{"id":2239,"date":"2020-03-06T06:50:25","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T11:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=2239"},"modified":"2020-03-06T01:46:24","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T06:46:24","slug":"week-286-happy-march-and-cheers-to-new-beginnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=2239","title":{"rendered":"Week #286 \u2013 Happy March! (And Cheers to New Beginnings!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"625\" height=\"833\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Out-a.jpg?resize=625%2C833&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Out-a.jpg?w=720&amp;ssl=1 720w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Out-a.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Out-a.jpg?resize=624%2C832&amp;ssl=1 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><figcaption>Springtime at the Jersey Shore (photo credit: Grace Church)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Week #286 \u2013 Happy March! (And Cheers to New Beginnings!)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greetings \u2014 and Happy March!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While some of you may still be buried in snow, it\u2019s good to remember that Spring is right around the corner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Daylight Savings Time begins this weekend<\/li><li>The Vernal Equinox is on the 19th<\/li><li>And the first day of baseball season is on the 26th<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They all arrive this month!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Which has me thinking about this photo of the first sight of crocuses popping through the mulch at the Jersey Shore\u2026and a post I wrote in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=408\">April 2015 (Week #27)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=408\">that post<\/a>, I recalled&nbsp;a phrase that Rob used to say to me: \u201cLet the balloon go, Grace.\u201d &nbsp;He was talking about worry (and sometimes needling me about my stuff) \u2014 but it has stayed with me as I look around at the things I\u2019ve held on to, the time it has taken to think about it all, and the time it will take (either now or later) to \u201cdo something\u201d about it. &nbsp;Even if that means ultimately just throwing it away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And once again, as I approach the anniversary of our sudden move to Los Angeles four years ago\u2026I\u2019m forced to evaluate how far I\u2019ve come, where I\u2019m going, and what might be standing in my way.  Including those unpacked moving boxes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve made some significant progress this year with my decluttering &#8212; but there is still so much past to face in those boxes.  As I&#8217;ve written before, it&#8217;s hard to hold on to the past and grab on to the future at the same time.  But after four years now, even I know there is no going back. \u00a0Only forward. \u00a0And that\u2019s going to require a lot more letting go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Do you have things that you are holding on to that might be holding you back?<\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;Is it emotional clutter&nbsp;\u2014 like&nbsp;anger, resentment, grief, loss, a mistake, a regret, a secret, or simply a missed opportunity you are punishing yourself over? &nbsp;Or maybe it\u2019s physical things that are standing in your way? &nbsp;Or a toxic relationship that is stealing your joy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Your Happyness Challenge for the week ahead: To New Beginnings! &nbsp;<\/strong>March is a great time to open up space for new possibilities! &nbsp;This month \u2014 join me in releasing whatever is holding you back. &nbsp;Clean it out, declutter it, give it away, let it go. &nbsp;Find a release ritual to help you \u201clet those balloons go\u201d and open your hands to what\u2019s possible. &nbsp;Here are some ideas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(But whatever you do PLEASE DO NOT release real balloons into the air\u2026they&nbsp;are only a metaphor! &nbsp;And otherwise very bad for the environment!)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Write it down \u2013 then burn it (safely please!), flush it, float it out to sea, send it down a river, sink it in a lake, or bury it in your garden. &nbsp;Write your NEW intention on a fresh piece of paper and keep it front and center as something for you to&nbsp;build on, rather than something that tears you down.<\/li><li>Throw\/Give it away \u2013 in past decluttering sessions, I\u2019ve found it helpful to keep a tally of how many items I\u2019ve thrown away, and in some instances even take photos of those items (and share them only with the closest of friends or small group).<\/li><li>Love it \u2014 enough to let it go! &nbsp;Sometimes the last thing we need to do to release something is to love it, to accept it, to acknowledge its importance, and to be honest about&nbsp;its role in our future.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>They say to love something is to set it free.<\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;I remind myself of this over and over as I sometimes&nbsp;grasp too tightly to things past. &nbsp;I know full well I must open my hands so that they are free to do my best work: the work ahead of me. &nbsp;The work of Happyness!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What do you need to let go of so that your hands are free to do YOUR&nbsp;best work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Spread Happyness \u2014 and share your Release Rituals in the comments!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>3\/6\/20 by Grace Church<br>\u00a9 Grace Church<br>grace@spreadhappyness.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Week #286 \u2013 Happy March! (And Cheers to New Beginnings!) Greetings \u2014 and Happy March!!! While some of you may still be buried in snow, it\u2019s good to remember that Spring is right around the corner: Daylight Savings Time begins this weekend The Vernal Equinox is on the 19th And the first day of baseball [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2240,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2239\/revisions\/2240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}