Archives for January 2020

Yesterday we talked about creating a ten year vision plan and then writing it by hand, daily, as I have been doing as a part of my daily writing practice.

Writing is my both my anchor art and in a way, one of my deepest, most long term ongoing relationships. Because of that, I will be vulnerable and share a bit of writing on each vision here for my next ten blog posts.

My first vision/goal/intention is this:

I provide the world fuel for creativity, intentional connection, and purposeful passion to eradicate loneliness and depression.

Loneliness and I know each other more intimately than I often let on. As my mother wrote in my baby book, “Julie smiles all the time, even through tears!” as if that was a blessing – perhaps it was/is – yet in a way I fought against loneliness so much it has had a tendency to suck me back in if I am not mindful or if there is so much happening outside of me I surrender (and not in a good, conscious, empowered way.)

That was, perhaps, the first connection between loneliness and me. My first baby brother was born when I was thirteen-months-old. I was still a baby myself and he had a unique gift that was, I imagine, more than distracting for my parents.

My beloved brother, his name was John, was born with Down’s syndrome. I can only imagine how it rocked my parents, even though “the river denial” flows strongly through our family constellation, too.

My guess is a part of little-baby-not-yet-walking-me surrendered to my brother’s higher needs and that became a lifelong pattern. I am crying as I write this, so I know I am onto something.

When John and I were both preschoolers, we were inseparable companions. He never had the best verbal skills, so we had a silent language that spanned space – after we grew up and lived distances apart, he and I were still able to communicate. This came into play when he was hospitalized before he died.

60% of Americans (or more) experience loneliness on a regular basis. Imagine with me how much better life would be for that group of people if they didn’t feel loneliness anymore.

Studies have found that loneliness leads to illness and absenteeism from work. It leads to mental health problems, it leads to economic instability and job loss. For children it leads to lower grades, it leads to students being shunned and left out. To minimize some of this fires me up from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.

There is an indelible loneliness that comes from not speaking up about what is most significant and having the desire but the inability to say what is so. Taking it further, there is an unforgettable sense of hopelessness that comes from speaking into a void, where no one hears and furthermore no one seems to care.

The vision I created for ten years in the future is also alive today.

How I fulfill it now is multifold.

I am in the process of rebirthing my newsletter mailing list because so many people have asked for it and I am finally ready to show up for it again.

I am remembering a woman from Australia who once wrote to me about the newsletter I used to publish and how during a time of grief and loss and loneliness, the fact I showed up via my newsletter in her email box gave her a sense of encouragement, even though I wasn’t writing about grief and loss, I was writing about passion and purpose and life and telling stories – asking questions – creating a space that said “You care, you matter, I’m grateful for your presence” even though I didn’t know or realize she was reading there was that sense, in the words in my newsletter – I was with her. Loneliness lessened.

I am creating in-person programs and events that incorporate story sharing, intention and connection so people may practice speaking up and being heard and then following up with the people they meet in the groups. Loneliness lessened via intentional connection and stretching comfort zones.

I am continuing to create and am simultaneously expanding online (via zoom and groups) spaces for people to connect intentionally to practice being seen and heard and growing purposefully, with passion using a variety of creative processes including creating social media presences based on passion and according to purpose rather than shoulds or lacks or “because so-and-so said this would be good.” Loneliness lessened via connection with oneself and with others, mindfully.

By writing my list of all ten every day and then focusing on a specific goal that leads me toward realizing my vision, I am fueling the world and myself. I don’t remember when I felt this good as consistently as I have in the recent past.

I provide the world fuel for creativity, intentional connection, and purposeful passion to eradicate loneliness and depression.

To begin to eradicate loneliness and make people feel excited about life, connected deeply to themselves and others fires me up from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.

I smile ear-to-ear when I think of the lives that have been changed and are changing and will change into the future because of the simplicity of intentional connection, reflection and direction through coaching, workshops, videos and more.

What makes you smile ear to ear? How might you make what you are excited about into a part of your vision for tomorrow, next week, next month or all of it, including ten years in the future?