As we draw to the end of a year, we reflect as the Kinwomen Team on our themes over this time and the conversations we had with you.
Kinwomen… Year That Was 2017.
JANUARY . ADVENTURE
We began the year raising the courage in women to see life not as a chore or task list to achieve, but an adventure – often made of little brave steps that are new and fresh and bring something new for others to receive.
“A job fills your pocket,
Adventures fill your soul.”
FEBRUARY . BELIEVE
We asked – What do you believe? We acknowledged that one very important belief is to know:
“I am enough and also You are Enough.”
We also challenged ourselves with the words of Mahatma Gandhi, who said:
“To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.”
MARCH . CREATE
To create is not just to write, to paint, to sing or to build, but to think and imagine and express – it’s more about the process that declares our uniqueness, and that we are all capable of creating and venturing to new places.
“Be brave enough to live life creatively.
The creative place is where no one else has ever been.”
Alan Alda
APRIL . PAUSE
It is so, so important to pause and reflect, to stop living like we are in a James Bond movie, chasing baddies in cars. We must take the foot off the accelerator to understand ourselves a little better. How good are the words of Mark Twain:
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
MAY . TRIBE
We asked, Who is your tribe? Do we need them? Here’s our understanding – we were never meant to do life alone, and it’s not about whether we are an introvert or extrovert. Tribe is about being human.
“Healthy tribe isn’t about sameness, it’s about resonance.”
JUNE. OVERWHELMED
Anxiety is rampant in our world. We are potentially overwhelmed at every corner by emotions, change, technology, violence, need, by decisions… it is madness.
We must find healthy ways to manage the relentlessness of the input, and ensure each day we make time to keep us centred on the important.
“You can’t calm the storm, so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.”
Timber Hawkeye
JULY . RISK
Risk is inevitable if we are to stretch into life and ask ourselves what am I capable of?
There is something to be said for having a go when it’s our turn. We might fall or we might fly but risks and leaps of faith are at times very important.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
TS Elliot
AUGUST . SIMPLICITY
There is an offer in this life, and that is for each of us to decide what really matters – to live a life based on values and internal priorities rather than striving to have it ‘all’.
Bruce Lee said it well, as I imagine him in his karate pose!:
“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.”
SEPTEMBER . PURPOSE
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference. That you have lived and lived well.”
Every neighbourhood has an opportunity for you to find your purpose and it begins in the home.
OCTOBER . REGRET
Regret saps our energy and love for our today. As Hilary Clinton knows all too well from her life’s experiences:
“Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been.”
NOVEMBER . CERTAINTY
“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart… live in the question.”
Rainer Maria Rilke
There is much uncertainty in life and we need to find the strength, wisdom and courage to allow new questions come.
DECEMBER . WONDER
To the big people in this world, let us learn from the children – there are small wonders everywhere; new wonders, familiar wonders. Give yourself permission women to be engrossed in the moments and not distracted by the past or the future.
Be mindful this Christmas and holiday season – encounter the small wonders.
Happy Christmas and holidays from Kinwomen
Penny, Amanda, Kelley