For starters, I am glad that I framed it as a value exploration (as opposed to a challenge). It truly was an exploration and the time frame for each value – one week – was just right. I feel like I’ve developed a sense of familiarity with the values and my value palette has become more robust and nuanced. What I mean by that is that I understand both the subtle and the overt differences and similarities between various values. That has, in turn, improved my value vocabulary at an intellectual as well as emotional level.
I loved how just holding a value at the back of my mind enabled me to embody it, at least to an extent. It was hard not to focus on being productive when I was thinking about the word ‘productive’ all day every day for a week. It was hard not to feel appreciative when I was practicing a vibe of appreciation. Goes to show how valuable and powerful intentions can be.
I also enjoyed looking at a value from various angles and playing on the word to practice it in different ways. For example, resolve could mean resolving an issue or being resolute. This helped me apply the value in several ways and it was way more fun than having just one, direct method of application.
To recap, here are the values I practiced:
- Punctuality
- Orderliness
- Vulnerability
- Grace
- Authenticity
- Equanimity
- Engagement
- Compassion
- Experimentation
- Curiosity
- Fun
- Intensity
- Groundedness
- Flow
- Openheartedness
- Ease
- Compersion
- Connection
- Harmony
- Satisfaction
- Commitment
- Appreciation
- Expansion
- Consistency
- Accountability
- Clarity
- Focus
- Fulfillment
- Action
- Decisiveness
- Wellness
- Trust
- Resolve
- Closure
- Pronoia
- Discipline
- Understanding
- Alignment
- Rest
- Integrity
- Strength
- Faith
- Imagination
- Motivation
- Intention
- Assurance
- Surrender
- Moxie
- Adventure
- Pleasure
- Openness
- Celebration
Here are my favourite ones and my one-line conclusions about each:
Curiosity – one of the best, if not the best, values for creating a low-pressure way of leaning into anything, especially something new or scary.
Appreciation – the quickest way to beat negativity of any form and see the beauty in life.
Compersion – shortcut to feeling successful and happy irrespective of my personal accomplishments and to feeling a sense of oneness with others
Pronoia – to finally understand that life is always on my side and I am, fundamentally, safe here. How beautiful is that state?
Alignment – to ensure that I am living in accordance with my internal compass
Moxie – meaningful to me in particular because it captures the essence of who Ranjana is
Adventure – because that’s what I want my life to be; one wild, beautiful adventure 🙂
This exploration helped me get a better understanding of what values matter to me. Some are already a part of who I am and some others need to still be integrated. I’m grateful that I decided to do this in a format that worked really well for me. I might go deeper into it at some point. I have toyed with the idea of doing an exploration of what I call ‘shadow values’ which is basically exploring (not necessarily though actively practicing) values that aren’t ‘positive’ or ‘lightworker’ on the surface such as anger, jealousy, cruelty, etc. I truly think that they hold just as much power and are just as important for growth. We’ll see where my adventures in growth take me. I do think shadow work is very much going to be part of my journey.:)
2022
My word for 2022 is adventure and my plan is to live it quite literally by traveling to different places – something I haven’t really done until now, having spent almost all of my life in Bangalore. Nothing sparks my adventurous nature as traveling does. It started with eight weeks in Sri Lanka earlier this year. I’m headed to Bali in mid-June. I plan to let the path unfold and surf the wave. 😀
It’s going to be one wild, beautiful ride!