24 Days of Letting Go

One of my favorite places to spend time on the web is Elephant Journal. If you haven't checked it out before please head over once you are finished reading this post. There are tons of articles about many different topics. One of my favorite yogi's (Kathryn Budig) is a contributor to this website.

Anyways.. Earlier this week I stumbled upon Marylee's post 24 Things: The Autumn Surrender. Four times a year Marylee goes through a 24 day cleanse of her life. Every day for the 24 days she gets rid of/gives away something that she no longer needs. After reading her blog it was made clear to me that what you're giving away doesn't have to be a physical item. It's about cleansing your life, letting go of old, possibly destructive habits. Opening space in your heart, mind and home to new dreams and goals.

There has been a lot going on in my life for the past two months (which I haven't decided as to whether or not I will be sharing on here) and this cleanse feels like it's the perfect thing for me right now. I feel like I need to let go of what is holding me back in life and create room and an environment for good things to come in. Therefore I have decided to participate in this challenge. From October 1st to October 24th I will be letting go of something every day. I will try to post every day about what I have let go of but I'm not sure what the next few weeks will bring. Please bare with me as I might just do some recaps along the way.

If you are interested in de-cluttering your life and want to participate in the Autumn Surrender here are some deets:


How to begin:
Day one: focus on what you want to call into your life, write it down in a journal or post it to a dream wall.
Try to keep it positive. Instead of writing “I want to lose 20 pounds” you might say, “I want a healthier, lighter body that allows me to live with more freedom.
The 24 Things experience allows us to call in what serves our highest potential as the clutter in our lives, hearts and minds falls away.
The Rules:
1: No purchases for the next 24 days. You can only buy necessities. If you see something you want, start a list. If, at the end of the 24 days, you still desire it, then go on and splurge. Chances are you wont even remember what it was you wanted.
2: ONE THING each day. Focus on letting go of one item or group of items each day. A daily practice retrains the mind, redirects the your subtle energy, and establishes a new way of thinking.
Resist the urge to pick 24 items and dump them in the first week.
3: Every day you will either nourish something that serves your highest good or let go of something that hinders it.

For more information please go to Marylee's website.

101 in 1001

If you have followed my blog(s) for a while you'll know that I have made 2 previous 101 in 1001 lists. Not long after making them though I always realized my flaws in what I included in them. The first one I made a few years ago I was with my ex. At that time we were relatively happy in our relationship so I included him in a lot of my goals. But when we broke up there was no way I was going to be able to complete the goals that included him. So I made a second one. When writing it I was fresh out of a breakup and wanted to focus on my success in the world. Therefore I included a lot of goals about making my photography business work. You can probably see where this is going. Now that I am not continuing with my photography business I felt like I needed a new list.

So I made my third and final list. Well for the next 1001 days it will be final. I tried to focus on me. I didn't include other people in it. I didn't focus on any goals for my career. This is 100% all about things I want to do for me. So here it goes :)

1. Get one of my photos printed on canvas
2. Go to a social networking event
3. Take a photo of me with my grandparents
4. Complete a 50 self portrait project
5. Organize my photos
6. Complete my photo wall
7. Go to the Calgary Stampede
8. Read 150 books
9. Take a homeless person out for lunch
10. Make my own wine
11. Paint a canvas
12. Tour a lavender farm
13. Go sky diving
14. Take a yoga teacher training
15. Plant a tree on Earth Day
16. Knit an afghan
17. Bake a vegan cheesecake
18. Go vegan for a month
19. Bike the cabot trail
20. Get tattoos touched up
21. Get sunflower/violet tattoo
22. Make pottery
23. Donate blood
24. Donate plasma
25. Send a balloon message into the sky
26. Do yoga 6 days a week for 6 months
27. Run a 10km race
28. Pay off all debt
29. Complete all 3 reiki attunements
30. Learn 1 song on piano
31. Learn basic Spanish, French or Italian
32. Vacation down south
33. Spend a long weekend in PEI
34. Have a picnic on Citadel Hill
35. Go to Treego
36. Reach 500 twitter followers
37. Make cake pops
38. Make body butter
39. Move out of my parent's house
40. Change the oil in my car
41. Sell something on Etsy
42. Join a book club
43. Build my own altar
44. Make a mala for 5 people
45. Build a snowman
46. Skate on the oval
47. Blog 3 restaurant reviews
48. Host a giveaway on my blog
49. Attend the midnight premiere of a movie
50. Save $3000
51. Plan a trip to India
52. Photograph lightning
53. Launch a new website/blog (revamp current)
54. Ride in a hot air balloon
55. Go mud sliding
56. Go sledding
57. Go tidal bore rafting
58. Go snorkeling
59. Build a bird house
60. Volunteer
61. Host a dinner party
62. Go to a swanky New Years Eve party
63. Sleep under the stars
64. Do sky trails
65. Keep a my day in 6 words journal for at least 4 weeks
66. Learn to roll sushi
67. Play hide and seek with at least 10 friends in Ikea
68. Plant a window box herb garden
69. Try 20 new recipes
70. Make soy candles
71. Make incense
72. Send flowers anonymously to a friend in need
73. Go swimming at night in the ocean
74. Do a corn maze
75. Go to a sunflower upick
76. Have a book signed by the author
77. Watch the sun rise and set in the same day
78. Actually mail birthday cards for 1 year
79. Visit the grand canyon
80. Swim in another ocean
81. Cook an Indian meal from scratch
82. Buy a pair of cow boy boots
83. Have a tarot card reading
84. Spend an afternoon reading at the beach by myself
85. Attend 10 mysore classes
86. Write a letter to someone that inspires me
87. Visit the Rockies
88. Get a massage
89. Complete my Style Statement
90. Audit a class at Dal/any university
91. Unplug for a whole weekend
92. Go kayaking
93. Host a costume/theme party
94. Say "yes" to everything for 1 day
95. Donate $3 for every goal not completed
96.  
97.  
98.  
99.  
100.  
101.  

I left the last couple empty so that I can fill them in along the way. The list officially started on September 15th, 2011 and will end on May 21st, 2014. I'm going to try to blog about as many of these as I can as I complete them and every couple of months I'll probably post an update about which ones have been completed. I challenge everyone to try this themselves. It can be a lot of fun to plan what you want to do for the next 2.5 years.