Follow Your Arrow- Until it Falls Off
Almost a year ago I put on an intention bracelet that reminded me to follow my arrow.
It was perfect timing. I was with my sister and cousins back home in Saskatchewan, where we found the cutest little shop and I stumbled upon the perfect reminder to put on my wrist, as I set the intention to focus on where my arrow was heading more consciously than I ever had before. To follow my path with open arms for as long as the bracelet took to wear out, and fall off. I had big goals in mind for the months ahead of me. I had just decided it was time to get serious about writing. I would finish my book and start talking to agents. As I pushed myself to keep writing I would glance down at the gold arrow dangling from my wrist, and remember why I felt more compelled than ever to follow the wibble-wobble of my arrow’s trajectory. My first time speaking publicly about what I was working on, and right after I pushed ‘send’ on my query letter, it felt comforting to see my arrow still resolutely in place. “Keep going” it urged me as I nervously wrote, and rewrote after an agent asked for my completed book. As I climbed aboard my horse for my world championship class, I tucked it inside my glove as I grabbed the reins and took off. The warmth of the little metal arrow helped calm my nerves as I took on the toughest class of my life. Doubting myself as the months wore on without word from the agent, I would look down on it and see my arrow still there, still urging me to keep going and rewarding me with more conversations with agents and more hope I would be continue this long, arduous road to ‘published’. Today, on a cold, dreary Tuesday I noticed it had finally fallen off. And, nothing happened. Tonight I cleaned up the kitchen, and I still had to make the kid’s lunches. There was no magical answer the moment the bracelet with its intention came off my wrist. The arrow I spent months looking down at brought nothing with it as it left me. As I climbed into a hot bath, I wondered if that arrow was ever really pointed in the right direction. And then I thought about all these remarkable steps I had taken in this not-quite one year with my arrow- while working, taking care of three kids, being a wife to a busy husband, volunteering for boards, helping out with sports teams, hosting some pretty fantastic parties, and making sure the laundry fairy and the grocery fairy make visits many times weekly. I have accomplished much more than I set my intention for, without accomplishing the biggest goal I had when setting it. I have no idea what this means exactly, but if following my arrow as bravely as I knew how got me this far, I may end up at a target more perfect and beautiful than I even knew existed. And yes. I’ll be ordering a new bracelet tonight.