Pavarda celebrates storytelling, to embrace our origins, interconnections and futures. Behind the scenes, I'd love to share some our own tales and insights...
Audacity, experimentation and love are fuelling our 2024.
Audaciously, we will be launching Pavarda this year. We are working with some amazing artists - can't wait to announce these legends and share their creations! - and innovators to develop our first lines of headwear. There is much to do building essential strategies and systems, products and panache, productivity and sustainability, and discerning which bells and whistles this new business needs.
It is a leap, Michael and I working together creatively on this venture. We're grateful for experts supporting our progress, inspiring collaborators, and our fledgling community championing Pavarda.
Experimenting is part of my game plan for growth and, on a personal level, my word for 2024 is free.
Rather than trying for different results with the same processes, I am conducting self-experiments throughout the year. Every 6-8 weeks is a new experiment, with intention-setting and reflection in between.
Discipline plus a curious and compassionate mindset are needed, and I ask for help and sharing learnings along the way. As Buckminster Fuller said, “Mistakes are great, the more I make the smarter I get.”
Love letter writing is the first experiment. Let me explain...
It's true, I love geeking out with planning and doing. Keeping busy to strategise and action the plans, evaluate, discuss all the exhilarating ideas, deepen my self-awareness while letting go of delusions, solve all problems and generally try figure out the universe. Wearing an Oura ring to track my health and activity data, which is super motivating for good sleep and training. My journal boasts all the goals, daily checklists of priorities and habits, reflections and gratitude, along with heartfelt moments like this one sketched.
So starting experiments with more focus on productivity seemed unwise, and I yearned something deeper. Scribbled around this little family sketch, in the German language I cherish from a pivotal young year living in Austria, are variations on an old-fashioned expression sei umarmt, to 'be embraced'.
Letters from Love is a daily practice from Liz Gilbert, thank you. Liz's warm and hilarious telling of why and how to write to yourself from Love, I heard in this We Can Do Hard Things podcast at the beginning of this year.
So, as Liz recommends, each day I started with my journal and wrote:
Dear Love, what would you have me know today?
Without overthinking, I simply wrote to myself from Love. Every day. A few sentences or paragraphs flowing freely from my hand to the paper, not trying for eloquence or what should be written. I recommend writing yourself a Letter from Love!
Here are three things I've learned with experiment #1.
- Tuning into love in this way is like a gentle exploration of the heart. It brought into awareness my fluid emotions and thoughts, desires and innate vitality. This is grounding and nourishing, so important when society insatiably demands performance and productivity.
- This practice feels good. It aids nervous system regulation, soothing stress and creating space for dealing with what is. I don't know if this Love writing is some kind of muse or entity, a god or another voice in my head, and it seems that doesn't matter. All too often we listen to critical self-talk, fears and worries, and old stories that repeat and limit us terribly. It's not so crazy to actually tune into a voice that loves and believes in one's self, just as it's very beneficial and sane to express love and belief for others.
- Our skills and wisdom and inspiration, which we so often give others, are also available to our selves. Sleepily writing myself Letters from Love I often expressed precisely the recognition and unconditional care that I seek externally through achievement, enabling enjoyment of processes rather dependance on outcomes beyond my control. While this experiment concluded on Valentines Day, I will return to the practice in future.
Another experiment is underway. It's about changing habits to prioritise clarity, to clear up literally, figuratively and digitally. The working hypothesis is that clearing space - through both boundaries and surrender - unlocks creative freedom. I'll share what we find out...
While it's not rocket surgery, this work is powerful and we are so looking to launch!
Let us know what beautiful solutions you are working towards - we'd love to hear your stories and learnings too.