The first day of the year is a fascinating specimen isn't it? It is both a day of revolution and of reflecting. We've made our way around the sun and have seen another year of how life revolves. I, for one, am a little road weary while remaining grateful that I am here to experience who I am at this moment.

I say at this moment because it really does change from moment to moment. I meet with so many people who are focused on who they want to be and who are running from who they perceive themselves to be. Rarely is someone present enough to be who they are in that moment. Of course we are a compilation of all of our experiences but does that mean we have to carry all that stuff with us everywhere and either be stuck in it or running from it?

Reflection is great and I do believe a great tool for each of us to use, but if you are staring in the mirror with the intent of finding all the issues, I promise you, you will find them and only them. Reflections can be altered by the surface in which you are using to see yourself. Consider a calm lake; if someone throws a rock in and it creates a ripple, there is no longer a flat surface to observe ourselves. Life has ripples. It has some pretty amazing waves sometimes and we can't always reflect in the same place we are when we experience the ripples.

I know I did a fantastic job being present for Howard during his transition journey. I KNOW it, but yet there are times when I question if he knew how much I love him and was I my best self during that time or any time in our marriage for that matter. I know this is part of my process and while I am not always a fan of the feelings, I embrace the fact that I enjoy reflection and am so grateful to be able to realize that if I'm reflecting on something that happened even yesterday, I am looking at it from the place of having dropped the pebble in to create a ripple. I can't ever recreate the situation as it was. I can't have the clear reflection of the moment back. It has passed so I have to be willing to appreciate that I did the best I could with what I had at the time.

This is a challenge for many people. I often have to suggest they leave the billy club that they beat themselves up with in my office and not take it with them any longer. We can't ever go back to where we were. No one else can either so stop expecting them to know how you felt yesterday, last week or a year ago. Get in the game and evolve as we revolve. We can use our lives as mirrors but if we are going to abuse the mirror or criticize it, it will never be a helpful tool.

• What if for this year you reflected on the ripples you experienced this last year and how you could appreciate yourself for being there?
• What if for this year you set the intention of using your personal mirror as a tool to see what you do WELL and how you can enhance that?
• What if for this year you allowed your reflection to show the amazing being it sees whether calm or with ripples?
• What if you accepted that your presence in this life is a gift and reflecting your greatness is what you can gift back?
• What if, just what if, we showed up in the moment, present and willing to see the beauty in each of us? Can you imagine?

I intend for this year to leave my own billy club by the door and not take it with me any longer. As I was preparing the attached info to help you create your own great 2016, I found pictures Howard took on the last trip we made together two weeks before he went in the hospital. At first it was a big ole ripple and hard to look at but then I found a picture he took of me kayaking. I probably should have expected him to be there with the camera but I was in my own world and so present I didn't see him on the dock.

There is a series of pictures of my concentrating on my approach ( I am not known for my grace in paddling into docking stations!). As I looked through the pictures my critic wanted to chime in on how they weren't good pictures, but then I saw the one where I realized he was taking pictures. The look on my face as I realize it's him shows how much I love him and am happy to see him. It is at this moment that I realized if he didn't know how much I loved him at that moment, then he wasn't present and as observant as I gave him credit for and there isn't anything I can do about that now. It was really freeing to have that, thank you Howard and my guides for reflecting in pictures what the greatest meaning of the word can be; showing each other our light and love.

Let's set the intention to show this love this year, for self and then radiate it out. So much so that next year when we reflect we will have to wear shades!

I'm going to get a bigger mirror,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Now for some manifesting fun:

The New Year is a great time to affirm what you want to bring into your life and your path. As the year shifts, it allows us an opportunity to focus on our own shifts.

This year encourages us to fly, to use our intuition and to create out of the greatest possibility. Does it get any better? So, I intend for you a year of manifestations that bring all that you feel is in your highest interest. I encourage you to keep in mind to be mindful of what you ask for as you may just get it. Luckily, the stages and shifting of energy continue so we get to do it many times all year!

You can't do anything wrong with the process below so have fun and dream well. 

You may want to print this out, just a thought.

1) Write out a list, (write it out so it has your energy attached) of all those things that you would like to be done with. This can be literal such as clutter in the home, a person in your life, weight, sadness, whatever you would like to not have in your life anymore, write it down.

2) Take this list and wrap it with a red ribbon, yes yarn will work too, any shade of red. Put it aside.

3) Now, take a deep breath and center back in and write all those things or experiences that you would like to bring into your life, such as financial abundance, love, travel, fun etc. Whatever makes your heart sing and roll that up and wrap it with a red ribbon. (Red ribbon is not necessary but does amp it up.)

4) You will take these lists outside, to keep the energy out of your house and to send into the universe, and starting with the one where you let go, burn it, being safe to catch the ashes in a fireproof object. When it completely burns out and there are no embers, blow the ashes out into the universe wishing them well and feeling lighter because you have released all that stuff you have been carrying.

5) Now, take the other list, the one you are wanting to bring to you and burn that as well. You are following up with positive energy and a statement to the universe that you trust. Even if you feel this is silly, it will still work so no worries. Repeat the part about blowing it out into the universe and then take a moment to "see" your life as it will be.

6) Remember to say thank you before going back inside, to the universe but also to yourself for participating in your own journey.

Kids love this ceremony, yup probably because they get to burn things, but also because it makes sense to their energy so have them do the above mentioned process as well. Just be sure to respect their privacy and allow them to write whatever they would like. Teaching them it is ok to ask is a great thing too!

Be safe in your burning and let the manifesting begin!

There are so many ways to describe the feeling of a new year coming in. There is an excitement that is in the air, our emotions and the celebration of time moving on. This excitement can get mixed up with the reviewing of the previous year. While I do believe being willing to look at where you have been can be very rewarding, it can also be that pit of woe is me that doesn't get anyone anywhere.

I am going to challenge each one of you to take some time over this New Moon, New Year and create a list of the things that you have accomplished this past year. A list of the attributes you have expanded on and the milestones you have reached. Look into the essence of you and find all those really great things that get hidden because bitching is much more common then bragging. Remember to count each and every one that comes to mind. The walks you took instead of giving excuses, the ways that you stepped out of your comfort zone (Personal training in a gym full of people for me. You want to challenge a fear of being on stage, holy macaroni that will do it for you.I love a stage and it still caused some really big doubts.), the people you contacted, the breaths that you took before losing your temper or even the breaths that you took admiring the flowers and scenery. Whatever the movement, great or small, acknowledge it because they matter all. (Like that? It rhymes.)

Then, if you wish, you may do a list of what you would like to see in 2014. Please remember to include the emotional, spiritual and connective journey as well as the physically manifested one for in order to really appreciate the physical, the rest must be in attendance.

I wish all of you the very best and know without a doubt that you are amazing.

See you in the New Year!

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

“For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice.” T.S. Eliot

I love this quote for the fact that it so succinctly points out how people see the new year. It is a chance to shift who you are and how you acted and somehow it is a magic eraser that takes away any marks of the last year too. While I am grateful we have such a great tradition, I believe that we have this ability every day. We can shift in any moment and we can be true to our language, even learning a new language, at any time. We have that ability. Everyone does, regardless of circumstances but for some reason we save it like prized dinnerware for the first of the year.

While this post is about using the time to help yourself as well as the energy of the coming year, universally, you are in charge of your own, I am going to encourage people to get the idea that they are magical and can decide on the spot to shift up how they are being and reach for that better feeling.

2014 is a year of opportunity. Now, every year is as well but this one has turbo fuel behind it. Energetically it feels like someone is manufacturing rocket boosters for all of us. Those that are willing to strap them on and do some clarifying and allowing are going to LOVEEEEEEEE this year. Those that are not so fond of change and accepting of others may not be so gleeful. As stated probably a hundred million times by myself, we have choice. We always have choice in how to respond to a situation, how to inspire ourselves and how to leave what does not resonate behind but how many of you are brave enough to stand in that choice? How many are willing to say, "this is who I am, how I operate and what I want." without checking in with the masses? I hope you are one of them because it is going to be a heck of a ride and you are going to want to check your limitations at the door in order to take advantage of the energy of this year.

What does this mean to you? Well, that is a personal thing but what it can mean is that you are showing up with who you really are and not giving a flying fig if others don't like it. I don't mean you are being confrontational, I simply mean you are able to say, I love me and this is who I am and I know that others opinions have no say in who that is. (If you have challenges with this, come see me, it seems to be a specialty of mine to help others see their own shiny self!) The ability to be willing to hold this vibration is what makes it really cool to be human, in my humble opinion. We have the drive to be better than last year with the intelligence to seek that out, whatever the mechanism.

Let's face it, we may be on this planet with billions of other people and beings, but we are still alone in the who we are as individuals. I don't say that to depress people but to encourage them to be good with that alone space and to truly love who they are so others can then love them too. You are the only you, do it up!

What does your voice say about you? Do you offer up kind words when talking to others and yourself? Do you hear yourself repeating how others feel and it isn't exactly how you do but you follow along anyway? Do you know what you really want in life, in this year, in this day, in this moment? If you don't, that's ok. Spend some time with you and ask those questions and don't be afraid to answer them. Honesty above all other traits is the most important when connecting to self and others. You may not like what you first hear and that is ok too! Often the things we don't like help us to get pointed in the direction of what we do like. Thing of clothing sizes, jobs that don't fit, friends that aren't real friends or relationships that don't light you up. All these things that aren't just right are helping you to figure out what you would like and hopefully you are open enough to hear them and chart a course of improvement.

The energy of this year is in complete support of our best selves. It is the most giddy energy I have felt since 2008 so I am so freaking ready to be in it! I, for one, will be adding to the energy by figuring out how I really want to be in my own skin and soul and creating movement to allow that to happen. Some may not like it but I am not going to hold back on my souls path because others are stuck in theirs or they just don't like what I decide. It may sound cold to some, but I know I filed a flight plan of my own before I got here and as the pilot, I get to decide where I go. Are you ready to fly with me? Have you tuned up your engine and checked your wings?

Grab your goggles and scarf, let's go see what we can create!

Loving the view from up here!
Vicki