When I came across Lian Dolan's podcast this past week, it was like taking a long drink after traveling for months in a desolate wasteland. In it, she recounts the results of her self-branding of 2010 as The Year of Let 'Er Rip! I encourage you to read the article for yourself as you head into 2011. She offers four bits of advice to have your own 'Let 'Er Rip' year.
1) Saying Yes is As Easy as Saying No
2) Do One Thing Every Day that Scares You
3) It's Okay to Talk To Yourself
4) Today is As Good a Time As Any
Why has this concept been such a find for me on a heart level as we enter the new year? Well, the final seven months of 2010 was not so fun due to witnessing people I love in my extended family navigate pure, raw pain on a daily basis because of separation and now a forthcoming divorce. It has consumed me, leaving little time for more than just getting the basics done. I've continued to work, homeschool my two kids (one of whom would rather not do school at all...ever...also not so fun), parent a teenager (!) and nurture my own marriage to a man I am so unbelievably thankful for today there are no adequate words. But it has all been done with an overwhelming sadness that has threatened to take me under altogether.
Due to this heartache, I have had little brain space to write. No heart room for creativity. My heart has kind of shriveled up. That is NOT who I am. I know I need a jump start back into what I value most: creating a life that brings my heart into 'fully alive' status. Due to the fact that my circumstances have not changed, I know that it won't happen if I am not intentional about it.
So, that is why I've decided to follow Lian's lead and brand 2011 as my own 'The Year of Let 'Er Rip' in the hopes that maybe I will shake myself out of the funk I've found myself in and move forward with the things that need to happen this year...the things that really matter to me. So, here is my list of 11 things I plan to do in 2011. Perhaps this will help you to make your own list so you can 'Let 'Er Rip' in 2011 too!
1) Shamelessly market and promote myself and my husband.
After talking about it for 20 years while continuing to work on other people's projects and our own stuff individually, Mark and I finally have an album (entitled Simple) coming out in early 2011 and there is much to do to promote it. It's awesome. You need it. Your friends need it. You will all love it because it's awesome. We're awesome. You'll love us!
2) Write a new album in February.
After a long dry spell of no songwriting or writing of any kind, I think this will be just the ticket to get me working on new material for the next album. Yes, I am determined there will be a 'next album'.
3) Book a non-continuous coast-to-coast tour to promote the Simple album.
The one good thing about being old like me is you know lots of people all over the place. I hope to leverage this and get some of those people to let us use their living rooms to do house concerts this year. Besides, how fun will that be to hang with people we love all over the country? Not to mention all the new friends we'll make who will discover our awesomeness once we shamelessly promote and market ourselves....
4) Train for (and run!) another half marathon and beat my time.
Finishing my first half marathon in June of 2010 was a thrill. I'd love to do it again...even faster!
5) Pitch my brilliant idea for a TV show to someone connected in Hollywood.
Yes, I am serious. I'm tossing this out to the universe because I believe I have an absolutely great idea for network television that could change people's lives. Know anybody willing to talk to me?
6) Fiercely pursue identity directed learning opportunities for our children that afford us the chance to capture their hearts and unlock their destinies.
After literally feeling suicidal as a homeschooler recently, I've decided to make a radical shift in how we approach learning for all of our kids, not just the homeschooled ones. I'd like to move from filling their brains with facts and figures to making sure they are learning the things they really need to be the people God created them to be.
7) Say no to things that clog my brain, time and creativity, such as: extended family drama; fear; negativity; guilt; words of condemnation; the poverty spirit; taking teenaged angst personally; podcasts, audio books, reading material, television and people who drain my battery; falling into my childhood pattern of feeling obligated to be responsible for everything and everyone; clutter internally and externally; excessive house cleaning done to please people who don't even live with me; killing myself trying to be all things to all people; and all-consuming remodeling projects on our 50+ year old house that last longer than one week.
8) Say yes to doing something kind for myself every single day, such as: napping, long baths, intentional time alone, staying in the Word, eating a high percentage of living foods, cultivating gratitude in my heart, snuggling with my kids, looking long into the eyes of the people I love, stopping to breathe and live in the moment right now!
9) This year I want to (I NEED TO!) learn how to meditate to better handle stress and keep my mind stayed on what is true.
10) I plan to BE and HAVE way more FUN in 2011, because I AM FUN!
11) In 2011 I will LIVE BY MY VALUES, and not the tyranny of the urgent.
This year I plan to say yes to those opportunities that stimulate me creatively. I plan to do one thing every single day this year that scares me. I plan to say to myself every single morning this year, "Let 'Er Rip" and hope that at some point, I will really mean it...really live it out. I will not procrastinate living out of a heart that is fully alive any longer, continuing to put off to tomorrow what MUST be done today.
Today, on this the first day of 2011, I MUST begin my journey into The Year of 'Let 'Er Rip'! I've gotta. I feel it's my lifeline to climbing out of the dumps. How about you?
Christi Bovee is a singer/songwriter who co-founded Greenhouse Arts in 2004. She lives in authentic community with a dynamic group of artists and musicians in the mountains of Colorado. She is SO MUCH FUN!