As much as I crave clarity, often the best life lessons are those that blossom after the fog lifts. While I have a few very strong wishes and desires for what I want to attract into my life, my overall vision for 2021 is far from crystal clear.

This feels a transitional year for my family and me. My daughter will finish high school and likely move on to college, destination unknown. This big ending and new beginning for her is equal parts exciting and heart breaking for me. My son will learn to drive and hopefully return one day to in-person school and a fuller extracurricular and social schedule. He'll be spreading his wings wider as he looks over the edge of the nest, ready for flight yet still in need of sustenance and love when he's under my roof.

Earlier this winter, as I meditated on my hopes and dreams for the coming year, the only constant companion was the word "vibrant." Nothing else hit me in the gut as much as that power word did!

When a word gets stuck in the web of my awareness, I dig deeper. Why vibrant? To me, vibrancy means being full of life. It's about receiving and giving from a healthy energetic space. It connotes images of light, color, pulsing vibration, laughter, love, connection, and all-in aliveness. After the constant shifts and losses of 2020, which stripped so many of so much, vibrancy feels an appropriate ask, a calling, a purpose.

As the pandemic maintains its grip on our lives, there are times when vibrancy feels hard. Many a day I've risen with the best of intentions, only to find my light snuffed out and and my body loafing on the couch just hours later. On other days, this intuitive call to be a source of light feels so freaking necessary and aligned to my desire to support the greater good that I complete tasks with ease and keen awareness of how good it feels to be energized and focused.

Rather than shame myself for not having a clearer overall vision for my life, I am tethering down into vibrancy and weaving the word into the day-to-day with practices, intentions, and heart-felt questions. It looks something like this:

• What one thing can I do today to stoke my vibrancy? Walk in nature. Give myself a Reiki treatment. Flow and rest on my yoga mat. Dance in my kitchen with my favorite salsa playlist keeping the beat. Scribble with my crayons. Wear my favorite color. Take a nap.
• How can I attract more vibrancy into my life? Buy the $4 bouquet of mixed flowers at Trader Joe's. Invite a friend to meet outside for tea and chit chat. Belly laugh with my kids. Get my heart racing by trying something new (and a little scary!). Smile (with my eyes) at a fellow masked stranger.
• How can I make vibrancy a deeper sensory experience? Watch a sunrise. And a sunset. Prepare a colorful meal and eat it at the table set with candles and flowers. Pet my cat and really feel the softness of his fur. Soak my feet in a warm basin of lavender-infused water and massage these miracle appendages with love and awe.

Whether your current path is enveloped in mist or shrouded in pea-soup fog, the clouds will lift. Anchor to one word, fully embody that word and all it means to you, and then move yourself forward with baby steps.

Yours in times of clarity AND in times of confusion,

Jennifer