to the creatives…

January 6, 2012 | Filed Under #notetoself, Inspiring, Moment of Truth, The Visual | 2 Comments

do the work. be courageous.

on openness.

January 5, 2012 | Filed Under #notetoself, Moment of Truth, Random, Thoughts | Leave a Comment

I have an admission.

The recent absence of my online presence isn’t exclusively related to being busy or mentally preoccupied. That’s part of it. Another part of it, actually, the biggest part of it, is the recurring struggle I’ve had with allowing myself to be open. I’m set on finding the balance between protecting myself and my life and being an open book. I’d like to share myself in a thoughtful, meaningful way, not recklessly over-share.

Posing this dilemma to a friend, he said, “But the work you do requires you to be honest. All creatives have to be.” It hit me, as it occasionally does at times before disappearing again, that there is something to this process, to this learning and sharing of mine. It isn’t haphazard or reckless; it’s necessary — for me and for whomever my words touch. I forget that my brand of creativity is more specific to how I think and applying understanding to grow. The art that resonates the most is that which is the most honest. My work will only resonate with others when I’m brave enough to open up and share my journey.

So, there it is. I struggle with being open. I struggle with maintaining clarity about my path. But I get it back. I’m here for a purpose and I unfailingly believe in purpose.

I’ll stop being scared. I’ll open up a bit. A few months back, I had a moment, ripe with reminders for myself. Epiphanies flooded me, and as they cascaded, I wrote them on my mirror. The picture above captured the result of that moment. It became a #notetoself I was happy to immortalize.

communicate.
be honest with yourself about who you are,
what you need, what you feel, what you think, what you see.
honor yourself. honor your truth. honor your perspective.
honor who you are. honor who you’ve been. honor who you’re becoming.

vision is everything.

January 3, 2012 | Filed Under Consider this, Inspiring, Moment of Truth, Rewritable words | 2 Comments

“Before a painter puts a brush to his canvas he sees his picture mentally…
If you think of yourself in terms of a painting, what do you see?
Is the picture one you think worth painting?
You create yourself in the image you hold in your mind.”

- Thomas Dreier

For years, I’ve been meaning to set aside the time to create a cohesive vision of how I’d like my life to look. Every area: health and fitness, career, finances, emotional life, spiritual life, social life, romantic life, etc. Occasionally, I’ll remind myself that fuzzy targets don’t get hit and when it comes to understanding exactly what I want, there’s often quite a bit of fuzziness.

At the end of the month, I’ll be embarking upon one of the scariest and simultaneously most exciting adventures of my life: I’m taking off to Central America for two and half months. The why is multifold. The timing is just perfect. It’s winter and the only way I enjoy winter is with some sun and warmth; wearing socks indoors and sleeping with hoodies and heating pads isn’t my thing. Additionally, I’m not sure when else all the factors in my life will align perfectly to create another opportunity like this one.

Before I take this journey, I’ve begun to start critically examining my life. There are gaps that need to be closed and the first step is identifying where I am and where I’d like to go. The quote above is helping me maintain my motivation for actually completing this process. It’s my wish that it’s of assistance to you as well.

What My World Sounds Like: Emily King

December 12, 2011 | Filed Under Listen, What My World Sounds Like | 1 Comment

Emily King has slipped under the radar for far too long. Before even knowing what the words are, the song takes listeners on a nice little journey that feels so good, not knowing the words doesn’t seem to matter that much. Feels good. Enjoy.

Emily King – “Radio”
Read more

be inspired: stand up for what’s right.

November 19, 2011 | Filed Under Consider this, Inspiring, Moment of Truth, Watch this | Leave a Comment

Admittedly, I’ve been fairly removed from the Occupy Wall Street movement that’s been brewing for the past few months. Last night, I found out a retired Philadelphia Police Captain joined the protest and was arrested. Not generally a fan of this country’s “defense” systems, it’s cool to see a police officer with a true understanding of where he stands within this nation’s social hierarchy and being one with the people and not against.

Here’s a short video of an impromptu interview before he was arrested.

be brave.

November 3, 2011 | Filed Under Inspiring, Rewritable words, The Visual | 2 Comments

do the thing you think you cannot do. - eleanor roosevelt

visual cues.

October 28, 2011 | Filed Under Inspiring, The Visual | Leave a Comment

be this strong. plant grows through concrete.
be this strong.

lessons from the boogie monster.

October 26, 2011 | Filed Under #notetoself, Consider this, Moment of Truth | Leave a Comment

This past week gave me the rare opportunity to spend time with a toddler. It was a really affirmative and awakening experience. As I approach the end of my twenties, consideration to marriage and children has landed upon me quite startingly considering the slight opposition I had to them in my early twenties. It wasn’t a staunch opposition; mostly, I just didn’t quite see either for myself. For years, I’d say that down the line, I saw myself with children, but didn’t know how they got there. Lately, that’s been all turned around. Being a great mother and wife are very important to me, despite my singleness. I see myself in an amazing partnership with lots of love for each other and for our child(ren). Being 28, this change of heart isn’t unheard of, even if it did surprise me.

Last week, my oldest friend, Alicia, was in town for a few days with her daughter, Gia, and husband, Gene. We made arrangements for me to babysit oneday so they both could get some work done. This is New York City and most of my friends are single and childless; I don’t babysit often. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I’ve watched a toddler by myself. Still, I was actually really excited.

I awoke Wednesday morning with a mere five or six hours of sleep, but up with a sense of duty: I need to trek it to Manhattan to babysit Gia. Because of her torso wiggle dance, they call her Boogie. I call her Boogie Monster. She doesn’t get the reference, but it still makes her laugh, which makes me laugh.

After four hours of watching Boog by myself, a friend stops by to tag team the babysitting process with me not long before Alicia and Gene return. I spent 13 hours with her before going home and sleeping for 13 hours after that. The next day when I saw Alicia and Gene, I joked that Gia was a higher human being who knew how to consume human energy, while the rest of us feeble humans needed food. Really, after that night, I gained an even greater respect for my friend who works from home and has her daughter with her most of the time. Where does she get the energy? How does she have so much on her plate and make it work?

surrender.

October 24, 2011 | Filed Under #notetoself, Inspiring, Moment of Truth, Watch this, monday motivation | 6 Comments

Today’s #notetoself:

you can’t have everything you want.
you won’t want everything you need.
appreciate the journey.

Without a doubt, life has revealed the presence of this flow, this movement, this protection. Lately, I’ve been getting just what I need, whether it’s a momentary break from the imminent stormy weather long enough to see me through a beautiful, dry bike ride to work, music that makes me smile or puts me face-to-face with myself, a kind word, or a highly unlikely situation that restores my spirit and inspires me. Even with the challenges that accompany life, lately I’ve been feeling even more inspired, more in-tune, more connected to the magic and wonder this world offers. And I’m so very apreciative of it.

This snippet of Oprah’s Master Class where she discusses how The Color Purple taught her about the importance the role surrender plays in the process of getting what you want. It was so amazing and powerful, I wanted to share the entire videos from which the snippet was excerpted. If these videos are too much for you to commit to, please do watch this. It’s much shorter, yet incredibly powerful and inspiring.

Returning to the idea presented in today’s #notetoself, “God can dream a bigger dream for me, for you, than you ever could for yourself.” Thanks, Oprah.

Best wishes on your journey.

love&light…