the desire map. core desired feelings.

For the past 6 weeks or so, I've been participating in the Biggest Book Club Ever based on Danielle Laporte's The Desire Map. Our local group is hosted by Pam Clark, and consists of more than a dozen women who are learning to identify & work with their core desired feelings. Their what? Danielle asks these questions…

What if, first, we got clear on how we actually wanted to feel in our life, and then we laid out our intentions? What if your most desired feelings consciously informed how you plan your day, your year, your career, your holidays — your life?

It has been SUCH an interesting process – taking core desired feelings beyond the knee-jerk reaction of "good" or "happy." Although this is certainly a work in progress, I've identified 4 CDFs so far…

*picture from my 2012 Costa Rica vacation b/c looking back, I realize that all of those feelings were present during that trip

Freedom – I desire the freedom to travel, to say "yes" to adventures, to change my mind, to make choices. This desire is fueling the possibility of selling my house, the process of decluttering, and is also helping me to reframe a shift in my freelance work from a loss to creating the freedom to try something new. 

Lightness – For much of my life, I have leaned toward dark & twisty. I've been more comfortable in the shadows, and carried the heavy weight of constant worry. I desire a feeling of lightness. This is manifesting in efforts to be lighter via weight loss, a concerted effort to pay off a heavy burden of debt, and to just generally look for the light…

Ease – I am well aware that I lead a very fortunate life. I hesitate, sometimes, to ask for help with what's hard in my world b/c I fear that they all fall into #firstworldproblem status. I don't expect things to be easy, but I do desire to move through my day with ease. The first definition that comes up for ease is "freedom from pain or difficulty." Yes, please.

Strength – I desire physical strength (hello barre sculpt!). I desire the mental & emotional strength to spend less time on the ledge, and more time doing the work and moving forward. I just came across this definition, which I really dig – "Strength is the inherent capacity to manifest energy, to endure, and to resist." (source)

What do you desire?