If This, Then What?

Realizing that having a creative response to life is the key to having a happy life.

Hey there. Good job on making it to the last day of January 2025. Let’s give ourselves one gold star on our “Getting Through the S#*tshow” chart. Forty seven more months to go.

Here are five days from my week.

January 25

I’m remembering this today: there is deep inner knowing and there is learned thinking. These are two completely different kinds of intelligence. Not all the ways we’ve learned to think are good or worth preserving.

I’m wondering how this can be individually applied to the situation we have today, with our divided country run by dangerous theatrics. My sense of how to get through the next 47 months is this: we’re in an unfolding story in which everyone has to start noticing their own habitual thoughts. We need to contribute less knee-jerk reactions, more thoughtful, intentional actions. I’m seeing this is what writing Five Days is doing for me, and hopefully for you too. I want to wake up more— and cultivate a community of people around me who are awake too.

We ALL have habitual thinking— it’s automatic and it’s running the show much of the time. Which ruins our ability to have conversations with each other.

When we get tired and stressed, we fall back into habitual thinking. We fall back into easy-to-bathe-in stale thinking that might not be true or helpful. We have a gazillion assumptions that take zero energy to navigate through. Under the blinders of tired, stressed, habitual thinking, we miss having fresh ideas. Our creativity goes out the window. We can’t change when we’re not using the limitless potential of creative thinking. We can’t change the world we live in when we’re not being creative.

So:

“Hey Thoughts— I’m checking you. Have you outgrown your stay in my head? Do you need to be thrown out or be updated? I’m onto you…”

Photo by Gary Chan on Unsplash

January 27

Still playing with my thoughts. Got a gem from Michael Neill (who trained me as a coach), remembering this critical tidbit today:

We make up the stakes.

The stakes we hold as non-negotiable are often all made up. Sometimes by us, often by others and we simply inherited the beliefs.

We think we know what’s required, what has to happen in order for us to be happy, be successful, or for things to simply work out in our lives… but we don’t know. And we usually don’t know that we don’t know.

For example, we make up “I need this so that I will be able to xyz” or “If I don’t have this happen then I won’t be able to xyz” or “I have to do this thing so that I can have xyz in my life.” That’s not to say there aren’t things that have to happen in the most common sense ways, like you need to have money in your bank account in order to buy dinner with your debit card. I’m not talking about the most basic things, but still take a look at your “basic, obvious needs” and ask yourself if they’re 100% true formulas. I think you’ll be surprised.

If we didn’t make up the stakes for so many situations, we’d have better thinking.

I’m currently detaching from as many “if this, then that”s as I can find in my head.

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January 28

This newsletter was supposed to be a buoyant, fun creative project. Don’t get me wrong, it IS fun. But it was supposed to be really fun. A breath of fresh air, a laugh, a jolly good time for you and me both. But the current state of our 🇺🇸 is casting a chill. I feel exhausted already by the barrage of willfully blind loyalty, destructive intentions and blatant cruelty. The pace of the partisan rage being spewed from our capitol is overwhelming and I’m afraid for our country, that’s been sold out to the highest bidders.

My response to these times is growing rapidly. My personal response to these changing times is, as I’ve said, a highly intentional creative response in a strong effort to cultivate my heart energy. There is one thing I’m creating in particular that has me feeling very, very happy. It’s utterly ludicrous, “off-brand,” whimsical, and fun, intended to bring nothing but JOY. Stay tuned. I’m looking forward to sharing this with you. (Michigan summer friends: you know who is coming out of the wings…😂)

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January 29

Thank God it’s the Chinese Lunar New Year today because holy moley do we need some fresh energy. Today’s New Moon is what I consider (as does all of Asia) the door opening to the REAL New Year’s Day of 2025.

The Lunar New Year is the New Moon (fresh start) before the midpoint between the first day of Winter and the first day of Spring. The actual midpoint between Winter and Spring is February 3rd— this is the TRUE NEW YEAR. February 3rd is the day when the dark of Winter starts to brighten and become more energized, day-by-day things on Earth becoming less dormant, more light and alive. The midpoint between Winter and Spring is therefore a MUCH better New Year for everyone to start feeling better and initiating new plans.

Make your 2025 resolutions NOW. February 3rd is the day the Earth’s energy starts to shift with strength away from last year’s energy. (I’m not saying this is necessarily going be a pleasant thing on the world stage, but we can use the energy personally with huge potential.)

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January 30

Today, as I paint, as well as write this, I’m continuing to contemplate where I feel called to break out, where to not give a you-know-what anymore. I’ve been paying attention to my instincts urging me to be more me.

This is what’s coming out in my painting right now & it feels like pure joy. I loved painting these because they’re non-serious, non-thinking, non-analytical, and even non-professional (I know the prefix is un- but didn’t want to break the rhythm.) Here’s me being more me:

What are you being called to do/create/express/be?? I want to know.

One of the planets responsible for sounding the loudest call-to-authenticity for us all: Uranus. Don’t gloss over this. You don’t have to learn astrology or even believe in it.

Just please ask yourself these questions because it’s likely time for you to try something NEW. Time to intentionally break out of the same-old-same-old somehow. (If we don’t make a point to consciously change, the Universe tends to help us out in unplanned, sudden ways. Ex: Have a soul-sucking job? Been meaning to quit or take a career leap for the last ten years? Well, if you’ve been afraid to take a risky exit, there will likely come a point you’ll be forced to leave your soul-deadening job, rather than doing so voluntarily… this is the easiest example. The choice: be intentional about taking a detour, OR get unexpectedly re-routed.)

Ask yourself:

What can I no longer stomach in my life? What do I need to be free of? What feels stale and not who I am anymore? Who and what do I need to be? What do I need to express to feel ALIVE and FREE?

You’d be wise to give these questions some honest reflection because we’re all having a response of some flavor or another to the planet of revolutionary change. (If you want to know more, let me know.)

Lots of love,

xoAubrey

P.S. 4-ish things I love, read, and use:

Here is my Amazon Store link- and heads up, if you choose to buy anything I mention from Amazon, I do earn a few pennies for every purchase through my storefront.

1. Some books I love and read often:

• The Inside Out Revolution by Michael Neill

• Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga by Rolf Gates

• The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo (I read this almost daily. His writing is beautiful and thoughtful. A great gift)

2. Need to tone the bod? Back to easy basics. Like a Thigh Master for your arms. Really your whole body. A classic. The Pilates magic circle. I used to have one and just replaced it. Easy to stash around the house.

3. Need to cleanse the vibes? I love the smell of this Sage Spray.

4. Need the best bowls/plates?? We use these every single day & I looooove them for EVERYTHING: Made In bowls (that act like a plate.)

I’d love to hear what you think of Five Days…

Thanks for reading this far & have a wonderful, restorative weekend. Xoxoxo