Daily Intention

My intention for the day is to stop procrasinating working on large projects. ✰ -Sarah

My intention for the day is the send Sarah off with positivity Karen

To be greatful for the people who are supporing me, my friends who are wishing me goodluck, Mom and Dad for making sure I had every material thing I needed and, Owen for picking up my groceries and droping them off to me. -Sarah

To register for an online class in pyschology with the University of Toronto. Karen

Take a shower, email Becky (my boss), call colourcode printing and go for a walk. Your PMS'ing daughter ❤︎

As simple as this sounds, to make my bed ... everyday. I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to "do" things. Perhaps the simple act of making my bed -- of getting somethiing "done" at the start of my day -- of taking pride in a tiny job, done well -- can motivate me to move forward with my day and attack more major things with gusto. Your menopausing mother

I woke up with such intention but didn't write it down until now. ...Trying to see my time in quarentine as an artist residency in some far away place. With this perspective, my meal diliveries and issolation feel more ✮✦✧glamorus✧✦✮. This mindset is helping improve my productivity. Proud you figured out the span function! -Sarah

Up early today! (5:30am). My intention of the day is to write my presentation for DLL's share session tommorrow. I know I will be presenting a 1/2 finished project but I know almost everyone else is too. I know what I need to do to leave a good impression is tell some humble yet insightful story. If I do that, I will be remebered. No pressure 🙄 -Sarah

Ps. This is the link to RSVP Click Here (open by looking at the website in "New window" show mode

Wow! You are up early. And I am confident you will WOW them. Leaving this intention a little late as the home computer was being fickle this AM. My intention today is to call my parents and set up a plan for Friday that works for everyone (them, Harold, Marnie and myself).

I intend to watch my very impressive daughter make her very impressive presentation this afternoon. Good luck! (Fingers crossed, the techology works on my iPad)

Aww that's sweet of you xx. I was intentionless today. Feeling very low on myself. I guess you could say my intention was to do a good job on my presentation. Which I did try hard to do. I just don't feel like I did a good job. Sorry to be such a downer today. -Here's a joni michell meme

I took a long sleep. Which helped me feel grounded. My intention for today is to clearly communicate what I want. Weither that is sending a message to Melanine asking if I could send her a few coding questions over the next few weeks while I finish my project or communicate with Chris (my deparment head) what I need from the deparment, I need to not be affraid of being told no or seeming to "agressive". -Sarah

Proud of you. Feeling a little stuck in my ways so my intention of the day is to try a new recipe for dinner: pork chops with feta, snap peas and mint. I'll let you know how it goes.

Recipe went really well! If you were an enthusiastic pork chop person, I would recommend it. Today, I am going to try to practise radical love. We are heading off to Sarnia and I'm going to be an active, loving, empathetic listener. I'm going to provide as much love and support as I can to my parents, Marnie and Harold. Karen

Radical love :))).... My intention for the day is to write a to do list and grant grace to my room being 1/2 set up. Its hard for me to acepet the disfunction of the space but I am trying. I can't set the room up fully when I can't go to the hardware store. Sarah

Your room is looking wonderful! Even if it is only halfway-there. Today, I am also making a list of things to do. Feeling likewise adrift planning for an uncertain future. So, here is my thought. Maybe I put on my list one thing to do that is helpful in a "best case" scenario, and one thing that is helpful in a "worse case" scenario. With that in mind, today I will clean my bathroom sink so that I can wash my bras because that is an ordinary thing to do in an ordinary time. I'm also going to order boxes for you from Amazon, in case you need to move things into storage sooner than palnned. -Karen

Today, I am going to practice a little self-love. Instead of letting your dad completely highjack my Sunday, I'm going to reserve an hour of the day to read my book, Caste. I am also going to order 2 outdoor heaters for the backyard so that I can continue to enjoy sitting outdoors as long as humanly possible. Karen

I like that idea of one best- and one worst- case scenario planning. I'm going to adapt that. For today, my intetion is to figure out how to use the new Fleet Library system. You have to order the books online that you want to pick up. The Fleet Library is my favorite place on camaps and it is sad that I can't enter it. I found a little spot tucked away next to the sororities at Brown. My special spot is the one picnic table under a large oak tree next to beta campa drama lama ding dong (idk its all in greek numbers). I'm almost done the book I've been reading at my spot and hope to have a new book to start so I still have an exucse to sit there. -Sarah

My intention is to reach out the Melonine and Max to see if they will help me with some coding help I need to finish the garden. I have been afaid to reach out becuase of fear of rejection. A fear that I has been more present in my mind. - your worry wort daughter

Apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Good luck with Melanie and Max. Remember, Sharon is not holding your feet to the fire to meet some arbitrary due date, so - whenever Melanie and Max can offer their time - that would be a positive outcome. As for me, I intend to make 2 lists today. I'm going back to my one-week grocery shop format. I've been a little too casual about trips to the grocery store lately. So my first list will be to create a one-week meal plan and grocery listfor your dad and I. My second (and more joyful!) list will be a file folder (found under NYT Cooking) with roughly 30 stove-top recipes that you can scroll through for meal ideas. You will find it in the tab on the top left-hand corner of the app. I will also start a list of basic, pantry staples that you should buy, once your quarantine period is up on Thursday. That is all for me today :)-Karen

Today, I am going to get 2 propane tanks for our outdoor heaters and fill them. That is my pandemic prerparedness intention. I am also going to do something nice for me. I noticed that the dowwton flower store has got lavander outside, so on my way home from my outdoor workout, I'm going to pop in and buy myself some lavander :) - Karen

Now that RA training has begun, my life has some sturcture to it again giving me a resergence in productivity. To reward myself for actually getting work done I'm going to pick some of the cornelian cherries on brown's campas. I did some research and they are eatale and can be used for natual dying. Using the plants around me helps me feel grounded in my space. -Sarah

Today is a hard day. Two days in a row I have failed to do my daily intention. I want to pick somthing small to do. I want to name all my photos for the digital garden. Naming them is like a pop quiz in plant names.

My intention today is to try to empathetically connect with your own struggle. You are on the very last day of quarantine. Tomorrow afternoon, you will be able to go wherever and do whatever you please. I'm really hoping that helps your mental health. The vast majority of students will be arriving, starting Saturday. And they will begin their own 2-week lockdown. You know, from your own experience, that these people will be struggling, at some level, to get through it--maybe for different reasons and in different ways, but most will be struggling. Deep relationships are forged in adversity. Reach out to people, the ones you think you might have some kind of connection to, and even total strangers. FInd out how they are doing and if you can marshall some kind of help for them. Giving others a helping hand makes us feel less alone and opens up opportunities to forge deep friendships. This is my attempt at one strategy for this unprecendented time. Know that we are all struggling. I'm struggling in my own way. I feel intensely lonely in my own house. I am with your dad - constantly. And I know my situation is VERY different from yours. I, at least, am occupying a space with someone. But you can occupy the same physical space as someone else and still feel more alone than ever. There are times when I take to my bedroom to cry. I often feel like I have no space to breathe and I feel like I am being driven slowly insane. Because of my age (54), I need to approach every social interaction with extreme caution and it makes me despair at times. These are HARD times and every day is a struggle. Know that you are not alone. I'm not sure this is helpful. But I wanted to open up and express some vulnerability and try to offer an empathetic hand. -Mom

Today we had an inpromptu "lets talk about race" foruem that went terribly as the black student leaders were put on the spot to talk about their trama and experence facing racism on campas while some white student fumbled throug statments of confussion as they try to process their whiteness. The foruem went overtime leaving most people-spicifically the balck student leaders-feeling exhased so they cancelled all the rest of training today. My intention for the day is somthing I have been thinking about as I have started to compile my plan for the garden that was brought up during the foreum today which was how to make community spaces. My hope with the garden was to follow the same principle I made with the digital garden, asking "am I making or takign up space?" What became clear to me further today was that when I am making the garden I really need to activley learn how to make a space that just doesn't turn into a Sarah Holloway space which at a place like RISD is really difficult to do. Idk if i am rabbling. I need to get going to go help my friend Tara move into a new aparment. Now that training has been cancled and I am done quarentine I can actaully do things again... My intention is to set up a learning plan for myself and try to understand how when making this garden space I set a good foundation for making an inclusvie space. This is somthing I am really concerned about when taking on the garden project as I don't have any expereince in being this self aware. -Sarah

I'm excited that you are thinking about the community garden. THis is not meant to be punny, but, in addition to being a cathartic space for those who engage with it, it sounds like it could manifest real personal growth as people collaborate and make room for one another. It has exciting potential to be a meaningful "community" garden. This afternoon, I am going to attack all the jobs around the house I have been putting off because I can't seem to wrestle the energy to do them -- mostly cleaning tasks. I'm hoping that doing those will be ale to give me some sense of accomplishment and provide the motivation that I need to feel more engaged with life. -Karen

I have decided that feeling resentment towards the person I am living with is unhealthy, unsustainable and -likely- not warranted. I am going to embrace a spirit of generosity instead and remember that HAROLD IS DOING HIS BEST. And rather than focus on the negative, I am going to be grateful for the positives. Today, for example, I'm going to remember that Harold ventured way out of his technological comfort zone (not to mention natural frugalness) to get an i-Phone so that he could stay connected to his daughters duirng this pandemic (and beyond). And that is a loving gesture. Wow, I feel so much better just writing that down. Radical generosity. That is my intention for today. - Karen

I need to practice some radically generocity myself. Your intention made my day!! I'm feeling nervous I won't be able to do my job well. Similar to the garden, I have been douting my ablities to lead. That mixed with more insecurities I have really been doubting my ablities. Han ray is in town rn and for whatever reason that also really makes me feel insecure. I feel like I don't belong here and I don't deserve to belong here. My intention for the day therefore is to try to combate these feeling of insecurity by sending a thank you email to Patty and asking her for the emials of the two Canadian grad students she knows. Maybe i'll get lucky and the new grad student will want to be my friend. Sarah

My intention for the day is simple but is a big deal for me-be vunerable and generous with a friend. Today Grace is running some errons in Providence prepping for her move into her new apartment. We are going to get coffee and catch up for an hour or two. I want to bring generousity to the friendship, listening to her and how she is doing. I want to be vunerable, expressing how I am doing and the stuggle I am having adapting to being back at RISD. -Sarah

My intention is to get the final draft of skate or dye off to Meghan and others. I'm so anxious to finish the draft. I have been avoiding touching it for days. I went to bed early and I am hoping that I can put my big girl pants on and attack it today and finally get it off my to do list. -Sarah

I plan to go bike riding in Niagara-on-the-Lake today. I got up early, fed & walked Truman, then packed a pinic lunch only to find out that my bike had a very flat tire when I went to load it into the car. Womp. Womp. I think this might be a metaphor for COVID. Just when you think you might be getting ahead and doing something mildly enjoyable, the universe smacks you down again. Well, I am not going to let this small setback deter me. I pumped up that tire and I'm heading out. Worse case scenario, the tire is flat again upon arrival and I will just have to rent a bike from one of the short-term rental sites. So...my intention. No matter what potholes life throws at me, I am going to try to charge forward anyhow. -Karen

My inention for the day is to not let the dout inside my head get the best of me. I woke up this morning and did what I said I would. I read my slip of paper and then proceeded to do a 40 minute yoga sesh. I already feel a little better 😌 Sarah

My intention for the day is to call my parents. I haven't spoken to them since I went to Sarnia so this phone call is long overdue. If I don't make it today's intention, it won't get done. - Karen

My intention today is to order Sarah a lavender reed diffusor for her dorm room. The one in my bedroom provides a constant source of calm and it brings me happiness. So I am going to share the joy with you. - Karen

My intention for the day is to put my big girl pants on and finish editing skate or dye. I can't tell you why I dread this so much. It is probably because I have to read copious amount of my own writing, cathcing little miskates and overall feeling very self conscious. Doing this project has been really good for me to push past my "i don't write" barriers but at the same time I have felt my learning diablity more... Sarah

Today I am meeting up with Clara, similar to how I flet going out with Grace, I want to present vurerablity rather than hidding my feelings like I usually do. Sarah

I heard this and I thought it was beautiful and hopeful and so I shall share it with the intention that you might find beauty and hope in it as well. It was spoken by the poet, writer and activist, Sonya Renee Taylor: "We will not go back to normal. Normal never was. Our pre-coronavirus existence was not normal, other than it normalized grreed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection confusion, rage, hoarding, hate and lack. We should not long to return, my friend. We're being given the opportunity to stitch a new garmet, one that fits all of humanity and nature." - Karen

I'm meeing my new theripist today. The most exciting thing to happen to me all week. Not a very difficult intention as I already have an appointment and everything but, I want to make the appointment and be present. Sarah

Today is my last day before classes. I'm really nervous as I don't really want to start school and my appointment yesterday threw me off more then it did any good. I want to write a to-do list of things I wish I could get done before class starts then-realistically-schedule them into my planner. I feel like recently I have had so much to do but can't seem to set the right level of expectations for myself leading to guilt and procrastination. I want to grant myself grace while not letting myself off the hook for responsiblities I have. Great example, I have yet to put on underwear and I have a meeting in 3 minutes, trying to find the motivation to do that soon. Sarah

I'm struggling with the notion of how to make plans when the ground beneath my feet feels like it is constantly shifting. When it's impossible to know what next week will bring, let alone next month, planning for anything seems futile. However, I feel like I may have landed on a helpful tool. I found it this morning when reading the NYT. It's a pyschological strategy called TEMPORAL DISTANCING, which bascially boils down to creating a mental time machine in order to transcend the 'here and now' and visualize the the future. The trick is to close your eyes and ask yourself: "IN 10 YEARS FROM NOW, HOW DO I WANT TO TELL THE STORY OF HOW I RESPONDED TO THIS CRISIS?" My intention today is to try to use this mental trick to help me to get un-stuck. - Karen