The Scatter Love Project

I've talked about how much I love real mail (who doesn't?) and how much I specifically love Postcrossing. Well, in a similar vein, I've come across the Scatter Love project. If you're an instagrammer you probably know the mastermind Chantelle as @fatmumslim, who also create the #fmsphotoaday challenge. At any rate, the concept behind Scatter Love is a set of 10 beautifully designed postcards meant to spread joy across the world. Why not? As you send them out and/or receive them, photograph it/you and tag #scatterlove. How fun to see these little cards travel across the planet!

photo from Fat Mum Slim

Click here to buy and play along! The graphic designer Emma lives in London, Chantelle lives in Australia, and I live in the US...so for me, including shipping, it's right around $20 and simple with PayPal.

{scatter} love,
me

Live + Learn: My first full month of practicing The Desire Map

{ this post is part of the desire map series // you're invited }

I wrapped up my first full month of daily Desire Map practice. I reworked my core desired feelings a number of times before January even started, but I think I still need to fine tune them even more. I can't shake the sense that the words I chose aren't yet reaching their most powerful, evocative depth. For February I decided to use my 2014 power word (OPEN) as an umbrella for my CDFs. I'm also changing my CDFs from a static list of words into a mantra:

"Your desire is a prayer. Be open to magic, abundance, creativity, freedom, health, and spiritual alignment."

About two weeks into January I also learned a powerful lesson about the paradox and conflict between my some of my CDFs, and how to stay focused on the long game. I made decisions that I felt would manifest abundance and freedom, but I ended up moving so far away from health and spiritual alignment that it wasn't worth it. I was temporarily free and I felt an abundance of time and space, but the aftermath of my choices actually made me physically ill. In turn, that made me upset and disappointed that I probably knew better and still made the wrong decision. My core, my aligned and balanced core, was way off kilter. It's going to take time and a lot of practice to understand which choices are completely true to the long range intentions of my CDFs. Live and learn.

What lessons have you learned in trying to live your CDFs every day? 

Love and the long game,
me

Just. Say. No.

{ this post is part of the desire map series // you are invited }

Part of me has always believed it, but not until the last couple years have I really really let it sink into my core: When you finally get the courage to state an intention, the Universe will flood your awareness with resources that support you. As Danielle LaPorte says in The Desire Map, "Your desire is a prayer." It all goes back to the energy of manifesting and all that hippie Hay House stuff, right? I've come to realize, with awe, the sheer precision and specificity of the Universe in delivering these resources. It can be in response to an epic dream or a cautious whisper, but it will be answered with a flood of resources to support you.

For example, in the somewhat-cautious-whisper category: I've been meditating a lot recently on the liberation of saying no. Creating a do-not-do list is empowering and revolutionary, for me anyway. I'm in a situation right now that cannot immediately change, even though I want it to change with every ounce of my being. I'm seeking ways to change myself within the structure that exists. For now. My ultimate plan is to bust wide out and never look back, but for now, a series of shifts.

If you also have trouble standing strong in a firm no, for whatever reason, consider this your permission (she also says to herself). In a brilliant confluence, I realize that as I get deeper into my Core Desired Feelings and deeper into a commitment to make those feelings a reality every day...I have to be very clear on what I say yes and no to. This ability to refine my commitments, and even my perspective on my commitments, is helping me change within that for-now structure.

"An inability to notice our true feelings leaves us at their mercy. People with greater certainty about their feelings are better pilots of their lives."

Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence.

In addition to what feels like a thousand photos and serendipitous article links on this very theme flooding my Facebook and Twitter feeds, two particular resources have come at just. the. right. time. It's these two resources that I want to share with you: a blog post from traveler/author Kim Dinan and a recently reprised post from Danielle. Kim talks about how we can decide whether to say yes or no, and Danielle talks about admitting when something sucks. From that foundation of "this sucks" - start saying no and fix it. She writes: "You're smart to see it. You're brilliant if you move on." Preach.


I'd love to hear about your experiences. Do you have difficulty saying no, particularly to anything that you perceive as "the responsible thing" to do? Has working through your Core Desired Feelings had this same effect on you, a refiner's fire of saying no?

Love, 
me

Postcrossing: Penpals from all over the globe

Postcards are so romantic. Stamps displaying unfamiliar languages, tattered edges from a journey across the world, sentiments bare for anyone to read. Someone halfway around the world thought of you, for even a moment, and wrote a note with pen in hand.

Listen, I instagram like crazy. It's a virtual postcard of your adventures at home and abroad. Also, I happen to believe, from the perspective of an artist and a community organizer, it's one of the most profound apps to be invented in recent history. However, I'm just old enough to know there's nothing quite like the nostalgia of receiving handwritten mail.

I've turned a few friends on to Postcrossing over the years and my annual stats report reminded me to once again praise them from the rooftops. It's free. It's fun. It is also, for me, a subtle way to keep the energy of wanderlust flowing constantly through my life. If you want to get started, it's as simple as creating a profile with as much or as little information as you want to share. Your address is private until Postcrossing matches you with a sender. You will also become a sender and receive addresses for people to whom you'll send postcards. The postcard exchange is a one-time deal, unless you decide to approach someone about becoming regular penpals (or you accept someone's offer to you). I prefer the one-time approach and find it's what I have time for in my life right now. Simple.

My mailbox looked like this in 2013:

Love and mail worth reading, 

me

Where To Travel in 2014: A Roundup

'Tis the month for lists. We know this. They're everywhere. Every blog post you see starts with a number, then proceeds to tell you what you simply cannot live without. Well, for those of us who simply cannot live without travel, I rounded up my favorite "to see in 2014" lists.

Luxuriate in the possibilities, the wish lists, the wanderlust. 

An experiential travel guide, and one of the coolest travel planning apps ever, AFAR proposes the following destinations...

Uruguay? Awesome. Iceland? Why not? Travel + Leisure thinks you should make your way to these 27 locations....

In stunning full-screen photo format, The New York Times proposes 52 locations that are must-sees. And they would know. I mean, right? Don't we all dream of posh Manhattan dinner parties at which, after being regaled with Roberto's adventures, our assistant books our flight to New Caldonia straight away?

The Guardian weighs in with a top 40 list. Also, holiday. Can we all agree to discontinue use of the word "vacation" in favor of taking holidays? Okay, cool.

Rwanda. Argentina. National Geographic even thinks it's time we explore Iraq. I'm down.

Top 10 cities, top 10 countries, top 10 regions, and sights to make you feel small. Lonely Planet knows what they're talking about.

This roundup could be endless, but we'll pause the inspiration here. Where are you traveling this year?

Love and frequent flier miles,
me