Living with Intention

Over on my Instagram I posted today's word of the day and that word is intention.

I think it's only natural to feel overwhelmed sometimes. To feel like there is so much that is piling up around you whether that be physically or mentally. I was beginning to feel this way as 2019 was coming to a close and decided I needed to do something about it. For me, juggling motherhood, my professional life, family, and my creative passions was a lot to mentally handle and I needed a way to set goals and feel able to realistically meet them.

Flashback to when I was little and my mom read me a book called "The Little Red Hen" by Carol Ottolenghi. (I've linked it for purchase on Amazon here in case you're interested.) It is a book about, you guessed it, a little red hen who is trying to make a loaf of bread from scratch. She asks all the other farm animals to help her harvest grain, mix the bread and so on but none are willing. She ends up making the bread herself and therefore reaping the rewards (i.e. eating the bread!) herself as well.

Anyway, to connect my thought process for you, it was when I revisited this book with my own daughter that it kind of dawned on me that my goals aren't going to just happen. No one is going to do the work for me and I needed to step up a bit if I was serious about it. I know that seems like I'm stating the obvious but for me it really was a sort of light-bulb moment. I needed to be intentional about reaching my goals.

Ever since the Little Red Hen observation the word intention keeps popping back up in my mind with everything from the smallest of acts--like making sure I drink enough water daily--to larger goals in my personal and creative life. I've made a list of the top 5 things I'm being more intentional about so that maybe you can be inspired to be more intentional with your life as well!

1. Drinking water. We all need it to survive and to thrive. I started by drinking a glass of water as soon as I wake up. I make this easy on myself by pouring it the night before and whatever is left in the morning--usually most of it--I drink before my feet hit the ground. This ensures I start the day (somewhat) hydrated and helps kick-start my metabolism. Here's an article by USA Today that explains the benefits in more detail.

2. Journaling each day. I've tried this a few times before but since I've started being more intentional about my writing I have really enjoyed it and therefore perpetuated it. Each night before I go to bed, I intentionally sit down for a couple of minutes and write out my thoughts. I don't try to organize them in anyway and I never have any expectations, I just write down what I am feeling. This gives me both a creative and mental outlet allowing me to go to sleep with minimal swarming thoughts. I keep my journal in my nightstand to make this easy and eliminate possible excuses for skipping a night. You could put it out in plain sight if you need to as extra incentive!

3. Skin care routine. This is something that I've tried for a while but never really found products that work for me enough to continue to use them. I've been very intentional about moisturizing day and night and using. . . . eye cream. Yes, I'm at that point in my life now! Anyway, after I wash my face in the evening I use a mixture of rose oil (I love the one from Natura Culina. You can grab it for yourself here.) and tea tree oil. (Four drops rose, one drop tea tree). I find this moisturizes my face and fights blemishes at the same time! In the morning I forgo the oil in favor of Neutrogena's moisturizer. You can find it on Amazon here.  I've found my skin is much happier and more consistent since I started being intentional about my routine.

4. Tidying up. I decided to be more intentional about keeping a clean house. Now, this one is definitely still a work in progress but I am trying! I have always found that a clean and aesthetic house drastically improves my mood which is a win-win for me and anyone who comes in contact with me, to be honest.  I'm trying to be more intentional about doing the dishes as they appear (we don't have a dishwasher and never have). I'm being more intentional about making our bed in the morning and picking up our toddler's toys at night. I find even if I just take a couple of minutes to do these things, my house (and brain) is much more clean and calm and I'm overall a much happier person.

5. Creativity. I've always been a creative person. I actually started college as an art major but through the years I have fallen away from that part of my personality. I always loved creative writing and that is the main reason I started this blog. I wrote my first few blog posts last year but soon faded out as I was not being intentional about writing. I've decided to change that so I'd love for you to stick around and check back in as it is my intention to post at least once a week now!

Anyway, those are the top 5 things I am trying to be more intentional about in life. I'd love for you to join me on this intentional adventure! There are so many mental health (and potentially physical health) benefits that I have really noticed since beginning this journey.

For more (hopefully inspiring) words of the day, follow me here on Instagram. Thanks for reading!