The Present: April
The biggest happiness is when at the end of the year you feel better than at the beginning. - Henry David Thoreau
Hello, and welcome to The Present, the 2023 Flourish Integral Health newsletter. If this is your initial reading, my intention is to share how I’m using Flourish, A 365-Day Guided Path Towards Love to heal, grow, and be where I want to be. I hope my examples help you with your aspirations.
This month I drew inspiration from a quote by Rita Wilson in the January 9, 2023 issue of People Magazine: “Every morning I get up and I say prayers of gratitude that I’m able to pursue the things that I love to do.” I created two sentences and placed them on a notecard left beside my bed. I read the card aloud every morning before scrolling on my phone. The process, along with wearing the Peace and Calm mala wrap w/mantra “I am peacefully focused on what matters most” changed my focus. I worked through several challenging situations and resistance. Serenity and courage was gained.
Onto intentions…
Instead of sharing the details of each of my 2023 desired goals, I’ve including one this month.
No. 02 Desired Goal: Grow my income. My energy transformation is to release control and gain faith/freedom. This intention gets a Month in Review PARTIAL because progress is happening.
I tried something new. If guidance was received in my morning meditation, I would journal about it on the “Free Space” pages. Then, if I followed through on the idea a check was marked (who doesn’t like checking boxes!). The open highlighted days indicate I received related insight, and have yet to finish implementing.
I meditated some days with the Abundance mala and other days opened to a chapter from Soul Searching by Bill Phillips, a wonderful book reviewed in an upcoming Soulful Reads column alongside an author Q&A.
This intention will move forward into the next chapter. Month No. 5’s theme is self-care. I plan to incorporate a focus on my list of possibilities.
Onto joy…
Two more joy songs to share:
Joy by Beautiful Chorus (Beautiful Chorus also sings a wonderful gratitude song, titled More Gratitude)
Joy by Andy Grammer
I’m excited to announce that Flourish is recognized as a 2023 Nautilus Gold Award Winner in the category Gift & Speciality - Focused Topic: Daily Wisdom Books! The mission of Nautilus is "to celebrate and honor books that support conscious living & green values, wellness, social change & social justice, and spiritual growth."
Here is the Nautilus Book Awards 2023 Awards Roster. This event so far has helped me gain faith. Thank you to everyone who helped me create Flourish and achieve this recognition.
The experience feels miraculous. Similar to when Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance’s twins appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show wearing my clothing line (including the probability of learning that was happening in the moment), I can put the steps together but the chances - the chances are magical. I reached out to Kim Corbin of New World Library at the end of last year and asked about good non-fiction awards to apply for. If I was not writing Soulful Reads this relationship likely would not be. If I had not picked the first column’s new releases googling on Amazon (Radical Intuition by Kim Chestney and Extraordinary Awakenings by Steve Taylor both published by NWL) I might not have met Kim. And The Healing Touch Program is the reason I am writing the column. If I had not applied to be editor of the magazine in 2019, would the magazine have reached out to me for the column? I wouldn’t have added this expression about the award if it wasn’t for Dan Blank, a constant source of inspiration to be vulnerable, consistently share your craft, and have a marketing plan. I would not have met Dan if my former JLL colleague, Robert Wilson, didn’t introduce me to his step mom and author, Pamala Toler, when I was trying to find a publisher. How did the book actually get selected as a Gold Award Winner? Maybe the Nautilus team really loved it - like Angela really loved the hoodies.
What I see is all the small steps of following your heart and intuition adding up. I can do a similar sequence for the creation of the book too - how the editor, graphic designer and illustrator appeared. It is drawing in the right people at the right time. What is that one thing you have always wanted to do? Maybe now is the time. (This happens to be Week 20’s suggestion to cultivate joy!)
Holding space for your joy, your intentions, and being true to yourself.
Best,
Allison