June Joy Jumpstarts
I am happy to see June busting out all over! Our gardens are beginning to burst forth with amazing color and promises of more delights to come.
The peonies are here, with the deep pink ones making their appearance first and the wondrous white ones almost ready to be born. Peonies are one of my favorites, along with all of our lily varieties and especially the Stargazer and the Asiatic lilies. The peonies so remind me of my parents. My father loved them and often presented my mother with freshly cut ones from his garden in our Brooklyn, NY postage-stamp-sized front yard. He was a great photographer and particularly enjoyed nature, and taking pictures of his “girls” posing and looking glamorous. My mother was, of course, his favorite girl and he commented on how beautiful he thought she was until the day he died. He would proudly hand her his peony pick of the day, would implore her to drop whatever she was doing and go upstairs to change into a special dress to pose for a photo with peony in hand, or in her hair. One day I need to take time to go through all of his old slides and find some of those pictures. They are treasures to me!
So, today I would like to present you all with a little exercise in honor of June. June is full of expectations of the coming fun summer months with their long, hot, lazy days, and romantic nights where, roses and other fragrant flowers fill the air and make us pause from our stress and catch our breath, even for a moment, because life is beautiful now, and because we have our special memories we can privately unwrap and enjoy. These quiet moments and memories are ours to cherish, regardless of what pressures are in our lives today, or of what kind of pain we might have endured in the past.
June Activity:
What are 5 things that come to mind that bring joy and pleasure to your life?
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When was the last time you experienced each of these?
Is it easy for you, or difficult, to think of such things and to let them in?
If you answer that it is difficult, what do you commit to doing in the next three weeks that will make you conscious of letting joy be a part of every day for you?
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If you had to assign a percentage value, what percent would you say joy and pleasure fill each of your days? How can you increase that percentage?
Are there affirmations (self-talk) you can use to keep guilt away and to
be sure you immerse yourself in your chosen moments of joy?
What are they? Can you create 3 of them now and commit to saying them at least once each day till at least the end of June?
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What is your first step?
Will you e-mail me or comment on this blog about any of the above and on your progress? E-mail co*******@gm***.com
Would you like me to hold you accountable, or to help you if you get stuck with this activity? E-mail me for some friendly little pushes, prods and encouragement. It’s free, so why not?
P.S. See Peony Dreams-Abstract Photographs & Art by Anna Surface
June 5, 2009. It’s lovely! http://abstractreflections.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/peony-dreams/
Ruth Deming says
Loved your peony blog and am reminded of the importance of flowers! First off, there’s the immense pleasure of gardening. A home-made flower bouquet is a great gift I bring my 86-yr-old mom who still gardens at her house.
Gardening is a relatively inexpensive hobby with immense rewards. Many of my flower choices result from fleurs I loved as a child: certainly, the delicious aroma of peonies which I have at the side of my house, rosebushes in the backyard (in Cleveland Heights we had a trellis with roses), and now I love nothing more than my red poppies out front.
BTW, my Suicide Prevention Seminar was yesterday and it was FANTASTIC! I’ll blog about it later on.
Iris Arenson-Fuller says
So glad your seminar was a big success. I mistakenly thought it was last week. Looking forward to hearing more.
Yes, my peonies are infusing my hectic days with lovliness right now too. I also had a line of red poppies that are part of my story of how life goes on and reappears, rejuvenated, no matter what. These poppies were here when we moved in 30 plus years ago, disappeared for many years and suddenly returned anew last year. May have had to do with removing one huge tree a few years back, but I prefer to think otherwise.
How great that your mother can still take pleasure in her gardening.
creativitysage says
Dear Iris,
thank you for reminding me of the importance of self-care.
We took a family vacation last week, so I actually had a chance to do things that bring me joy. After 8 months, I had time to read a novel!
What amazes me, how easy it is to get back to the same old life again. We got back yesterday, and i was immersed in my usual routine. I made the same mistakes in 12 hours after getting back, as before travelling away, going to bed at 2am and getting unproductive with email.
I guess, it is an every day task, like brushing teeth to keep up doing the things that bring enjoyment in our own lives.
Thank you for posting this article.
I will make self-care a topic with my clients in the coming week.
Keep up the good work on your blog!
Judit
Creativity Sage
Iris Arenson-Fuller says
Judit,
Thank you very much for taking the time to read and reply. Yes, I know very well how we wall into our ruts and patterns. You are not alone. I am so glad you got a chance to take a vacation and to read that novel. You might be interested (since you are fresh from your vacation) in my post about Creating a Visualization, about my client who was able to create her own wonderful visualization after her terrific trip. She did this at my urging, while it was still very fresh in her mind and she could recreate the feelings of delight and relaxation she had while away and use it to bring herself back to that state when she needed it in her normal life. Is this the perfect time for you to create one, remembering the vacation you just took and the feelings evoked in you while you were away and having fun?
I will also visit your blog!