Passion Quest Challenge

"I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be." - Joseph Campbell

It’s December 29th and as I sit here recalling the past year, I find myself feeling a little melancholy realizing that many of the activities I had hoped to accomplish throughout 2016 remain uncompleted. It’s been a crazy year, indeed for many of us, and perhaps the best thing to do is move forward and give it another try in 2017. My hopeful intent is to tackle the new year with great enthusiasm and re-invigorate my quest to instill vitality and passion into my life. That should be a daily goal and something we should all strive for. It’s very easy to fall into a mediocre existence, we’ve all found ourselves there at some point or another. We all have daily routines and schedules that keep us from fulfilling the dreams that we hold close to our hearts. Let’s vow that 2017 will mark a new beginning for making those small changes that will effect our lives in big ways as we view their sum total at the end of next year. Let’s make a conscious effort to do things that feed our soul, that make us feel alive. Maybe it’s taking the long way home from work, or just sitting outside on a sunny morning listening to the birds sing and hearing the rustle of leaves as a gentle breeze blows by. Find whatever it takes to make you come alive, to light that spark of vitality within you. It’s there, it’s in us all, and it’s up to each of us to find what makes our souls come alive. No one can do it for you, it’s an inside job. Discover your passion and create an extraordinary life. This is my 2017 challenge for you!!

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Sunrise over Monument Valley

Hello Friends! It’s almost the middle of the year and I’m not sure where the time has gone. Well, that’s not entirely true. A funny thing happened as I began to pursue my Passion Quest Challenge, life got in the way. In mid-January, my mom had a health scare that put her in the hospital then rehab for almost 7 weeks. Needless to say, my mom’s well-being and healing process took precedence over my personal agenda to timely tackle all the things on my PQC list. Interestingly, however, after taking stock of the last few months it has become evident that I have accomplished more than I realized. You see, to prudently complete my list of 52 challenges my intention was to fulfill one activity every week for a year. The reality is that some weeks have turned out to be more productive than others. And I have actually accomplished some of my challenge items, just not necessarily in the timeframe or specific manner I had initially envisioned them to occur. For example, on my list I wanted to photograph 7 days of sunsets…guess what, I actually photographed more than 8 sunsets over the mountains while traveling (if I call it “Roadtripping”, then it counts as another completed challenge) with my mom in Utah last month. The remarkable thing is that it was completely random and I didn’t even relate the two until I got home. I even photographed several sunrises in Utah as well as in the Bahamas…not bad!! Oh and riding a horse, did that too. Ok, it wasn’t a long trail, but I did it and it counts, right?

I donated to a cause when becoming a member of the Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah and to a local art museum. Pretty cool!

I cleaned out my closet and made my clothing donations to several local organizations. Got rid of the temptation to hold on to clothes that I might “grow” into again one day. It felt empowering to take that step!

On a professional note, I’m working on updating my e-commerce website, StudioEklectica.com, and am adding new items to my product line as well as a “build your own product” page, allowing the customer to match a stock image, or their photo, with a product for a unique and personal gift. More to come once the new site is up and running!

So you see, the significant lesson here is that you can plan and prepare, yet the unknown has a quirky way of interfering and sidetracking our best intentions. Despite this, by setting these ideas and actions in motion, the universe conspires to make things happen in curious ways. Discovering that I’m not as far off track as I had thought is a very pleasant surprise. I have a ways to go to catch up, but I’m feeling confident that by December 31st I can look back and feel proud of all I’ve accomplished this year. In the end, it’s not the quantity of activities that can be checked off a list, it’s the quality of the experiences, how they make you feel and how you grow because of them...it’s about finding joy and living a fulfilling life. This is the gift we all deserve to lavish upon ourselves.

Good Morning!!