live life with loving intention.
"whether through simple observation or by more complicated human intent, our connection to the energy around us is altered, thereby affecting the outcome of any circumstance. if my intention is positive or loving, the outcome will be more beneficial than if my intention is negative or hateful. what we send out into the world has a way of coming back to us. this is why it is so important to live life with loving intention" (nuckols).
so the theme for my life lately has been to make sure everything i'm doing is intentional and positive, or at least try to make it that way. this segues idoneously into talking, once again, about my mindfulness class. i'm sure those around me lately have grown tired of hearing me babble on about how much i've loved this class, but it's about to happen again! the main points of mindfulness are to 1 be in the present moment, 2 on purpose (with intention), and 3 without judgment. it makes all the difference in the world, to everyone and everything that surrounds you, if you can choose to be right where you are on purpose. it's quite liberating too.
for me, one of the biggest turning points in the class was the seven hour day of silence (i know, right) that i participated in a couple weekends ago. if you would have asked me a year ago if i could've done it, i might have thought you were crazy. i think it's the longest period of time in my life where i haven't uttered a single noise. and it was one of the most pleasant experiences i could've asked for! not having my phone or a watch or any obligations, except to just be. and the weather was nice so we spent part of the day outside and i noticed so much more about myself and my surroundings in that meditative state. the best way i think i've been able to describe it to friends is the snowglobe metaphor. on any normal day, in all the hecticness of life, our brains are like a snowglobe that is constantly being shaken. and when you take a few minutes to pay attention to your breathing and notice surroundings with all of your senses, it's like the snowglobe gets placed down and all the little sparkly flakes (or thoughts) settle to the bottom and everything gets a lot clearer. so that's kind of how everything has been for me lately. really clear.
phew, alright. not trying to get too cloyingly sentimental. heh. now for some updates on all the other fun stuff i've been doing!
- february has been filled with lots of red wine and constant roommate hanging-outage (i think i just made up that word). it's pretty fun having four of us + rufus in our cozy 2 bedroom villa. ha. 2's company, 3's a crowd, and 4's (well, 5 if you include felines) a party i've decided. so, yeah, i guess we have a party every night.
- spent a ridiculously fun weekend in nashville with lots of girlfriends for 2 pretty birthday ladies. it makes my heart so happy to be surrounded by friends that i can't do anything but smile and laugh around.
- lots of other little fun days and nights out in knoxville!
- my sweet sydney came to visit knoxville spontaneously on a wednesday and thursday and that little 2 day excursion included lots of giggles, funny accents, mexican food, and martinis.
- sissssster jenna sang in a haiti benefit concert and did so well. isn't she the cutest? hard to believe we have the same genetic makeup and i can't carry a tune for the life of me. it kind of hurts my ears when i sing.
- also, involving jenna.... we went and got our first tattoos together on tuesday :) she got a fern leaf behind her ear and i got the sanskrit symbol for lotus on my forearm. we're pretty stoked about them.
- phantogram and lykke li have been my rotating playlists as of late. especially this song today.
- i think i want a high waisted swim suit? (i'm getting excited for warmer weather. i want to hang up my jackets and coats for a few months) and these sunglasses will be mine in the near future yay!
okay, honestly, how awesome are these two? i really can't get enough.
alright, that's all! love love love.
