Archive

The Inspiration Well

posted 22nd June 2010    Written by: Nicole Antoinette    CATEGORY: Inspiration, Nicole Antoinette, Season 2

Over the past few years, I’ve built up a small arsenal of go-to sources of inspiration. Things to click on, watch, listen to, read, and re-read when I’m feeling stuck in the hole.

Sometimes I’m in the hole because I’m sad. Sometimes it’s because I’m anxious. Sometimes it’s because I’m overwhelmed, or lacking control, or feeling overly sensitive. And sometimes I just need to stop, push the reset button, and regroup. No matter what pushed me down into the hole though, these are the things I consistently use to get myself out:

The Things That Make Me Think

Do Interesting Things | by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits

How To Be Awesome | by Chris Guillebeau of The Art of Non-Conformity

The sign of a great career is having great opportunities, and saying no | By Penelope Trunk of Brazen Careerist

Quest for Balance | by Carlos Mic of OwlSparks

The Things That Make Me Laugh

Kittens Inspired by Kittens

This photo. And this one.

This is Why I’ll Never be an Adult | by Allie Brosh of Hyperbole and a Half

I’m pretty sure it’s pronounced “Wesley Ann.” | by Jenny Lawson of The Bloggess

Things I Don’t Understand Even When People Explain Them To Me | by Jamie Varon of A Life in Translation

The Things That Tickle My Creative Fancy

Pink Sherbet Photography

Charm City Cakes

Six Sentences

The Things That Spark My Daydreams

Fuck Yeah, Tattoos!

lululemon goaltender

Where The Hell is Matt?

Now, what are some of YOUR favorite sources of smiles and inspiration??

photo credit: Pink Sherbrt Photography

divider

From Boring To Big: The Growth of My Best Life

posted 17th June 2010    Written by: Katie    CATEGORY: Inspiration, Katie, Season 2

When I was two, my idea of a perfect life was one with lots of Little People and Barbies.

When I was ten, my idea of a perfect life was one with endless days of playing cops and FBI with my friends and endless nights of making videos about talking dogs with those same friends.

When I was thirteen, my idea of a perfect life was riding bikes and getting ice cream everyday with my late friend, Nick.

The common denominators of these dreams were that they were all right in front of me – right then in the moment. They were attainable, reasonable, and honestly? Kind of boring. This isn’t saying that I don’t value these little moments of wonder – because I do. Whenever I think about the little ideas of perfection that I had as a child, I can’t help but to smile a little.

As I’ve grown older, my dreams have stayed in that conservative, easy to achieve sector. It’s safe, it’s easy, it’s boring!

One of the many things I’ve learned from The Joy Equation is to dream big because if you don’t dream big, then the Universe has no idea what you want. And if the universe has no idea what you want, how the hell are you going to get it?

So.

At age twenty-five, my idea of a perfect life is big. It’s HUGE. It’s MASSIVE.

I want no, I’m going to be the to be the Carrie Bradshaw of the 2010′s. With a less awesome wardrobe, because I’m really into comfort and prefer Yoga pants over Gucci leopard print skinny jeans. I’m going to be living in a Center City, Philadelphia or Washington DC penthouse apartment, because frankly, I can’t take the responsibility and upkeep of a house.

In the winter, the temperature in the house will be 70 degrees. In the summertime, it’ll be 50 degrees. So, when you come over, bring a light jacket.

I won’t have an office in my house because I’ve learned that although convenient, working from home doesn’t exactly promote being productive. I’ll have an office in the center of the business district of wherever I’m living. It’ll be decorated with vision boards of the past and present.  It’ll be very minimalistic and I’ll have my own receptionist.

I’ll be amongst the lawyers, attorneys, and high profile editors of the city and as I make my mid afternoon run to Starbucks, I’ll occasionally rub elbows with the famous people. But it’ll be no big deal, because I’m a star too. The star of my own awesome life.

Every week, I’ll meet with my closest friends at some chain restaurant that we grow to love. If I’m living in Center City, it’ll be at Tria for the wonderful wine and cheese plates. We’ll catch up on all of the nitty gritty in our lives, the men, the parties, the fact that we’re happy. Unless we’re miserable, in which case, we’ll order a couple bottles of wine instead of a few glasses.

I’m going to wake up everyday and be excited to get coffee, read the actual paper that I subscribe to, and sit on my screened in back porch to watch the sunrise and pump out a blog post because Katie Blogs.com will never die off. I’ll head into the city to work. I won’t have a car. I prefer the rushing of the public transportation system. I’ll take the elevator on days when I’m feeling lazy, but most days, I take the stairs.

After my long day of work, I head out for a cocktail with a business colleague or friend, and then retreat to my home again where I wind down, and watch One Life to Live over a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. Sometimes, I’ll write a little bit of my memoir. Sometimes, I’ll climb into my memory foam, queen sized bed and listen to my Meditation CD.

You might notice that romantic love doesn’t play a big role in my future life.  It’s not that it’s not important, but I really prefer to not count on that. Do I think I’ll be in a relationship or 10 before I find the one? Sure. But will that be necessary to living my biggest, greatest life? No. It’s kind of like wanting to spend a night in a fancy hotel. You make the plans, and it happens. Once you get there you realize that the room service is complimentary and you won a free massage. I mean, you were going to get those things anyway, but it’s nice to get a little bonus.

Here’s to my biggest life, and here’s to yours. Here’s to making them happen and revisiting this post in 5, and 10 years to see where we all are in the process. I’m literally putting on my Google Calendar to revisit this post in June 2015.

Proof?

*Photo credits via and via

divider

A Day in the Life

posted 16th June 2010    Written by: Heather Rae    CATEGORY: All Posts, Heather Rae, Inspiration, Season 2

A few months ago, I completed The Joy Equation course.  One of my favorite exercises for discovering my big dreams was to write down a perfect day in my life at some point in the future.  Every so often, I like to go back and read through that perfect day.  It’s an inviting reminder of what my journey is all about, of where I want my life to take me. Not that I expect it all to go the way I plan, but it’s nice to have something to aim for.

Today, I think I’ll share that perfect day with you.

I decided to write my perfect day for when I’m forty, in the year 2018.  Here goes:

Writing, teaching, dancing, reading, husband, baby, house, art, decorating, classes, travel, friends.  That one run-on sentence pretty much sums up my perfect life at forty.

(Keep in mind, this is about to be one jam-packed day.  Fitting everything neatly into one day is somewhat impossible in reality.  I’m sure most days wouldn’t look like what’s about to follow, but for the sake of my fantasy — well, I’m simply putting it all out there.)

The morning starts early, around 6 a.m.  Steven headed out a few minutes ago to check on a patient at the hospital.  I check on our daughter.  She’s four years old.  I can’t believe I have a four year old.

She’s still sleeping, so I quietly walk into the kitchen and make breakfast.  I sit down with my book of the moment and start reading while I eat.

A half hour passes without me even stopping to look at the clock.  Little feet tap the floor, moving down the hallway.  My daughter is awake and looking for something to entertain her.  I give her a hug and ask if she’s hungry.  She is, as usual, so I make her a quick breakfast and then work on getting us both ready for the day.

After my daughter is dressed and she’s occupied with her toys, I work on myself.  Our neighbor is driving the kids to pre-school this week.  I look out the window and see the car out front.  We grab her things and walk outside together.  I chat with the neighbor for a few minutes, then buckle my daughter in the car seat.

Back inside, I walk to my office.  It’s not your usual office.  For one thing, it doesn’t have a desk.  As a writer, some people might find this odd, but I prefer to work at the chase with my laptop.  I’m working on two projects at the moment.  One is a travel memoir.  I’m writing about the last summer I spent with Steven and our daughter traveling through Central America.  A New York publishing company already bought the book, and I’m working against a deadline.  Today, I’m putting the finishing touches on my final revision before sending it to my agent for review.

The other writing project I’m working on is a novel.  It’s the third book in a young adult series.  Books one and two sold incredibly well, and we just signed a deal with a production company for the movie rights of the first book.  I’m still in shock that my book will be made into a movie.

After writing for a few hours, I can’t take sitting much longer.  I look at the clock and it’s almost time to head to the studio.  I take dance classes at a small studio a few days a week.  Dancing has been the perfect way to blow off steam while I’m in the middle of writing.  It keeps my mind fresh, and I’m always ready to return to the page after a good class.

I change for class and head out.  Class is filled with student’s I’ve danced with for about a year now.  I love this particular class because the women all get along so well.  We often go to lunch after class just to hang out.  Today, we’re getting ready for a performance, so the energy in the room is even more than usual.

I have a lunch date with an old friend and won’t be able to stick around for lunch with the girl’s from class today.  We meet at a favorite restaurant and talk for what seems like hours.  I look at my watch and see that it’s time to get my daughter from school, so we head out.

I pick up my daughter from pre-school and say hello to the teacher.  My daughter made me a necklace out of macaroni and asks me to put it on.  I tell her it’s beautiful and dutifully wrap it around my neck.

Once we get home, my daughter asks if she can paint.  Sounds good to me, so I get out some supplies and we both work on our ‘art’ projects.  I’ve been painting for several years now.  I’m excited that I’ve continued to get better and take classes and workshops whenever the opportunity arises.  I’ve actually started selling my paintings — more because I don’t have any place to put them than anything else.  I wouldn’t call myself a professional or anything.  But every once in a while I paint something that even surprises me.

Steven calls while we’re painting and says he’ll be home at about seven o’clock.  He asks if he should bring anything for dinner.  I’ve cooked every other day that week, so I say yes.  I call for take-out at the new vegetarian place near our house, and Steven agrees to pick it up on his way home.

Our daughter starts work on a new finger painting, so I go to my office and get some papers to review while she paints.  I’m an adjunct professor at the city college near our house.  Twice a week, I teach a class on culture and health.  The semester is almost over.  My students turned in their term papers a few days ago, and I still need to read through most of them and assign grades.

After reading through a few papers and making some notes for class tomorrow, I set aside that project and start leafing through the latest college catalog.  It’s almost time to register for Fall classes.  I want to be sure to take another French class next semester.  At this point, I’m pretty fluent.  But I like to continuously improve my skills.  Also, I happen to love reading college catalogues.  It’s sort of a hobby in itself.  Once, I took a class on Middle Eastern History just for fun.  I do that sometimes.  If my schedule doesn’t look particularly full, I’ll take random classes for no reason at all.

My daughter and I are reading together when I hear the garage door open.  Steven is home with dinner.  She jumps off my lap to greet her daddy.  We eat dinner together in the dining room, using all the good china, as usual.  I hate to save that stuff for special occasions.  Every day is a special occasion.

After dinner, Steven spends time playing with our daughter.  Then he reads to her.  They have a ritual of reading together every night before she goes to bed.  If he’s at the hospital, she’ll try to wait all night for him to come home before she’ll give in and go to sleep.  Luckily, it’s rare that he’s not home at night.  Some nights he comes home just for dinner and bedtime, then heads back to the hospital.  It’s really important to both of them to have their time together.

After the tucking in and kissing goodnight, Steven and I relax together for a couple of hours — we talk for a while, watch a movie and make love.

We have a good life.  That’s what I’m thinking as I drift to sleep.

photo credit: yogendra174

divider

The Permanence of Change

posted 15th June 2010    Written by: Nicole Antoinette    CATEGORY: All Posts, Nicole Antoinette, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 2, What I've Learned

The day my mom told me we were moving to London was the day I decided that I hated her and was, in fact, ready to live on my own. I was 8 years old.

“But WHY,” I yelled in her face, more a tear filled, gurgling statement than a question. “I like New York, how could you do this to me! I can’t move. What about my friends who will I talk to I don’t speak British at all!!” I was more or less hysterical, bites of pizza falling out of my mouth and landing on my lap, on the floor, on my mother.

“Relax Nicole, it’s going to be okay,” she said. “Relax?!” I thought, because telling me to relax is like waving a red button in front of someone while yelling, “Don’t touch this red button!!” It makes me totally crazy and irrational, eyes whirling around inside their sockets. I hated it then as much as I hate it now.

“I don’t need to relax, I am relaxed. I’m FINE I just hate London and I hate you.” Clearly, I was more relaxed than ever.

“I know you’re worried about everything changing, about losing your friends, but please don’t worry sweetheart; just because something changes doesn’t mean it changes for the worse, and it certainly doesn’t mean it’s over.” Yeah right, I thought, how am I going to hold hands with Matt at recess from another continent? She doesn’t know anything.

But, as it often turns out with mothers and their seemingly infinite wisdom, she did. She knew then what I know now, that change, although inevitable and most likely the only constant factor in our lives, doesn’t have to spell disaster. Instead, it can just spell different. Sometimes I get stuck thinking that whenever I’m happy, all of the current factors in my life need to remain exactly the same in order to continue being happy. But, if this were true, how boring would our lives be? Different isn’t bad, different is different. Change is coming, it’s always coming, and people move and flow into and out of places and jobs, into and out of each other’s lives, and that’s okay. The human capacity for adaptation is highly underestimated.

“You’ll make friends quickly, you’ll see, because there’s no such thing as ‘speaking British,’ silly. Everyone in London speaks English, just like you, and all those other 8 year olds over there are just waiting for their spunky, new friend to arrive, they just don’t know it because the change hasn’t happened for them yet.”

“Because of the time difference?” I asked.

My mother laughed. “Sure,” she answered. “It’s because of the time difference.”

photo credit: markhillary

divider

Link Love from Cool Chicks

posted 11th June 2010    Written by: Molly Mahar    CATEGORY: Inspiration, Molly, Stratejoy the Biz

Happy Friday you beautiful strong luscious woman you.

I’m rushing out the door for my 7 Day Silent Vipassana Meditation Retreat (don’t worry, I have a 3 hour drive to zen out before I get there!) but I wanted to do a quick share.

There are some amazing women around the web who have been helping me promote, show off, hot shot around town with the Joy Equation Course.   I want to give a big lovin’ shout out to Michelle Ward, Nailah Blades, Jennifer Gleeson Blue, Jenny Blake and Kate Hoffman.

If you’re looking for some new inspirational blog reads, stop searching.   It’s all here. I’m going to link to the article/interview/lovebomb where they talk about Stratejoy, but hang out a while and see what else these power women have to offer!

Michelle Ward. When I Grow Up Coach. Michelle helps creative people devise the career they think they can’t have – or discover it to begin with! A certified life coach by the International Coach Academy & a musical theater actress with her BFA from NYU/Tisch, Michelle uses a dose of empathy, a shot of butt-kickin’, a wagon full of enthusiasm, & a crapload of inspiration to help solve the puzzle & turn her client’s grown-up skills & values into a passionate (& possibly out-of-the-box) career.

Nailah Blades.  Polka Dot Coaching. Polka Dot Coaching is about connecting the dots of our 20-something lives. It’s about embracing the trials and uncertainty we all experience during our twenties so that we can focus on what’s really important – living insanely fulfilling lives! I believe that everyone should feel utterly happy and passionate with their lives. Why? Because when we’re genuinely happy we possess the confidence and power to create our best lives. And this is precisely what the world needs.

Jennifer Gleeson Blue.  Get There From Here. Here’s what you really need to know: I LOVE coaching. Supporting people on their journey is a fabulous gift in my life and I work hard to be an effective coach. To that end, I’ve been a student of people my whole life and have consistently worked to operate from my most authentic self – a journey worth a lifetime of effort.

Jenny Blake.  Life After College. I am passionate about helping people gain confidence, direction and balance in their lives. I believe my purpose, and by extension the purpose of this website, is to help others (young professionals and beyond) become their own best selves – to wake up and be fully present and alive – through simple, practical exercises and tips.

Kate Hoffman.  Writing at Brand-Yourself.com Brand-Yourself.com isn’t just a blog. It is a platform to build, optimize and promote a remarkable web presence that advances your career. It is for professionals, the unemployed, the underemployed, and entrepreneurs who want to tap the power of the social media. Our tools make sure you win first impressions and opportunities on the web.

And yes, obviously I took these little descriptions directly from the sites themselves.  Sue me.

Big Fat Smooches.  And if you haven’t yet applied to be part of Season 3 Bloggers, remember the deadline is NEXT FRIDAY the 18th!  Whoop!

photo credit: h-k-d

divider

« Previous Page — Next Page »