Pay it Forward

It’s Back!
Hey, Pay it Forward Friday is back and so is a blog that’s near and dear to my heart (and bloodline): BeingMerry! For those of you who do not know, Merry is my little sister and friend. Being close in age and relation, we share a lot of the same interests, which include but are not limited to: photography, writing, and mojo-making (e.g., pushing ourselves to achieve great things—like the laundry for instance).

According to Merry, “[my blog has undergone] many iterations, with its specific focus changing over time. I now plan on using this blog as a way to share good news, the positive spin on life, and anything uplifting to add hope to our world… as Oprah would say, “Helping us live our best life.”

RAOK
If you’re in the mood for a little inspiration, check out Merry’s post on performing 45 random acts of kindness on her birthday this past week. (Did I mention she’s an overachiever?) If you feel inspired, and the urge to act-out yourself, shoot her a note and let her know what you did.

Happy Friday!

The Rainbow Connection
On the brink of exhaustion and feeling a little depressed, I was fortunate to spot a rainbow on the way in to work. The vibrant colors reminded me of a rainbow that I drove through a couple of years ago. As with all of the universe’s little signs such as this, it reminded me to slow down and enjoy life; no one is pressuring me to get tons of stuff done, only me.

Slow Down Signage
I’ve been seeing a lot of signs to SLOW DOWN lately, other than the usual ones like Stop or Yield. I’m appreciating these little reminders. Apparently, I need to be reminded a LOT.

Chipping and Dipping

Expiration Date: December 21, 2012
One day, while strolling down the streets of Mexico, I wandered into a few shops displaying Mayan calendars. Considering their end date for the world, you would think there’d be a fire sale but, apparently, there’s a lot to be said (and paid) for an end-of-the-world reminder.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Mayans, their Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar comes full circle and ends on December 21, 2012. Looking at the imprinted faces with their tongues sticking out, I wonder:

• Did they just run out of room and are taunting us?
• Did someone simply give up the count (trying to keep a blog going for 2+ years, I can totally understand this)?
  or
• Did they indeed know something we don’t? and
• Should we (ok, I) get a move on?

Whatever the case, some think the end of the calendar is an end-of-the-world prediction, while some (i.e., me) subscribe to the New Age interpretation of an awakening to life’s true meaning: connecting with others, overcoming our fears, and embracing love and one another

Awakening to the Possibility
Now, I don’t really know, but I would think that becoming an awakened individual takes time and I haven’t really been committed to the whole enlightenment thing lately. That being said, I figure that if  I start now, I could probably knock it out (along with my weight loss plan) in 11 months and be ready for whatever comes next.

The Best Day(s) of My Life
All kidding aside, whether we’re all here for 11 more months, years, or decades, I’m going to work on becoming the best version of me that I possibly can. My journey to enlightenment starts today; which makes today, and every day I’m given thereafter, the best day(s) of my life.

Welcome, 2012!
So how’s the New Year treating you so far? So far for me, I’d say she’s pretty decent. She started out with a serious overflow from last night (wine, champagne, chocolate) but quickly found her way to my heart, instead of my hips. Today, I set the intention that I would create more art this year and, I’m happy to say, am well on my way via my first vision board of the year.

Creating Your Vision
To me, vision boarding is not pasting a bunch of images onto a board; it’s about setting goals and intentions for what you want to manifest in your life and then finding the images that speak to those intentions. It’s extremely symbolic (at least it is for me) and really (REALLY) time-intensive. I was reminded today that a good session can easily take up to 8 hours (perhaps more) and that’s before you start to draw or paint your interpretation of what you’ve laid down.

Vision Boarding
I’ve written about vision boarding before, but if you’d like to know more about the process, it’s really quite simple:

1. Start with a large board or canvas
2. Cut out images or words from magazines or from your personal stash o’ pics (“O” Magazine is a great source, as is Sunset or any mag you’re interested in)
3. Paste up the images/words onto the board
4. Post somewhere where you’ll see it every day, for reaffirmation and inspiration throughout the year

An Interpretation
My personal vision for this year is to reinvent my creative life. My interpretation of the board is as follows:

There’s an athletic woman on the left, running towards some steps. Time is ticking away whether she does anything or not, so she best get a move on, if she wants to achieve her goals. The steps that she’s running towards are the steps she will need to take to fulfill her dreams. In starting her journey, the first big hurdle she’ll have to face is realizing that she is responsible for her life (i.e., writing her own story); she needs to do the work and be ready when opportunity knocks later down the road.

As the runner approaches the steps, she sees a woman at the top with a colorful parrot on her head. The woman is facing forward, but the parrot is not. The parrot is challenging the runner to come up and taste the fruits of her labor. “The future looks bright,” she tells the runner (in parrot voice, of course), “you just need to connect with others and own it (create it, experience it, discover it, and live it). If you take these steps, you will have the new creative life you are seeking.”

There’s a buddha to the right of the parrot, which has petal wings; symbolizing  the lightness of spirit and the growth that will take place when connecting with others and with oneself.

On the bottom right is the woman reaching for connection with spirit. I’ll probably edit this out (in addition to other “schtuff”) when I try to draw it, as I think the woman running towards the steps shows a person being proactive about it all, instead of someone reaching for something that’s just out of reach or going after something that might not be possible to achieve.

It’s a Wrap
At times, what I was doing seemed tedious, but I’m sure glad I did it. I hope to share a drawn or painted finished piece in the near future. In the interim, here’s to a New Year full of promise and creativity! 2012: She’s a keeper.

Twas the night before Krismas, when all through the town
Not a creature was stirring, not even a hound
The stockings were stacked by the old fireplace
If there was only a mantel, it would be a great space

The families were nestled all snug in their beds,
the de la Lamas and Lukes had “Dancing with the Stars” in their heads
There was me in my jammies, and T in his cap,
who were just settling down for a long winter’s nap

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
“Those darn gophers are here!” said Tony in sleep chatter
Away to the window he flew like a flash,
Tore open the door, to the patio he thrashed

Too late, the moon shown bright on the torn up grass
the varmits had eaten everything; they dined & they dashed
Then, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
but four tiny chipmunks dressed up as reindeer

There was one, an old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it wasn’t St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles their coursers they came,
Then one whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

“Now Alvin! now, Theodore! now, Simon, he said!
Let’s move right along before it’s off with our heads
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
Tony with his shotgun,
“What are you doing, you goof?”
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney the chipmunks came with a bound.

They were dressed all in fur, from their heads to their feet,
And their clothes were all tarnished with big packs of dog treats
A bundle of presents they had flung on their backs,
And they looked just like peddlers when opening their packs.

They spoke not a word, but went straight to their work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying their claws aside of their nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney they rose!

They sprang to their sleigh and then all gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like winged monkeys on a thistle
But I heard them exclaim, ‘ere they drove out of sight,

“Merry Krismas to all, and to all a good-night!”

A Mover and a Shaker
Some days, I’m “Steve Jobs,” by Walter Isaacson. I’m moving major deals and shakin’ up industries; loving Bob Dylan and Joan Baez (Joan, apparently, in more ways than one); and I’m moody (boy, am I ever moody)! I hate to admit it, but I’ve become somewhat of a Steve biography addict—searching for moments when I can get my next fix of this fascinating read, which is currently twice a day via audiobook on my commute to and from home and before I go to bed via the hard copy.

A Miracle Worker
Other days, when I need to break away from Steve (sorry, it’s not you Steve, it’s me), I’m delving into my eating habits and trying to figure out what’s been holding me back from being the supermodel that  lies within. In addition to listening to Marianne Williamson’s sound advice in ”A Course in Weight Loss,” I’m doing the work, which involves among other things: journaling, building an altar, and paying attention to my bite frequency (hint: there should be breaks in between bites).

Certain About Uncertainty
And when I’m not feeling Steve, or Marianne for that matter, I’m certain that there’s one read I can always pick up to feel some inspiration: “Uncertainty,” by Jonathan Fields. With real-time breakthroughs from real-life people, I’m learning how to embrace uncertainty instead of running from it. Using fear as a motivator can be very powerful; you just have to be willing (forget ready) to push through it to get to the other side (aka success).

Write Here, Write Now
Speaking of pushing through the fear… I’ve been wanting to push right through mine and write a book. I’ve been throwing around a few ideas in my head for quite some time now, so I thought I should look into what it would take to throw those ideas onto the computer and out the door in whatever form they happen to take. In “My Big Beautiful Book Plan,” by Danielle LaPorte and Linda Siversten, I’m learning about literary agents, book proposals, self-publishing, and more. She’s been hyping it up for the last couple of months, so I jumped on it as soon as it came out. So far, I haven’t been disappointed.

Walking the Talk
I can’t believe that all this reading schtuff is happening daily, in addition to my everyday life. Who knew that once I dropped the reality shows (actually, they’ve dropped me—that is, until the next Bachelor) I’d have time for other things. Like following through on last week’s Mojo Monday: I am a money magnet. Walking the talk, I mapped out some ways to increase my revenue streams. One of those ways is to become an affiliate. What’s an affiliate, you ask? Well, if you click on any of book covers and/or links above, and just so happen to buy a copy via my link, I get some moolah! Who knew? Well, I suppose you do now…

So there you have it—what’s been going on. Now it’s your turn: what’s on your nightstand, in your ear, or on your commute home? I’m starting to wrap up one or two of the above, will soon be in withdrawal, and looking for some new inspiration. Any recommendations?

Bro-mance
Growing up in a family with five girls and zero boys, I longed for less estrogen in the house, as I’m sure my Father did as well. I was a tomboy at heart, not into Barbie, and longed for someone who could relate on a more frog-catching, tree-climbing level. The first guy that fit the bill came around in First Grade. His name was Mark. I thought we were buds; that’s until I realized that he realized I was a girl. Once that happened, it was over.

The Brother I Kinda Had
The second guy was Brent. We became friends in Junior High and had a lot of platonic fun together. We bonded over flag football (towering over the boys at 5’8″ in junior high school, I was a great tackle), passing notes in class, and once (just once) he came to my aid when I became freaked out by scary noises outside the house where I was babysitting.  I was very happy he came over; unfortunately, the family for whom I was babysitting weren’t quite as happy to see him when they came home. A few months later, my family and I moved to another state so Brent and I lost touch. I still look for him occasionally (in a non-stalker way, of course) on Facebook and Classmates.com but, alas, the guy is nowhere to be found.

In my adult years, I became friends with many great guys, but most turned out to be of the romantic variety. I miss the Brent variety (i.e., the Brother I kinda had).

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That
So what do you write about someone you’ve never actually met? Well, I thought about Brent and the other male friends that I have been so lucky to have met in my life. I took a little bit of this and a little bit of that until I came up with one cool bro!

So thanks, guys! I couldn’t have done it without you!

Mojo Monday
As some of you know, every Monday I send out a Mojo Monday email with a short story, pic, and Mojo (affirmation) for the week. I started doing this is April of this year and am surprised (probably more than you) that I’m still doing it 8 months later. It’s been a nice, although sometimes stressful, “to do” for me, as it gives me something to strive for each week and it garners the occasional kudos from those who feel inspired by my childhood stories and life lessons.

Mojo-less
One months’ worth of Mondays and Mojos ago, things started to change for me. I started, once again, to get sucked in to other things and slowly began to feel uninspired. I don’t know if you got that from my Mojos, but it definitely reflected in my blog, as I pretty much stopped writing and focused on home improvement vs. self improvement. It was then I started to realize that my Mojo Mondays had lost their power; I mean, if I didn’t believe in my Mojo (much like Santa and good parking karma), how would it (the affirmation) ever be so? It was also then (shortly after the first then) that I realized I needed more than an affirmation: I needed intention, follow-through, and I needed to be accountable for all that was or was not happening in my life (AKA the original OK manifesto).

Mojo Pie
So what is this Mojo, you say? To me, it’s a big pie (e.g., pizza, pumpkin, whatever floats your boat) and each piece of the Mojo Pie makes up your life. Although the pie might be divided up differently for you, the pieces for me are:

• Health & Emotional Wellbeing
• Relationships
• Finance
• Career
• Personal & Spiritual Development
• Sustenance (e.g., household and everyday living stuff)

You Wanna Piece of Me, Mojo?
I started divvying up the Mojos I’d done over this past year and placed them in each of the categories. Before I knew it, I realized I had more than a half years’ worth of Mojos and more than one (sometimes five!) in each category. Well, would ya lookie there: all along, I had been balancing my Mojo and didn’t even know it! Alas, before I had the chance to pat myself on the back, I realized I was still in denial. As I mentioned before, without intention, these Mojos weren’t doing a damn thing for me. That is, until one Monday…

Mojo Journal
I got out a blank journal and wrote my Mojo on the left side of the page; to the right, I wrote my intentions; and to the right of those, at the end of the week, I wrote down my results. Wow, what a difference intention makes and, even further, what a difference accountability makes on top of each intention. Needless to say, it felt great! I was setting intentions and following up with results—results that I could see in black & white. Finally, progress!

Mojo Journal Challenge
I’m happy to report that my Mojo is back and ready to rock n’ roll! I’d like to challenge all my Mojo Monday peeps out there to try it out this week or next. I think you’ll be surprised with the results. All you have to do is download this journal page, write out your intentions, and follow up at the end of the week. Easy Peasy, right?! I’d love to see if it worked as good for you as it has for me, so please come back and tell me.  Until then…Here’s to Mo-jo Risin’!