Thursday, April 11, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
I dare you! Show us your closet!
Monica: " Huah?!!!.....How did you get in there?!"
Chandler: (intense giggles) "You're messy!"
Monica: "No you weren't suppose to see this!"
Oh Monica!!! How I can relate!!!!! Don't we all have these little secrets? It might be a drawer, or closet (or in my case, my car!). Here's the thing. Isn't it wrong that we feel like we have to hide it? As if the perception the world will carry of us if they knew would change our world forever that we couldn't bare it?
The media makes it worse. From TV commercials, blogs, and internet sensations like pinterest we are exposed to this illusion that our efforts and capabilities are not meeting today's standards. We have so much to 'live up to'. We have so much room to fail.
You want to know a secret? Pictures I take for blogs, or products do not include my carpet for a reason. (Infact I even put a little effort into my pictures I post on my facebook timeline!)It's usually decorated in trudged in dirt, cookie crumbs and most likely, toys everywhere. The most respected blogs don't share our secret closets with the rest of the world. It is costing us, the 'normal' peeps some serious confidence.
So what are we going to do about it?! I declare, we need to reclaim normal. We need to be proud of it! We need to reclaim our confidence and feel secure to say "I don't do it all!!!" That's why I'm starting a segment "Your Shameless Imperfections". Go on. I dare you:
1. Like my facebook page
2. Post a picture on my wall: it can be your closet, your drawer, your car, your bedroom....the aftermath of project, dinner, or the state you left your home in before you left for work. Just be real, and be brave. Face your fear!
3. Check in each second Tuesday of the month for my fav pics! Give these ladies praise for being brave, and if you ever have moments like these, say so!
So what are you waiting for? I dared you; Go get your iphones and start sending me pics! :0) I triple dog dare you!
Chandler: (intense giggles) "You're messy!"
Monica: "No you weren't suppose to see this!"
(Monica (Courtney cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry), on The Secret Closet from series FRIENDS)
Oh Monica!!! How I can relate!!!!! Don't we all have these little secrets? It might be a drawer, or closet (or in my case, my car!). Here's the thing. Isn't it wrong that we feel like we have to hide it? As if the perception the world will carry of us if they knew would change our world forever that we couldn't bare it?
The media makes it worse. From TV commercials, blogs, and internet sensations like pinterest we are exposed to this illusion that our efforts and capabilities are not meeting today's standards. We have so much to 'live up to'. We have so much room to fail.
You want to know a secret? Pictures I take for blogs, or products do not include my carpet for a reason. (Infact I even put a little effort into my pictures I post on my facebook timeline!)It's usually decorated in trudged in dirt, cookie crumbs and most likely, toys everywhere. The most respected blogs don't share our secret closets with the rest of the world. It is costing us, the 'normal' peeps some serious confidence.
So what are we going to do about it?! I declare, we need to reclaim normal. We need to be proud of it! We need to reclaim our confidence and feel secure to say "I don't do it all!!!" That's why I'm starting a segment "Your Shameless Imperfections". Go on. I dare you:
1. Like my facebook page
2. Post a picture on my wall: it can be your closet, your drawer, your car, your bedroom....the aftermath of project, dinner, or the state you left your home in before you left for work. Just be real, and be brave. Face your fear!
3. Check in each second Tuesday of the month for my fav pics! Give these ladies praise for being brave, and if you ever have moments like these, say so!
So what are you waiting for? I dared you; Go get your iphones and start sending me pics! :0) I triple dog dare you!
Monday, April 8, 2013
The Importance of Community: It's critial to your Thrivival!
1570 miles didn't stop me from picking up and leaving everything I knew to start a life where the only certainty came from my husband. I had no fear, and optimism on my side. By the time I left, I already checked myself out emotionally. Armed with determination, I was prepared to fight my way back home, and at the time, Spokane sounded like a good starting point.
I didn't hate Tucson. I did hate the heat, the dirt, and the lack of family. The most important memories I have is the ones created by the only community I had: my mothers group. I learned a lot about social ins and outs (You would think I learned them in school, but I suppose I didn't.) through it. It was my only consistent social outlet and my survival plan.
(photo of our first snow in Tucson, really made me miss home)
The importance of community didn't hit me until I reached Spokane, and the appreciation was not fully realized until moving away. Can you survive without community?
Nature already knows community is vital to quality of life. It's not just the balance of our eco-system. Michael Dowd points out that the entire genetic makeup of the universe structures itself upon community. Even when you take the smallest thing you can think of...such as an atom....and look at it from a larger scale, you can see community taking place. Atoms work together to make simple organisms, and simple organism work together to make complex organisms and so on until it makes up the various complex creations such animals, even solar systems!
Community ensures that everyone contributes to society. We all have area of expertise, and/or social standing: and those positions deserve an equal amount of respect and gratitude. While society can sacrifice one or two non-specifics, if we miss too many pieces society it will collapse. In other words the rich man would not be rich if the poor man was not poor. The doctor would not save lives if the farmer did not farm.
Survival and Thriving is not the same thing. We need community to thrive. We need it to bring us to a since of belonging, self-identity, and support. Community is why I love Spokane. It is the support of community I love the most: the friend who brought me milk when my entire family was sick (Thanks Daree!), the person who invited me to events and groups, and the support groups that helped me recollect myself enough to combat depression (shout out to Berean Mops!).
What is more, is how I saw the larger community to do amazing things. Like helping Cat, a young woman with Scleroerma, raise money to fund a stem cell transplant to save her life. It just brings tears to my eyes. I can't wait to find all the community has here in Seattle.
Can you survive without community? Possibly. But do you want to survive or thrive?
I didn't hate Tucson. I did hate the heat, the dirt, and the lack of family. The most important memories I have is the ones created by the only community I had: my mothers group. I learned a lot about social ins and outs (You would think I learned them in school, but I suppose I didn't.) through it. It was my only consistent social outlet and my survival plan.
The importance of community didn't hit me until I reached Spokane, and the appreciation was not fully realized until moving away. Can you survive without community?
Nature already knows community is vital to quality of life. It's not just the balance of our eco-system. Michael Dowd points out that the entire genetic makeup of the universe structures itself upon community. Even when you take the smallest thing you can think of...such as an atom....and look at it from a larger scale, you can see community taking place. Atoms work together to make simple organisms, and simple organism work together to make complex organisms and so on until it makes up the various complex creations such animals, even solar systems!
Community ensures that everyone contributes to society. We all have area of expertise, and/or social standing: and those positions deserve an equal amount of respect and gratitude. While society can sacrifice one or two non-specifics, if we miss too many pieces society it will collapse. In other words the rich man would not be rich if the poor man was not poor. The doctor would not save lives if the farmer did not farm.
Survival and Thriving is not the same thing. We need community to thrive. We need it to bring us to a since of belonging, self-identity, and support. Community is why I love Spokane. It is the support of community I love the most: the friend who brought me milk when my entire family was sick (Thanks Daree!), the person who invited me to events and groups, and the support groups that helped me recollect myself enough to combat depression (shout out to Berean Mops!).
What is more, is how I saw the larger community to do amazing things. Like helping Cat, a young woman with Scleroerma, raise money to fund a stem cell transplant to save her life. It just brings tears to my eyes. I can't wait to find all the community has here in Seattle.
Can you survive without community? Possibly. But do you want to survive or thrive?
Friday, April 5, 2013
The Counted Thought
My obsession with finding those 'perfect gifts' started shortly after high school. My mother asked me to help her make a scrapbook for a family friend with pictures we had of her family. The surprise and awe on her face when she opened it got me hooked. From then on I made it a point to think more about the person when buying a gift.
It never gets old seeing how much astonishment people have when they ask "How do you find these gifts? Or how do you come up with them?" ...It's really quite simple, really. A lot of thinking, and a lot of questions. Who am I shopping for? (favorite colors, entertainment, lifestyle) What is important to them? (Family, work, hobbies)
When I do narrow down my gift possibilities.....Does this gift accurately represent my receiver? Is it personal? Is it sentimental? Is it unique?
I will admit, I have people that are hard to shop for. Particularly my husband (but it is getting easier!) because he is very basic in his interests (i.e. video games, sports, and movies {big surprise, huh?} ).
Here's where this comes into Kindness day (which is every Friday here!) : Kindness is about thinking of others. Gift-giving should be easy, but not thoughtless! Which is why I want to share ideas in a series I'm calling "The Counted Thought" (you can also find a board on pinterest by the same title!). Also, this is your opportunity to challenge me. I want to hear about that someone you're trying to find the perfect gift for, or the perfect gift that someone gave to you. It might just make it on the blog! Drop me a line at meeutpdiva@gmail.com :-)
It never gets old seeing how much astonishment people have when they ask "How do you find these gifts? Or how do you come up with them?" ...It's really quite simple, really. A lot of thinking, and a lot of questions. Who am I shopping for? (favorite colors, entertainment, lifestyle) What is important to them? (Family, work, hobbies)
When I do narrow down my gift possibilities.....Does this gift accurately represent my receiver? Is it personal? Is it sentimental? Is it unique?
I will admit, I have people that are hard to shop for. Particularly my husband (but it is getting easier!) because he is very basic in his interests (i.e. video games, sports, and movies {big surprise, huh?} ).
Here's where this comes into Kindness day (which is every Friday here!) : Kindness is about thinking of others. Gift-giving should be easy, but not thoughtless! Which is why I want to share ideas in a series I'm calling "The Counted Thought" (you can also find a board on pinterest by the same title!). Also, this is your opportunity to challenge me. I want to hear about that someone you're trying to find the perfect gift for, or the perfect gift that someone gave to you. It might just make it on the blog! Drop me a line at meeutpdiva@gmail.com :-)
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)