A Fresh Start
This month, we’re making a fresh start – a bold new beginning.
A fresh start brings to mind thoughts of newness, of turning over a new leaf, creating a new habit or a new way of living. Making new friends, escaping, renovating, or simply looking at something from a different angle.
And that is what we have done here with A Calm Space.
We have renovated, tossed the clutter, changed our name and from the ashes of the old (Sanctuary) comes something bright, beautiful and very, very special to us.
Each month, we’ll welcome you with a special theme – something that inspires us and drives us to share with you.
Our first topic of the month is A Fresh Start.
A change of season, especially the change from winter to spring, makes us think about fresh starts, doesn’t it?
Spring is my favourite time of year. It’s like the whole world wakes up and starts to move again. We shake off the heaviness of winter – not only the heavy clothes, but the general feeling of needing warmth and comfort – and put on a lighter outlook. Fresher somehow to match the season. It’s like our blood starts to flow faster, easier – giving us a surge of energy and enthusiasm for life.
As the weather warms, we throw open the windows and invite the breeze into our homes to freshen, liven, and renew the space in which we live.
As we throw our quilts on the clothesline to air, we are also throwing the doors to our heart open to the newness that surrounds us.
What does ‘a fresh start’ mean to you?
A fresh start can mean that huge, life changing decision. The sea change, the start or end of a relationship, the resignation, or the creation of a new business. Yes, these changes are definitely in the ‘fresh start’ category.
I found out this week that dear friends of ours are selling up everything and taking off for a round the world motorbike tour – their bikes are on order and due to arrive before Christmas. They may never return. Now, that is a fresh start!
If it is something you have been dreaming of for so long, then maybe the time is right. Leave the hustle and bustle of the city and take over that vineyard in the Margaret River; that bed & breakfast in Tuscany or that charter boat business in the Whitsunday Islands.
But sometimes, while the dreams are there in your heart, you are content for them to stay dreams just a while longer (say, until the kids have finished school). Sure, you’ll dream, you’ll plan, you’ll collect information. But you’re not quite ready for the dramatic change just at this moment.
Spring madness hasn’t got you that far in its grip.
There are many smaller ways of making a fresh start. Ways that won’t completely disrupt our whole life. Ways that are certainly easier on the wallet and our stress levels.
Spring is a great time to start new habits. There is something in the air – that freshness and enthusiasm – that helps us keep at something new until it becomes a habit.
A lot of people start a new exercise routine – going for a walk each day is certainly a lot more pleasurable now than it was in the dark cold of a winter’s morn. Sure, there is also the panic about getting into a swimsuit as summer lurks just around the corner… but that is not what we are talking about.
We’re talking about something deeper – something that is more about who you are than about how you look.
Who you are reflects your whole life. And what better time is there than Right Now to take a fresh peek at who you are and who you are becoming each day.
Making a fresh start can be as simple as seeing yourself from a distance and recognising that there are little tweaks to be made to how you perceive yourself and how you think.
One useful way of doing this is to sit quietly somewhere and become a movie director for a short while.
Pick a few different scenes in the movie called – Your Life. Those scenes that represent the many roles you play. Rerun the movie of your day at work, your time with the kids yesterday afternoon, how you were with your partner last night, and how you are when you’re alone. Run each movie separately, and watch yourself with dispassionate eyes – like you are watching a movie on your television set.
Who do you see? Is it the same person in each scene? Or are you putting on a different hat and a different attitude as you move from take to take? Do you like the lead character?
Who does that lead character in your movie need to be, in order for you to like them and be really proud of them?
Who do you need to be to add that sparkle of ‘star quality’?
What action can you take today to give yourself a fresh start?
“There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom” ~Anaïs Nin
Comments
3 Responses to “A Fresh Start”
Got something to say?
Subscribe to Updates
Current Articles
- Stay Tuned to Your Eco Behaviour
- Listening to the melody of life
- Your Breathing Space for August
- Tune In and Turn On … Online
- Relationship Rescue the Low Tech Way
- Sound Space - Brendan Maclean
- Tuning in to our planet and ourselves
- Spiritual Tuning In
- What Is Your Stuff Telling You?
- Are You Tuned In To The Power Of Your Own Words?
- This month we’re tuning in…
Areas of Interest
- Breathing Space
- Challenge Space
- Digital Space
- Happening Space
- Money Space
- Music Space
- Organising Space
- Reading Space
- Relationship Space
- Serenity Space
- Spa Space
- Spiritual Space
- Sustainability Space
- The Space
- Writing Space
How fun that you are looking at the beginning of Spring Down Under while here in the Seattle area we are saying goodbye to Summer! I’m with you on a Fresh Start! We can use those regularly, for sure. Great content! I’ll be visiting here again, no doubt about it. Thanks to Apple Tart for the recommend!
Sheryl, thank you for visiting and congratulations on being our very first commenter!
It is interesting how we’re talking about Spring and the days warming up, and you’re heading out of Summer and looking forward to cooler weather, isn’t it?
We will all look forward to your visits, Sheryl - and hope to be hearing more from you!
Hi Karen - and everyone at the Calm Space
I just wanted to say hello and congratulations on publishing the calm space, and kicking us off with a fresh start.
Like Sheryl the season where I am (in Scotland) is moving into autumn and winter, but there are many similarities in the way we feel as the seasons change - awareness of time passing, a reminder to us to seize the moment, but also to think about the plans we want to make if things are to come to fruition.
I think of the trees getting ready to stand tall, and bare, in the cold of winter, the animals gathering in the food they’ll need - and what we need to sustain us, to keep us moving forward.
It’s great to have a shared space where we can stop and reflect on some of the important things in life for a while - just slow down, look around and breathe for a bit…
Thanks, all of you. I’ll be back!
Joanna