Note: December is Word-of-the-Year Month at Christine’s Blog.  As we roll into another New Year, each day will feature a new guest blogger who chose one word as a way of setting intention for her whole year.  Today’s guest is Giulietta Nardone, who is a “Challenger of Assumptions.”  More about Giulietta below!

Fifteen years ago I read Women Who Run With the Wolves. The ugly duckling sub-chapter produced my first “aha moment.”  I needed to stop seeing the parts of me that did not fit into the generic societal scheme as ugly. I needed to see the unique wild and wonderful me as beautiful.  That first “aha moment” has been followed by many more.

But the one I relish above all others happened after I read Christine’s blog and picked my word for 2008:

Genius.

I kicked off 2008 by finding my own Genius: Challenger of Assumptions. That “aha moment” liberated me from ugly ducklingitis instantly and completely. It explained my collective behavior since childhood. It bestowed me with powers I didn’t know I had. It anointed me with life purpose: to teach others how to find theirs so they can experience the same liberating “aha moment.”

Way too many of us spend our precious lives suppressing our true genius in order to get phony acceptance from people and institutions that don’t matter. The only acceptance you need is your own.

For 2009 I’m picking the same word: Genius.

As Robert Ingersoll said, “In the republic of mediocrity, genius is dangerous …”

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Giulietta Nardone teaches you how to recognize, reveal and release your true genius, that unique inner brilliance you were put on the planet to share with others. Learn more about finding yours at http://www.designing-words.com

Note: December is Word-of-the-Year Month at Christine’s Blog.  As we roll into another New Year, each day will feature a new guest blogger who chose one word as a way of setting intention for her whole year.  Today’s guest is Brandi Reynolds. More about Brandi below!

I love words.  I love the way they look on paper and the images they bring forth in my mind.  So when Christine wrote about choosing a one word intention for each New Year, instead of that oppressive list of resolutions, I immediately connected with the idea.

In pondering the ‘right’ word, I realized that what I really wanted was some clarity in my life.  I needed clarity of purpose, clarity of who I really am.  So I chose the word, wrote a blog about it and in perfect co-creative form, promptly forgot about and went about my daily life.

Two weeks later I had a meltdown.

Back up a bit.  Right around the time I was deciding on my word, my husband and decided to adopt another dog and she was a mess. She was a severe neglect case and the mental and physical strain of rehabilitating her was overwhelming to me.  One evening I retreated to my bedroom, sobbing.

I will always be grateful for that time of stress because my defenses were fatigued enough to allow for a breakthrough.  Through the cracks in my internal walls, a thought slid through and landed in my lap, shiny and golden and there.

I don’t like myself very much at all.

And I don’t mean it like my inner critic was just acting up again and telling me that I ‘should’ be more patient or loving or whatever.  I mean, this was a core thought.  It infected and informed my very existence.  This was BIG.

God, what a relief!!!  Instead of being defeated by the realization, I felt like I was able to breathe for the first time in a long time.  So many times, I had attempted to connect to other people or a divine source or a creative outlet and felt like there was a clear glass wall between me and the paper or person or energy source. I could see what was on the other side of the wall, but I couldn’t touch them/it.  I hated the feeling of disconnection but could never quite get my hands on the reason behind the resistance.  Now I had an understanding of what was holding me back.

I realized that I needed guidance and direction for this discovery and found a wonderful life coach named MICHELE WAHLDER.  Together, and with the support of my husband, we breathed life into rusty corners of my psyche.

Through the uncertainty and fear of exploration, amazing transformation has started to unfold within me. I was always one that tried to be whatever I thought would get people to like me.  As the truth of who I am unfolds more and more everyday, I can speak from a place of confidence and authenticity.

And for the first time in my life, I am comfortable with calling myself an artist. I also have clarity of purpose in my life. I want to support other women as they express their unique soul gifts and wonderful connections with women from different parts of the country are appearing in amazing ways.

So thank you, Christine, from the bottom of my heart for posing the challenge to us all.  It is a challenge to put an intention out to the world and trust that it will unfold as it should.  It is also the best adventure I could ask for.  I have decided that the word for 2009 is Passion. I am so excited to see what adventures unfold!

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Brandi Reynolds is a 32 year old artist of life and believer in the power of ordinary moments (with a little fairy dust thrown in for good measure). She can usually be found covered in paint and glue or out in nature with a camera in her hands. She shares her life with her infinitely patient husband and two rescued furry souls that drive her nuts half the time in Grapevine, Texas.

You can see more of her internal dialogue at: http://dandelionseedss.blogspot.com or visit her website at: http://www.dandelion-studios.com

If you’ve been reading my blog over the last two years, then you’ve probably read about my practice of choosing a “Word of the Year” at the start of every New Year.  (I ditched the idea of Resolutions long ago.)

[To read about it, click here.]

I get emails regularly from people who have adopted this practice. They write to report successes and Ah-Ha’s – taught to them by their word.

So, starting tomorrow, I will be featuring a month of Guest Bloggers who will share their own experiences of choosing a Word-of-the-Year -– and how their choices and actions were affected by this one simple act of Deliberate Intention.

December is a great time to turn inward. Even with holiday activities, you can take time to bundle up and go for a walk.  Or stay at home one weekend night. Use this time to set your intentions for 2009.  Think about a word that could guide you as you move forward.  And let this month’s blogs inspire you!

Here is a list of words just to start your wheels turning:

Compassion
Delight
Generosity
Effortlessness
Wealth
Gratitude
Abundance
Creativity
Willingness
Change
Growth
Freedom
Mastery
Kindness
Health
Presence
Acceptance
Courage
Confidence
Self-Love
Action
Forgiveness
Systems
Forgive
Plan
Release
Trust
Knowing
Patience
Friendship
Fun
Grace
Laughter
Love
Expansion
Exploration
Adventure
Openness
Discipline
Awe
Awareness
Risk
Gentleness
Choice
Spirit
Prayerfulness
Power
Allow
Artfulness
Attention
Beauty
Joy
Focus
Ritual
Heal
Order
Clarity
Pioneer
Peace
Laziness
No
Yes
Deliberate
Commitment
Savor
Integrity
Listen

Well, well.

Now, this is fun.

Doug over at AVeryFineLine introduced me to an uber-hip new web tool.

It’s a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)…

for BLOGS!

And, according to many bloggers, it’s pretty accurate.

I typed in Lisa Call’s blog, for example — and the result seemed right on. (Let me know, Lisa!)   Same with Steve Pavlina.

However, I typed in BeMyRecordLabel (my other blog) - and it didn’t type me correctly. It ranked me as an ESFP - which is close - but I’m a VERY strong “N.”  I’ll forgive the mistake.

Now, before you rush over there and type in your blog’s address, you should know a few things:

1 - If you are like me and have a website like www.christinekane.com - but your blog is www.christinekane.com/blog, then it won’t work.  Your blog has to be the main web address.

2 - If you don’t know the MBTI personality type system, it might not be as fun.

3 - As far as I know, there is no tool like this created for the ennegram!

Here ya go! Have at it!  Come back and let us all know your blog type and whether or not it’s accurate…

Get your blog’s Myers-Briggs type at Typealyzer.

It was the last day of the Great Big Dreams retreat.  We were sitting in a circle.  I was talking about decisions and commitment.

We had spent many hours over our three days together getting clear about intention.  I said that in my experience, intention begins the movement and the shift. But at some point you have to ground your intention with decisions and commitment and action.

Jeannie, a vibrant woman with wild curly hair and a constant smile, looked up and said, “But wait…”

She began listing all the reasons why it was so hard for her to make decisions or to commit.  Suddenly, she sighed. She concluded by saying, “Oh, forget it. It’s hard when you’re a people-pleaser.”

There were “amen’s” all around. Many of the women nodded their agreement.  They knew the pain of being a people-pleaser.

I interrupted the moment of martyrdom.

I asked Jeannie: “Are we really people-pleasers? Or just approval whores?”

It was one of those moments where I briefly wanted to take back what I had blurted out.  Jeannie could be livid with me. Or she could have a great big “Ah-Ha!” moment.  (My own approval whore doesn’t like these blurts one bit. “Be nice!” she says. “Just agree with them and shut up!”)

Jeannie’s giant burst of laughter told me it was the latter.  “Oh my God!” she shrieked. “That’s so true!”

Often, we think that we’re being nice girls and oh-so loving when we’re constantly making sure everyone else is okay.

But what we’re really doing is selling our hearts to get approval from anyone who will give it to us.  We’re ensuring that we will never have to face the discomfort of having desires or dreams (or preferences!) and acting on them. We want to make sure everyone will like us first.  Then we will be okay, albeit deeply unhappy.

Martha Beck aptly names it “being an approval whore.”

All weekend long, people said things like, “Well, you can’t just stop being her friend!”

“You can’t just not move your father-in-laws’ furniture!”

“You can’t just uninvite your family over for Thanksgiving!”

Well.

Actually.

You can.

You just can’t always do this AND have everyone like you at the same time.

And this is the catch for an approval whore.  It makes her panic. Who am I without their love and approval?

It’s a question SO worth asking.  And SO worth finding out the answer to.

In Martha Beck’s words:

Anything we do solely to please others, in the absence of either real desire or moral necessity is a way of selling ourselves, our lives, our energy. Ask yourself whether the dose of approval you expect to gain from this behavior is worth losing a piece of the real you. I’d be the last one to judge you if the answer is yes. All I ask is that you be aware that this is prostitution, not virtue.