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Thursday, January 14, 2016

My One Little Word for 2016

It's the middle of January! Did you know it was the middle of January? I suppose I must have known. I wrote the date on my sign in sheet for every yoga class I taught during the last two weeks.

 I did manage to get all the linens washed, folded, and almost all put away. The Christmas tablecloth is still folded on top of my dryer. There is still a high chair in my dining room and a car seat in the back seat of my car. But those errant reminders of Christmas past will be remedied this weekend.

And finally I can turn my mind purposefully toward the year ahead. My one little word for 2016 is SHINE. Just because I was a little late rising and shining in January, I'm still planning to explore that word this year. At first I wasn't sure, but the idea kept shimmering in the back of my head. Then one day last week, I walked into the bank and was greeted at the door by this sign.

And if that wasn't enough to seal the deal, I visited poet and friend, Jeannine Atkins' Views from a Window Seat and found this quote from Kevin Larimer, editor of Poets and Writers.

 “Whether thousands, hundreds, or dozens of people might read what we’ve written, or even if we reach just one single soul, we are being given an opportunity to create something bright in all this darkness. Shine.”

Lovely, huh?

My OLW for last year was RESOLUTION. You can revisit that post here. As I look back, it truly was a year of resolution. My youngest daughter was married to a lovely man. Now all four of my children are happily settled with wonderful mates. That's definitely a strong chord resolution. I completed my advanced yoga training and am now a 500-hr Registered Yoga Teacher. It was a wonderful, challenging, satisfying, healing journey.

So now I'm ready to shine, sparkle, glow, glisten. So many excellent choices. I'm sure there will be places where I need to rub off some tarnish, but that's in the definition, too.

No poem this week, but you may have seen this quote written in part as a found poem around the web. It comes from Marianne Williamson's book, A Return to Love.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Come and visit. I might take a shine to you!

Stop by KeriRecommends for today's roundup.

20 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for sharing your bright and glorious word, and for illuminating its meaning with the quote from A Return to Love. Makes me realize that there is yet one more powerful book I need to read!.."This little light of mine..." What a nice memory-jogger your post is about owning and manifesting the light that is ours, the light that brights out some segment of the darkness allotted to us for the taking! God bless you. Shine on!

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  2. I love the idea that this OLW, shine, kept 'shimmering' for you, & all those seemingly random discoveries this week, the bank, Jeannine's book, & that final wonderful quote are like lights to lead you on, Dori. Between your and Keri's post, I am so inspired. Shine on!

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  3. Amazing quote from Marianne Williamson's book, A Return to Love. Reflecting upon it...realizing that there is too much truth to it to ignore.

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  4. Doraine, your whole post shines today with brilliance. The last text offers me much to think about and connects wonderfully to our Spiritual Journey Thursday blogging quest. "We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us." Creativity allows us all to shine so if you have an offering for my winter gallery I would love to showcase it. The invitation will officially come out soon.

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  5. Yes -- SHINE ON, Doraine! You always inspire me. XO

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  6. A wonderful choice of a OLW, Dori. I've been bouncing around ideas, but nothing has really stuck. I know what I want to do, how I want to proceed, but I haven't yet found the word that encapsulates all of that. Did you know that the video of Botlhale Boikanyo reciting that Willamson quote is my most popular blog post ever? (I now see you were hosting PF the day I posted it.) Now there's SHINE personified for you.

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  7. You are definitely shining, Dori! I can see you from here :-)

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  8. Dori, this quote found me on the right day, at the right time. Thank you for sharing your light so beautifully.

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  9. Great word choice, Dori. And thanks for the quote. I shared a slightly humorous look at Imposter Syndrome on facebook today, tthen came here to read this gorgeous quote, echoing it (but so much more beautifully).

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  10. You definitely add sparkle to the world!

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  11. "No poem today..." HA. YOU, this post, are the poem today! Shine on, shine on.

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  12. Beautiful - both your experience of choosing "Shine" and the quote - which I would submit is really a poetry--a prose poem.

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  13. Dear Shiny Friend: thinking of you with so much love and gratitude! What synchronicity! Also, have you thought about joining Holly Mueller's Spiritual Journey Thursday? Each week we are posting about someone's OLW... would love to hear what everyone has to say about "shine" and what you have to say about everyone else's words! xo

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  14. I love that you found so many confirming signs that it's your year to SHINE! Thanks for being part of our PF family!

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  15. Beautiful! Your shine is sparkling in this post, Dori. Blessed.

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  16. You lit up my morning, thank you! =)

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  17. This post is brimming with so much positivity that it sparkles indeed. Your OLW is lovely, and I congratulate you in being a yoga instructor! One of the things I hope to do in the future as well. :)

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  18. Oh, that's a great choice! We need more sparkle and shine in our lives!

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  19. Doraine,

    I've come here because you linked up to Spiritual Journey Thursday due to Irene's invitation (thank you, Irene!). SHINE is a brilliant word!! Marianne Williamson's quote is perfect. Congrats on your youngest getting married. When you children find their perfect soulmates, it is such a blessing. My oldest got married in June to a wonderful man, and their wedding day was so joyful. And you're a certified yoga instructor; I know yoga is a blessing to so many people! Can we put you on the SJT schedule and write about your word in March?

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  20. Just checking in with you about the Winter Poetry Swap - Though I didn't want to talk about it then, your poem swap was another piece to my "peace" at that time, as I prayed for the lump to be gone. I love how things that are needed, God sends our way. You were being used that day. Thanks for shining this way!

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