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From F-Bombs to Fairy Sprinkles, 2017 was quite a ride!  If I had to pick one word to describe it, it would be GROWTH.  Here is some wisdom I picked up over the past 365 days.

INVEST IN YOURSELF

On.every.level.

2017 was the year I poured financial, emotional, relational and spiritual resources into myself and my business.  I hired someone to build a website designed specifically  for me instead of settling for a slapped together, non functional on -line home.  I farmed out the marketing and other aspects of my business that are tedious and cumbersome to me so that I could do what I do best: help individuals and couples heal, transform, and evolve into their most brilliant, beautiful authentic selves.

I worked ( and am still working) with a coach who has shown me how to follow the breadcrumbs my soul has laid out for me. In our time together, I have received laser like clarity about the kind of clients I want to serve, the work that I actually do with clients, and most importantly, who is not a good fit for me.    As a result, my work nourishes me in a way I have never experienced until this year.  I have loyal, motivated clients who want to go really deep with me and I have seen them have amazing, life-changing shifts time and time again.

This year, I have made time and space for myself in profound ways.  I learned to get quiet and still even when I did not want to.  Especially when I did not want to.   I learned to discern between true intuitive pulls and fear.

Speaking of fear, I had some ( ok, a lot) before I made these changes and investments in my life.  Each one was right on my growth edge.  And each time I said “Hell YES”, I transformed into who I needed to be to hit the next level in my life.  If you are considering big changes, know that you will experience fear.  It’s so common, I wrote a blog about it which you can read here: http://candacefolden.com/get-big-way-the-fear-of-jumping/

BE YOURSELF

Ah, authenticity. Easy to say, hard to do.  I was more myself in 2017 then I have ever been in my entire life.  It was terrifying and thrilling.  I chose strong language.  I spoke bluntly, with no sugarcoating.  My blogs were about what I wanted to say, not what people wanted to hear.  And  I got push back from this.  People unsubscribed from my email list and sent me emails and  text messages telling me  that they liked the sweet, pleasing me better.  The one they could put into a box.  The one that did not ruffle feathers and played nice.  In fact, a blog I wrote called RISE UP on the subject became my most popular piece of the year. http://candacefolden.com/rise-up/ ‎

And I got OK with that.  I am not for everyone.  But the ones who resonate with me really dig me. I’ll take four quarters over 100 pennies any day.  The language I chose was true for me.  It was raw and real.  And that’s how I strive to show up.

Truth came out in my personal life too.  I ended some relationships that were no longer aligned with my vision. I chose to limit my time with others that sucked the life out of me.  Some of my relationship deepened and blossomed into beautiful testaments of intimacy and connection as I let people see the unfiltered version of myself.  I let them in on my pain, vulnerabilities and fear and received unwavering support and love in return.  It’s a level of devotion I had never experienced and it’s breathtaking.

PLEASURE IS THE PORTAL TO CREATIVITY

Who knew that taking my dog on a 2 hour hike along a picturesque mountain bike trail while listening to birds sing, finding shapes in the clouds and immersing myself in nature would be where inspiration hit?  Or that doing a 45 minute Shakti Rise yoga class, moving my body in the free, uninhibited ways it wanted to move, would cause my next blog post to write itself?

But damn if it does not work.  Every time.  Paying attention to pleasure has opened the floodgates to creative ideas, intuitive direction and Divine guidance.  I don’t know how it happens, and I don’t need to know.  I trust more and more that it does.  Here is one of the blog posts that felt like it was channeled through  me after a long walk with Juno: http://candacefolden.com/the-pleasure-pri…-your-creativity/ ‎

HUSTLE AND FLOW

While certainly not the last thing I learned in 2017, this was a big one for me.  I used to push all the time.  Harder.  Faster.  Relentless.  Forcing outcomes and solutions that were temporary at best and totally misaligned at worst.

I learned that we are not meant to function in hyper speed all the time.  We operate much like nature.  In cycles.  Ebbs and flows. There is a time to go within and cocoon.  To receive guidance and inspiration.  To rest, recover, repair and refuel.  I needed this particularly after a cycle of death, where something in me was no longer and there was only the void.  I learned to be comfortable with being in the void.  I’m still learning.  We all are.  The tendency is to rush in and fill it with anything and everything so we don’t have to face ourselves.  But the void is where the answers lie.  It’s where the truth lives.

Then, it was  time for me to take those answers and that truth and fling them out into the universe with as much passion and abandon as I could muster. To throw it against the wall and see what sticks.  But for me this past year,  it always turned out better when I did this from a place of clarity and vision rather than fear and reactivity. Read more about that here: http://candacefolden.com/the-relentless-h…f-self-avoidance/

So that’s some of what I was up to in 2017. I don’t do any of this perfectly.  There are still plenty of times where I don’t listen to myself, or don’t say what I actually mean.  I am a work in progress, and the slip ups, mistakes, regressions and back slides speak more to me today about my humanity instead of my character.

Bring it on 2018!

What did you take away from 2017?  What inspired you that you want more of in the New Year?  What drained you that you’d like to experience less of? I’d love to hear from you so drop me a comment!