{"id":4826,"date":"2017-01-03T13:48:08","date_gmt":"2017-01-03T21:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/?p=4826"},"modified":"2017-01-03T13:48:08","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T21:48:08","slug":"january-3-2017-gifts-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/january-3-2017-gifts-last-year\/","title":{"rendered":"January 3, 2017 – Gifts from last year"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"My

My painting as it is today. I took a full week off from painting, which was nice. I’m back to it now.<\/p><\/div>\n

Listen to this post:<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170103-Post.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n

Last week, just after finishing my post I drove up to Sonoma County to see my friend Cathryn Couch. Being on the cusp of a new year, on our walk she asked me what 2017 looks like for me.\u00a0 I\u2019d just written that I wasn\u2019t going to project into the New Year, rather I\u2019d let it unfold and live in the \u201cfutureless present moment.\u201d\u00a0 I felt a pull away from this \u2013 it\u2019s what we do \u2013 we look into the future at this time of the year. Though I felt resistance from inside, through our conversation I recognized that it is good and useful to have at least intentions \u2013 to bring our desires in to play in the unfolding of our lives.\u00a0 Otherwise we could be rudderless as time marches on.\u00a0 Last Tuesday afternoon my intention was to carry forward the hard lessons from 2016 – and value<\/em> myself more.\u00a0 Cathryn framed it for me with the familiar analogy of putting on my own oxygen mask first.\u00a0 The more I know that my life makes a difference, the more I must tend to my own energy and capacities – so that I can.<\/p>\n

Then, while driving the next day I heard Terry Gross interview Francis Ford Coppola on her Fresh Air radio program.\u00a0 He published his notebook from when he made The Godfather<\/em> and they were talking about his making that iconic film.\u00a0 He said something that struck me as really useful.\u00a0 When he makes a movie he decides what it is about, what is its essence, in one word if possible.\u00a0 The word for The Godfather<\/em> was \u201csuccession.\u201d\u00a0 He said that when he\u2019d come to a decision point about the story, the casting, what to edit in or out of the film, he\u2019d ask himself if this furthered the story of \u201csuccession\u201d or not.\u00a0 I like this idea.\u00a0 A lot.\u00a0 What came to me is I could use it for this year \u2013 a theme to help me know how to respond, moment by moment.<\/p>\n

Joe and I had spent the day Sunday putting away Christmas and getting the house, kitchen, refrigerator and pantry all cleared up from the holidays.\u00a0 The house felt open and clean.\u00a0 Then my dear friend Vicki called yesterday.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t anyone with whom I share the inner threads of my life with more than she.\u00a0 It was a perfect time to connect with her \u2013 with all this spaciousness around me.\u00a0 What came out of our conversation was the desire for my \u201coxygen mask\u201d intention to start with tending to my physical body \u2013 sleep, exercise, hydration and food.\u00a0 This sounds so close to the diet and exercise regime that many start a new year with, I know.\u00a0 But it\u2019s really<\/em> not a resolution – I\u2019m holding this as a re-tuning into caring for myself – so that I can have the energy and presence to do what is good and helpful to others in my life.<\/p>\n

After we got off the phone I took Bo up the hill on our hike.\u00a0 I get lots of insight and inspiration on mornings on that hill with my dog!\u00a0 What came to me was the theme for this year:\u00a0 Living my love<\/em>.\u00a0 It seems to apply to just about any area of my life \u2013 my health, my work, my creativity, relationships.\u00a0 I like how this isn\u2019t a resolution \u2013 it leaves room for the \u201cfutureless present moment\u201d and life unfolding in its own time and in ways I cannot imagine – as well as it provides an organizing principle that keeps me from flopping in the breeze.<\/p>\n

Living my love<\/em> harkens back to something that came through me in the middle of last year \u2013 that what I do, what we who paint together are doing, is not just painting what<\/em> we love, we are painting our love<\/em>. This year I will attempt to apply it more broadly.\u00a0 This prompted me to take a peek back to other insights that came to me last year because I\u2019ve sat my butt down to write every Tuesday.\u00a0 Here are some:<\/p>\n