Staying in alignment

How to be in alignment during this strange time. I started out the year with "alignment" as my word of the year, and I've been trying to use it to guide me in the first four months, choosing to focus my time and energy on things that were in alignment with my goals and dreams. Once the pandemic struck and the rhythms of life really changed, it's been hard to see how to do that. Sometimes just getting by feels like all we can do. But even that, I think, it's okay. And it actually does sync up. Part of being in alignment is not forcing things, not doing things just because someone told you that you were supposed to or that you should, but really doing what feels right for you, in your bones.

For me, I have a hard time sitting still. I feel like rest is laziness, sometimes, like I should be continually pushing forward towards my goals or I'm failing. Learning how to navigate that is something I'm working on. Because logically I know it's not true, but getting that knowledge into my body is another thing.

One tool I'm working with this week is measuring the "success" of my writing efforts by time spent writing, rather than word count. I feel it's important to reward myself for the act of sitting down, putting my hands on the keys, and writing. And if I write 100 words in 30 minutes, or a 1000, either way I've made the commitment to myself and my dreams and dedicated that time to what was in alignment with myself. And that's important.

My current favorite soundtrack for writing is ambient videos on YouTube. This one is amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHFif_y2TyM&t=229s

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