I have been blogging for years via micro-blogging sites like Twitter (The App Formerly Known as Twitter) or Blogspot, WordPress, etc. And each year, I always mentioned that while people wait for January to make changes in their lives, my year begins in September. Therefore, I have always been led to make significant changes to my routines during late July and early August. 

Usually, around this time of the year, I am spent and feeling overwhelmed because I have just discovered how much more work I need to do. I have reached my “limit” and energy quota for the year and need rest and motivation. Therefore, I double down on strategies that guarantee alignment and rejuvenation.

I increase the intensity of my daily rituals because that is when I need to do so the most. Where I cut corners before, like not sleeping consistently, drinking coffee after midday or not hydrating correctly, I become stricter with my rules and rituals and avoid toxic behaviours more religiously than ever. I become quieter too.

August is when I feel I am ready for change and when I see the type of year I desire to have in the next twelve months. This is when it becomes clear that to achieve my personal goals, I require the best of me to show up. I must be holistically ready for whatever challenges I know will come my way.

This is the time of the year when old habits die and new ones are formed. Most times, it is not my doing, but generally, it is when I come across new ideas, people and opportunities. We all have our 12-month rhythm, seldom is it in January as we’ve been conditioned. And for me, it is when I quit things and adopt new ones, or at least when I start preparing for that death and rebirth of the self. It is the time of reassessment and informal self-performance appraisal, asking, “Did I do what I intended to do this year?” and “What do I desire to do next?”

Your time for change may occur in March. You must listen well to your body and find out when you usually have that feeling of endings and beginnings. I usually go through these changes quietly. I don’t share that I am doing anything because it’s become a mundane part of my yearly rhythm. However, this year, I have decided to share my simple strategies with everyone who subscribes to my newsletter.

So, for the next four weeks, I will share my practices and strategies weekly on either Saturday or Sunday. The goal is to be helpful to at least one person and offer validation or a different perspective for their self-nurturing. The Newsletters will be called “Four Weeks of Rebirth”. I will include the steps I am taking to align myself to prepare for the next 12-month stint, and I will pair the newsletter with brief thoughts on the challenges I encountered, the epiphanies I acquired and the musings that came through as I rejuvenated myself through art, contemplation, beauty and balance.

Please note: I will not be sharing dietary advice or suggestions through this. People differ, and blanket advice is harmful. That area is for experts like dieticians and physicians. What I will share are practices that have assisted me in getting control of myself mentally to complement whatever professional you’re working with. If you have any questions, though, I don’t gatekeep, so tweet me. 

As an artist, my perspective on finding balance is intertwined with creativity, so I hope you understand that all that I shall share with you is purely based on my life, my limited perspective and the tools I have available to me. It will not be prescriptive. I will allow you to eavesdrop on some of what I do to centre myself and harness my energy well enough to perform my tasks well enough to achieve my desired goals.

So, subscribe now and await my weekend newsletter to start this short series. 

Enjoy the week ahead!

Tanya

xo