Archive for February, 2012

February 28th, 2012

What’s Vital to the Success of Your Dreams

Every day a million dreams are dispersed around the world. I like to think of them as seeds awaiting their potential, having faith in nothing, but the wind to carry them far and love to embed them deep.

Think of a dandelion with all of its individual seeds. If it sits safe, it will never grow. Taking that risk and flying in the wind it could be eaten, it could disintegrate. But if it never left, it would perish anyway.

This weekend I went to a Buddhist Retreat where I remembered the price we pay when we forget to breathe.

In an attempt to make something of your life, you work against time, you fight your competition, you struggle with any obstacle that confronts your path. But at what cost?

How many times have I made that mistake? How many times have I forgotten and had to be reminded that the price I pay for overworking myself isn’t worth the sacrifice?

It’s one thing to work hard towards your goal. It is quite another to work hard regardless of your health, your relationships, your livelihood. I must continually remind myself that I am only responsible for myself, that the only goal in my life is to be happy, that my life will not be more meaningful based on the job I have, the house I don’t own, the book I didn’t finish yet. But how much I’ve given to others and most importantly myself.

Right now you may be throwing yourself in your latest endeavor. And you are proud of what you’ve accomplished and excited about the prospect of finishing it. And that’s good. We all need dreams. But remember that the risk of not doing, the risk of having faith that the wind will carry you through is also necessary.

It’s not just all that you do, but it’s giving yourself time to not do that is important.

You will never finish that book or complete that daunting task unless you put away that computer, turn off that phone and sit and be for awhile. So do it. Do it and be comforted in knowing that your life will be waiting for you when you return.

February 24th, 2012

Creative Friday: Reusing Bottle Caps

I’m not much of a bottle drinker. I rarely drink soda. But when my cousin handed out Hawaiian lilikoi soda for the holidays I was smitten. Those pretty pink bottles gleamed and was admittedly a nice once-in-awhile sweet treat.

While I forgot to snap a shot of the bottles themselves, I did catch a few photos of their cute vintage hula girl caps. They were definitely save worthy and I realized immediately that they would be the perfect little additions to our refrigerator.

All I needed for this easy craft was a glue glun (which I thankfully already have) and magnets (which I nabbed at Michaels for <$1.50 with a 40% off coupon).

This may be one of the easiest crafts I’ve ever DIM (did it myself).

First, pluck off the soda cap off the bottle (and try to do it at various angles so you’ll minimize distorted caps like this first one).

Then, flip the cap over and glue the magnet on. (These magnets come in 12 pacs and are .5in and 12.7mm.)

Because these magnets were small, I needed two to make them work. You can either glue the second magnet directly atop the first or just put them right on. The magnets hold together nicely without any glue.

Bonus for me: The second set of magnets were already glued together. Love “mistakes” like that.

February 22nd, 2012

How Much Would You Risk for Your Dreams?

Dandelion

As you know from this post, I’ve had a little more free time on my hands lately. Especially since my new blogging job at Beliefnet has been temporarily stalled because of all the increase in traffic that’s been landing there lately (good news for my future, bad news for me now).

On the bright side, I’ve had ample time to work on my dreams: a book I hope to publish one day, a copywriting job, and my latest project (recovering a vintage typewriter I bought and shared on Facebook over the weekend).

Sunshine with a Chance of Crazy

Well in the midst of all my applying, I’ve gotten a surprising number of callbacks and interests. There were at least a handful that made my stomach tingle (you know the feeling you get when you really like someone? That kind).

But here I am, feeling that same doubt. Because I’ve gone and done something super crazy! Crazier than leaving a job for no job in tow. I’ve said, “No” to all of them. Why? Because they’d require a sacrifice I can’t foresee making right now-giving up the freedom and flexibility that comes with freelancing and telecommuting. Am I crazy or what?

I have to admit that turning down jobs, especially writing jobs that I would love, seems not only illogical, but quite frankly a little bit of stupid. But I can’t give up now. I think following your dreams take faith. The kind of faith that makes you walk forward without any certainty that something or someone will catch you if you fall.

If it sounds too crazy for you, think of it this way. If you were single and wanted to find your soul mate, would you get together with each person you met that was available just because they were available? Or would you risk turning a few down because you had faith that you would eventually meet the right person or at least a few date worthy candidates?

What Would You Give Up for Your Dreams?

I heard someone say once that you can have everything you want in life, but not all at one time. What’s required of you to fulfill that dream is to give up something else in return. For some, it’s family over career. For others, it’s a willingness to wait a lifetime in order to finish that book or travel to Europe. But whether it’s time, financial security or stability, it’s worth asking yourself this:

What am I willing to give up for the purpose of pursuing my dreams?

February 20th, 2012

Inspiring Businesses

When I’m stuck in a rut, when I’m feeling like my chips are down, the one thing that lifts me up better than an ice-cream cone on a sweltering hot day is soaking up the light from other inspiring businesses.

This past week I heard of two that really got me going and I wanted to share their stories with you here.

Teen Beats Sharks

I first heard about Maggie Bradshaw on Shark Tank. (One of my favorite mindless reality TV shows.) Even if you haven’t seen it before, the title really says it all. People looking for investors to fund their latest invention give a brief presentation to a financially wealthy panel (the sharks) and get ready for them to swarm. It’s a fun show to watch. But this time I was more afraid for Maggie and her younger 12-year old sister.

Not only did Maggie do better than most participants in the show, but all 5 of the sharks wanted to invest in her company. She was assertive, determined and more knowledgeable about business and profit margins that I was at that age. She held her ground, negotiated, didn’t show an once of fear and ended up getting 3 sharks to invest in her million dollar company. Maggie’s just 16. And her company? Necklaces made out of used bottle caps. Genius! You can find out more about m3 girl designs here.

A Truly Inspiring Bee

I haven’t met Bumble owner Mary Heffernan except seeing her in passing as I left her charming restaurant/play cafe, but she still inspires me. As soon as I walked into the cottage that housed her dreams, I was smitten. What I most admire about Heffernan is her out of the box thinking. She created a business out of what she felt was a need-a place where adults could enjoy eating out again with their kids. The cottage is beautifully and glamorously decorated so much so that I didn’t even realize it was a place parents bring their kids until I looked through the aquarium and saw children looking back at us from the next room. What a brilliant idea! Not only that but the items on her menu are organic and locally sourced. And I’m a big lover of details so I couldn’t help but adore the tiles in the bathroom shaped like what else? Honeycombs.

These are just a few business and I’m sure you have your own list of people and companies that make you want to be and do better in your own life. Who are they and what is about them that inspire you?

I’m signing off with one more bit of inspiration. George Lucas recently sat down to talk with Oprah on OWN and I had to jot down what he said about passion. Here it is:

“You sit down to do something at 7 o’clock in the morning and you get hungry and you realize it’s 7 o’clock at night. That’s your passion. That’s what you love. Find something like that, that you can make your career…The idea of making money. The idea of being famous. The idea of becoming powerful in essence is meaningless. It’s only that you’re happy and you’re only going to be happy doing what you love.”

February 17th, 2012

Creative Friday: Got My Paint Brush On

I’ve been dabbling here and there with painting my own mini calendars. But I’ve been craving something more. So I devoted a whole night to enjoying the pure sensation of painting.

Although it’s no van Gogh or da Vinci, it’s still my own. And plus, I know you guys won’t judge (too harshly) right? Anyway, engaging in something creative feels healing to my soul. Here’s something I whipped up in a water color painting fury.

And for a fun sepia version:

It’s inspired by Sedona sunsets and the colors from my hometown of Oahu.

Have you been whipping up something crafty yourself lately?

I’ve been on a crazy crafting binge since 2012 and have stocked up 3 weeks of creative posts to share with you. But I’d love to know what you’ve been working on. If you’ve got it, flaunt it in the comments below.

February 14th, 2012

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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I was going to skip this post. Mostly because I already wrote one here and here, and I’m trying my darnedest to reduce my workload and learn to savor more. Plus, Valentine’s Day is such a commercial holiday. All that pressure to get the most thoughtful gift or the most expensive one is exhausting and unnecessary. Not to mention what it does to people who are single.

{This just in. Imagine this as a news ticker running horizontally below this post. I did a Twitter scan and realize I’m not the only one who’s not thrilled about V-day. The people I’m following either hate it, avoid it or spending time doing more fun things (running, etc.)}

It’s not that I don’t enjoy presents or celebrating special occasions, but I just don’t appreciate the pressure that comes with it. I think it affected me more being single than it means something to me being married. It’s just a reminder that society thinks you’re not complete enough if you don’t have a romantic partner to share chocolates and wine with.

It’s like Deepak Chopra said:

“If love is universal, no one can be left out.”

So today while you’re going about your day, take time to remake the holiday.

Yes I feel lucky and fortunate and blessed that I have someone I love to share my life with. But I also believe that special someone could be a life-long friend, family member, pet or even yourself.

For today, my husband and I are going to have a vegetarian lunch at a Buddhist church and probably spend the night having dinner and watching TV (like what we normally do). And somewhere in-between I’m going to indulge in something nice with the person I’ve neglected too often-myself. I hope you’ll join me in doing the same.

Happy Valentine’s!

 

February 13th, 2012

Did I Make the Right Decision?

I used to admire friends who could end a relationship when everything was still hunky dory because they knew it wasn’t the right one for them. It was a strong indication of their ability to follow their instincts and trust their own intuition.

I have always been a doubter trying to practice a little more faith. But recently all that leaning I was doing on the side of stability and security made me feel stuck. It also made me feel like a coward.

How could I possibly keep blogging here about courage, if I was living life with my tail between my legs?

So after 6 months of hemming and hawing and feeling stuck, I decided to do something CrAzY!

I decided to follow my dreams, listen to my intuition and abandon that little voice inside my head that said, “Who do you think you are?!” And I did it anyway.

After two years of loving my job at Psych Central (I was even recently mentioned in this article about my work for the company), I decided it was time to say goodbye. And I did it the careless way, the way people say you should never do it. I quit without a backup (with just a few gigs-a.k.a. my column with The Writer magazine and my biweekly blogs for Psych Central).

I decided I wanted to return to writing and not just editing. I wanted to stop being afraid and take a big risk. And so I did.

Making the Right Decision is Scary

Although I think I made the right decision, the process was still scary. I had no excuses, no upcoming jobs and a lot of self-doubt. I realized then that I DEFINITELY made the right decision. Why?

I was catching up on old Oprah’s Lifeclass reruns when I heard Iyanla Vanzant talk about self-growth. She said humorously and truthfully:

“If you’re not living your life at such a certain level, you have some fear, you’re living too small. If you don’t have some trembling then you’re living too small…If pee is not running down your leg, you are living too small because that means you’re in control and you’re too comfortable and you can handle it. When you are comfortable, you are not growing.”

Then guess what happened?

I saw a job ad for a writer/editor position. But not just any position. It was for a company that I had been dreaming about writing for since I began full-time freelancing, about 5 years ago. I subscribed to all of their email newsletters and tweet their posts. I have been waiting for an opening for a very long time. And there it was. I was afraid and applied anyway.

I received a call two days later. I found out that the position was in-house and since moving to Virginia wasn’t on our agenda, I was pretty disappointed. But decided to ask if maybe there were other opportunities available in which I could write telecommute instead.

Can you guess what happened next?

Yep. They had an opening for a blogger position on their health website. And they had been looking for awhile. I couldn’t believe my luck. Or faith? Or intuition?

So I have my own column there and you’ll be able to read about emotional health and wellness 4 days a week on my new blog Happy Haven! I’ll still be posting here, my writing site and my column for The Writer too. Hope to connect with you on one of the them soon!