gets extended to my readers, that is to you.
If I am joyful and determined, I feel my joyfulness and determination can then be shared.
That is why for me my biggest responsibility as a creator I feel is to keep my life condition high.
And that is something I would recommend to all creators out there- focus on yourself and your wellbeing first and then it will reflect on everything you do.
I don’t want to spend all my time writing and creating too.
I want to spend my time doing other things as well- reading, journaling, exercising, cooking, painting, going for walks, gardening, travelling and enjoying hobbies as well.
If I am not able to exercise, journal, cook or do other things well, then I also won’t be able to do writing well.
I simply can’t create unless I am feeling it and unless I am in a high-life state and this has been my biggest challenge as a creator.
Sometimes that takes so much time, managing my energy, my life state, my home, and my pets that I am left with no time to write and create.
Also, I would be lying if I told you that my life state is always high.
There are always personal and inner challenges that one faces and I too am just trying to learn my way to surf through them and share and encourage along the way.
I wrote more about my challenges, my struggles and my learnings in my annual review of 2023.
This year I hope to do better in taking care of myself and how I see myself as a creator.
And I hope you will be with me throughout.
Anyway, before I end today’s newsletter I wanted to share with you how to get the new year’s enthusiasm if you haven’t already.
1.Get yourself a diary/ journal for 2024
P.S. I have created a 21-Day Journaling Guide for Self-discovery, growth and healing.
If you haven’t taken any other challenge of mine, you can join this challenge.
You will receive journal prompts and guidance from me for the next 21 days to inspire you every day.
2. Write down your theme of the year. My theme for this year is- ‘Year of Building an Inner Sanctuary’
3. Write down three qualities you want to cultivate this year and 3 habits you want to let go of this year
4. Write down your intentions for the new year.
You could be specific about your intentions. I have written my main three intentions as a creator, as a learner and as a partner this year.
5. Then I wrote down my major goals for this year and then broke them into what I’d like to achieve for each quarter.
My major goals this year are simply to read, write, learn and create. I want to spend my majority time only on these four things this year.
6. Next write down the books you want to read this year. For this, I made a list from the recommendations by Ryan Holiday, Austin Kleon and James Clear.
7. Decluttering and organising are also essential.
If you want to renew yourself for the new year, you need to let go of the clutter and make space for the new.
Organize your bedroom, your desk, and your shelves and tidy up your room and home. It doesn’t matter how long time it takes. Create a wonderful environment at home so that you can create space for a wonderful life.
P.S How to begin to organize your life
The Universe loves symbolic gestures.
As you clean and tidy your home, your closet, and your shelves, say to yourself, “I am clearing and polishing my mind and my life for this new year!”
8. Lastly, give care towards how you begin your day each day.
Every day re-new yourself. Forget what was done or not done yesterday. The past is over and done. Give no place for guilt. This is something I am trying to practice too- seeing each day as new and fresh and not letting the past touch my present actions.
No action can be taken in the past. The only moment is now.
Begin each day as if it is a new year because coming to think of it, it is really so.
Every day is a new year because it has been exactly one year since this day last year.
Forget the years… and forget the timeline… forget that it’s already the end of January.
Just renew yourself each day.
Remember, a beautiful day after a beautiful day after a beautiful day is what will make a beautiful life.
P.S This was a part from my Mindful Monday Newsletter. If you liked what you read and want to receive my updates, join below. It would be wonderful to have you ❤️
P.s My Past Newsletters
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