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Start Close In - This New Year


In the spirit of beginning anew, each of my past five years have begun with setting a one-word intention rather than a resolution. An intentional approach does not have to begin at the strike of the New Year. It's flexible and allows time for thought and creativity. Rather than a fixed outcome of a resolution, it offers many possible outcomes. If you find yourself midway through January 2020 seeking a fresh start, pick a word and begin again!

These are my past five:

2015 - LOVE

2016 - CREATE

2017 - INSPIRE

2018 - WONDER

2019 - CONNECTION

This year's word is TEXTURE. Like poetry does for words; a mindful consideration of the texture of our days elevates and offers meaning to our experiences.

Let's set the poetry of 2020 in motion with the poem, Start Close In by David Whyte. Let this year begin with the step that has been waiting for you.

Start Close In

Start close in, don’t take the second step or the third, start with the first thing close in, the step you don’t want to take.

Start with the ground you know, the pale ground beneath your feet, your own way to begin the conversation.

Start with your own question, give up on other people’s questions, don’t let them smother something simple.

To hear another’s voice, follow your own voice, wait until that voice

becomes an intimate private ear that can really listen to another.

Start right now take a small step you can call your own don’t follow someone else’s heroics, be humble and focused, start close in, don’t mistake that other for your own.

Start close in, don’t take the second step or the third, start with the first thing close in, the step you don’t want to take.

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