The Creative Force of Intention
Resolutions promise transformation but often demand perfection. Lasting change isn’t born from pressure - it grows through grace. With flexibility and self-compassion, your goals shift from a list of demands into a living practice of intention. This year, let desires unfold through presence, and watch your life align naturally.
The Season of Doing
We have just come through an intense season of doing. How are you feeling?
If there is ever a time of year that highlights the incredible and exquisite facets of our abilities, it is the holidays. We are masters of giving, filling wishes, meeting needs, and divining magic in our homes and lives. We are creators and doers, planners, and mystery-makers. We masterfully balance the realms of the seen and unseen.
As we emerge from the whirlwind of the holiday season, it’s natural to pause and reflect. How are you feeling after such an intense period of giving, planning, and creating? This season of doing often leaves us depleted, just as we stand on the threshold of a new year full of promise and potential. For this reason, the new year might have arrived like a rude awakening - a cold splash of water in a warm slumber. Soreness and fear, worry and dread, shame and regret can make you want to hide under the covers and maybe skip goal-setting this year.
Either way - full of hope or riddled with despair - a resolution can be a way to shake off the cobwebs and find motivation to get what you want from this year. It feels good to define goals, plan action steps, and commit to results. Intentions are potent tools for short-term accomplishments, offering the satisfaction of achievement. However, resolutions often come with rigid expectations, leaving little room for the flow of life’s natural rhythm and the ever-changing needs of those around us.
The question begs: does a resolution serve the actual goals of your life and, more importantly, the experience you wish to have along the way to achieving them?
Resolution vs. Intention
While resolution and intention might sound similar, and even interchangeable, they possess different qualities and create different experiences. Choosing between resolution and intention is not a process of good vs. bad, but instead, a choice between a fixed experience over a collaborative one.
At the core, a resolution is firm and focused on achieving a future and outcome-specific goal. A resolution addresses specific behavior and creates pressure to succeed on a timeline with an end-point, and a defined result. Resolutions can be highly motivating and when utilized for their short-term efficiency, they can be a fantastic partner in reaching a goal.
Intentions, by nature, are fluid, process-driven, and intuitive. They nurture a sense of co-creation and openness to flexible timing. They emphasize being present and mindful throughout the journey toward a goal. An intention is a powerful way to begin a deeper exploration of self-improvement, where the learning and the journey are the focus, and the outcome is an open possibility.
The power of a well-placed intention is that it has an eye on the big picture, and it creates more compassion and focus on personal growth. Intentions prioritize internal alignment and flow and offer a more holistic and sustainable approach to personal growth.
In the day-to-day, this could look like flipping a resolution of losing 15 pounds by March to creating a balanced and joy-filled life that naturally results in an improved waistline. A resolution to save money by spending less might flip into an intention to live more creatively and joyfully, by utilizing the abundance already available. A resolution to find a better job might become the intention to value yourself to the point that your ideal job finds you.
Divine Balance
Intentions and resolutions differ fundamentally because they are rooted in different facets of our divine composition - that of our masculine and feminine gifts.
Our ability to reach goals from a prescribed set of parameters originates from the divine masculine attributes of assertive, decisive, and driven action. We prize our ability to be goal-oriented and to realize a defined result, in a culture that celebrates achievement.
Resolutions often fail as fast as they are set because they are fixed on a controlled set of actions, rather than moving with life’s unfolding and unpredictable flow. The rigidity that comes with a resolute mindset can create an imbalance, and sacrifice intuition and joy for the sake of gripping and controlling the outcome we wish to achieve.
Intentions are rooted in intuition and alignment - essential aspects of our divine feminine gifts. Intentions seek to incorporate the wisdom of one’s body, soul, and mind with messages from the natural and supernatural world. They invite us into a collaborative and curious journey, free from the constraints of fixed deadlines or rigid paths. Intentions align with our heart-centered desires, encouraging us to co-create with the divine and embrace the unfolding of possibilities.
Intentions honor both our logical minds and our ethereal connections. They recognize our unique ability to bridge the seen and unseen, transforming abstract desires into tangible realities. By focusing on intuition, we access a reservoir of creativity and flow that can soften a resolute mind and inform our actions through aligned intentions.
Embracing Your Creative Power
We are inherently creative beings, capable of blending logic with divine wisdom. Intentions tap into this duality, drawing from both our intellectual understanding and our intuitive knowing. This process begins in the energetic field of creation—our “womb space.”
The womb space is not just a physical concept but an energetic one, accessible to both males and females. It represents the fertile ground where ideas, inspirations, and dreams are nurtured. From this space, we birth new realities into existence, honoring our natural design as creators.
To create from a place of abundance, we must first care for ourselves. The cup metaphor reminds us that we can only give from our overflow. When we prioritize self-care, we naturally replenish our energy and inspiration.
Self-care fills our cup through meditation, slow living, and connected relationships. A self-care practice allows us to serve others authentically and generously from the overflow of our wellbeing, without depleting ourselves in the process.
Filling our cup involves rest and rejuvenation, setting boundaries to meet our needs first, and honoring our desires that align with our intuition for what is needed in the day-to-day changes of our lives. From this place of overflow, we co-create with ease and joy, aligning our actions with our highest intentions.
Tools For Intentional Living
In the book, The Power of Intention, Dr. Wayne Dyer explains that when we believe that our dreams and desires are ours to pursue and manifest, we begin to move from a place of internal wisdom that helps to identify the true purpose of our life. This shift transpired in four key stages that bring about intentional living through alignment and connection.
The first stage is naming your purpose. The practice of setting intentions begins with self-awareness and clarity. An essential first question might be: what do I desire to create with my life in this season? This is a question of vocation over profession. It asks, what is my purpose, beyond my career? Naming this deeper purpose can have a significant impact on clarifying who you want to be and what you want to do in this world.
The second stage is embracing your worthiness. So often, we dismiss what we want because we do not feel worthy. This might be from childhood wounds or a fear of rejection in social circles or family. Worthiness is the key to stepping into the life that is meant for you. You were made to do what your heart desires, and that alone makes you worthy. Your desires are not by accident, they are your divine gifts. This understanding empowers you to use your gifts to manifest tangible things into the world by your beautiful design.
The third stage is love and connection. We are not designed to move through the world alone. While we alone can find our purpose and set our intentions, we are also meant to collaborate with others. When you feel love and connection with yourself, you cultivate a deep love for others. This becomes the foundation for all of your relationships and collaborative creation. Love and connection with yourself first is not selfish or self-serving, this connection to self is essential to living a life of abundance and generosity and fostering healthy and creative partnerships with others.
The final stage is allowing the flow. When you are aligned with your purpose, feel worthy of your gifts, and are motivated by love and connection, you begin to experience a life of flow. Rather than forcing outcomes from a decided and resolute mindset, you move with openness, curiosity, and confidence.
This flow comes from surrendering to the natural rhythm of your creation, and trusting that your life is conspiring in your favor. When you are in the flow, opportunities and unexpected blessings come easily as you trust your own wisdom.
The Magic of Co-creation
Creating with intention is not about monumental changes, but subtle shifts.
Small, consistent actions rooted in intention can lead to profound transformation. By listening to the whispers of your soul and honoring your deepest desires, you unlock the magic of intentional living. When you listen to your highest self, your divine intuition steers you to where you’re ready. This means dropping out of the powerful and controlling mind and settling into the sacred and powerful intuition, as it begins to inform a direction. It is a gut-first approach, where we listen to the feelings arising - and from there, consider the best action.
When we integrate purpose, worthiness, connection, and flow, we step into our full creative power. Intentions become a tool for co-creation, transforming our dreams into reality. This process invites us to collaborate with the divine, embracing a life of trust and surrender.
As the new year unfolds into the fertile soil of possibility, sink into your reason for being here. Ask yourself: What is calling to be birthed through me? Seek your divinity, and allow your life to unfurl into your unique purpose. When you embody a softer, more curious nature, you conspire with the source for the highest and best outcome. Name your purpose, trust your worthiness, stay connected, and embrace the flow. The life you desire is waiting to be created—one intention at a time.
