Open Forum

Happy new year, Connect community! We made it through the holiday season AND a blizzard if you're located in the Midwest.

With the craziness of the holidays over and a return to five-day work weeks, do you have plans to set aside time for mindfulness this week? Interested to hear your thoughts!

#MindfulnessMonday

​

------------------------------
Taylor Evans Ghosal
Evanston IL
------------------------------

Hey @Taylor Evans Ghosal! Happy New Year!

If you haven't figured it out yet, I've got a pretty big inner-hippy. As such, my buddy Liz did a 4 card tarot pull for me yesterday - Past, Present, Future, and Advice.

The card she pulled for Past was The Hermit, which apparently represents what it might sound like: reflection/drawing inward. The card for the present was The World - meaning that for the time being, things are kind of in a pretty good balance... but! the card she pulled for the future was the 10 of Wands, which is a card that implies I'll be trying to hold onto too much.

As a reflected some on this, I think part of what keeps me grounded IS doing that reflection, and so it's my goal this week to spend at least 10 minutes a day doing some reflecting. It'd be super rad if this was in my journal, but I'll take some closed-eye couch coffee reflection, or maybe a little just before bed think-back on the day. 

I know that I'm one who is prone to over-committing, so it tracks that I need to keep this in check as we kick off this year. 

@Mandi Ginn-Franz - I know you've got a little hippy in you, and I know you've got some big stuff happening soon! What's your plan for mindfulness?​

------------------------------
Stay awesome,
Quinn
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-02-2023 11:52
From: Taylor Evans Ghosal
Subject: How are you being mindful post holidays?

Happy new year, Connect community! We made it through the holiday season AND a blizzard if you're located in the Midwest.

With the craziness of the holidays over and a return to five-day work weeks, do you have plans to set aside time for mindfulness this week? Interested to hear your thoughts!

#MindfulnessMonday

​

------------------------------
Taylor Evans Ghosal
Evanston IL
------------------------------

I read this column about how the writer uses one of my favorite poetic forms, the haiku, to help set intentions, spur creativity, and capture a mood or a feeling of the day. 
I sent it to a friend I associate with haiku, because we used to write funny ones at our job. She responded with a haiku for the day, and then I did too.
So for at least the first two days of the year, it's given me a reason to think about what about the day I want or need to capture in seventeen syllables. And if we do keep it up, I'll have a record of the year in a completely different way.

------------------------------
Amy Finkelstein
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-02-2023 12:04
From: Quinn Drew
Subject: How are you being mindful post holidays?

Hey @Taylor Evans Ghosal! Happy New Year!

If you haven't figured it out yet, I've got a pretty big inner-hippy. As such, my buddy Liz did a 4 card tarot pull for me yesterday - Past, Present, Future, and Advice.

The card she pulled for Past was The Hermit, which apparently represents what it might sound like: reflection/drawing inward. The card for the present was The World - meaning that for the time being, things are kind of in a pretty good balance... but! the card she pulled for the future was the 10 of Wands, which is a card that implies I'll be trying to hold onto too much.

As a reflected some on this, I think part of what keeps me grounded IS doing that reflection, and so it's my goal this week to spend at least 10 minutes a day doing some reflecting. It'd be super rad if this was in my journal, but I'll take some closed-eye couch coffee reflection, or maybe a little just before bed think-back on the day. 

I know that I'm one who is prone to over-committing, so it tracks that I need to keep this in check as we kick off this year. 

@Mandi Ginn-Franz - I know you've got a little hippy in you, and I know you've got some big stuff happening soon! What's your plan for mindfulness?​

------------------------------
Stay awesome,
Quinn

Original Message:
Sent: 01-02-2023 11:52
From: Taylor Evans Ghosal
Subject: How are you being mindful post holidays?

Happy new year, Connect community! We made it through the holiday season AND a blizzard if you're located in the Midwest.

With the craziness of the holidays over and a return to five-day work weeks, do you have plans to set aside time for mindfulness this week? Interested to hear your thoughts!

#MindfulnessMonday

​

------------------------------
Taylor Evans Ghosal
Evanston IL
------------------------------

I've always wanted to have my tarot read, @Quinn Drew! It's cool you used it as an opportunity for reflection and it gave you some perspective. I'm a total over-committer too, so I often find myself in a situation where I make some lofty goals that I have to reassess. Ten minutes a day of reflection is a doable (and helpful!) way to get some mindfulness into your week.

Thank you for sharing this awesome article @Amy Finkelstein! As a writer and storyteller, this "haiku a day" resonated with me. It's great that you shared the article with a friend and sent each other haikus. It also reminded me of a journaling practice I did pre-pandemic. It was a special journal with a small box for each date, and you summed up your day in a only few sentences. It helped me reflect on what was the most impactful moments from my day. ​​​​

------------------------------
Taylor Evans Ghosal
Evanston IL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-03-2023 09:02
From: Amy Finkelstein
Subject: How are you being mindful post holidays?

I read this column about how the writer uses one of my favorite poetic forms, the haiku, to help set intentions, spur creativity, and capture a mood or a feeling of the day. 
I sent it to a friend I associate with haiku, because we used to write funny ones at our job. She responded with a haiku for the day, and then I did too.
So for at least the first two days of the year, it's given me a reason to think about what about the day I want or need to capture in seventeen syllables. And if we do keep it up, I'll have a record of the year in a completely different way.

------------------------------
Amy Finkelstein

Original Message:
Sent: 01-02-2023 12:04
From: Quinn Drew
Subject: How are you being mindful post holidays?

Hey @Taylor Evans Ghosal! Happy New Year!

If you haven't figured it out yet, I've got a pretty big inner-hippy. As such, my buddy Liz did a 4 card tarot pull for me yesterday - Past, Present, Future, and Advice.

The card she pulled for Past was The Hermit, which apparently represents what it might sound like: reflection/drawing inward. The card for the present was The World - meaning that for the time being, things are kind of in a pretty good balance... but! the card she pulled for the future was the 10 of Wands, which is a card that implies I'll be trying to hold onto too much.

As a reflected some on this, I think part of what keeps me grounded IS doing that reflection, and so it's my goal this week to spend at least 10 minutes a day doing some reflecting. It'd be super rad if this was in my journal, but I'll take some closed-eye couch coffee reflection, or maybe a little just before bed think-back on the day. 

I know that I'm one who is prone to over-committing, so it tracks that I need to keep this in check as we kick off this year. 

@Mandi Ginn-Franz - I know you've got a little hippy in you, and I know you've got some big stuff happening soon! What's your plan for mindfulness?​

------------------------------
Stay awesome,
Quinn

Original Message:
Sent: 01-02-2023 11:52
From: Taylor Evans Ghosal
Subject: How are you being mindful post holidays?

Happy new year, Connect community! We made it through the holiday season AND a blizzard if you're located in the Midwest.

With the craziness of the holidays over and a return to five-day work weeks, do you have plans to set aside time for mindfulness this week? Interested to hear your thoughts!

#MindfulnessMonday

​

------------------------------
Taylor Evans Ghosal
Evanston IL
------------------------------

Ok, @Amy Finkelstein, that haiku article is so great! I like haikus because they are so simple and they don't have to rhyme. The author of the article  cleverly related setting an intention to write at least a one-line ​poem each day to mindfulness--you're on the lookout throughout your day for which moment you'll capture in a poem. I love it! And it's so open ended...could be a major life event, or a simple laugh in the kitchen as the tea kettle whistles along.

I think I'll give it a try! Thanks for sharing this.

------------------------------
Maria Liccardo
Evanston
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-03-2023 09:02
From: Amy Finkelstein
Subject: How are you being mindful post holidays?

I read this column about how the writer uses one of my favorite poetic forms, the haiku, to help set intentions, spur creativity, and capture a mood or a feeling of the day. 
I sent it to a friend I associate with haiku, because we used to write funny ones at our job. She responded with a haiku for the day, and then I did too.
So for at least the first two days of the year, it's given me a reason to think about what about the day I want or need to capture in seventeen syllables. And if we do keep it up, I'll have a record of the year in a completely different way.

------------------------------
Amy Finkelstein

Original Message:
Sent: 01-02-2023 12:04
From: Quinn Drew
Subject: How are you being mindful post holidays?

Hey @Taylor Evans Ghosal! Happy New Year!

If you haven't figured it out yet, I've got a pretty big inner-hippy. As such, my buddy Liz did a 4 card tarot pull for me yesterday - Past, Present, Future, and Advice.

The card she pulled for Past was The Hermit, which apparently represents what it might sound like: reflection/drawing inward. The card for the present was The World - meaning that for the time being, things are kind of in a pretty good balance... but! the card she pulled for the future was the 10 of Wands, which is a card that implies I'll be trying to hold onto too much.

As a reflected some on this, I think part of what keeps me grounded IS doing that reflection, and so it's my goal this week to spend at least 10 minutes a day doing some reflecting. It'd be super rad if this was in my journal, but I'll take some closed-eye couch coffee reflection, or maybe a little just before bed think-back on the day. 

I know that I'm one who is prone to over-committing, so it tracks that I need to keep this in check as we kick off this year. 

@Mandi Ginn-Franz - I know you've got a little hippy in you, and I know you've got some big stuff happening soon! What's your plan for mindfulness?​

------------------------------
Stay awesome,
Quinn

Original Message:
Sent: 01-02-2023 11:52
From: Taylor Evans Ghosal
Subject: How are you being mindful post holidays?

Happy new year, Connect community! We made it through the holiday season AND a blizzard if you're located in the Midwest.

With the craziness of the holidays over and a return to five-day work weeks, do you have plans to set aside time for mindfulness this week? Interested to hear your thoughts!

#MindfulnessMonday

​

------------------------------
Taylor Evans Ghosal
Evanston IL
------------------------------