Monday, March 17, 2008

Wings 4 You - Affirmations

[all images Googled]
This week's Wings 4 You prompts involve taking our poetry writings from last week and morphing them into affirmations. Affirmations are HEAVY!! It's so ... unaccustomed ... to affirm myself -- & that being the point entirely. Dame Carla invited us to create five affirmations under the lead-ins of "I am", "I have", and "I can." We were also encouraged to write a sentence or two explaining why we wanted to carry these forward with us on this journey.

Without further ado, here are mine.

I am:
1) A force of nature (tornado): seeking stimulation and change, and resilient enough for any terrain. This is the essence of any journey -- curiosity, flexibility, internal strength, a kind of bull-headed determination to forge ahead in spite of obstacles.
2) Low maintenance & capable of going inward for my nourishment (sunflower): I have my own root system. So without support, or the awareness of others, I have what I must have to seek, to move, to progress. Essentials - I know the difference between Need and Want.
3) A map of my own creation: guide posts are internal, & not very easily master-minded. Will keep me on a forward, seeking path.
4) A journalist: I am aware beyond the usual. I see detail and I am discerning. Also, I learn on my feet.
5) Afraid of stagnation: this will keep me on a path that is also introspective, willing to self-analyze, and make adjustments as I uncover them. I take criticism. I HEAR it, & seek the nugget of the lesson contained inside.

I have:
1) Resilience: I'm used to new arenas, new people, new experiences, as a regular diet. I know what I'm capable of within those kinds of circumstances.
2) Height: by that I mean spine, boldness, confidence, and a kind of sure-footedness of intuition.
3) Multi-lingual expressive abilities & articulateness: pen, art, verbal, knowledge, intellect, information. Many ways of touching each experience, gathering it to me.
4) Rawness: I will do what needs to be done, take expressive risks, not so worried about appearing a fool.
5) An ability to hold mentally still for digestion and assimilation = growth: Everything is a quest. What else is there? What subtlety have I missed? What other conclusion might I have drawn? Who am I in all of this? How does that relate to who & where I want to be? What is needed? [This is a standard Toni self-questionnaire.] I can: [This one was the most difficult for me to complete.]
1) Negotiate any terrain, climate, or personality: My life has proved this to me over & again. I believe it as easily and fully as I breathe.
2) Provide for myself emotionally: see 1 above. I'm usually alone, doing just that. But I can also connect, & well. People also seek me out for that, as a listener, for advice.
3) Travel light: Change of mental undies is easy, & I need water, a pen, & paper. I like to have coffee & fruit, the occasional pastry -- but I'm happy to eat bread alone. I prefer to bring back more than I take, although I give amply, too.
4) Express myself: with or without language. I can read/intuit people & environments. I can assert my presence or diminish it, as needed. I am NOT arrogant -- rather, I'm absorbed 'reading' my climate and all parts of it.
5) Be silent, when needed: I don't like it, but I recognize futility of contribution when faced with it. I can lay low, like a snake, but my tongue is always out, detecting.

Dame Carla's final aspect of this exercise was to create a visual 'affirmation board' to accompany these affirmations. Mine is presently in front of the fan, drying ... I think I envision one, possibly two, more layers, but tomorrow I'll post it in whatever stage of completion I find it. Heavy. It shouldn't be an EXERCISE of such magnitude & complexity & difficulty to make positive self-pronouncements. Why is it I could've done the converse, the 'negative', in 1/4 the time with twice the output? Something ELSE to ponder.

2 comments:

beth said...

what a great post !!!
I love it !!!

{and guess what ? I do the same thing regarding blogs as you do...if I add one, then one must go !!}...maybe I need to get rid of 3 for every new one...now that might work !!!

Anonymous said...

Toni - your affirmations are so deep and powerful! It is clear to me that you see things in a metaphorical way and don't need to do too much translating... yet you have added that layer of clarity. Your "suitcase' is full and you are ready for anything you choose! The image you created above is visually beautiful, and continues your ability to be symbolic and metaphorical. Thank you participating in these challenegs; it's exciting to see the work you're doing!