Hi my fellow babes. I have been thinking a lot about intention lately, and the sort of energy I want to put out into the world. And my hopes for what comes back around.
For the last 4 years I have adopted a personal mantra at the beginning of every new year. This happened very organically, without me actually deciding that this would be my New Years ‘thing.’ I think it was a coping mechanism that I needed to get myself through my Saturn Returns.
My mantras are like little hands that I grab onto when I fell like I am losing perspective, or losing grasp, or losing myself, or losing my mind. The last 4 years have been insane. Ly awesome. and Insanely trying.
When I turned 26, I was opening a shop with my bff on a shoestring the week the economy tanked. My mantra was MIW ‘make it work’. (Thank you, Tim Gunn from project runway.)
When I was 27, my mantra was PMA ‘positive mental attitude’. That helped get me through breaking up with my oldest daughters dad.
When I was 28, my mantra was ‘keep your eye on the prize.’ This gave me the sanity to pull myself and my family through huge changes. New man. New home. New baby. New passions and new inspiration. The prize was that we all made it to the next year together.
This last year has been my year of ‘Take your time to do it right.’ This came from a life’s worth of going with the flow and winging it and piecing things together and being creative and clever. These are all good skills to have, but as I get older and venture into new endeavors, I realize I need more than that. I need forethought. I need to plan things out. I need careful consideration and thoughtfulness. And also, my partner is a Virgo. He appreciates it;) Love ya J.
When it comes to my art (by art I mean all forms of creative expression) I have had a tendency to do what I like to call “creative puking.” It sounds terrible, but it comes out of my inability to harness my own creative flow. It means ideas and thoughts flowing out erratically and obsessively.
I have a physical need to get ideas out of my head and into the world. This year has been about learning to take time to nurture my thoughts and ideas and let them marinate before putting them out there. What have I gained from this? The knowledge that there is no way in high hell that I will ever be able to get it all out. So I might as well spend a bit more time polishing the good ones.
This brings me to my blogging experience. For me, HTHG has served exactly the purpose that I intended it to. It has been a source of information, creation, personal growth, community, independence, and expression. It has allowed me to share all of my ideas about the one thing I know more about than anything in the world. Hair.
Somewhere along the line, I made the goal of working on the blog as a legitimate unpaid more-than part time job until I felt like the framework was there so that I could take it to the next level. I wanted to create a complete resource of my own personal content that would both tell a story and empower a reader with knowledge, tools, and independent thought, enough to inspire them to question their own ideas about beauty and identity. And hopefully help them love and accept themselves more through loving their hair. This will inevitably lead to something good for all of us.
This year, I am turning 30 and it feels big. It feels like a milestone. It feels like a year to be marked with my most heartfelt intentions. It feels like a year that deserves several mantras. I can’t wait to know what my Mantras are for my 30th year, 2014. I promise to share them when they come to me;)
With the New Year, I am excited to switch gears with HTHG and explore what comes next. I feel as if the framework has been laid, and I am ready for the next level. What will the future of HTHG look like? Quality guest posts. I want you all to share your thoughts and tricks with each other on HTHG. Better photo shoots. More inspired content. More quality, less quantity in general. I won’t be posting nearly as often, but will be spending more time developing each post. There will be no more DIY hair Friday on HTHG but you can look forward to plenty of inspired DIY hairstyles coming at you less frequently but with more thought and precision.
At HTHG in 2014, I will be focusing more energy into building ShamPHree into a brand and a beauty revolution. More beauty, independence, and experimentation. Thank you for being here, and please help spread the word.
As I write I realize some HTHG New Year intentions that I would like to share. I intend to focus my intentions on continuing to build positive community. On supporting myself and my family. On giving creative ideas time and space to marinate. On quality. On photography. On Freeing the world of Shams (#shamphree.) On my hobby hashtag, #filthandbeauty. On learning, listening, and growing. On raising and nurturing a family. On practicing what I preach. We will see what else presents itself.
Here is the card I drew from my Goddess Guidance Oracle Cards
to represent and guide me through this New Year. Sound cheesy? It is. But I totally use my Goddess cards any time I need a little guidance. They are also like little hands that I hold to help get me through. I learned the power of the cards from my mama.
Okay now. Enough about me. I want to know your mantras. I want to know what your intentions are for the year. Are you going to take a big jump into new territory? are you going to leave behind a habit that no longer feeds you? Are you going to be more bold and more daring? Or maybe less? More listening less talking? Now is the time to put those intentions out into the world. Please do share. You have all built this with me. collective intention is powerful.
Happy New Year,
HTHG
