The beginning of a new year can seem pretty overwhelming, I believe. To avoid distractions, stress and pressure, I try to act and think more mindfully than normally as soon as December and its often crazy pre-festive hustle begins. I dedicate my yoga practice towards the end of the year and at the same time think thoroughly about the new year which is approaching. At the end of 2015, for instance, I have set my goals for 2016 with the idea to focus on my career (writing my book is one example) and a successful MBA grade, and I managed to conclude 2016 thinking that I have indeed fulfilled some long-dreamt dreams and achieved goals which I thought I might never do. However, at the end of the day I realised that, despite my “success“, I felt more down and low in energy than ever before. In a way, I felt as though I carried a heavy weight with me wherever I went. I guess I over-worked myself a little last year.
Hence, my intentions for the new year are to become a bit softer, focussing on the mindful, the slow, the feelings. I’ve unlearnt to enjoy life at times, I suppose, being always worried about the things I still have to do, have not yet finished and tasks I have to do tomorrow. I’ve unlearnt to let go, and although I do blame London for my state of mind up to a certain extent (I can’t help myself but suffering from the distances here, the business of the people, the quality of air and life quality in general) it’s my aim this year to make use of every minute. I want to enjoy the many things I love about this vibrant city: the internationality, my friends here, all the beautiful houses, drinking coffee in my most favorite cafés and exploring new ones. In brief, I aim to focus on moments this year, rather than on set goals and measurable aims.
“COLLECT MOMENTS NOT THINGS“ also is the credo of “EAST END“, an event agency based in Hamburg, Munich and Berlin. In order to celebrate their 15th anniversary, in 2014 the creative team behind “EAST END“ designed a fashion edition inspired by London’s creative east end – funnily one of my favorite areas in London, too (have a look here to read a post about it). The fashion collection consists of a raw denim apron, a denim bag, a very cosy sweater and a woolen hat. Despite the fact that the hoodie quickly became my best friend and most worn item during the Christmas break, the raw denim apron is in fact a very good reason for me to start wearing aprons this year during my crazy times in the kitchen. Have a look at “EAST END“s website for more information.
As far as I am concerned, I shall make myself a cup of tea now and cuddle up on the sofa in my sweater until I have to get back to work tomorrow morning. Thankfully, I do have the raw denim apron, too, so that both items will remind me to indeed COLLECT MOMENTS NOT THINGS from now on and all year around.
What are your thoughts about 2017, have you defined any resolutions? I would love to hear about them!
Love,
Lea Lou
This blog post has been created in friendly collaboration with EAST END.
