Day 9 - The Power of Intention & My Word for 2023
I attended Shenna Jean’s phenomenal experience at Archipelago called, Intentional AF Workshop + Sound Bath last night and came home to write “pen to paper” per her suggestion. There was a moment where she expressively wrote in the air with her hand demonstrating the importance of carving the lines and curves for your brain versus tippy tapping one’s fingers away on a computer. I don’t disagree with her, and sometimes (at least recently), it’s been necessary for me to allow my digits to formulate sentences on this device as fast as the river of my thinking has flowed. I love journaling and have consistently poured my heart and soul into notebooks since I can remember. I always get a good laugh looking back through the pages my younger self wrote, everything seemingly so significant yet blissfully unaware of the granularity I would once find myself able to articulate. I’d make bold declarations about boys I LOVED and replay sagas of the prepubescent woes I would find myself in. I never did take theatre in school, but my journals might have made you think otherwise.
Fast forwarding decades to find myself laying down receiving the vibrations of Shenna’s sound bowl witchery, I had no memories of my younger self, but instead was guided through a vivid journey to meet my future self in January 2024. I started in “my favorite place in Nature”, on my paddle board in the middle of the bluest blue waters with a healthy embrace of lush forests. The wildly magical, Lake Tahoe. I could feel the sunlight kissing my body as I lay bobbing gently upon the waters of this picturesque environment. I’ve always felt at home here. The sound vibrations transported me into the future as a “little neon cloud” floated down from the sky to swoop me up. Next thing I knew I was peering through a window at my future self. This new scene was unfamiliar but wrapped in an energy that registered as belonging in my system. A cabin-like house in the woods somewhere. It felt like the Sun was just waking as I was making one of my beloved morning drinks in the kitchen. I could feel the warmth of a wood fire I’d started. The vibrancy and embodied bliss of my future self were palpable, and it appeared that she was full of pride, grounded in herself, and radiating in gratitude. If you’ve ever attended a Tea ceremony, you’ll know the wash of calm ease and intentional spaciousness that is abundantly available. This energy was exactly what I felt looking at myself.
The next thing I knew, we were “meeting one another outside with a hug” and exchanging some important Q&A. “What are you most grateful for from 2023?” I was guided to ask. She looked at me with pure delight and shared about our family, dearest friends, and all of the people we’ve supported this year. “What do I need to let go of?” Doubt and worry about how it’s all going to work out. She was very clear about this. I asked her a few other questions that I cannot remember, but she showed me three embodied gestures that I can feel imprinted in my body. Arms wide open to the sky with her face basking in the Sun, she told me to stay open. Next, she lightly pressed her fingertip into the left side of my chest and signifying that I must keep listening to my heart. And then she looked down at her feet with a hand in the air syncing her index and middle finger with each step she took forward, and said one step at a time. The instructions were crystal clear. Lastly, before heading back to my paddle board in 2023, she shared that my word for this year is DEVOTION. We embraced before I walked back to my little neon cloud and floated back in time with her guidance resounding in my being.
Sometimes sound baths are just nice to receive, but this one truly left a mark on me. Intentions have the ability to shift each moment of our day, which ultimately can lead us to massive change when we keep them in the forefront of our being. Anytime I fall away from my intention, I get to recommit to the micro-moments knowing that they ripple out into all areas of life. I look forward to witnessing the magical unfolding of my intention for 2023 and am profoundly grateful to have started this year with such a powerful experience. Thank you, Shenna!
If you’re curious to learn more about Shenna and Make One Day Happen, you can check her out here!
