Winter walking blues...

Photo of a painted mural at Reising Sun Café, Polk City, IA

I love the snow. I adore winter…the more snow the better. This probably has something to do with the fact that I grew up in snow country, a mountain town in Colorado. Nonetheless, I woke up yesterday morning to a grey winter day. The light was flat and it just makes you feel kinda “blah”.

"Blah" weather leads to lots of reason to be less physically active. Ironically the best medicine for the winter blues is to get moving.  Believe me, I know it's challenging but it really does help.

We are building a great community here and let’s make the most of it. Let’s set some physical activity goals for the month of January and help each other. Hop on over to The Healthy Knitter Ravelry group and share your goal. Cheer each other on and help each other be accountable.

Pick a “time” goal OR
Pick a “distance” goal OR
Pick a “certain number of fitness classes to attend” goal OR
Pick “make your own” goal.

My goal is to walk 50 miles of intentional active walking. That’s about 2 miles a day for the rest of the month. I’ll be walking indoors mostly. I’d like to say that I’m “walking to someplace exotic” but 50 miles from Ames, IA doesn’t get me out of central IA. So, I’m going to pick a walking path in Scotland and pretend that I’m walking there :)

What’s your goal?

Knit one. Walk two...

A revision...

What is it about making something public that allows one to gain new perspective? One of the key ingredients to making successful lifestyle changes is to share your goals with someone increasing your accountability.

When selecting a word for 2016 I felt accomplished that I narrowed down my 30 choices to 3, yet simultaneously unsettled that I could not decide on 1 representative word. I was pleased that all 3 words were connected but I wanted something tidier. I really wanted one word that I could use to set my intention for the year. A word that I could repeat during my walks and that I might bring into focus each day as a reminder.

After announcing my three words, I received the following quote from BrainyQuote:

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”

— Leonardo da Vinci

Was it a sign that my one word should be "simplicity"? Yet I still felt unsettled. And then it happened, the most amazing realization when I asked myself the following question:

"What is it that you truly want to accomplish this year?

Sustainable. I want this year to represent a lifestyle that I can sustain, physically, emotionally, and financially. This one little word embraces simplicity, completion and balanced all in one.

I want to create sustainable living practices for myself but also share this with all of you as well (if you so choose). Let's find ways to infuse healthy living practices into our lives that are sustainable; not goals or commitments that overwhelm or foods that weigh us down, but simple, maintainable practices that promote completion and balance.

And now I feel satisfied. I have one word that captures my true intentions for the year.

SIMPLICITY + COMPLETION + BALANCE = SUSTAINABLE

A quiet walk through the fresh snow...

P.S. If you aren't familiar with BrainyQuote, it is an app that you can download to your smartphone. You'll receive a daily quote at 8 a.m. each day. If you like quotes, I highly recommend it.

An intentional word...

Picking one word for 2016 was harder than I imagined. I read today that the word of the 2016 is "identity". Oddly, that didn't make my list; actually it never crossed my mind. But, I can certainly say that many words have been considered.

I began a list in a journal and that led to the next one and so on.  And here I sit without one word identified. That's right, I captured 30 words and then whittled down the list to 3.

Simplicity. Last week I blogged that 2015 could be characterized by the word "gratitude". With more reflection I am reminded that 2015 was a year of simplifying. While I still have many miles left on my journey to simplify, I can honestly say that a lot of decisions were made to lead a simpler life. Most importantly was the decision to sell our acreage and move back into town. We now live just over a mile from campus and I can walk to work which has brought me great joy and substantially less time in the car. The second rewarding part of the move was the purchase of a much smaller home with a lot LESS storage...so more "stuff" had to leave. It's been liberating. So last year was the act of simplifying but 2016 is the year of simplicity...reminding myself that each purchase, each project, each "yes" has to reflect a simple life.

Completion. I like to start projects. I am a process person perhaps even a "process addict" if there ever was such a term. I LOVE to start new projects but as soon as the project gets boring or I hit a bump in the road I have a tendency to move on to the next project. Don't get me wrong, I definitely get things done but not nearly as many as I start. With my focus on "simple" I've been able to begin facing this little monster I've created. So, this year will be a bit more focused on finishing projects whether ones sitting in my [small] closet or ones that I choose to begin.

Balance. This one isn't new to my list of intentions but the pursuit of living a "balanced" life continues. In many ways this "balance" is intertwined with "simplicity" and "completion". When I take on too many commitments whether family, work, health or knitting-related and I fail to complete said-tasks,  this triggers the feeling of being "out-of-control". Ironically this leads to less "me" time and my time for wellness dwindles.

SIMPLICITY ~ COMPLETION ~ BALANCE

Over the past month I have spent a lot of time planning the 2016 activities for The Healthy Knitter. If you are interested in walking AND knitting AND healthy, wholesome food then stay tuned. There will be patterns themed on nature rich with texture, cables and/or lace, at least one mystery knit-along AND walk-along, patterns with recipes and walking information, some give-aways, a freebie pattern and LOTS more.

I've decided to blog more frequently and will send a weekly update on Fridays to keep you posted. My intent is to continue to share The Healthy Knitter designs and pattern promotions as well as information on health and wellness, interesting blogs I follow, what's on my needles, musings from my walks and other random thoughts about life, family, nature, simplicity, completion and "balance".

In August I'll be travelling to Scotland for a huge adventure. I'll be sharing more about this in the upcoming months. It will be a journey of strength, courage, time for self, LOTS of walking and definitely knitting. I'll save the details for later...

May your new year be filled with knitting, walking, whole foods, joy and peace.

Knit one. Walk two...

Happy Boxing Day...

The day after Christmas and all through the house not a creature is stirring not even a... ok, except for the dog. It's been a whirlwind of festivities with baking, wrapping, conducting the Peace-along, grading finals, driving across the country to celebrate the holidays with my parents, preparing meals, eating delicious meals, family walks, cleaning up and lots of stimulating conversations.  Each year there is so much effort that goes into the preparation for Christmas Day and once it finally arrives I can't help but feel like "hey, wait, now let's celebrate".

I want to hold onto the magic of Christmas for days to come; I don't want to box it all up and move on. Instead of quickly moving on, the days between Christmas and New Years provide us with time to reflect on the past year and prepare for the next one. It's a peaceful time to linger a little longer each morning in front of the Christmas tree with a cup of coffee, take time to knit, and to breathe a little deeper.

There is lots of chatter on blogs about identifying a word that represents one's intention for the upcoming year. When I think about the past year I can't pinpoint one word that would capture all that happened but I can definitely sum it up with the word gratitude. Grateful for family, health, and freedom. For some reason, I feel compelled to identify a theme word for the new year. For the next week I'll be spending my morning time by the tree with my cup of coffee and knitting musing about my word for 2016. Stay tuned.

For now, I leave you with some healthy thoughts and wishes...

...and finally, it is snowing.

Knit one, walk two.