Anam Nostos House Blog

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” — Socrates

What does it mean to transform? 

If you think about it, life is about transforming constantly. We are never in one place permanently. We have the ability to transform any aspect of our journey at any time.

But here is the piece that I find most important; transformation comes by not fighting the old and learning from what it had to teach us. By acknowledging each part of the journey, the transformation gains value. Value encourages us to keep going towards where we are meant to be.

Where are you meant to be?
How can you get to that place?

This is controversial and I understand. You likely have heard it increasingly the last few years. It has been resonating with me a great deal as of late.

There was a time when being called resilient was a compliment. Today I never want to be called resilient again. Why? I am exhausted by strength. I am burnt out on being celebrated for 'keeping going.'  Survival mode is not a place to live within anymore. I don't want to apologize for being human. I don't want to be recognized for how well I walked through the hits and wounds.

I want to use my voice and ask for support.
I want people to offer a hand to ease my stress.
I want to rest through the struggles.

I want to be celebrated for being real and true.
​
What about you?

Do you create mantras?

Life is hard enough; why walk alone? Not only are there people in our lives that we more often overlook for support, I find we don't give ourselves enough credit for the strength we have within.

The question is, do you access it?

We learn tools for living every day, but we can tend to dismiss them just as easily. A mantra is a wonderful guide when stress overwhelms.

​Life isn't easy. Help yourself out and create a mantra. It can be for a day, a week, or a month. Find the pattern that works best for you!

You've got this!

I have been practicing letter writing since childhood. Somewhere along the way on retreats and in recovery it was introduced to me in the context of writing myself a letter. It can be a very foreign concept at first, but then when you dig deep and see it as a form of journaling it becomes a very easy healing tool.

I have written letters to my kids since they were born for every occasion under the moon and just because. I write letters to friends for the same reasons. It brings me joy and I hope it brings a little light and joy on the end of the receiver as well.

At one point I started taking the practice a little deeper. Since they were young I have my now teens write letters to themselves at the beginning of school, which I give back at the last week from the New Year to just times when I see they need to be reminded of their own voice. 

I practice this in workshops and retreats as well and have received the best responses. That said, I just came off a beautiful retreat weekend and often I am completely drained. As human as anyone else, I begin to critique my work and wonder what worked and what didn't. Sometimes I can take it to a dark place! Well, when I got home a letter came from ME the next day. I can't remember when I wrote it, but I gave it to my daughter to surprise me.

I never would have considered how much I needed to hear my own self and be reminded of self - care. Once again, I practice what I preach and share it with others for I know it has merit.

Try it today...write a letter to yourself and give it to someone to mail when you least expect it. Let me know how it goes, trust that you will find a gift in it!

How often do you pause and allow yourself to be reflective?


Read that again. Honestly, I don't think we always allow ourselves to be reflective. One thought is that if we give ourselves this time to reflect it could change the makeup of an entire plan that we have in place for our lives.


But is that really living?


Think about it. We have dreams and we have plans. Living with dreams is living, but locking ourselves into a plan does not necessarily allow for what is meant to come.


I woke this morning with this thought process, with all the ideas of where I thought I would be today at my age and then with all the dreams of where I want to be as a particular era of my life is in a massive change the next three years.


There is wanting to know what the plan will be, but if I am being honest the dreams are bigger, brighter and many. Who is to say that this is wrong?


Many. There are people who will crush your dreams in an instant out of their own fear or jealousy to watch someone else live how they really want to live. Don't allow them in.


Allow your light to exist, to shine, to dim when you need rest and thrive brightly when you are ready to be inspired and live fully.


Allow life.
Allow pain.
Allow joy.
Allow peace.
Allow story.
Allow love.
Allow pause.
​Allow yourself to walk the path meant for you!