{collect}

I have on striped wedges.  Holla. Let's do this.  Y'all remember my word for 2014, right?  Oh wait.  You don't?  No sweat.  I forget to write stuff down all the time.  It's vision.  Yes, vision. Pop on over here and read all about it.

A tiny teaser is always helpful for the added click.  Here allow me:

"I want to attend the CMA awards as a seat filler and wear sparkles at least three five times a week.  I want to dance on plank wood floors lit by twinkling lights strung and not care one bit if I am the only one on the dance floor.  And I want a singing voice.  A dang good one too.   Ah, yes.  Not quite exactly the image of the Proverbs 31 woman, but it’s kinda like my version."

And for those who need a visual temptation:

So go click now and catch up.   I'll wait for you right here. It's all good.

ONE.  Life.  Moment.  Minute.  Day. Hour. Year. BREATH.  {drama suits me well}  That's it.  It's what we are given.  And let's be honest. I am no spring chicken.  Crows feet are established. Varicose veins are all up in my mix.  I've successfully birthed the children in which I was intended AND nursed them {thank you, gravity}.  I now ingest things like flax seed and wheat germ.  Yes, prunes live in my pantry too.

I will turn 38 this year.  This blows my mind.  My twenties were like eons ago.  And to think, just last year I began the regimen of brushing my teeth before bed.   About 2 years ago I decided to jerk a knot in the movement of me. I launched my word for 2012 and again in  2013, then made the most of my intentions. This year with more gray hair fervor than ever before, I am doing just the same.  I am a visual person.  I also don't know when I am crossing into someone else's personal space.  But, that's a different topic all together I'll save for another post.  I am using the following billboards, if you will, to set my sights on my monthly read out:

I feel like these six slots keep me grounded in the who I naturally am.  Not too Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey, not too Aristotle and not too Stacy London.  Agreed?

My word for January was {collect}.  In order to be a better person with an ever better perspective, I needed to do some collecting.  I needed to see past the 4 walls of me.  And that's kinda hard to do unless you get what's inside those walls cleaned up.  I spent this month present.  I worked, and I mean worked, on the now.  Not the "in a minute" and not the "freak what's got to get done next week" typical fashion.  I made myself feel the rainbow of emotions too.  If I was sad or frustrated, I said it.  And then I let myself feel it. I didn't realize how much I actually hold in for the sake of face. What a gloriously magical thing it is when you let your words coordinate with your emotions. It's like Lucky Charms for the soul. Happy. Let's not forget the emotions of happy either.  I CAP LOCK loved letting myself sled down those endorphin slopes. The above images are evidence of my morale of happy.  These images  are just a smidgeon sample of what warmed my heart this month. They made me more.  In my creative self and in my earthly walk as His child.  It was important once I got the rhythm of being present that I figured out how to use those emotions for the best pace of me. Pace car.  This mama needs a pace care like something fierce.  Inside, I am a walking hyperbole, okay?  Perspective is a beautiful thing. If you're ever around someone who has great perspective, you'll want to climb in their lap and have them read you a story and eat ice cream together.  See what I mean about personal space?  I'm working on it.  I spent lots of time this month journaling my emotions and where they led me.  I found that breaking them down and then breathing them out in a healthy kind of way led me to even more feelings of happiness.  Cleaning up the clutter that lives inside my brain led me to more peace.  YES.  Peace.  I can feel mad.  I can feel hurt. Tears can leak instantly from my face, and I will be better human because they did.  The key for me was connecting the present emotions with honesty and then communicating them to myself and others.  This article on happiness was such a great reminder for me this month.

Clean up.  I did.  Cobwebs of doubt always have a sneaky way of forming in the corners of my mind. I think those spiders called insecurity weave them there.  I reminded myself this month that I get one chance to turn hope into reality.  To turn dreams into uh-huh, I did.  Last year, I added personal prayer time along with reading the Bible to a part of my everyday.  This was HUGE.  Huge in the sense that I completely stepped off the merry-go-round of me.  He pushes it.  I don't. So there's no need for me to pretend I am the push; stop being the pull, Meg.  And I did. The more I began learning about the One who paints the sky and the One who allowed me to give life to, not to mention, watch awesome unfold in the life of my little boys, the better I became at realizing His dreams for me. I love that God is a chatty Kathy. He doesn't mind my personal space issue one bit.

January has been good.  Clean.  Bumpy with a sealant of smooth if you ask me.  I am more collected & moving intentionally toward staying that way.  My mannequin representation was to visually re-cap my month.  Crisp and straight.  Vivid & free.  I am not apologizing for the mixed prints in the least.  My life is stripes and dots.  It always has been. The entire outfit shown here cost $12.75.

Shirt:  Derek Heart brand $2.00 Goodwill

Skinny jeans:  Old Navy $6.00

Shoes {I wore them here too, remember?} $4.00 Goodwill

Striped tank:  $.50 Goodwill

Scarf:  $.25 Goodwill

 

Metaphorically, my month was this netted sleeve.  A collection of me: grouped & ordered: OPEN to express and move in one motion. Told you I was a walking hyperbole.  Netted sleeves?  Booyah.

Above are some great finds I scored this month.  The winged feather drape tee is my favorite. Do I really need to explain why at this juncture of the post?  I didn't think so.  All of these were from Goodwill.  The transparent leopard printed tees:  I pet them like cats.  We are best friends already.

January taught me to be like Cinderella.  Sing.  Talk to the birds.  Feel sad and lonely at times. But, get up and see life as a gift.  Even on the days where you wear rags and wash the floors on your hands and knees. For goodness comes when we look for it.  And when we're honest with who we are.  Prince Charming saw Cinderella's heart not her gown of glitter.  I am gonna remember that.  My stink-ups are one step away from a start-again.  I can always start again.  We all can. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

January, you've been refreshing.  Thank you for the 31 days.  I have squeezed you like a sponge this month.

Rating:  5 out of  6 stars.

February, I know we're kinda flirting with each other right now in day 5 & all.  I'm here to tell you, I've got your number.  You're a fast one with your 28 days, but I'm a runner.  And I plan to keep up.  Just you wait and see.

.mac :)

Wanna follow along with my VISION 2014?  I would love to have you.  Even more, I'd love to hear from you.  What are some of you goals for this year? How did January treat you?  Is your February feeling hopeful?  To keep up with my monthly posts, you can follow me here on bloglovin' or subscribe to receive my posts via email.  Just look for the gray & coral "GET POSTS VIA EMAIL" rectangular box on the right hand side of my blog.

And, hey.  k.Mac has a sale this month!  Go here to order these select scents at a discounted price of $10 per 12 oz. candle.  {reg. price is $12.99} My hands will be overjoyed to make your nose happy!