Another new year, another day to reflect on my friend Melanie’s “mindful intentions” workshop.

She holds this workshop every year on New Year’s Eve. I’ve gone for three years in a row and the energy of all the women in the room is powerful and inspiring.

My favorite part of the workshop is when we draw cards to discover our guidance for the new year. In 2018 I had “spark” and in 2019 I had “blossoming.” I loved those words and truly used them to guide me each year.

This year I drew a card for overall guidance* and also decided to do something different — I drew a runestone specifically for guidance on my creative life. As I was journaling and reflecting yesterday, my creative life emerged as a theme. Every year I say something like “I want to write more,” but this year that desire feels more powerful.

Melanie also said something intriguing yesterday. She said so much energy is associated with the turn of a new year, and we often feel that energy start to bubble up in the last couple of months of the year. I felt that energy in incredible ways toward the end of October— a pull to “get real” and focus more intention on my writing.

The runestone I drew was dagaz, “breakthrough.” Wow, what a great word, right? The interpretation says things like “For some, the transition is so radical that they are no longer able to live the ordinary life in the ordinary way” and “Because the timing is right, the outcome is assured although not, from the present vantage point, predictable” and “A major period of achievement and prosperity is often introduced by this Rune.”

But this is just one piece of the puzzle. It’s not going to happen without work. I plan to be more intentional by scheduling writing time into my days. I’ve done this half-heartedly in the past but the intention always fades away. The runestone has helped me realize what I need to do.

* My overall guidance card was Radha, the goddess of passionate love. Anyone who knows me would say I’m rather guarded. This is definitely not a card I would have picked for myself! But I’m going to go with it and be open to its possibilities.