{PROMPT} It was never successful.
I read an article today that hit me like a ton of bricks. So much wisdom and truth and ah-ha packed into 26 little bullet points. It's meant for women, but I suppose boys can read it, too. The Huff Post held a conference for women last week centered on: "How we can begin to measure success beyond money and power, according to a third metric: well-being." The basic thesis being that the go go go and be everything-to-everyone mindset is slowly killing us, or at least making us crazy. I could not agree more.
I'm in a space right now, a space I created and stepped into about eight months ago, where I'm consciously trying to pull out of a tailspin of stress and expectations and habits and career-is-life lifestyle. Because, for all the success I've had, was it ever really successful? I am successful by many common metrics, and I'm grateful for all that. Graduated high school at 17, BA at 20, career in higher ed right out of the gate, national consulting and speaking circuit for six years, received every grant I've ever applied for (going on 9 at this point), homeowner at 28, MA by 30, Executive Director of my organization, I'm on my third passport, on and on. But at what cost? Based on this third metric idea of well-being, am I actually successful?
If any of that, even a teeny tiny piece resonates with you, read this article. I feel like this article is more proactive than the other one that also hit me like a ton of bricks. They feel like bookends. Both are very important pieces to me. I can't tell you how many times I've read Altucher's Tech Crunch article on why 2013 is the year I'll quit my job (aka every morning in the office at my desk while I eat my Chobani and granola), but this third metric article feels different somehow. Maybe I'm not quite ready yet for Altucher's radical call to action (though I very nearly have it memorized), but I am definitely ready to redefine success in my life.
Definitely.
Love,
me
This post is part of The Blog Dare series.
My Declaration: Uniquity
Remember my Declaration of You series of blog posts? Well, it's back. Last week I shared my declaration of enthusiasm. This week? Uniquity. Yeah, I know, they made up the word. How very meta unique of them.
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| illustration by the talented Jessica Swift. |
My first and most persistent thought when I sat down to muse on uniquity was Ani DiFranco's song "Born a Lion" from her Puddle Dive album. Specifically the lyric: "Why we all gotta look, gotta act the same? I say if you're born a lion, don't bother trying to act tame." This is my jam. Actually, the whole album is my jam. Scratch that. All of her songs are my jam. Here's the deal, if you're not yet a fan(atic), allow me to take uno momento to tell you why you may need to reconsider this oversight. It's not too late to turn your life around.
This week the book/blog tour is all about unique points of view, yes? We're talking about speaking our truth and living out loud, right? I can think of no more inspiring personification of these qualities than Ani and her music. What does that have to do with my own uniquity? Well, whenever I get off kilter, or feel not so much myself, I crank it up and reset my world. In honor of this week of uniquity, I invite you do do the same. Ani's overarching themes are not only radical political singer songwriter folkie stuff -- The Boston Globe said of her style: "DiFranco sings songs the way guerrillas fight revolution" -- her music and her life are all about being who you are with no apologies. Cheers to that.
Born a Lion
Ani DiFranco
I'm not hurting anyone
no, I'm just telling my own truth
and if there
if there is something wrong
then maybe maybe there's something wrong with you
I say what's the big deal
get over it
relax
just 'cause I do up in your face
what other people do behind your back
why we all gotta look
why we all gotta act the same
I say if you're born a lion
don't bother trying to act tame
everything I do
I do for the first time
I got a big crush on you
and it's crushing my mind
can I follow you home
and just listen to you think
leave my lip prints on your cups
leave my hairs in your sink
they think I'm out there
out there living on the fringe
well
this is my world
and I invited them in
they should try living
by my rules for a day
I tell ya, nobody would die
and there'd be lots of stuff to say
I'm not hurting anyone
no I'm not hurting anyone
Disclaimer: I strongly dislike YouTube fan videos with their creepy stalkerish overtones and awful Ken Burns iMovie lazy auto edit humdrum; however, this song is from an indie folk album released in 1993. Go ahead. Try and find the audio freely and/or legallyish available for blog embedding. Bear with me, close your eyes, open your ears, and rock out. Trust.
Have an excellent week, friends, readers, and strangers who wandered by this site. Live it out loud. Celebrate uniquity. And remember: If you're born a lion, don't bother trying to act tame.
Love,
me
The Fine Print: The Declaration of You will be published by North Light Craft Books this summer, giving readers the permission they’ve craved to step passionately into their lives, to discover how they and their gifts are unique, and to uncover what they are meant to do!
Chasing light | The Blog Dare Day 7
{PROMPT} It was only interesting when...
I'm enrolled in an online photography course this summer. It's called Candela and it's taught by Laura Valenti Jelen, a professional photographer based in Portland, Oregon. The cool thing about this class is that it's not about shutter speed and choosing the right lenses, it's about reconnecting with yourself as a photographer. It's about "finding the creative spark within..." in Laura's words. She's created a really beautiful course, full of essays and videos, podcasts and discussion boards; it's all really well done. Our most recent lesson was about slowing down, seeing beauty in the mundane of every day, and chasing light in your own home as it changes throughout the day. As she set it up for us in the course: "By viewing your environment with fresh eyes, you can find creativity in the smallest things. Your assignment is to make some photographs of the things you love in your immediate vicinity." Simple enough. In other words...once the flea market and brunch and grocery shopping were behind me, this was the perfect Sunday afternoon.
In a previous lesson we discussed all the different cameras we own and committed to one for the remainder of the course (with an explanation as to why). I'm reintroducing myself to my Nikon D90. I've been shooting exclusively with my iPhone for at least a year and half at this point (and I'll still Instagram photos with my phone every day, but for this class I'll use the D90). It was very interesting to watch my muscle memory twitch as I held the heavy camera's viewfinder to my eye and didn't tap a screen or edit a single thing. That was the other piece of the exercise that I assigned tomyself: No editing. None. Not allowed. Let the light do what it wants to do and move on.
Some people would say life is only interesting when it's dramatic and rapid fire. Today was a lesson in slowing down. I sat on my kitchen table for 45 minutes watching sunlight bounce around through between inside on top of vintage canning jars. It was the most valuable lesson in photography, and life, I've had in a long time.
I'm enrolled in an online photography course this summer. It's called Candela and it's taught by Laura Valenti Jelen, a professional photographer based in Portland, Oregon. The cool thing about this class is that it's not about shutter speed and choosing the right lenses, it's about reconnecting with yourself as a photographer. It's about "finding the creative spark within..." in Laura's words. She's created a really beautiful course, full of essays and videos, podcasts and discussion boards; it's all really well done. Our most recent lesson was about slowing down, seeing beauty in the mundane of every day, and chasing light in your own home as it changes throughout the day. As she set it up for us in the course: "By viewing your environment with fresh eyes, you can find creativity in the smallest things. Your assignment is to make some photographs of the things you love in your immediate vicinity." Simple enough. In other words...once the flea market and brunch and grocery shopping were behind me, this was the perfect Sunday afternoon.
In a previous lesson we discussed all the different cameras we own and committed to one for the remainder of the course (with an explanation as to why). I'm reintroducing myself to my Nikon D90. I've been shooting exclusively with my iPhone for at least a year and half at this point (and I'll still Instagram photos with my phone every day, but for this class I'll use the D90). It was very interesting to watch my muscle memory twitch as I held the heavy camera's viewfinder to my eye and didn't tap a screen or edit a single thing. That was the other piece of the exercise that I assigned tomyself: No editing. None. Not allowed. Let the light do what it wants to do and move on.
Some people would say life is only interesting when it's dramatic and rapid fire. Today was a lesson in slowing down. I sat on my kitchen table for 45 minutes watching sunlight bounce around through between inside on top of vintage canning jars. It was the most valuable lesson in photography, and life, I've had in a long time.
Love,
me
There's a time for everything | The Blog Dare Day 6
{PROMPT} That's why we stopped hanging out with them.
I scribbled "BFF" and "TLA" and "stay rad never ever change" and dotted my i's with hearts in as many yearbooks as the next girl, but I'm actually glad to say I've given up on all that. The singular idea of a one and only best friend for life being the "that" to which I'm referring.
I think it's beautiful that we have friendships that ebb and flow. I think it's beautiful that people come in and out of our lives at different times and for different reasons. I believe that speaks more to the strength of friendships than anything. When people are in our lives at specific times to teach us (and for us to teach them) particular lessons and to help each other grow in particular ways, it's important that we honor that moment in time. That specific moment. That specific time. We may not be friends with that person six years or six days from now, but we can learn and love and be with each other now. So let's all do that.
That's all.
TLA Love,
me
This post is part of The Blog Dare series.
I scribbled "BFF" and "TLA" and "stay rad never ever change" and dotted my i's with hearts in as many yearbooks as the next girl, but I'm actually glad to say I've given up on all that. The singular idea of a one and only best friend for life being the "that" to which I'm referring.
I think it's beautiful that we have friendships that ebb and flow. I think it's beautiful that people come in and out of our lives at different times and for different reasons. I believe that speaks more to the strength of friendships than anything. When people are in our lives at specific times to teach us (and for us to teach them) particular lessons and to help each other grow in particular ways, it's important that we honor that moment in time. That specific moment. That specific time. We may not be friends with that person six years or six days from now, but we can learn and love and be with each other now. So let's all do that.
That's all.
me
This post is part of The Blog Dare series.
This happened | The Blog Dare Day 5
{PROMPT} Her name was...
Deal with it. Also, you're welcome.
Love,
me
This post is part of The Blog Dare series.
Deal with it. Also, you're welcome.
Love,
me
This post is part of The Blog Dare series.
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