A Project of Intention

Seeing a project come to fruition is one of the sweetest feelings there is. In this moment, I’m feeling a huge sense of gratitude, triumph, and enthusiasm for what I hope to be the first of many books that I publish under the Sageleaf name.

(Before I talk about the coloring book, I just have to mention that I’m gleefully anxious to share next week about the decluttering I’ve done over the last month, the June part of the LIFE project, and the book I’m going to read.

I changed it from The 4-Hour Workweek (I’d tried to read it once and found it kind of shallow, then I’d heard other reputable folks had read it, was going to give it a second chance until I read the reviews, many of which had pointed to The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People.

However, at the suggestion of Sue Dreamwalker, a fellow reader of this site, I’m going to change to Conversations with God, a book about a homeless man whose physical illness leaves him writing an angry letter…and he gets answers in the form of an unseen voice.

For those of you wanting to read along (there are book discussions that happen over at the I & S Facebook page), I wanted to give you a head’s up about that.)

I began this journey in January of this year and have to marvel at what I have learned, what I have intended, and everything that came from the idea of creating a Tree of Life back on New Year’s Day.

Back then, I planted a seed – and I had no idea how it would grow. I just knew that it felt right. I watered it, and watched it sprout, sprinkling it with my unique potion of love and intuition.

All the ornaments of intentions that I created led to the idea of using sacred geometry and symbols to create a coloring book.

I worked for many weeks on those drawings, hand-drawing each part of a series. In many ways, it became symbolic of our human life journey: every living thing starts out the same, as a seed of life with seven circles and morphs into the flower of life, growing taller, putting down roots and ultimately becoming a tree of life.

We are all trees and temples of the sacred, are we not?

Because this journey was borne out of intention, the coloring book – already with sacred symbolism – began to form the backbone of another idea: the LIFE Project.

Intention is a magnificent thing. I was never sure of its power – indeed, I was skeptical for a long time – until I began to intend – not with my brain, but with my heart – the things I wanted and needed in my life.

I had read the Power of Intention, but always wondered if it really pertained to me.

Indeed it does. It pertains to everyone.

This definition of intention comes from dictionary.com:

noun

1. an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result.

2. the end or object intended; purpose.

There’s a key phrase there: “determining mentally upon some action or result.”

That line right there.

When we make a choice, we focus. We have purpose.

And that which we focus upon is what we manifest in our lives. I’m not just saying that – many others have, too:

Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality. —Earl Nightingale

You become what you believe, not what you think or what you want. —Oprah Winfrey

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. —Buddha

Because I set intentions at the beginning of the year, by reviewing them often and staring at them still on the tree in my living room, they are becoming reality.

The Tree of Life Coloring Book, then, is the result of direct intention.

Inside the book, I talk about this.

But there are also other things that are unique to this coloring book.

It takes you on a journey: you start out coloring a seed of life, then a flower of life, then multiple flowers of life, then a leaf, a pattern (containing an infinity symbol, a water droplet and an equilateral triangle), a water droplet, an infinity sign, a garden of life and finally a tree of life.

These total nine drawings and then the adventure begins again – two more times – for a total of 27 drawings.

Until more recently, I didn’t think about the symbolism of the number 27, but it has special meaning touching upon humanitarian work, compassion, tolerance and philanthropy.

But, each drawing is part of the journey to the tree.

And, interestingly enough, cultures and religions all over the world have a Tree of Life equivalent. I think of this as something that unites us – for we all are more alike than we are different.

Hitting “Publish”flower of life

I “published” the book a few days ago and the link just went active at Amazon. It took about three days for CreateSpace to generate a page for the coloring book over at Amazon.

You can check it out here.

To that end, I am having a little celebration to mark the event of publication.

I have created a Facebook event page and everyone’s welcome to join on Friday, June 2, at 5:30pm. All you need to do is go to the link to the page.

I wanted to continue to spread a little love, so I will have three (free) copies of the book to give away, as well as an Amazon gift card.

I hope you’ll make it, but if not, I completely understand and just know that I’m sending you love!