I have been longing for stability for the past 6 years. I want to live in one place, with my partner, and be surrounded by friends that I won’t have to say goodbye to. Yet, a year after I made the most difficult move in my life, hanging on by the hope that it would have been the last one, my partner and I have to move again. The new environment is missing factors that contribute to what I would consider a good quality of life, and I dread the thought I will have to do all the work to adjust to this new city until we move again to find our happy place.
As I am struggling to accept the new circumstances of my life, my intuition is telling me to let go of my previous plans and just go with the flow. The phrase “playful experimentation” keeps popping up in my head. What would it mean for me to playfully experiment? Why does that resonate?
I heard this phrase a couple of months ago in coach training. Around the same time, while doing an envisioning exercise about where I want to be in 5 years from now, I noticed that my future self wanted more “playfulness” in their life. Playfulness was a word that never resonated with me previously. It sounds contrary to things I value, like stability and discipline. (Note to self: notice and disrupt “either/or” thinking.) If my future self craves playfulness, what am I waiting for now?
I don’t have the answers to all these questions, but it suffices for now that I am noting that I have them. I am also noticing how much my values have been shifting this past year, and I am expecting more changes with the move coming up.
With 2020 wrapping up and 2021 a few sleeps away, here are my intentions for 2021:
Welcome the unknown with curiosity. The phrase that will guide me is “playful experimentation”. I am curious to see what it will look like, both personally and professionally! Idea #1: launch a website and write a blog post! 🙊
Anticipate that sometimes the unknown will feel more scary than exciting. In those moments, look inwards and ground yourself on what you know: you have the skills to do difficult things, you are resourceful, you have the stability of your own breath.
In 2021, I will keep building on my life-practices to take deliberate care of myself, to increase my self-awareness and to live my life according to my values. No matter the situation, I want to show up as my fullest, truest self.
What are your intentions in 2021? How could playful experimentation show up in your life?
I would love to hear from you (and have an accountability buddy for my new year’s resolutions)! Please be in touch ☺️
Hi Michael,
It's so great to hear from you. Thank you for getting in touch and for sharing your experiment for 2021 😊 Good luck in your new beginning and may it be playful as well!
Looking forward to hearing more about it, as the year unfolds.
Hi Electra,
that's an interesting project and I'm curios about what you'll find and looking forward to reading about it! My experiment in 2021 will be to start a new job during lockdown, which means mostly remote working. Hope it can be playful as well :-)