CAP #2

First post of February- sorry I've been gone for so long!

In the meantime, I've given my first official interview (my last one was a little poetry feature in the local newspaper!) In it, I talk about what inspires me as a designer, and share some insight about working as a design student. You can read it here.

A big thank-you to Meggy Wang of Fashion for Writers for interviewing me!

As to the actual post, I wanted to write more on the concept of living at full CAPacity: Conscious, Active, and Passionate. A few weeks back, I initiated the topic by stating that many people search for ways to "live passionately," and offered up a few suggestions on how to strive for exactly that. Here is the second installment!

1) Let go. We all have a past. From that past, many issues may be following us into the present. Most of them might not even be relevant anymore, and manifest in the form of emotional baggage. Of course, some of us might have a little more to deal with than others (like the guy below).

If you think about it, yesterday's problems or the nature of your relationships to-date are exactly that- things you cannot control any longer. Nor can you control what exactly will happen in the future, no matter how much you plan. The only thing you can focus on is the present moment. Why not embrace that with everything you have, and let go of what might be tying you down unnecessarily? Being excited about what you have to do is so much better use of your brain space than worrying about or rethinking "could-haves."

It sounds easier said than done, but it is an extremely conscious decision to move on with your life on to bigger and better things. And isn't consciousness what CAP is all about?

If you let go of what is troubling you, you will be able to...

2) Decide what is important to you! In the bigger picture of your life, before you break it down into events and specifics, what matters the most right now? The last part might seem like a contradiction, but we are constantly evolving, even when we might think we understand our goals. So take it from your current standpoint, but expand the question to include as far as you can see.

Is it your personal evolution? Your relationships with those who matter the most to you? A need to help the world in some way or solve a particular problem? No answer is better than another if it truly resonates with you.

Then strive to bring this understanding into your present moment. Make an effort to hold the thought of what you would like to do or cherish in your mind.

"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world." -Buddha

"We become like that on which our hearts are fixed." -Elbert Hubbard

3) Bring passion into everything. Since one of my major intentions for the year is about balance, I've been thinking a great deal about how to balance out my life, and yet retain the positive extremities. I came to the conclusion that in this context, you can choose to live in one of three ways:

• Being really passionate in certain aspects of your life, and lackluster in others- thus, lack of balance.
• Not really being passionate about any aspect- balanced, but obviously lacking in other ways
• Striving to be passionate about every aspect- balanced with a purpose!

It might seem obvious, but I've realized that the most straightforward way to live passionately is to be passionate about everything. Think about the last time you felt truly energized, open, and devoted to what you were doing. What if you channeled a touch of that into everything on your to-do list, and each situation you encountered throughout the day?

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What do you find most important when it comes to living consciously, actively, and passionately? I'd love to hear examples of how you've succeeded in making CAP a priority in your life!

Love,

Tee