Say Yes
Posted on | January 4, 2006 |
Think about all the lists that have been made in the past few days. Enough words, put back to back, to travel to the moon on. Our hope for the New Year hanging on each syllable.
For the past few days I’ve been trying to articulate what I want truly for this year. What the deepest, pomegranate red portion of my heart longs for. What my soul asks for thirstily, standing by the river of my dreams. And I’ve come up with this: I want this year to be rich in experience. I want to say yes to each moment as it happens.
Tonight at the gym, whirring away on the ellipse machine my in new running shoes, I started reading a dog-eared copy of Oprah. Somehow it was not by chance that I turned to a review of the book, Goal Free Living: Have the Life You Want Now!, which posits the brilliant, wild, possible truth that the happiest people in the world are those who life richly in the moment, following their passions. Goals, the author says, limit the outcome. Success is possible with goals, but narrowly. MORE is possible than your goals. I’m game for that.
But I also there is a certain magic in the superhero way of looking at things. Put the unsayable secret dreams of your heart down in writing. Say yes to the things you wish for yourself if you dared. And then say yes to this very moment.
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22 Responses to “Say Yes”
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January 4th, 2006 @ 2:10 am
This is inspiring. I’m glad I read it before I turned in. It’s a great way of thinking. Thanks!
January 4th, 2006 @ 6:18 am
You always seem to write exactly what I need to read. *smooches*
January 4th, 2006 @ 7:56 am
i love the picture…
its looks so fluid
and in motion…
beautiful
and the words?
i totally agree…
no weight-loss/organize my closet/better budget for me…i want to focus on me this year….
just to see what happens
January 4th, 2006 @ 8:44 am
I have dubbed this year for me the Year of Yes. Yes to change, yes to fulfillment and most importantly YES to that tingly feeling in my gut.
YES….Andrea has started something..:*)
Have a good day!
January 4th, 2006 @ 10:22 am
LOVE this PAINTING!!!!!! OH! OH! LOVE IT.
Can I print it out and put it next to my desk? Do you mind?
IT SAYS EVERYTHING I NEED right now. LOVE IT. You are magic.
January 4th, 2006 @ 12:03 pm
I took two very important things away from my time doing TheatreSports (improv done as a sporting event):
1. Say yes to EVERYTHING, even if it seems impossible.
2. If you’re gonna fail, fail BIG.
You just slammed that lesson back down for me with that beautiful piece. THANK YOU!
January 4th, 2006 @ 12:40 pm
i just love this piece!! the movement, the color, the words, all of it, just gorgeous.
January 4th, 2006 @ 2:39 pm
Lovely image. The living in the moment thing is very zen. However, I think one attainable goal at a time is good. I don’t make resolutions but I often have a single goal, such as: train for and run a half marathon, or have enough work in one genre/style to mount a solo show. They’re long-term goals but they give me focus.
January 4th, 2006 @ 3:21 pm
Yes yes yes. Love your art and writing! Gorgeous piece and smart words. I’m finished with judging myself good or bad for every item I do/don’t check off a tasklist. Here’s to living passionately and giving up the inner conversations that keep us from an extraordinary life!
“the deepest, pomegranate red portion of my heart…” LOVE THAT.
January 4th, 2006 @ 9:16 pm
I, too, LOVE the painting, Christina. It’s GORGEOUS…and perfect for this post. Yes, Ms. Mondo Beyondo has started something…(I remember feeling too timid to list a comment on her M.B. post last year…so, hey, growth!)
In the wee hours this morning, I started doing morning pages…and had my 5-year-old self do HER Mondo Beyondo. It was pretty eye-opening…and a good launching pad for me for AW. 
January 4th, 2006 @ 10:27 pm
such a gorgeous collage - i love, Love, LOVE it!!
January 4th, 2006 @ 10:56 pm
saying yes…what a wonderful resolution. and what a gorgeous collage. the colors are so vivid the flow is amazing.
January 4th, 2006 @ 11:18 pm
I resolve that in 2006, you will set up an online gallery so that we can buy some of your amazing artwork.
Pretty please?
January 5th, 2006 @ 12:54 am
I was just on the couch reading. I came to a paragraph and I remembered your entry.This is what I was reading:
“I realized, on reflection, that I tend to approach life as a sequence rather than as a series of moments. I schedule my time, set goals, and march onward toward their achievement. Phone calls, or any unscheduled event, I view as a jarring interruption…” How different this is from the living-in-the-moment style where other people-interruptions-determine our daily schedule.
I had a peaceful, easy feeling reading what you wrote. Thank you.
January 5th, 2006 @ 1:12 am
I simply love this way of thinking. It began for me about a month ago. Thank you for the gentle reminder! You are so inspiring….you really ought to write a book!
January 5th, 2006 @ 3:18 am
great artwork!
January 5th, 2006 @ 4:21 am
I second Lucinda’s idea.
January 5th, 2006 @ 4:31 pm
oh yes, I love this collage. lovelovelove. and also the idea of saying yes… sometimes it is a simple as saying yes, I think. there can be so much power in that one word, so much so that it creates just the impetus you need to take off.
(oh and yes to superhero… such an inspiration… have you compiled a ‘mondo beyondo’ list yet? or done that in the past? sorry if I am coming off as nosy here!)
January 5th, 2006 @ 7:03 pm
Loving his piece of art.
January 5th, 2006 @ 8:20 pm
Andrea–the short version of my mondo beyondo list is at Mama Says Om. Check it out!
January 6th, 2006 @ 12:23 am
This piece just speaks to my heart my dear. It is gorgeous. She dances with the possibilities ahead. Your declaration is wonderful. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you for this inspiration today.
January 6th, 2006 @ 12:28 am
lovelovelove your collage!!
hmm, your post makes me wonder… must a choice be made between living in the moment and setting goals… or can one live in the moment, while having set goals in mind?