Good morning you,

I’m thrilled to welcome you back to Merry Makery.

Let's begin the weekly mmm — mindset, mission, & musing — on beginnings.Odds are high that you are like me and that new year fresh start feeling is already fading (even though I can’t remember to write 2023 instead of 2022…)

How sensational would it be to keep that all those sparkling clean good vibes beyond the third week of January?Good news we can.Fresh starts start whenever we want to start.  

Mindset

Easiest approach is with a beginner’s mindset.

This mindfulness practice comes from the opening lines of Shunryu Suzuki’s book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

Simply stated a beginner sees every moment with infinite potential and awe.

Once we become an "expert" in a subject, routine, or person, we forgo the possibilities in favor of our expectations. These expectations then stop us from seeing what is happening right in front of us.

We far too often turn on life auto-pilot without even realizing we toggled it on.

Mission

We have the power to change this.Let’s spend less of our precious single life living in auto-pilot.

Instead of seeing everything as just what we expected it to be, let’s see it as a beginner would, as exceptional for simply existing. Choose to experience anything and everything with that first bite of the most delicious meal in your life feeling.

Use every senses to really see, taste, hear, smell, & feel.

Pause to relish in a hug instead of going through the motion. You have no idea when you will hug this person next.

Challenge yourself to experience people, work, pets, & life like you are seeing them for the very first time.

First times lend themselves quite nicely to our merrymaking mindset from last week. TED even proved this with data showing that "73 percent of vivid memories were either first-time experiences."

Live in the vivid.

Musing

Beginner mind was on my mind because I am a beginner in SO many things right now. Which means I am seeing SO many possibilities for Merry Makery, especially the physical card designs.

I’m embracing my naïveté.

And I'm challenging myself to create a new greeting card every day for 100 days.Entering my crazy card lady era.

This is a legitimately insane goal, considering I've designed three cards in my life.Challenge commencing soon. Strap in friends!

Can't wait to begin again with you next Monday!

MacK