Recently — in the name of creating better energetic boundaries in my life — I invested in some goodies to have around my office and the other rooms in my home.
flowers
oils
leaves to burn
a talisman
sprays
candles
a frame for a favorite photo of my mother
a proper dish for my crystals
an incense burner
a dark red silk cloth
chimes
I’m basically building an altar for the purpose of reminding me to get intentional as I engage in SO MUCH WORK involving other people, big emotions, hopes and dreams, brand excavation, deep trauma unlocking, day-to-day block-busting, and just holding space for tens of thousands of people sometimes.
I didn’t realize the lack of energetic boundaries was becoming problematic until I just gave in and started trying some tiny little things — because SOMETHING had to work. I was getting desperate. I noticed I was feeling depressed, down, low, funky-due-to-none-of-my-own-funk, small, lonely, shook just by being lately. Lots of energetic hitchhikers I wasn’t shaking off.
As I swirled from one meeting to the next, from livestream to group mastermind, from one Self-Management for Actors coaching client to an astrological consult, it was always just shift-shift-shift gears. Click-click-click on through to the next thing. NO BUFFER TIME and definitely no RESET TO ME TIME.
Then I thought about Abraham-Hicks and the concept called “segment intending.” Basically, any moment can begin a new segment.
(I texted my fellow June Enoughness Commitment participants about this the other day and got LOTS of great feedback about it, so that’s why I’m sharing it more broadly and more in-depth-ly now.)
At any moment, we can decide it’s a new day. We don’t HAVE TO wait ’til the calendar that we’ve societally agreed to use clicks over to midnight, kicking off a new day. We don’t HAVE TO even wait ’til the top of an hour to call it a new hour. (Using planetary hours — and planetary days of the week — to schedule my life has helped me get VERY clear in the value of using something other than a clock-clock. And if you’re woo-averse, try leaning into my “every bite’s a choice” concept, here. It’s the same point, delivered without the astrological overtones.)
Just before this, the hubs and I did a money ritual (at a planetarily-aligned hour, of course) with some cool prosperity oil and giggles of glee. Then I rang the chimes for Mercury hour to come do some writing — while the energy for communication flows with ease.
That ringing of the chimes is so effective as a means of creating a container for the intentional energy of each activity. It’s simply letting my brain know, “We’re done with this part. Take a breath. Reset. It’s on to the next thing.”
Heck, this is no different than dropping in before your audition. The act of having a clear moment before (one that ISN’T your actor-stress from scurrying around to set up your lights and check your sound and beg your neighbor to stop making noise so you can knock out this last-minute audition you just received) is ESSENTIAL to how your audition is received, right? And that beat you give yourself at the end of the piece… it lets us ALL feel the full impact of your choices and then disconnect from the energy of the scene and connect to YOU as the artist who created that experience we just shared.
You’re not showing up for the audition all, “I hope I get it! Please let me get it! This would mean so much to me!” even if those are thoughts and feelings you had before you started the audition. You know how to separate your busy, practical brain from the CHANNEL that you are for the muse and your God-given talent to flow through and create reality from thin air.
Why not mark those shifts? Segment-intend. With purpose.
If you’re an empath, these rituals could quite certainly save your sanity. We’re sensitive critters, y’all. It’s time to get more intentional with the space we put around the energetic work that we do EVERY day.
What are your best tips for shifting energy and putting containers around your connections with others? Comments are open just below!
I’m off to ring the chimes and start my next segment. I intend it to be filled with comfort and self-care. (Moon hour.)
Much love,
Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!
Thanks so much for this! I’m feeling really blessed that you’re taking the time to share these resources. Sometimes it feels like enoughness is a full time job, but thank you for reminding me that the same tools I use as an actor I can use to make my daily life (and all the nuts and bolts of business) run more smoothly by allowing dedicated time for the different roles we have to play in life.
All the best from Albuquerque, NM
You’re so welcome, Hallie. I think enoughness is full-time like our physical health is full-time, really. We have to brush our teeth. Floss. Go get checkups. Get straightened, whitened, etc. Do repairs. It never stops. But we want to keep those chompers in our skull, so it’s the work we know we have to do.
It’s just easier to NOT do enoughness work for long stretches because we can so easily distract ourselves from how bad it feels to be OFF with that practice. Whereas a day or two without teeth-brushing and we’re not gonna be able to STAND IT!! LOL Nor will anyone else. LOL
So glad you’re going to get more intentional with this work. I’m excited to hear how it goes for you! Keep me posted?
I just cleansed my house and blessed my fur babies and man. But I used sage w/incenses and took an herb bath before and just sat and breathed for 15 min. I printed out a check and wrote Pay to the order of Lisa Lafayette for her first national commercial in the amount of $6,000.00 and then placed it in some annotated iron hands facing my door with my crystals.
And then I keep envisioning the feeling of getting the news and being on set. Left some water & booze out for my ancestors (Yeah, I went old school)
Yesssssssssssssss! I love every bit of this! So so so good. I’m headed over to my prosperity oil/wash right now to light a candle on top of my anointed cash for YOU, lovely Lisa. CELEBRATING that national commercial booking!! Coming SOON.
I have learned several ways to break off an energetic hold. I admit, they don’t always work, however I’m always open to other possibilities. Ten to 15 minutes of a guided imagery meditation (there are thousands on YouTube for free). Aromatherapy and music are so versatile, I can chill or dance it out. Actor breathing exercises are fantastic! Yes, shout out those “HAAAAAAAA’s”. I get outside if possible and tune into nature, listening for the birds chirping. Sometimes it has to just be three deep breaths with eyes closed and a silent prayer.
Love these. I think that’s one of the reasons we do a whole toolbox of options with so many things in our 100-day membership and other work like this. We never know which tool is going to work the best, when. So having lots of options to choose from really helps be sure we have a strategy for shifting that energy when it’s time. THANK YOU for adding these, Sarah. You’re the best!
I have been running around like a madwoman between trying to start my real estate business, service my piano teaching business, and keep the survival job going, and as a resultI have not been really thinking about anything I do, either setting intentions or reflecting.
So the other night I sent someone a text (30 minutes after they sent me an email), and they responded “It’s a little late for texting”. Immediately I apologized and beat myself up for being thoughtless and not having already known that I should not text them at that hour. And it took me 3.5 days to have enough mental space to say, “Wait a minute. She didn’t REALLY get annoyed because I am an inconsiderate dummy who texted too late. She got annoyed because probably she was sending work emails beyond HER personal boundaries, and also clearly she has decided that she does want to allow some people to be able to ping her at all hours, but has elected not to learn to use her phone features like assigning some people to override DND, or whatever her particular phone operating system has that would work best for her.” I may have been the object of her annoyance, but the root cause of it was that she sent out a signal that she was clocked in for work when she didn’t want to be working, and she has not spent a couple of hours online or talking to a phone geek about how to make sure some people can always reach her and she can be spared from everyone else. Or in my case…if it’s nighttime and my husband is at home (and he always is) then nobody needs to be able to reach me and it’s all just off, period.
Likewise, I felt bad, but SHE didn’t make me feel bad. I felt bad because I had not been giving myself transition times and periods for reflection , journaling, or setting intentions, which provided a breeding ground for that old childhood pattern of blaming myself when people in my orbit don’t like the consequences of their choices. And if she isn’t keeping healthy boundaries, she probably was not able to reflect on how her text could make me feel, or think about what a mixed signal it would be when 30 minutes after sending the text, she sent another work-related email!
It was a good reminder that while my intentions are good when I overwork (Make sure we have a secure retirement and aren’t a drain on society! Make sure I can cover my health insurance so husband can retire on time and not work himself to death! Pay the bills on time! Keep all my commitments! Be a good friend! Develop and use my talents fully! Don’t waste anything!), there are minimum standards of self-care that have to stay in the mix for everything to work well.
“Segment intending” reminds me a lot of the school bell ringing after each period… except now WE are the ones in charge of the bell and what subject follows! 🙂
Thank you for sharing this sneaky energetic boundary recognition and shifting process, Bonnie. It’s a great little guide for my own!
YES!! We ring our bells AND we decide (as we go — look at me, leaning into mutable) where to go next. YES!!
I’ve really been enjoying doing this before and after each Zoom especially!