In every changing season, I get the urge to write down my thoughts and place them in a jar.  I write down things I would like to see grow in my life. Health and wellness are usually up on my list somewhere. Learning to accept others for who they are unconditionally. Random opportunities for personal growth appearing in just the right timing.I like to write down what I need to let go of. Unrealistic expectations I have placed on myself is usually in there somewhere. They could be things I wished I handled better or things someone else burdened me with. Anything that no longer serves me finds itself in the writing jar.

So,I take my favorite mason jar and fill it with things I have written down. I find hand writing these wishes and/or thoughts to be the most personal and powerful way to write. Then I take the written thoughts and wishes and fold them up as tiny as possible. When I am done folding the written goals or wishes I (along with my daughter) drop them in the jar and then fill the jar to the top with seeds. I have a huge bag of grass seed that I like to use for my jar. Then I put the jar in my dining room window where it sits in the sun all year. It’s a nice activity my daughter and I have come to enjoy. At the end of the year, we enjoy reading the writings and wishes. I wait the whole year to empty our jar because I find we both have forgotten our wishes by then. My daughter and myself will empty our jar and see which writings came to fruition.

More often than not, the writing comes to life in some way or another. Even if its just to look and say, wow that really affected me negatively a year or so ago. Now, it barely registers as a blip on the annoyance meter, seeing as I completely forgot about it. It brings things into focus. It helps center me in the here and now. And it also helps me to remember when I am stressed about something I wish I said better or about the jerk at the office, that it won’t matter in time. It’s a signal to the brain into accepting that concept. It helps me to realize that it won’t matter then so it shouldn’t matter now. Many times that is all I need to let something go quickly. It also gives me the opportunity to be thankful for that which we have received and reassess what we wanted and did not receive. Most importantly it has become a family past time for us to look forward to with every passing season.