Growth Getter

Lots of people focus on goals at the start of a new year. So do I, usually... But this year I haven't gotten into the 'vision boarding' or the calendaring' and the frantic 'goal setting.' This year I am focused on 'where can I grow personally?' And if I am being honest with myself, there are plenty of places within myself that I can grow. I'm a layered, flawed human being (as we all are...) and growth never stops, it just... grows.
So to keep my 'growth goals' realistic, I'll aim to work on ONE. 
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My growth goal for 2022...drum roll... is: Reaching Out. 
That includes reaching out for help, reaching out for connection, sharing my work which is a form of reaching with my words and ideas, and reaching out to help friends or people in need. How can I make my 2022 a year of REACH? A deep quest into my ability to reach out whether it's self-serving or selfless.
This isn't a new goal. I've been attempting to reach with my heart and words and stories through this very blog... but this year I will challenge myself every week to experiment with different practices of reaching to add to my daily blog practice. This week alone I've reached out to two people for help. One of those instances was to help another friend so it was a double reaching moment. 

You may say 'what's the big deal? Asking someone for help with something... I don't get it.' 
But here's the thing: For me it is a big deal. A very big deal. I've taken pride my whole life in doing things alone. My fierce sense of independence has become so ingrained with my identity... that I feel shame when I admit to myself that I cannot do everything on my own. THAT is a big mountain to climb on. A mountain of shame, and a mountain of identity. But just like a butterfly who flies out of a cocoon, or a snake that sheds its old self... I'd like to take off some of those long standing identity/persona ticks, and see the human underneath. The human that isn't perfect, and that cannot do it all alone. That human in me is REACHING beyond those layers of self...