"Ducks In A Row"

Happy Monday. Today is Manifest Monday at Hermana Sagrada and I want to know what are your intentions for the day, the week, or your life? I love this topic because each week I get to think about my own intentions and writing about them helps me to be in alignment to receive that which I intend.

Last week for some reason I kept hearing the phrase "ducks in a row." Seriously I thought to myself, 'if I hear "ducks in a row" one more time I will scream!' Instead of screaming :) I decided to think about what it actually meant to me. What does "ducks in a row" mean?  So I went to Google and typed it in. These are the definitions that came up:






1. To get one's affairs in order or organized. 
2. Complete one's preparations, become efficient and well organized. 
3. Essentially means to ensure all of the small details or elements are accounted for and in their proper positions before embarking on a new project. 


I am the girl who used to plan everything in advance. So I get it, I do... make sure to look before you leap... get your stuff all lined up...follow a plan... I think those are all positive things to do to move from one place to the next but what happens when you start saying "ducks in a row" as an excuse NOT to move forward? What happens if all those ducks don't line up single file like you want them to? What happens when the phrase loses its' meaning and just becomes the phrase of choice because we are too scared to choose something different?

Last week, each time I heard the phrase I couldn't help but to feel this. That "ducks in a row" was more of an excuse. In almost every circumstance it was about not being ready to move from one place to the next. For some it was about work, for others it was about relationships and finally for another it was about choosing to live joyfully regardless of the circumstances surrounding her life. Which in that case she didn't care about ducks lining up perfectly. 

I had to stop and think about this in my own life. Where am I using the excuse, "I got to get my ducks in a row?"  I realized that I use it in a lot of areas... my business, my health, my art... The truth is that we can find almost any excuse NOT to do something we say WANT. Why? Because we are fearful of the unknown. Have you heard this before? Have you felt this way before? It's because it's true. It's easier to stay in the comfort zone (which by the way its just and illusion of comfort because everything is constantly changing). Our Inner Critic does a good job of convincing us that certainly we are safe over here so we shouldn't dare go over there where everything is uncertain and dangerous. 

Have you ever done something you were afraid to do, then once you did it thought...that wasn't so bad or why didn't I do this sooner? Sometimes we just have to trust that things will go right instead of going wrong. Sometimes the benefits of pushing through the fear outweigh the uncomfortable feelings we carry inside. 

I ask myself sometimes, "How am I going to teach women to paint a different vision of the feminine than they are used to seeing, how am I going to teach that painting is a sacred, spiritual, and healing process? What if I mess up? What if they don't like what I am saying? 

The truth is that I can't know the answers to any of those questions. What I can do is be the best me I can be, and move with love and intention in each gathering I am a part of. Ultimately, I know that even if all my ducks are scattered about the pond I can come to a situation just as I am and do and give my best. My reasons for painting and teaching intentional creativity are much greater than my fears or excuses not to share these practices. 

I knew that there was a reason for me hearing this phrase over and over again and I am so glad that I was present (when I am, I get a gift from the universe :) enough to figure out what it meant for me. So now its' your turn. Are you making excuses when you say I got to get my "ducks in a row"?