Settling Into A New Year

Good Morning Ladies, and Happy Monday!

I wanted to check in with you, as I settle into a new year. This year was the second time I made ZERO New Years resolutions for myself. ZERO. If you know me, you what a planner, plotter and strategizer I am. But there was something that felt liberating in making no plans, no bucket lists, no vision boards. In starting the year without a map, and just going where the wind takes you. I’m officially a woman without direction now setting sail in the direction of pure instinct! I obviously wouldn’t suggest this for everyone. If you have a hard time getting your rear in gear, then this strategy wouldn’t be the path to a successful you in 2015. But if you are a type A, hard working hustler, then I highly suggest loosening the reigns. It turns out, it’s very liberating. Kinda like going out without a bra.

YES!

While I was away from blogging, I reconnected with my peeps this holiday season, as I set out to.

I read a nice book, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats. 

I had 102 fever and a sinus infection. That was shitty.

I danced on a table, because, YOLO!

We celebrated four birthdays: 8, 64, 65 and 65.

I was featured on SheBrand.com, a great site I admire.

And finally, I am going on day 13 with no anti-perspirant.

SCREEEEECH!

Yes, I read this article over the holidays (and many other articles over the years) on the toxicity of antiperspirants. Now, stay with me here. You can say what you wish… that it’s a myth that antiperspirants cause breast cancer, but in my own little mind, putting aluminum-filled antiperspirant right to my breast lymph nodes, thereby blocking my pours from sweating, keeping toxins inside my body near those breast lymph nodes, has just stopped making me comfortable. So after I read this above article, I didn’t do exactly what it said with the baking soda, but I did start washing my armpits twice a day with soap (I know, TMI), and bought aluminum-free, paraben-free, DEODORANT. NOT antiperspirant, but deodorant.

Et voila! So far things are working out well, as no one has told me I smell like a garbage can yet. 😉

I watched the Golden Globes last night, as did mostly everyone, and like you, I loved this moment. Tina Fey, you’re the f’n bomb.

“George Clooney married Amal Alamuddin this year. Amal is a human rights lawyer who worked on the Enron case, was an advisor to Kofi Annan regarding Syria, and was selected for a three-person commission investigating rules of war violation in the Gaza Strip. So tonight, her husband is getting a Lifetime Achievement Award.” – Tina Fey.

I’m still plugging away on an invention I’ve been working on for over a year— a women’s lifestyle product. We’re set to launch in the spring / summer. It hasn’t been easy, and it may very well be my first real business failure because we are going so far outside the box, but I’m ready for whatever. I’m crazy excited too.

And finally, to bring you right back to today, I woke up with butterflies in my stomach this morning, and didn’t know why. I wanted to sleep some more (I still had time), but instead I opened my iPhone to Podcast, and decided to give a new meditation tape a try. I meditated for 20 minutes lying in bed. It made all the difference- I saw the kids off to school in an unusually calm demeanor. Moral of the story: we often don’t do that good thing for ourselves when we actually need it the most. But GENTLY pushing ourselves, especially when we feel most depleted, is often the key to optimal health and wellbeing.

So, there you have it… Settling Into a New Year.

And finally, I’d like to leave you with two good nuggets of wisdom as we all kick off a new year:

One I found on Instagram. It just makes sense…

And the other is from my queen Oprah. As we settle into this new year, and are possibly holding onto our past failures or mistakes, a reminder that they are only there to serve as a wakeup call for change. “There are no mistakes.”

I’d love to know how YOU’RE settling into the new year. How are things going?