summer goals, school goals
In seven days I’ll be back at school. I’m feeling excited and hopeful about this term. Last term was really challenging for me, but I’m confidant that I’ll be more relaxed, more efficient, and more balanced this term. I’ve got some ambitious goals, but first I’ll give you a recap of how I did on my summer goals:
1. Read integral life practice (a book) -yes! I read it and it’s really great. I’ve drafted my own ILP blueprint and am excited about it. More on this below.
2. Reread how to become a straight-A student -Yes! Another great book. I also read another book by the same author; How to Win at College. This one is also good but not as good as straight-A.
3. Garden overhaul-Yes, I mulched, amended, and snipped. I planted but unfortunately had very minimal success with summer crops. Squirrels, lizards, birds and intense heat got the better of everything but a couple pepper plants and some sunflowers. However, fall is around the corner and I’m not giving up on desert gardening yet. More on this below.
4. Set up income generating work- Yes, I am now the official bookkeeper for Not Back to school camp and Lowry House Publishers. I love my boss, I can work from home, hours are flexible, it’s the greatest thing!
5. Get in fantastic shape and set up a regiment for when school starts back. Yes! Well, ‘fantastic’ may be too strong of a word, but I feel strong and fit, and am likely in better shape than I have been in my whole life, which isn’t saying a whole lot, but still. I’ve been doing a 90 day transformation program (thanks Mattias!) and have 5 weeks left.
6. Spend time with Ben, Rebecca, family and, oh yeah, my husband too. -well, my summer has been very lacking in Ben & Rebecca time (what happened?) but we did get some good times in with Ely & Christina and Gabe & Maggie. I got to hang out with Darlene a fair bit (we had little house on the prarie siesta time in the middle of the day when the weather was too hot). And I got to see Nathen in Eugene.
7. Take fun little trips with Damian- we went to Carlsbad and sat on the beach and then drank margaritas. That was pretty fun.
8. Organize the office and deep-clean the house -I think this happened, but the house could probably use another pass…
My school goals for this term can be best summed up by my ILP blueprint and my color-coded calendar. The ILP thing may be a bit confusing, you should read the book. The basic idea is to be a top notch human by making room for all the stuff that’s good for you and the world. You’ve got your core modules: body, mind, spirit and shadow, and you should have practices that address all of these. Shadow is psychological stuff you have to work on so you aren’t a wing-nut. Some people call it ‘baggage.’ Co-counselors call it ‘distress.’ Here’s an example of shadow material: a random customer comes in to the store where I work and asks me if I am pregnant while I’m ringing up her groceries. If I had no shadow material at all around body image or my own fertility I would likely answer her question with a simple “no.” and then carry on with the transaction. Perhaps I would momentarily wonder if the shirt I was wearing looked like a maternity shirt, but that would be the extent of my mental process around it.
however, since I do indeed have shadow material around body image and my fertility (or lack there of), I respond quite differently. First I stare at her, then I look down at my non-pregnant belly wondering how fat I must be to illicit such a question, then I turn red, then I think about how much I would like to be pregnant and then I start to cry. Finally I explain in an offended voice that I am NOT pregnant and continue to wonder for weeks if I am fat.
The 3-2-1 shadow process is a practice highly recommended by the integral crew, it’s a quick & effective way to work through issues big and small. When used consistently, it can help avoid such dramatic health food store encounters as the one described above.
So here’s my ILP and the Schedule it (hopefully) fits into:
the little red bits are my vision improvement program. i'll actually be doing them mostly at school, not home as the color suggests.
1. Read integral life practice (a book) -yes! I read it and it’s really great. I’ve drafted my own ILP blueprint and am excited about it. More on this below.
2. Reread how to become a straight-A student -Yes! Another great book. I also read another book by the same author; How to Win at College. This one is also good but not as good as straight-A.
3. Garden overhaul-Yes, I mulched, amended, and snipped. I planted but unfortunately had very minimal success with summer crops. Squirrels, lizards, birds and intense heat got the better of everything but a couple pepper plants and some sunflowers. However, fall is around the corner and I’m not giving up on desert gardening yet. More on this below.
4. Set up income generating work- Yes, I am now the official bookkeeper for Not Back to school camp and Lowry House Publishers. I love my boss, I can work from home, hours are flexible, it’s the greatest thing!
5. Get in fantastic shape and set up a regiment for when school starts back. Yes! Well, ‘fantastic’ may be too strong of a word, but I feel strong and fit, and am likely in better shape than I have been in my whole life, which isn’t saying a whole lot, but still. I’ve been doing a 90 day transformation program (thanks Mattias!) and have 5 weeks left.
6. Spend time with Ben, Rebecca, family and, oh yeah, my husband too. -well, my summer has been very lacking in Ben & Rebecca time (what happened?) but we did get some good times in with Ely & Christina and Gabe & Maggie. I got to hang out with Darlene a fair bit (we had little house on the prarie siesta time in the middle of the day when the weather was too hot). And I got to see Nathen in Eugene.
7. Take fun little trips with Damian- we went to Carlsbad and sat on the beach and then drank margaritas. That was pretty fun.
8. Organize the office and deep-clean the house -I think this happened, but the house could probably use another pass…
My school goals for this term can be best summed up by my ILP blueprint and my color-coded calendar. The ILP thing may be a bit confusing, you should read the book. The basic idea is to be a top notch human by making room for all the stuff that’s good for you and the world. You’ve got your core modules: body, mind, spirit and shadow, and you should have practices that address all of these. Shadow is psychological stuff you have to work on so you aren’t a wing-nut. Some people call it ‘baggage.’ Co-counselors call it ‘distress.’ Here’s an example of shadow material: a random customer comes in to the store where I work and asks me if I am pregnant while I’m ringing up her groceries. If I had no shadow material at all around body image or my own fertility I would likely answer her question with a simple “no.” and then carry on with the transaction. Perhaps I would momentarily wonder if the shirt I was wearing looked like a maternity shirt, but that would be the extent of my mental process around it.
however, since I do indeed have shadow material around body image and my fertility (or lack there of), I respond quite differently. First I stare at her, then I look down at my non-pregnant belly wondering how fat I must be to illicit such a question, then I turn red, then I think about how much I would like to be pregnant and then I start to cry. Finally I explain in an offended voice that I am NOT pregnant and continue to wonder for weeks if I am fat.
The 3-2-1 shadow process is a practice highly recommended by the integral crew, it’s a quick & effective way to work through issues big and small. When used consistently, it can help avoid such dramatic health food store encounters as the one described above.
So here’s my ILP and the Schedule it (hopefully) fits into:
the little red bits are my vision improvement program. i'll actually be doing them mostly at school, not home as the color suggests.