Reconnect with Wonder

While discussing our February goals in my group coaching program, and I mentioned that I'm going to participate in the 100 Day Project again this year. My first experience with this amazing community was back in 2021, with an "essay a day." Needless to say, that was a much bigger undertaking than I realized.  Yes, I wrote an essay every... single... day... for 76 days. 🤦🏼‍♀️ However, much of the creative writing you find here, or in my social media is direct quotes from that project. So it did accomplish something. It taught me that I can write.

When I set off on a new venture - especially in the creative field - there's always the underlying possibility that I'll totally suck at it. I know you understand. Piano lessons when you were a kid, Spanish in 9th grade, or tango lessons at 50 (gotta say, wow)... all come with at least a little bit of fear, that your time will be wasted... that you've somehow miscalculated that "spark" you thought was there.

76 days of writing - sometimes at 10pm, cramming it in before lights out - confirmed that fear. There were days that the offering really sucked! 🤣 But it also gave me the ability to get right back in there and write another one the next day - because I said I would, and I posted them in a community that was looking for them. Ah, accountability. But also because when there was a really good one, someone would tell me how my words had "moved their soul," or she could "feel the salty spray in her face!" 

So, by day 76, I had come to believe that even though I wasn't yet ready for a publisher, I could actually write.

What will I do this year?  What, you might ask, do I need to learn to believe now?

Well, I'm doing "100 Days of Wonder," in reference to the second aspect of the Intentional Optimism Tenet, Present - I outlined the tenet in my last blog post, Patiently Present. 

When I shared all this in my group coaching program, I was asked "can you tell us why you're focusing on Wonder?" 

Ah, yes! Do you ever feel like you've lost touch with the things you once thought important, only to realize some of them still ARE important?

That's why.

I seem to have lost touch with what it feels like to be awestruck, gobsmacked, bowled over, with the beauty of the world. I used to turn onto my street, see the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance and think "gosh, I'm so blessed to live here." Now, I have to remind myself to look. 

As I take in all the beauty of the world (people, places, things & situations), I want to re-cultivate my own Grown Up Sense of Wonder. I want to reconnect with finding the beauty in everything, and I know that 100 days of purposeful looking will likely do the trick. 

That's some intense focusing, and it requires me to Be Present.

So, beginning 2/22/23, I'll be documenting the Wonder I find in each day.

What about you? 

Are you present enough to take in the wonder of each day?

What can you do to help you see the beauty in everything around me? 

Maybe you're interested in a 100 Day Project for yourself?

If so, don't go it alone!  My friend and fellow coach, Lee McCraw-Leavitt is offering to be our guide! She's available to help you figure out what you could do, and how to go about it. She's even offering a special zoom conversation that will include tips, hacks, encouragement to begin, and help brainstorming and/or shaping your project into something doable. Yes, even through 100 days... You don't have to be a practicing creative to participate - everyone is welcome (and capable)!

Click here: Unruly Creators: #the100dayproject Conversation to register for the session. 

Hope to see you there! 

It's been a "rough" couple of years, my friend. Hard times can beat the Wonder right out of you. Even if you don't join us in the 100 Day Project, I encourage you to look for the beauty in your day. Let your heart be filled with a renewed sense of the Wonder of being alive!

Celebrating the beauty that is YOU! 

If you’re new to Intentional Optimism - welcome! Here's a quick guide to each of the six tenets, and how you can pursue them each day.“What Is Intentional Optimism?” You can also scroll back through the past blog articles and episodes of the podcast, and find dozens of solo shows in which I dive deeper into what makes up each one.