Being a highly excitable person, many things excite me. For better or worse, I get as excited over a lot of things, much as a small child gets excited over Christmas morning. (Child, nothing – Christmas morning gets to all of us!)
One of the things that really gets me revved up is when ordinary individuals (you know, those of us who have to make our way and find our way because we haven’t inherited anyone else’s way!) take on projects with passion and purpose. It’s exciting when someone has a dream within them, then brings that dream to life with hard work, determination, and sheer, “I. Will. Find. A. Way.” willpower.
Makes me want to cheer for them. But when I do that sort of thing, my cats worry.
Two friends, with particularly lovely smiles – Molly Hart and Sonya Conrad – have started something they call the Heartfire Project. Click on the link I just tossed you to read about their project and mission. I could, of course, explain the project to you – but it seems only fair to let the ladies tell you, themselves. After all, it’s something they’re passionate about, so it’s only right that they get to introduce themselves….well, themselves.
I got my copy of their Heartfire Journal yesterday and have already filled out many of the pages. I did some of them this morning, when the house was all quiet and everyone was asleep except for me and one of my cats, Alexa. Click HERE to see sample pages from this journal. They’re downloadable, so you can get a “feel” for how special this journal is.
Ironically, one of my favorite “insighttivities” (they’re activities that bring about personal insight, so I’m going with calling them such) is the one titled “My Nine Lives.” As the authors point out, beautifully, on the following page, “You are all these people rolled into one. It may be hard to imagine you can be a farming-showgirl or mud-wrestling school teacher, yet we all have a collection of characters on our bus. Allowing them each a voice and then a place in your life creates a more complex, satisfied version of you.” I love that!
The characters on my bus sometimes seem so completely opposite that it amuses me. Sometimes I find myself engrossed in an NFL (or baseball, basketball..) game while making homemade bread, and talking about politics with my youngest daughter. I love the concept of fining all the many aspects of your personality and making them all sing together in harmony.
This journal is a lot of fun – but it’s fun with a purpose. As I was writing a few thoughts down this morning, something struck me. I was taken back to days in my room, as a pre-teen and teenager – writing in my diary. Although it seems as though it’s a lifetime later, the same girl that sprawled across her unmade bed with a siamese cat named Solo still lives within the one that was sprawled out on the home office floor with a cat named Alexa this morning.
Same type of thoughts, same type of Mary Poppins attitude, same smiley face doodles here and there. Actually, my smiley faces have evolved. They get noses, hair, and sometimes glasses now. But they’re still smiling.
I can’t really put it into words, but I got reacquainted with ME this morning. Not just the wife, mother, animal lover, blogger, cook, reader, food network junkie, coffee drinker, self help guru, movie addict…. I got in contact with HER again. Just Joi. The one who lived before everything else happened. Before losing her parents, before finding the love of her life, before having the three most beautiful daughters in the world, before speeding tickets, before budgeting (yuck), before life.
I found something out. I like her. And I like me.
You are, I’m sure the same way. You get so busy wearing so many different hats that you sometimes lose touch with the wearer of the hats. The real YOU is underneath it all – all the titles, all the deadlines, all the to do lists — all the hats.
I do all of my blogs with the same thing in mind – helping and touching as many people as I can. In that frame of thought, I would love to see you head over to Heartfelt Project and order a journal for yourself. It isn’t a purchase as much as it is a journey… Ordering it is simply the first step.
I hope you take it.
- Joi
Related Articles:
- When It Comes to Self Discovery, the Writing isn’t on the Wall, It’s in the Journal!
- The Importance of Attitude, Soul Exercises, and a Final Thought Worth Writing Down – Twice
- A Life Changing Book Written By a Changing Individual
- New Years Resolutions – To Be or Not To Be
- Designing the Best 10 Years of Your Life: The Whys and Hows
- Educational Diversions and Satisfying Sidetracks
