Category: Inspiration

Leaving a Legacy

posted 22nd January 2012 Written by: Elyse CATEGORY: All Posts, Elyse, Inspiration, Life Lesson, Season 5, What I've Learned

The dictionary definition of “legacy” is surprisingly boring and uninspiring:

leg·a·cy
noun
1. Law . a gift of property, especially personal property, as money, a will; a bequest.
2. anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor: the legacy of ancient Rome.
3. an applicant to or student at a school that was attended by his or her parent.
4. Obsolete . the office, function, or commission of a legate.
adjective
5. of or pertaining to old or outdated computer hardware, software, or data that, while still functional, does not work well with up-to-date systems.

I always imagined a legacy to be the mark one left on the world after their flame went out; something romantic and provocative that made people remember you and what you stood for. I’m not sure I want to leave a legacy if it only pertains to personal property, the college of your parents or outdated computer hardware. Now, if a legacy truly is closer to my imagined definition, leaving a legacy is definitely worth working on before I die.

However, I’m worried I might be so focused on leaving a legacy, I forget to live my life befitting of one. So many acts in this world, whether of creation or destruction, are done in the name of making a name for oneself so the world doesn’t forget. It can be good inspiration to accomplish something grand, but if all the focus is on a future world without you, the world with you will be unfulfilled and unlived.

Keeping that in mind, I do want to leave a lasting impression on the world. One that is positive and impactful, but I have to realize everything I do might not be as inspiring to some as it is to me. What if people don’t remember my name after I’m gone? What if they don’t continue to talk about my accomplishments? I think…that this is ok. I already shout my name and my accomplishments to the world with my action, but I can’t worry about what happens after. The most important question will always be to me, not what others think about me after I’m gone, but the feeling of fulfillment I have about life when I take my dying breath. If I could shout one thing to my peers from the rooftops? Don’t worry about making meaning in your death. Live to make meaning in your life. Right now.

{Photo Credit: CountyLemonade}

Some Lovely Things to Shift Your Perspective

posted 17th January 2012 Written by: Molly Mahar CATEGORY: Events, Inspiration, Molly

As most of you know, I keep my list of favorite courses, resources, and books on the Store page — but sometimes I can’t keep up with the lovely things being produced by my colleagues. And by colleagues I mean amazing women I know personally, who are truly living life on their own terms and helping others shift or grow in some way…

Transform. Play Bigger. Cultivate Gifts. See the World through Fresh Lenses. Make Huge Decisions. Celebrate Joy.

If you’ve been looking for some inspiration in the form of a course or retreat (or are just looking for some new beauties to follow online!) please wander through this round up of things I’m digging right now.

Playing Big with Tara Sophia Mohr

I had the honor to teach with Tara Sophia in Seattle at our Brilliant Women Salon last April. She is wise, tiny sparkplug of inspiration: uber-smart, truly kind, and grounded in a way that I can only admire from afar as I buzz around, flapping my hands as I speak too quickly and laugh too frequently. Her own Playing Big journey has been amazing to watch — from launching a major program last year (this one!) , to writing for the Huff Post, to some major TV appearances to spread her message — she has truly walks her talk and has major skills and knowledge to share.

In Tara’s words…

What is Playing Big?

Your playing big isn’t defined on the world’s terms. It isn’t necessarily owning an empire or making millions. You know what playing big means for you. It’s following that inspiration that is in your heart. Seeing it through. It is getting out there – visible – like the women you so admire. It is your voice, your vision, your unique contribution flowing forth, no longer shrunken down, stopped up inside you, or compromised.

Here’s the good news: if you have been playing small, it’s okay. Most of us don’t play big naturally, on our own, without any support. We need tools, support, training – a process – to help us play bigger.

The six-month Playing Big journey gives women the inner foundation and the practical skills that they need to play bigger. We could call it a “program” or a “course” but it’s a revolution. It’s a movement. Women playing big is going to change the world.

And guess what? We’re hosting a FREE WEBINAR this Thursday night! It will be 45-60 minute video conversation about how we “Play Big” in our own lives, full of inspiration, big truths and laughter, I’m sure.

All you need to do? Join us at 6 pm PST/ 7 pm MST/ 8 pm CST/ 9 pm EST this Thursday the 19th!

If you want to register so you get reminders and the call recording CLICK HERE.
If you just want access to the call on the 19th CLICK HERE.

The Photo Essay Project with Bindu Wiles

This just started yesterday, but it’s definitely not to late to join in! I’m taking it and really looking forward to having a chance to express myself creativity that has nothing to do with my business! Let it be noted that I’m also a bit nervous — what if I don’t have time to shoot everyday (although since it’s done on iPhones, I don’t really have any excuses…), what if everyone else is totally awesome and I suck, what if [insert fear that's yet to be identified]?

But I’ve had the chance to meet Bindu a few different times and have been reading her blog for quite awhile and this is definitely not that type of course. No real need for nerves or comparison.

Bindu is a gentle spirit who’s been through a lot, and still truly believes in the goodness of humankind. My kind of woman! She’s also quirky (see her penchant for bow ties) and an amazing street photographer, armed with nothing up her iPhone and some sweet apps. I’m truly excited to learn from her during this Photo Essay Project.

In her words…

What amazes me time and time again is the endless range of emotion that can be held in a face

and how much I see my own feelings on someone else’s face, and how my heart extends to that person.

The practice of iPhone photography has increased my sensitivity and my ability to see deeper into the world all around me and be deeply moved by it, and therefore, able to transcend my own pain and suffering.

In this 5-week online course, I will be teaching a black and white portrait class in the tradition of the street photography period that was roughly between 1890 and 1975.

The iPhone and the incredible photo processing apps that are available, are bringing a resurgence to the street photography of yesteryear and which is now referred to as mobile photography.

The Well-Fed Woman Retreatshops with Rachel W Cole

I love Rachel Cole. Last spring she was my lighthouse in some stormy waters — serving beautifully as my personal coach when all I knew was that I was feeling “off”. I told her I felt disconnected from what I really loved and wanted to jam on creativity, spirituality, and sexuality. Um… Talk about some broad topics!

I adored getting on the phone with her every week and even more, I loved meeting her in Portland for a lovely dinner at the Ace Hotel. She’s a breath of fresh air, a courageous soul, and one of my personal heroines for her ruthless (yet gorgeous) commitment to asking and answering for herself and her clients, “What are you truly hungry for?”

And this is the best part. She’s traveling around the country leading Well-Fed Woman Mini Retreatshops for lucky women in Petaluma, Berkely, Fort Collins, New York, Providence, Northampton, Alexandria, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Minneapolis and Los Angeles. If you live in one of these cities, you need to get your booty into a Retreatshop. I know it make a difference in your world.

In her words…

Who are the retreatshops for?

Women who want to say yes to themselves instead of no.
Women who sense that they have more greatness to birth.
Women who desire to know and trust their own hungers.
Women who want to trust their desires.
Women who crave the courage to step more deeply into their lives.
Women who want to explore their relationship to themselves.
Women who know the power of women sitting with other women.

You’ll meet all types of women — young and old, dread-locked and bow-tied, at war and at peace with food, religious and agnostic. There is no one type of woman for whom this experience is designed. If you want to know and feed your truest hungers, at and away from the table, The Retreatshop is for you. Each session will bring together just 15 women.

For me, the word hunger has several meanings. In general, however, food hungers are simply doorways into the disconnection so many women have with their deeper hungers in life – in their careers, relationships, creativity, self-care, and spirituality.

We will explore food-related hungers, and how understanding them can help us understand the broader hungers we each experience. You’ll gain important insights into your personal hungers from The Retreatshop whether you are at war or at peace with food.

______________________________________________________________________

Those are the woman making me sparkle right now! What have you seen online that you’re digging? I’d love to hear your recommendations, sugar pop. See you Thursday for the Webinar I hope!

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}

More Love Letters – Mailing Love to Erika

posted 11th December 2011 Written by: Katie CATEGORY: Inspiration, Love/Relationships, Season 5

Ladies! We need your help! Are you feeling the spirit of giving this month? ‘Cause we’ve got a challenge for YOU.

Here’s the story: Hannah Brencher is the amazing woman behind “More Love Letters”. After a year-long commitment to write herself a love letter each day, Hannah realized the power of LOVE. She wanted to take her self love vision and turn it into a do good world movement. So what did she do? She launched the More Love Letters project where she encourages those interested to write an anonymous Love Letter and leave it in a public place for someone else to find.

Sounds amazing, eh? Wouldn’t you feel great if you found a love letter just waiting for you out in the world? What if you were the writer of such loveliness?

We’re proud to team up with Hannah on the 12 Days of Love Letter Writing – She’s selected 12 people who need some extra shine in their lives. We’re one of the lucky sites hosting one of the love letter recipients. (To Fierce Love, baby!)

Here is the specially selected lady needs a little bit of love from the Tribe at Stratejoy:

“Erika is a 29-year-old young woman with the world at her feet. Her younger sister, by just 15 months, requested this love letter for her, “She spent 6 months on a mission trip ministering to women who were being sex trafficked. She is a leader at her local church and a veteran. She is the kindest and smartest person I know. She is married to a man that absolutely adores her…who wouldn’t?? She has been such an inspiration to me.” Erika is currently applying to law school and has been really down on herself, thinking she won’t get in. Erika’s sister wrote, ‘She could really use some encouragement so that she feelings about herself could match how I feel about her.’”

How can you help? – Pick up your favorite pen, some pretty paper, and spill some love over to Erika. Say whatever is in your heart, think about a time when you doubted yourself and share some inspiration with our girl. When you’re done, send the love letter off to Hannah at: PO Box 2061, North Haven, CT 06473 - She will be bundling all of the love letters and sending them over to Erika to read.

Before you mail off your letters, if you’d like, take a photo of it and e-mail it to katie@stratejoy.com and she’ll get them right over to Hannah! You can also tweet the photo to your followers and encourage others to write to Erika too!

Here are some sample tweets to get you rolling…

I’m joining @stratejoy in a special @moreloveletters mission! Details here: http://wp.me/pqf7H-3DX

I believe in the power of love. You too? Join @stratejoy (and me!) for a special @moreloveletters mission. http://wp.me/pqf7H-3DX

Making the world better one love letter at a time… I’m teaming up with @stratejoy and @moreloveletters! http://wp.me/pqf7H-3DX

Wanna know more about Hannah and the More Love Letters Project? Head on over to: http://www.moreloveletters.com/

Facing Anxiety and Stressful Days

posted 10th December 2011 Written by: Elyse CATEGORY: All Posts, Elyse, Inspiration, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 5, Tips & Tools, What I've Learned

anxiety, depression gen-y depression, fighting depression, fighting panic attacks, meditation

There are many days where I am anxious and extremely stressed whether it is about finances, work, family issues, or any other number of concerns. Everyone has days like this, but for me, these feelings operate on a whole other level because I have an anxiety disorder.

My extreme anxiety has led to depression, panic attacks, insomnia, weight loss, weight gain, and other symptoms that make it hard to lead a productive life on those days. I am on medication for the anxiety which has made my life so much easier day-to-day, but I still have a few really bad days.

I know I won’t always be anxiety-free, even on medication, because anxiety is a natural part of our human nature. But, I’ve been working on strategies for years to help cope on those freak-out days. My newest anxiety-fighter has been yoga. I took advantage of a yoga Groupon, and the difference has been incredible. I feel calmer, move a lot smoother, and generally feel physically good.

Tea is one of my quick fixes. Something about a good cup of tea really makes me slow down, take a deep breath and just sip. It is warm, comforting and easy to have at any time. I keep tea in my desk at work and drink bedtime tea before bed. I also take 20. This means whenever I feel myself getting worked up, I immediately stop what I’m doing (if possible) and take a 20 minute break. Sometimes this means taking a walk, but it can also be locking myself in a dark room and laying on the floor for 20 minutes. It really depends on how I’m feeling or where I am, but that 20 minutes is just for me and immediately calms me.

If I can’t immediately stop what I’m doing to take 20, I will put headphones on and listen to calming music. It usually makes the task I’m working on a lot easier. If I have just a free moment, I will read one of my favorite quotes. There are some I enjoy for their humor, some for their insight, and some for their motivation. Some of my favorites I read over and over:

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
-Walt Whitman

“I guess I could be be pretty pissed off about
what happened to me.. but it’s hard to stay mad, when there’s so much beauty in the world.
Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once,
and it’s too much,
my heart fills up like a balloon
thats about to burst..
And then I remember to relax,
and stop trying to hold on to it,
and then it flows through me like rain
and I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life..”
-American Beauty

I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart.
I am.
I am.
I am.
-Sylvia Plath

Sometimes just reading them brings a calmness to my anxious brain.

Dealing with my anxiety has never been easy, but I’m proud of how far I’ve come. I appreciate the motivation that can come with stress, but I understand how important it is for my well-being to take care of myself mentally.

{Photo Credit: Slazebni}