Hey there, love.
I'm going to be doing things a little differently this year. In my work and generally in how I go about life. What and why are not because we've entered a new year, but the spirit of this vibe is an apt time to share.
I'll be letting some things go and bringing some things in.
How this impacts you and my community?
For one, I'm very excited to be sharing my monthly musings now in three formats you can choose from based on how you like to take in information.
Short and to the point (by email)
More context (this blog)
Expanded easy listening (my podcast)
While it may seem like a lot, it’s actually an act of doing less in order to do more. I’ll share more about what this means in the future.
In the meantime, yes, you read that right!
if you love a podcast while you putter around the house or drive to the store, pop in your earbuds and give mine a listen. Episodes will be between 15-30 minutes (this one is 19).
You can listen now by clicking below or hop over to Spotify. When it's available on Apple Podcasts, I'll let you know.
If you prefer a quick read, join my email list.
If you enjoy a juicy blog, carry on.
Here I am.
I'm both delighted and totally weirded out to welcome 2022.
Delighted to be here. Breathing.
Weirded out by time. Always.
Today it has been one month and three days since I arrived to Wabanaki Territory in downeast Maine. I can honestly say, so far this is in my top 2-3 experiences of deep gratitude for simply being somewhere.
I’m sitting here right now looking out on the bay where low clouds are hovering on top of the water, giving it a steamy look. It’s beautiful.
I'm learning so much about myself, my needs, wants, and boundaries on these majestic lands, and I'm feeling really proud of myself for doing what was necessary to get here.
When the plan to come here started to emerge in the Fall, I was focused on the physical space we'd be living in. Very important after living in a 21' RV with Matt & Mantequilla.
What little I knew about what being here was going to be like. How nourishing to my heart and spirit it would be.
It feels clear that something bigger than just a desire for more space brought us here, and it's really special to be witnessing the reveal little by little.
I'm not sure how long we'll be here, and honestly it doesn't really matter. I'm focused more on what delights me, fills me up, and inspires me right now because now is what I have.
Purple mussel shells, white clam shells and teeny tiny seashells against black rocks on the beach are a perfect color combination.
Sunrises and sunsets feel like fresh visual experiences, every day.
Heated floors and a dishwasher are firsts for me, and I'm here for it! I've never had a dishwasher and I came here from a very tiny RV that required a space heater for comfort.
Well-angled windows makes me feel like I'm living in a tree house, and they permit views that straight walls simply would not.
Stargazing from bed and being bathed in moonlight is simply beyond.
Here’s the thing though, it's easy to lose sight of what delights me and slip into the old, familiar hustle & grind. Even with otherworldly gifts all around me. Honestly, this old pattern is the very thing being on these sacred lands keeps providing me with reminders about.
Since being here, I've had a couple extreme moments of overworking and overcommitting.
As aggressively as these moments appeared, I crashed hard. Like, unable to open my eyes and get out of bed before 10am hard. I have been so MF tired because of the hustle & grind, on top of months of RV living, which by the way is not slow living. I need(ed) a big fat pause.
Where I’ve been.
I think my December hustle & grind had to happen so I could re-member (as my dear Maida says). It's as though I have to slip into old patterns that don’t work for me in order for the present, the now, to pull me back to myself. Back together.
Over and over again, this moment in time is telling me that I am right now and I am forever. The present is eternity. And eternity is right now.
In the foreverness of a single moment, being awake and present is the path to what I crave more than anything: experiencing joy, feeling ease, and getting into a flow.
I crave them because I know what it’s like to have them. I’ve seen them before and understand now that the work is rooted in returning.
There’s a painful dichotomy between being in the now and tending to the future. Maybe this is why we use the phase I’m torn to describe internal tension. To be torn, ouch. It’s painful feeling.
When I tap into what the future can hold for me, see the ancestor I will become, the present can get lost in the shuffle. I can get caught up in trying to get there now, feeling torn between so many ways of doing and thinking and working.
As my uncle Tomás says, staying present is the work. And, I believe, essential to connecting to our future ancestor selves.
When everything is quiet, slow, and calm we are situated to notice. Notice what we’re feeling. Notice what we need. And if we’re really lucky, we might even come up with words to express what we’re noticing. Being able to articulate our experience is one of the many paths to liberation.
The wildly frustrating thing is that we will never know what the future holds. Liberation also lives in this very realization.
I know what it’s like to be overcome and overwhelmed with trying to get there now. Wherever there even is. I’m letting go.
Where I’m at.
Doing what I do for the ravenous, fiery, Mars-like desire to become, acquire, achieve, experience — whether for social or spiritual ascension — is the shortest end of the stick I can pick up. I’m intimately familiar with this way of doing things and how rarely fulfilling it is, if at all.
I know firsthand how this approach makes it almost impossible to feel grounded and like I have a grip on things.
For the last 7+ years, I’ve been deepening my relationship with time. How it moves. Why it feels short and fast in some moments. Why it feels spacious and slow in others.
I’m often scared time is going to run out before I’ve done all the things.
It’s usually forces beyond me that make me get quiet, slow down, and calm my mind. When I do, I’m reminded that right now is what I’ve got. It’s a painful remember. And the beautiful truth.
I want to do things with my finger on the pulse of what is right now while moving about in service of future me, future us, future earth. This here is where it's at for me. Deliberately straddling both the present and the future, while honoring the past.
Liberation as a recipe.
When I turned 40 last year, I was overcome by the feeling of having fewer fucks to give than ever before. And, I've been reminded that giving less fucks is important and necessary to tap into the joy, ease and flow I so deeply crave.
But/and, fewer fucks to give is just one of three ingredients for the life I want to live.
The other two are this: deeply meaningful goals and systems that work for me. This is the three-part recipe I’ve come to understand for creating a truly liberated life.
To be clear, when I say liberated, I don't mean we will ever be without issues to work through, pain in our hearts and bodies, or concerns on our minds. Nor do I mean "Hey, just think positive!" Fake positivity can be harmful and literally the opposite of liberation. No.
When I say liberated, I mean not being plagued by fear, anger, fog, and rigidity.
When I say liberated, I mean expanding what we believe is possible, changing how we respond to things, and eliminating overwhelm.
When I say liberated, I mean defining our own normal, getting clarity about what we actually want, and figuring out what abundance is for us.
When I say liberated, I mean moving through our daily lives with a sense of flexibility, while staying on path to the dreams we want to fulfill.
I've learned that I'm capable of anything I put my whole self into — heart, hands, and mind. When I'm only in with my heart, cracks do start to emerge. The same is true when I'm only in with my hands or my mind.
To be in our joy, moving with ease, and in a flow — the synchronicity of having less fucks to give, meaningful goals and systems that work is the recipe.
Where I’m going.
This year, I'm deepening my relationship with what all of this means for me now.
Throughout my life I've experienced both healthy and unhealthy relationships with not giving a fuck, setting goals, and developing systems for my life and work.
Recently these three ingredients, pillars, or areas of focus have emerged as the mirepoix, or foundation, of a deliciously liberated life. I see it so clearly now and understand their relationships with each other.
As you ease into 2022, I invite you to join me in asking yourself what a liberated life looks like for you. If you're compelled to share, I'd love to hear. You can send me an email or DM me anytime.
With that, dear one, this is what's happening here at the Mariposa Strategies HQ as we ease into 2022.
My Offerings
New Year Planning Guide
You don't have know what 2022 is going to be about. Who cares that it's already here?
It's okay if you're still working on things from last year or even the year before. Dates and calendars are just made up concepts anyway, so take your time.
Updated for 2022, my free, annual New Year Planning Guide is designed to support you in figuring out what's not working and what you want & need moving forward.
Download it now, start when you're ready.
Get That Money Challenge Audio Recordings
I just wrapped up a free, five-day money-making challenge where I shared my process for bringing money into my business when I need it.
Folks were able to ask questions in real time which I answered in a bonus podcast episode that was released on the 1st.
You can listen to the challenge lessons, though the time for questions has passed. Available until 1/31/22.
My eBook: Simple Practices for Creating Balance
I started writing Simple Practices for Creating Balance in Your Week in October 2019 and published it in March 2020.
In April 2020, I did live chapter reads on Instagram that were really fun. You can catch those on my IGTV feed or directly here: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5.
While it could use some revisions, it's certainly still relevant.
Get it for free with code BALANCE until Sunday 1/9/22.
Free shipping on Clarity Pages
I created Clarity Pages in 2018 to decrease my overwhelm & panic attacks by managing my day-to-day while moving my goals forward. It continues to do it's job very well.
Clarity Pages a 13-week journal that's perfect for holding all that you want to do in these first few months of the year.
Get free shipping with code HOLIDAY21 until Sunday 1/9/22.
If you'd like to support my free offerings, you can buy me a coffee here. ☕️
You and Me, Working Together
Women of Color Culture Club
If this is the time for you to start giving less fucks and figuring out what’s next for your life in community with other women of color, I want to meet you. I’ll be holding space for a special WOC Culture Club Cohort starting later this month and have space for a few more people.
Applications must submitted by Sunday 1/9/22.
Private Coaching
I'm taking two new coaching clients in February and would love to chat if you're craving a private container and coach to support you with figuring out what having less fucks to give, deeply meaningful goals and systems that work for you looks like.
Let’s hop on the phone in the next week or two to see what’s possible.
Organizational Strategy
I’m a contributing thought partner on organizational strategy with a team of heart-centered WOC consultants, storytellers, and magic-makers.
We support for-profits and nonprofits with a holistic approach to strategic planning that includes visioning, roadmapping, team building, and addressing conflict dynamics among other things. We're taking new clients in 2022 and would love to explore what working together could look like.
Reflection Prompt
What does a liberated life look like for me?
Some questions to deepen your reflection:
How often do I say should?
What does it feel like to replace should with could?
What does it feel like to replace could with I don't have to?
We're all works in progress, so whatever we think we need to do to arrive, there will always be more work to do.
With that understanding, know that you're always closer than you were yesterday and today is another chance to try again, and maybe even get it right. ☺️
With that, may you move into the rest of your day with flowing, joyful ease.
Big love,
Annie