Archive for December, 2011

December 29th, 2011

Revolutionary Resolutions 2012

{via pinterest orignally from reasonstobreathe.tumblr.com.}

I’ve been making resolutions since I was a teenager.

Looking back I wrote things like:

1. lose 10 pounds

2. stop drinking soda

3. write a book

4. travel to Europe

I managed to somehow tackle items number 2 and 4. And surprisingly eliminating soda was a lot harder than finding my way to Europe.

But this year instead of racking up another thoughtless throw-away list, I wanted to create something revolutionary. What if I compiled a list of resolutions that actually meant something to me?

After rolling up my sleeves and digging in there deep, I realized that in 2011 I did more healing than I did producing. I still haven’t finished that book and I’m still working on getting closer to my dreams. But I worked on being more conscious of how stress affected my body, how taking time to be in nature was just as important as writing a blog. I learned that people may stay the same, but that I can change how I react to them. I re-discovered yoga and found peace in tai chi. I learned that it’s not the sunset, but it’s opening your eyes to that sunset that makes a difference.

For 2012, I want more of that in my life. I want…

  • to remember that no matter what my mind, my neighbor, my friend or my enemy says, I have control over the choices I make in my life.
  • to remember where the sun shines not just where the shadows are.
  • to choose not just good people in my life, but the people who are strong, courageous and  supportive.
  • to pick opportunities that are not just once-in-a-lifetime, but are once-in-a-lifetime to me.
  • to bite my tongue in the heat of the moment and exhale compassion and peace.
  • to know that my purpose isn’t to change you, but to hold you in your light and then let go at the right time.
  • to learn that the only real purpose in my life is to grow.
  • that kindness always goes down better than anger.
  • to remember that you can be both good to yourself and good to others.
  • to know that my life is not measured in numbers: in age, in weight, in height, in visitor counts and social media followers.
  • to accept me even when I’m leaning on acidic and far from being sweet.

What do you want most in 2012?

Will you create a standard list or do something revolutionary?

CategoryDaily Inspirations, Holiday Inspiration | CommentNo Comments »

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December 27th, 2011

The Top Posts for 2011

{discovered on Pinterest. originally from lokal54.com.}

We’re sliding into 2012. But before we go, I thought I’d countdown the end of the year with a countdown of my top 10 inspiring posts. Great for the new The Inspiring Bee reader and for those who’ve stuck around when my blog was just a free little thing called 2inspired. Since then I’ve made a whole lot of new friends, had my tweet published in this book, got a new column for The Writer magazine on inspiration, had my articles published in magazines, gained new copywriting projects including writing for Walmart Labs, was made associate editor for Psych Central, and all in all just been tickled pink and filled with gratitude for all social media has brought me. And they say it’s nothing, but a waste of time.

Thank you for all who stuck by me, commented here and there and supported me when I was just starting out. And Happy New Year! May your 2012 be even brighter than 2011.

1. When You’re Feeling Uninspired

Don’t let the 0 tweet counter fool you. This one was by far the number one post ever. Maybe there’s a lot of you feeling uninspired now. It’s a timely one to read before the end of the year to help shake you out of your rut for 2012.

2. Commit No Nuisance

I wrote this one on my way back from London where I was fascinated by their use of signs like this one. Don’t you love it when you find a parallel between what’s going on inside to what you’re finding outside in the world?

3. How to Invite More Possibility and Synchronicity in Your Life

This is one of my favorite posts. And I guess it was yours too. It reminds me about how magical life can be, if we only take the time open our eyes and see. If you’re feeling hopeless, this one will fill you back up with hope.

4. Fear is a Common Denominator in Following Your Calling

Talking about synchronicity, a big one fell into my lap after reading a book called Callings by author Gregg Levoy. I truly heart that book and after reading it, I was curious about the author. A 5-minute Google search later and I discovered he was going to be giving a talk 15 minute minutes away from my house the next night. I jumped at the chance and wrote about the experience here. It inspired my first and only callings event listed below.

5. Callings Group Event

This is the event I talked about with my biggest comment count ever. I thoroughly enjoyed helping out a fellow freelancer in this post. And if you follow her on Twitter, then you know how well she’s doing half a year later.

That’s my top 5 wrap-up. Have a good one!

CategoryHoliday Inspiration, Inspiring Links | CommentNo Comments »

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December 23rd, 2011

Holiday Creative Friday: DIY Calendar

Happy Early Merry Christmas!

I’m keeping it light today since the holidays festivities are in full swing with a short post on my latest holiday project.

Every year, I order mini calendars from Snow & Graham. And over the years, I’ve hung them in my home office:

And when the year passed, I used them to re-cover my mini wooden clothespins:

But for 2012, I decided to do something different.

I was super excited then when I found blank calendars at Paper-Source for just $8.95 (compared to those mini calendars from Snow & Graham at $14.95). Like a blank slate, it was mine to  paint. I’m not finished yet, but thought I’d let January make its debut a bit early:

This simple birdie drawing was inspired by a CB2 catalog. Love getting inspiration from catalogs!

What about you? 

Are you still in the creative mode? Or are you in need of putting your creative muse to rest?

CategoryCreativity, Holiday Inspiration | Comment1 Comment »

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December 20th, 2011

Letting Go of the Happy Ending

{Unplanned shot taken at a truck stop somewhere in Arizona.}

There’s a deep inherent desire in all of us to believe that every aspect of our lives should come with a perfect, happy ending. Maybe it’s been drilled in us from watching too many romantic movies and reading too many fairy tale happy endings. Although it gives me a twinkling satisfied feeling when I leave the theater, I know it does nothing for my sense of true happiness in the real world.

That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in magic and miracles and possibility.

Quite contrary.

But I believe that when we give up hope for perfection, we get something better than we expected.

I’ve wasted too much time holding onto relationships that weren’t good for me, projects that didn’t fit and opportunities that were more of a hassle than beneficial. Although I can’t get that time back, I can back my future my changing my present.

In the end, we all need to let go of control and let in faith.

Maybe your career isn’t perfect. Your home would never be on the Nate Berkus show’s ”House Proud” segment. Your family is more Osbournes than the Brady Bunch. And your relationship? Not the fairy tale ending you dreamed it would be.

But when we base our lives on an imaginary, unrealistic picture, we not only sell ourselves short. We sell our lives short.

It’s almost Christmas and New Year’s is right around the corner. It’s a great time to start recognizing the real gifts and magic out there now. Instead of trying to force an unrealistic vision, why not celebrate the freedom of life itself?

I realized that whenever I’m caught up in the end result, I’m missing the big picture and all the possibilities that come with that.

The best gift I can give myself is learning to be grateful for this moment and this moment only. In order to so, I must let go of the vision I have that a life lived perfectly is a life well-lived. This means that I must let go of the perfect day and even a perfect moment. This means that I must give up on having everything I want to accepting a life lived the best way I can. It’s an exchange that may feel like a sacrifice. But in the end, I know it’s one gift I won’t want to give back.

What will you let go of in 2011?

 

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December 16th, 2011

Holiday Creative Friday: DIY Christmas Trees

I vowed to be as present as possible this holiday. Mostly because ever since I was a child, Christmas would fly by so quick that I never quite enjoyed it.

I would be excited about Christmas Eve and look forward to Christmas day and then anticipated the moment when I would open every one of my presents. And then sitting in crumpled wrapping paper and torn off ribbons I’d ask: “Is that all?”

This year, I am taking it all in. Appreciating the lights, the presents and especially the decorations, as gifts to be unwrapped carefully.

I taught myself how to make my own snow globes. {The how-to is here.}

Filled an old mason jar with last year’s Target Christmas ornaments:

Put peace in a bowl. Thereby doing my part to contain peace.

Contained peace

And made my own Christmas trees this year with foam and pipe cleaners.

It’s probably my most favorite craft. I love the way it sparkles at night almost as much as I loved how quick and cheap they were to make. Basically all I did was buy silver pipe cleaners from Target and wrapped them around the foam. To get them to stay, I poked a hole in the Christmas tree shaped foam with and at the start of and at the end of the pipe clear.

Will definitely be saving these for next year.

The one that was a little harder to love, however, was my feather Christmas tree…Truthfully, they were not easy to do and did not come out as pretty as this blogger’s one. I laughed at them through my hot glue burns. They looked a little like a messed up chicken. And my bunny was not amused.

But I grew to love it. After slapping hot glue on the foam and stuffing feathers around them, I came out with this perfectly imperfect product:


I could have tossed it, chalked it up to another failed project. But I realized I had an opportunity here. Either I could abandon it, like we abandon the things about us we don’t like-our nose, our thighs, our imperfect handwriting scrawl or we could embrace it.

Don’t we all have a little imperfect feather tree in our lives? And are we going to continue to toss it, ignore it or fully embrace and love it for what it is? I chose the latter.

What will you choose in 2012?

CategoryHoliday Inspiration | Comment3 Comments »

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December 14th, 2011

What Made Me Drop to My Knees

When I was in Arizona, I wanted to fall to my knees.

And it wasn’t the canyons (Grand + Antelope) that did it for me. Nor was it the red rocks that made me feel a profound sense of peace and well-being.

Surprising since there were more than enough reasons to be in awe.

I’m embarrassed to say that my trip to Sedona RE-minded me that I’ve still got a lot to learn when it comes to this class called life.

 

The Big Drop to My Knees Moment

I felt sick to my stomach when standing on this ledge overlooking Horseshoe Bend. And it wasn’t vertigo or a fear of heights. Nothing admirable like that.

I had already experienced about 6 days of awe having traveled all the way from Phoenix to Tucson to Antelope Canyon and now here.

After taking about 500 photos of things like this:

I noticed that not only had I almost run out of battery in my camera, but I ran out of memory too. Being far from an outlet and my computer, I decided to delete a few. Guess what I did instead?

I DELETED MY ENTIRE CAMERA!!!

Over 500 photos of our entire trip.

The only reason why I have these is that my super smart husband was able to recover them-well most of them. The others came out like crap and looked like this:

And as embarrassed as I am to admit it, I have to be honest and say, “It’d about ruined my trip.”

Can you believe it?

I was willing to throw away 6 days of memorable experiences with my husband just because I didn’t have proof that we were there. We still went horseback riding, saw the stars falling from the diamond filled sky, walked up red mountains and gazed at the sun as set on the Grand Canyon.

And the Lesson Is?

I wonder if going to Arizona had less to do when the sense of spirituality and magic I felt while I was there and more about the lesson it taught me. This familiar desperation was a sign that maybe it’s time for another challenge. You know how I love my challenges.

As we countdown the weeks to another year, I’m focusing The Inspiring Bee on two words. And it’s not “eat less” “make more” or any of the normal yearly resolutions. This year I’m going to focus on different aspects of letting go.

Two words I’ve been having trouble with since I was a kid waving to the toilet bowl. {True story by the way.}

This week I’m letting go of the hope for a perfect photo and gaining acceptance for what is.

What will you let go of?

CategoryDaily Inspirations | Comment5 Comments »

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December 12th, 2011

The Missing Piece

{via colettepaperie from Etsy}

I’ve blogged about finding your calling here and here. But it seems as though I missed the boat when it comes to helping you find your dreams.

After you’ve discovered what you want. And you’ve thought about it. Wrote about it. Did what Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert does every day and write what you really, really, really want in your journal. Took all the steps to get to it. Marketed yourself. Educated yourself. Networked yourself crazy. But you are still here.

Waiting.

Praying.

Wondering.

Doubting.

Cause you’re still not where you want to be…

Maybe you’re starting to think taking that e-course would have been the way to go or that you shouldn’t have turned down that job offer you had recently. What’s taking SO long?! And why oh why haven’t you gotten there yet?!

I am an impatient person so I totally understand what you’re going through.

But the truth of the matter is the greatest obstacle that could be standing in the way of your dreams is…Y-O-U!

If you’ve ever questioned your talent, doubted your efforts, find yourself wondering if you’re really worthy of ______ (happiness, success, love, etc.), then you’re the one who’s holding yourself back.

The missing piece is you. It’s always been you.

It’s not your father, your teacher, your difficult client, your children, your siblings, your uncompassionate friend, your unsupportive spouse.

It’s you.

You are unfortunately and fortunately the thing in the way of your dreams.

And the only way you’re going to get there is to stop blaming others and start healing yourself.

How do you do that?

1. Bully yourself with love. When your thoughts are filled with negative self-talk, overpower them with positive words of self-love.

2. Remind yourself of what you’ve already accomplished. When faced with a new opportunity, you may automatically respond with the thought: “I can’t do that.” Tell yourself, “I already have.” Remember all the impossible feats you’ve already overcome.

3. Visualize yourself already there. Sometimes the fear that we can’t do something, sabotages our efforts. Visualizing that we’ve already achieved what we’re afraid of somehow makes the tasks seem less intimidating.

4. Remember why you want it. Focusing on why you’re doing what you’re doing can help alleviate some of the anxiety associated with success. If you’re intention is to help others, you will be less likely to shirk away from that next project because you’re focused on a larger goal.

5. Practice patience. When we are wounded, we put a band-aid over the sore spot to give it time to heal. It’s the same with our soul. Sometime it takes times to be where want to be. Have patience that you will get there. In the meantime, work on loving yourself. Work on healing the wounds of insecurity, rejection, unworthiness with love, acceptance, understanding.

Eventually, a new door will open. The question is, “Will you be ready for it?”

CategoryDealing with Fear, Finding Your Purpose, Following Your Dreams, Inspired Life | CommentNo Comments »

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