Category: Creativity

“Gotta have dreams…”

posted 16th January 2012    Written by: Hannah    CATEGORY: All Posts, Creativity, Hannah, Job/Career/Work, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom”. – Anais Nin

I’ve created my vision board in two formats.  One is the electronic awesome-ness that is my Pinterest account.  I obsess over each of my boards for hours at a time.  It’s a problem, really.  The other measures 12 inches by 12 feet…yes, I said feet.  Again, it’s a problem, really.  Both are full of typography, textures, my favorite color palettes, inspirational (and mostly not cheesy) quotes, emotional song lyrics, art supplies, pretty soft glowy light, pictures of lists, organized creative spaces, nature, and movement.  My vision boards are my heart on the outside.  To me they looks like love and comfort and calm.  They makes my insides smile.  They makes me feel like I’m breathing steadier, feeling deeper, and just right where I should be.  They sings to me.  Who knew a pile of rubber cement and magazine clippings and an electronic pin board could make me feel like that!

I want to jump inside my vision boards.

Looking around my house, I find very few of the things that sing to me, but a few stand out: an old camera, a vase full of corks, a couple of drawings.  There is a pile of the books I love, a few family photos, and a cable knit blanket, and a rainbow colored pile of sticky notes.

In 2012 Mister and I will be moving into a house.  This 525 square foot condo is no longer doing it for us and we need a bigger space.  And in looking for our new home, I’m looking for my vision board.  I’m looking for lots of windows, an office that I can make into my own organized creative space, a yard, walls that I can paint in creamy warm colors.  Our new home will be a place that I can, over time, build into the perfect manifestation of my vision board (at least as perfect as I can until we build our own home on some land some day).

This year, I will jump inside my vision board and live there.  And not just physically.  I’ve already taken some big steps to mentally live there too.  I’ve stopped watching so much tv.  I’ve been listening to a lot more music which is so me.  I’ve been writing more, creating more, crafting more.  I’m making more room for those things this year.

Oh, and did I mention, I’m quitting my nanny job?  On the last day of February, after attending one of the premier photography conferences in the country, I will be giving notice to my bosses.  I get nervous and excited and sad and ecstatic all at once just thinking about it.  I’m freaking out just a little bit (but more about that later).  I love this family so much, but I am not meant to be a nanny.  And by putting this out here, part of me is panicking that somehow my bosses found this blog, read it, and haven’t told me.  But also putting this out there gives me some accountability.

I am telling all of you, this is my year!  My aunt recently said to me, “Gotta have dreams for dreams to come true!”  So true.  This year, I’m going to live inside my vision board, wrap myself in the things I love, surround myself with the people I love (and who love me), put aside the things that aren’t important, dream big, breathe deeply, let go of the risk,

and blossom.          Will you?

 

[Photo Credit: Hannah D Photography]

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Be Daring

posted 9th January 2012    Written by: Hannah    CATEGORY: All Posts, Creativity, Hannah, Job/Career/Work, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 5

 

“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” – Cecil Beaton

This quote has been on a sticky note on my desktop for over a year.  Every few months I re-post it on Facebook or Twitter, just feeling the need to share.  This quote speaks to me more than any other I have read, and until today, I had no idea who Cecil Beaton was (which is a little embarrassing now that I’ve looked through his work!).

According to Wikipedia, Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton was an English fashion and portrait photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer, and Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre.  Cecil Beaton makes my heart beat faster.  But not for the reason a handsome, creative guy might normally make a girl’s heart beat faster.  To me, he represents everything we can be.  He wasn’t just a photographer or a costume designer.  Beaton chose his own path (way back in the 30’s!) and did all the things he loved.  And he did them well!  He was published in Vogue magazine (among others), won countless awards for his costume and set design, published his diaries.  He lived big.  And he inspires me. (Oh, and guess who taught him photography?  His nanny! I love that!)

I guess it makes sense that words that speak to me so much come from a man who lived his life in a way that speaks to me as well…but it still surprised me to read some of the details.  I kept saying, “Wow!” over and over again.

And so I started to look at a lot of the people who live big lives.  Who do what they love, who I admire so much.  People that I’ve looked up to and some days even wanted to be.  I’ve always thought they had something special.  That they were lucky, or super talented, or insanely courageous…and they probably are all of those things, but guess what? So am I!  I have doubts, fears, and road blocks…but I guarantee you, so do they!  And it kind of hit me.  They’re just people too.  Every amazingly wonderful, inspired, creative, brave person I look up to is just like me.  And just like you, too.  Which means that with a little bit (okay, a lot) of work, some passion, and some support from those who love us, every one of us can live our dreams.  Every last one of us can live big.

And really, don’t you think the world would be a better place if everyone was happily working hard at something that they love doing?  If everyone felt like they were being true to themselves and their dreams every day?  That’s the world I want to live in.  I’ll leave you with two more of my favorite quotes ever, and a wish that if you’re not already, you too will find what you love to do, and do it.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade wind in your sails.  Explore. Dream. Discover” – Mark Twain

“Don’t ask what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.” – Harold Whitman

[Photo Credit: Cecil Beaton]

Psst! Hey, you! Gorgeous girl! Down here!

The Create Your Magical Year program is available right now! Looking for a great way to take a hard look at your 2011 (good and bad) and get clear on what you want for 2012? This joyful, all-about-you program is packed with awesome goodies, inspirational interviews, a soul-searching, colorful workbook, guided recordings, and other little surprises. 2012 is your year, woman. I can feel it. Wanna feel it too? It’s not too late to get this year off on the right foot.Let’s do this!

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Writing and My Brain

posted 24th December 2011    Written by: Elyse    CATEGORY: All Posts, Creativity, Elyse, Inspiration, Season 5, What I've Learned

I’m working on a book. Surprise! I love reading so much, that I always promised myself one day, I would write a book that embraces all the things I love about other stories. I finally started to do it, but I’m coming up against the same problems I have always had when writing.

My brain moves too quickly, ebbing and flowing like the ocean beneath the stars (much as I would imagine Dover Beach to be but only because such a fantastic poem was written about it), and I can’t sit still long enough to have one linear thought. Even during work or other activities, my mind often wanders to far off places and big dreams. I would lie awake at night as a kid and couldn’t sleep because my mind would concoct some crazy dreams about what I was going to be doing in the future. Epic movies, books, and music don’t help as they force me to insert myself into the mix and imagine what it would be like if I was the character in that book or song. Especially music. I have always been attracted to “movie” music because my poor brain that finds no rest can focus for those few minutes on that song…I can see myself in a story embraced by that song.

I can focus on the energy and emotion of that music, yet eventually my mind wanders yet again. I am in a romantic or dangerous situation that requires strength or courage or even just a bit of spunk on my part, and the song comes alive with a story.

Movies and books have a story already laid out for you, but you can still find yourself locked in the pages or the scenes knowing that your life would be that much richer if you could come alive inside that story. Lack of money, lack of longterm goals, lack of what feels like a soul heartbeat ceases to matter because you are NOT stone you are NOT cold you are ALIVE with blood rushing through you and that incredible sensation of beauty and accomplishment lunging through your very veins with the speed of a jet airplane. And for a moment, you gather all the hope to your chest and cling to it for fear that every moment it pulls itself away from you.

These words only begin to describe the anxiety disorder that currently sits in my brain – chemical imbalances and hormonal issues causing mood swings, panic and eternal sadness. I have written my best poems and journal entries when in this fluctuating state – they are drenched in deep, cool colors that feel as vast as the sea.

Many times I type with my eyes closed because all I can hear is the music and see nothing that is technology or the modern world I find myself in. Just music and a slight clicking sound as these thoughts start in my brain and like lightening, rush through my nerve endings and type rhythmically though I don’t even want to think of the typing because it is of a world that I despair in and a world that makes me so sad my heart breaks. I want to fly because I feel like I deserve to. I want my actions to make a difference; I want my every move to embrace beauty and humanity. I want to follow all the paths that have been laid out before me, but I’m so afraid to choose the wrong one. Alice fell down the rabbit hole due to a miscalculated move to close to the edge and the path was chosen for her. I know I don’t want the path chosen for me but it sometimes seems so much easier. What I’m trying to say is…I’m writing a book to capture all those fleeting thoughts, ideas and characters that I’ve created all along my life path. Even if it isn’t any good or doesn’t make any sense, I think there will be peace from writing it all down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{Photo Credit: jjpacres}

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Making the House My Home

posted 23rd December 2011    Written by: Kristen    CATEGORY: All Posts, Creativity, Kristen, Life Lesson, Season 5, What I've Learned

I have been living solo for just about two months now, but until Saturday, December 10th, my house still had many pieces of my married life all around me. Every day I tried to work around various pieces of my former life and not think of them as reminders of a failed marriage.

As a museum curator, I know very well that various objects can have a power and allure to them- in museum speak, we often call them “numinous objects.” The vase, the painting, etc. symbolizes so much more than the actual thing it is and takes on new meaning and ability to tell a story. Well at my house, I was surrounded by numinous objects that told the story of how unhappy I was. The couch, the painting over the mantel, even the kitchen utensils were constant reminders of him, the marriage, the sadness and disappointment of things not working out. Even on the days when I felt amazing and full of life, being surrounded by the stuff would bring me down.

With a number of variables being in play that left his stuff in the house for a period of time after he moved out, there was not a whole lot in my control over doing something about this stuff. I would pack up some items after using them or when I ran across them in a cupboard, but because of my restrictions (budget, space, time), I did not really eliminate or replace the toxic objects either. I kept putting off the decision to start doing things for myself because it felt like there was so much chaos around me that I was overwhelmed by needing to make another decision.

And then one day it changed. I’m not exactly sure what flipped the switch, but maybe realizing that I was seriously delaying my life by waiting for his stuff to leave the house and thus, delaying my happiness by not making my house the way I wanted it to be, was the big push. Maybe it was the hours of pinning and pining on Pinterest that made me finally stop looking and do something about making my space the way I want it.

It started simply with buying new curtains for my living room, then quickly moved from room to room with small changes with things I already had in my possession. I put my bright red KitchenAid stand mixer out in the corner of the counter- it instantly added cheer and excitement to the beige, black and white kitchen. I displayed my favorite cookbooks on a shelf and added bright kitchen towels to the oven handle. In the living room, I have some gorgeous built-in bookcases next to my fireplace. As you can see from the photo, I made that space all about me- a photo of my mom and I, bright colored books and fun decorative objects, and more. After the holiday season, I have plans to rip wallpaper and paint in two rooms, display some great photographs around the house, and hang artwork that makes me smile.

This shift in my thinking about making the space how I want it has completely changed my focus about a timeline and my control over it. Clutter and mess can often make me anxious and in the past, I have freaked out over things like that. This has been the thing I have worked on the most and what I am most proud of myself for- that it doesn’t matter if there is no art on the wall or the pillows on the couch are all mismatched. It’s a temporary situation, it’s my situation, and I decide the timeline. It does not have to be done in a week and I can change my mind throughout the process- there are no rules.

It really is remarkable how doing tiny little things like this made a huge difference in my outlook on the situation and how I saw my house and myself.  I once thought I was horrible at decorating and interior design- I would spend hours flipping through magazines and looking at home design blogs feeling overwhelmed at choices and color palettes. I had a “ I can’t do this mentality” until it sort of hit me that it was not as hard as I was making it out to be- it really is just about finding colors, pictures, or items that bring out the best in me. It is not rocket science (although I will admit I needed my parents to help me figure out the curtain rod situation- I’m incredibly spatially and mechanically challenged at times). And it should be enjoyable and fun because it’s all about creating a space to enjoy and do the things you love in it. A house should be filled with love and happiness and where you can feel most like yourself- filling it with actual things and colors is the physical manifestation of everything exciting and awesome about who I am on the inside.  The best find was a silver glittery JOY sign that will stay there year round, not just for the holiday season. It will be my constant reminder of what I want and to always add sparkle to life.

[Photo Credit: Me!]

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Finishing my manifesto and learning what self-love really is

posted 15th December 2011    Written by: Dusti    CATEGORY: Creativity, Dusti, Life Lesson, Season 5

Sitting in a bright red Ikea chair at a local coffee shop, it hit me. The deadline smacked me across the face like the icy wind on the walk to the shop, and I knew, I was screwed.

It was the day I was supposed to unleash my brilliant, value-packed, fabulous new email opt-in on the world – and my manifesto wasn’t done. At least not totally. After weeks of hashing it out, scrapping sections, and letting my heart pour on to the page, it still. wasn’t. done.

Balls. Suck to the 10th power. FML. I had worked and worked and put in the hours and my best, and I had failed to meet my own stupid deadline.

This could have been the part where I gave up. But, the thing was, I had already done so much. After diving into painful memories from my past and listening intently to the stories of other women who , my philosophy has risen. Through all of the hurt and anguish and labels and expectations I saw so many women going through, I found where my truth had been hiding in plain sight. Who knew my universal truth would be found in my story – and more importantly, be reflected in the stories of others?

The manifesto I wanted to write wasn’t done – but there was a lot that was. So I edited everything into a short 14-page PDF, and I called it the Undefinable You Manifesto. Designed in Word and put together in about a half an hour, it was perfect. It wasn’t I had planned, and somehow, that made it even better.

It’s really hard to describe how I felt in that moment – vulnerable, but in my power zone. Crazy, but totally in my element.

Well, duh. How could I feel anything else? This manifesto was everything I wanted for the world. And of course I’d release it like this! It was so me. And I guess that was really the point, wasn’t it?

I’ve never really felt like I had a life’s mission before I hit the publish button on this thing. Not one that was huge and big enough for my tribe to get behind – but yet, here were these people reading what I had to say, ready to believe in me if I could just rise to the occasion. And when the time was right, it dawned on me – I wanted to build my business up so I could give it all away.

The ever-fleeting life mission? I want to give a million dollars or better a year to women’s empowerment causes. And not just money. I want to work side by side with an organization to help get women the skills they need to succeed and being self empowered. Because once they become empowered, they can self-actualize.

And then? They can unleash their dreams on the world. Beautiful. Legendary. Audacious. Because that’s what’s it all about for me. My message is to never settle – and my mission is an extension of that. If ever I’ve felt joy, this is it.

My big holiday wish for all of you is for you to find the same peace out of fear, joy in the hard moments, and love so deep for yourself that you can miss a deadline and be okay. Happy holidays everybody!

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