Working with the cycles of the season is among the neat gifts of farming , horticulture and homesteading . reflect on the retiring year and conceive of what the next yr hold is as important as sharpening the tools in the shed or rotating crops from one bed to the next . At the closing of each class , I have a regular practice to review the past 12 month and set up some intentions as I step into what ’s next .
Choose a Method
As I ’ve farm to translate my own process of learning and growth , I ’ve adapted several method from different teachers and belief systems . I urge basing the practice of your yearly review in what ’s meaningful for you . Connect your practice to your value arrangement . For me , it ’s a combination of permaculture principle , scripture , heady elders ’ teachings , feng shui , yoga and autochthonic medicine wheel component . That might sound weird to others , and that ’s fine . This is a secret ritual of draw off inward and spending fourth dimension alone .
Create Space
step out of the officious vacation time of year , I carve out time to be alone . Every year , I bear housesitting invitations as a practical room to break loose ( and it ’s right smart cheap than a hotel ) . My focus improves when I get away from my conversant surround and the ongoing distractions of my dwelling . Hiding away for a few hours or a few days is key to seeing my year clearly .
make the space begin before I leave my house . I stuff my backpack with all my journals , calendars , notes and meaningful subject matter that remind me what the past year has been like . Then I turn my aid to select a few inspirational books or articles that I experience drawn to , for guiding me in the next twelvemonth . I spend no more than 15 to 20 minute of arc on pick up my things , or otherwise I could end up with too much baggage .
Categorize the Past
In my retirement space , I make some herbal teatime , get well-heeled and spread out all my stuff . Journaling is normally my room of keep my thoughts neat and tidy , hide out from examination . Opening up those pages and laying it all out on the table , literally , is really fun for me , like a keen unveiling . It usher me visual evidence of a twelvemonth well live on . Even if the retiring year did n’t seem so great , I know that I was present and demo up because I have the diaries to prove it .
I rarely take time to take my diary until this bit . I might glance over through , arbitrarily flip to a Thomas Nelson Page and record wherever my finger lands , or just translate the first argument from each entry . It does n’t take long to get a sense of the report that emerge . Even looking at my digital calendars can do this for me . I see patterns , and I taste to work from an outside observer ’s point of view . I do n’t let myself to get tangled up in live over any heartbreaks or dramatic event . I seek the facts of the past year , and I make several lean that put them into perspective .
One path to make sense of the past yr is to represent it with the power system of feng shui , the Chinese artwork of spatial predilection that harmonise the stream of push . Do n’t occupy , I ’m not rearranging furniture at this dot . For me , feng shui is simply a utile tool to check in with all view of a balanced life : wealthiness , wellness , prosperity , wiseness , noesis , kinship , creativeness , spheric connexion and base . If I have note about the preceding year in each of these domain , I can see what ’s been challenge , satisfying , abundant or wipe out .
Feel Into It
Taking a big ikon , aerial sentiment of the past year helps me be accusative about what has transpired , and yet I demand my fondness to tattle to my head about all of this . I ’ve borrowed techniques from one instructor in particular , Connie Milligan , that draw me through this expression of my annual reassessment . For this illustration , I ’ll rivet on my outdoors experience . I ’ve listed them separately as GTP Garden , RDH Garden , house garden , hike with friends , learning experiences and vacation . One at a metre , I reflect on the sensations of being in the experience .
The first three — the garden I worked in — each bring up unlike feelings and retention . One was difficult to make procession in , and I learned to focus on just taking precaution of one flora that I really loved . Another was a accomplished mess that I loved physically diving into and whipping into shape . A third was a retreat I turn tail to , and I only minimally disturbed the plants while I just enjoyed being in their presence . I weigh each of these experience by involve what was the most life - gift and what was the most life - draining in each scenario . It helps to put away all books and authorship and just sit in meditation with each of these and remember the feeling of being there . For a more tangible connexion , Connie suggests choosing an object that represents each situation .
The forcible exertion , sudation and camaraderie , as well as unruffled contemplation and nature observation , are the face that I add up away with as life - gift . They might seem contradictory , but all of it helped me feel active while I worked in the gardens . What was life - draining to me was be after , coordinating and worrying about expected value of others .
horticulture is not the only aspect of my sprightliness that I run through this intuitive feeling outgrowth . Checking in with where I set aspects on my feng shui grid helps me name what needs more tending . If I only have one good afternoon for my year review , I will jump right into the area I feel the most changeable about ( such as wealth ) and take a close look and deep palpate at the events fence it ( such as changing jobs ) . If I take a couple of hours every solar day for a week , I can give each aspect its time .
Apply It Forward
Now the fun really come out . I get to calculate at what possibilities are beforehand next yr . I can choose to regain a balance between what I consider the nourishing part of horticulture ( practice session , friends , nature ) and the draining part ( coordination and anticipation ) . There might be other areas of my lifetime where coordination is enjoyable , such as running my own business . In fact , I look at all the coordination energy that I put into my task , and it ’s obvious why I dislike bringing that with me to the garden . That cognition points the way to setting this intention for the coming year : I will make choices around horticulture that boost my energy and course my someone . Garden time will be spare - flowing and unstructured .
Make Your Review an Annual Holiday
No matter what method you practice , reflection and contemplation deserves to be a annual custom . It does n’t have to be on young year ’s eve . conceive what time of year allows time for engage a schnorkel and suits your own lifestyle . It could be at the remnant of the pin harvest , or just before outpouring buds come along , or a weekend nearest your natal day . I have made my retirement sentence a promise to myself . I ca n’t think of a serious giving that will assist all who are close to me than having a clear psyche and undecided philia as I step into the Modern yr .
