2022 Affirmations
My joy comes without guilt.
I deserve rest.
I am a good person and a good artist.
I am capable of radical change.
I can do hard things.
I am writing my own story.
A few notes and musings on the process of choosing:
Typically I do 7 affirmations a year, but this year, I’ve decided to take a break from hewing to a specific number! Feels about right for a year themed around EASE. I am very excited to see how and where ease makes its presence known in my life this upcoming year.
I am indebted to Julia Cameron for suggesting affirmation #3 by way of her book The Artist’s Way. I revisited this book over my recent travels, and as always found reminders for myself everywhere throughout. Art is so linked to morality in our culture that can be hard to separate out my artistic action from who I am as a person. It’s tough to refute, internally or externally, the prevailing perception that art is marginal or frivolous; I plan to center it just as much as I ever did in my life, and so the reminder that that choice has no bearing on my morality is a helpful one.
It seems strange to have two affirmations about change and strength in a year themed around ease, but both have been sitting on my soul. I think that radical change begins with small steps that are possibly the most courageous of all. I completed a challenging hike last month, and on my way up the ascent, had to remind myself that this was hard but I am capable of doing hard things. I couldn’t make the path or the journey upward less terrifying (sheer rock faces aren’t exactly my cup of tea), but I could and did remind myself that the courage to complete the hard task is already within me.
And lastly, I need the reminder to myself who holds the pen on my life story. I am a storyteller, and as much as I enjoy sharing plans and goals with others, it can also contribute to a feeling of stuck-ness if I deviate from a story I have told myself (and therefore others). I wonder what it says about my integrity, and feel compelled to “make it happen” so that the story I’ve told aligns with my actions. I love that impulse to integrity within myself, and also seek to recognize that changes and shifts happen in real time, and it is okay for me to update my narratives accordingly. In short, stories get told after, not before.
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