2010 - the Year of White Space

I rang in the new year on a camping trip with family and friends. We were on the North Shore of Oahu in the trees, at the beach. It was awesome! I spent 3 days doing almost nothing and that was absolutely wonderful. My intention was to use those days to prepare for and plan 2010. I needed to make some decisions and set some goals. I figured that the wilderness was the perfect setting for such heavy thinking. It didn't happen. I actually relaxed. I let my brain go empty.

You should try letting your brain go empty. It's a lot harder than you think. Go ahead, try it right now. I'll wait for you ..... Just for a minute .... Think of absolutely nothing. Ready? .... Go ....

If you are anything like me, as soon as you thought "empty" your brain filled with every random thought possible. The first time I tried this exercise my mind was instantly racing. Instead of nothing, I thought of everything. After several attempts, I was still struggling to not think of that one hair brushing against my check, or that fly buzzing around behind me. Closing my eyes didn't help. Then my imagination would go wild. For me, the best way stop the swirling, frenzy of thought is to first be physically still, and then to look at a blank wall, or equally uninteresting surface. When the thoughts come, don't fight them, and don't feed them. Just let them float on through. Fighting them is like struggling in quick sand - counter productive. Feeding them, well, that is obvious. One just builds on the other and pretty soon you have cooked up an entire conversation with yourself.

So, my point is - here it is, twelve days into the new year, and I have no plan, no written goals, no firm decisions made. Well, that's not entirely true. I do have some goals that I wrote down early in December that are going to take a few months to complete. I have made decisions. I have made my daily to to list, and dutifully crossed each line off for the last week and a half. What I don't have is my master plan, my detailed outline, the blueprint for 2010, like I had wanted.

So, here it is -

Wendy's Plan for 2010
The Year of White Space

1. Learn all I can

2. Implement what I learn

3. Love others more

4. Remain calm

That's it, no grand elaborate plan. I learned an important lesson out there, doing nothing at the beach for 3 days. Empty moments in the mind, like white space on the page, focus our attention. Both are calming and help us to connect with what is really important. I am calm, and trust that life is good. In the moment that I need the details, they will surely come.