March 25th, 2009

Hope in a House Plant

We live in a stressful society. Today, the possibility that anything is possible, good or bad, can often be overwhelming. Keeping up with the Jones for example, has now turned into, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and how can anyone keep up with them. Where opportunities abound and so does imbalance and instability, having hope these days may feel like a second job. That’s why today’s post is of a simpler nature.

It’s the story of a “little house plant that could.” I’ve killed probably every single house plant I’ve ever own, along with my fish. Thank goodness my other pets are still alive. So when I asked the clerk at Trader Joe’s if this plant would be easy, I really wanted to know if it was worth the investment. Would this $6 flower plant last longer than a bouquet of fresh flowers? Well surprisingly enough, I’ve had it now for about a year. This little miracle has inspired me to never give up on my dreams. It’s a survivor. Every once in awhile, it looks like it has taken its last breath, but then it starts growing new leaves. I think it’s a simple reminder of the importance of hope. That when all seems lost, you never know the treasures waiting to bloom, just around the corner.
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March 19th, 2009

From a Spark to a Flame: Aspire to an Inspiring Life

When the stressors of day to day life begin to take its toll on me, I know it’s time for me to go on an adventure. Whether it’s by taking a hike out in nature, meditating, getting lost in a good book, or by exploring a new interest, I believe that it’s vitally important to my health, to make fun a priority.

When you put yourself first and engage in an activity that interest you, it brings new light, perspective and creativity into your daily life. Solutions to old problems may come to the surface since focusing your energy in a different direction, makes room for and attracts new ideas into your life. For example, I took a one day, three hour course in interior design. What that short course taught me was how to declutter, organize, set goals and create a plan of action before inviting anything new in your home. That design specific information also could be applied in a broad way to life. It’s given me a focus and a realistic perspective of how to bring about positive change. I need, for example, to be clear about what it is I actually want, organize my thoughts, and then create steps to ways to get there. It has also given me insight to the ways we declutter our homes and our lives in order to fill empty spaces-perhaps out of fear and lack of control of it ever being filled the way that we want them to.

The next time you are feeling out of sorts, take a little time to focus on an interest or hobby you’ve always wanted to take up. Then, have the courage to pursue it. Like the effects of that pebble thrown in the river, you never know how that small, seemingly insignificant action could change your life.

March 12th, 2009

Taking a Bite of the Big Apple One Bite at a Time

If the US is where American dreams are dreamt, then New York city is where those dreams become a reality. Having just experienced my first trip to the gorgeous city, my eyes became open to the possibility of the impossible…to dream a dream that could really come true.

What I once thought was a big, dangerous and cold city, I learned was not only a beautiful and an exciting place but a place filled with life and inspiration. It made me realize that most dreams are just waiting to be fulfilled and that what prevents us from obtaining them are fear and a lack of focus.

While I was walking through the bitter cold, sharing subways with people who talked to themselves and escaping traffic like an animal running away from its predator, I felt so alive! And I realized that to make a dream happen, to really live your life, you need to be focused and present.

In contrast, what my life is normally like is multitasking. I multitask at work to drown out the boredom, and I multitask at home to try to get as many things done as possible. The outcome is not a life filled with dreams but a life spent sleepwalking. My short trip in that sense, woke me up. From now on, my goal is to meet life head on, just like how I approached being that little girl in the Big Apple, I plan on doing it one bite at a time.
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December 31st, 2008

New Year's Resolutions: 2008

Every year, I attempt to write a resolution-even though as a friend said, “What’s the use when you never stick to it?”  So true, but I think that resolutions are a tradition for me.  I’ve done it almost every year since I was kid.  Writing that list always gave me something to hope for, look forward to and to wish upon, as if a new year could hold so much more for me than the previous one.  Kind of shedding your old skin and being reborn into everything you wanted to be but couldn’t.  You know the “perfect you”-the skinnier, more organized, gentler, kinder soul that everyone loves while having the perfect job and the perfect life.  Of course you might never achieve all that’s on your list, but there’s that glimmer of hope that maybe this year…

So here’s my list for a fine 2009.  After all, 2008 was pretty great, who knows what’s in store for the new year?

1. Write more!

2. Spend less.

3. Travel to New York.

4. Write a gratitude journal.

5. Keep a food diary.

6. Volunteer.

7. Spend time doing something fun every day.

8. Create a timeline for my dream career.

9. Meditate at least weekly!

10. Be open to possibility.

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December 24th, 2008

Too Much Thoughts

I haven’t written in awhile and when I don’t write, my head is like what a psychic told me once-filled with too much data like a worn out, used disk.  I need to reboot and reload.  So forgive me if this entry is messy, and unfocused.  My head is filled with too much ideas right now. 

Being back home, for example, has given me a lot things to think about and write about such as what am I doing with my life and where am I going?  Right now the economy is affecting everyone, small businesses, holiday shopping, and just an overall feeling of unhappiness and worry.   I don’t know anyone right now who truly enjoys there job but feel that they are lucky to have a job and so will stick with it.  What will this mean for writers?  What will this mean for people like me still searching for our dream job?  I don’t want to give up the dream but the issue of money continues to haunt me.