Posts Tagged ‘Inspiration’
March 27th, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Choosing a quote to post each week has become a little ritual for me. The practice feels a little bit like a treasure hunt. I browse through books of quotes until one pops off the page (usually while sitting in a big comfy chair with a cup of tea!). It’s telling to look at when a quote resonates most with you. Have you noticed that you are drawn to different types of quotes depending on your emotions/current mood? Also, just a note, I’m consciously not keeping track of the quotes I post each week so there may be some repetition [would be interesting to see if that happens :)].
photo: stars by torpore
… more inspiring quotes: quoted on pinterest
Tags: Authenticity, Inspiration, Quote, ralph waldo emerson
Posted in: Creative, Defeated, Random, Treasure Chest, When You Feel
March 26th, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Welcome to this month’s Pen & Paper: Living Between the Lines written by the amazing Hope Wallace Karney. To learn more about Hope and the column, please check out the announcement post!
My good friend’s daughter has always loved looking at my daily journal. Whenever we were together she would ask to see the journal I keep everyday. Not being one to hide my journal or its contents (if I have something I do not want to share I journal it in envelopes or under flaps, etc) I love showing it to her.
When she mentioned that she wanted to start a daily journal of her own, I was thrilled. I helped her find a good journal to use and encouraged her to start. By then I was invested in her journaling—so I started to check in with her every now and then. And eventually we agreed to share our journals with one another each week.
We got in the habit of texting each other photos (as shown in this post)—either of full spreads, or spreads in the works. It is especially fun when we did something together, and have the same ephemera and memories, to see how we each record that day in our journals.
Some weeks I will send my finished weekly spread, and it will help jumpstart her to catch up. Sometimes she sees how I incorporated something into my journal and she tries it in hers—which is a great way to play with techniques and find your own style.
I find that not only does it inspire her to journal, but also keeps me at it too, so we both are journaling regularly, but without pressure. Not only that, but it has strengthened our relationship outside of journaling as well. I look forward to seeing her spreads and equally enjoy sharing mine with her.
Tips for Finding a Good Journal Buddy
- Journaling for some can be private, so find someone you love and trust.
- Be sure you are both committed to making a journaling habit stick.
- Consider people of all ages—if you have a young adult in your life, encourage them to start a journal with you.
- Near or far, it doesn’t matter, with modern technology you can share your journals easily.
Good Journal Buddy Practices
- Agree upon a timeframe (every 3 days, weekly, monthly, etc.) and stick with it.
- Check in regularly. If your buddy is falling behind, gently prod them to get back into it.
- Never criticize, there is no wrong way to journal.
- Every now and then, try to journal together, even if that means doing it via Skype.
- Share quotes with one another to use in your journals.
- Write in, or send something, to share in each others spreads.
Tags: Art Journaling, Besottment, Hope Wallace Karney, Inspiration, Journal, journaling, Living Between the Lines, Paper Relics, Pen & Paper
Posted in: Creative, Creativity & Inspiration, Guest Bloggers, Pen & Paper, Random, Tips + Techniques, Treasure Chest, When You Feel
March 16th, 2012 | 5 Comments »
Recently, I’ve been tweeting less and spending more time reading blogs (yes, i’m an introvert!). As I come across online resources, I always email them to myself with the subject, “share!” Typically, I tweet a link to these resources—but less tweeting=less sharing. Well, today I’m going to fix that. Below are a few of my favorite (relatively new) sources of inspiration that I don’t think I’ve shared with you yet!
Hopeful World
Hopeful World is a global classroom where wisdom, knowledge and stories seed the ground of personal transformation and social change. Our online classes and digital offerings encourage personal growth while creating revenue for development projects around the world. Hopeful World is an economic experiment in transforming our drive to learn into a source of revenue and funding for emerging leaders uniquely positioned to make a difference.
We’re energized by the idea that we can help ourselves and one another at the same time and that real transformation happens when we learn the power of “we.”
The Everygirl
The Everygirl is the newest online resource helping shape the creative, career-driven woman to experience her life better lived. It is the inspiration to help you achieve your dreams, whatever they may be. Whether it’s how to incorporate a little creativity into your day or motivating you to seek out your dream job, The Everygirl is for you. It is our mission and hope for you to use The Everygirl site to be inspired, but also to take action to become the woman who believed you could, so you did!
sisterMag
sisterMAG is a new digital magazine for widely interested, active women. Regularly we will cover topics ranging from Career, Technology, Future Trends to Fashion, Lifestyle, Traveling and DIY. Women’s magazines have always mirrored social movements and developments in their content and foci of coverage. With sisterMAG we want to target a group of females which has been neglected by traditional publishing houses and editorial departments: the many up-and-coming, well-educated, very active and independent women, which are enthusiastic for the digital world and want to be presented with new and exciting content in a visually appealing way.
Naked Face Project
“Why do you wear makeup?” the eight year-old asked. “Because it’s fun!” we inevitably answer. But when we really get honest, that’s simply not the truth. We both work for organizations that promote a message of inner beauty, empowerment, and self-confidence, and we still engage in Beauty Habits – like makeup, shaving, and wearing uncomfortable feminine clothing . We’ve believed for years that these habits would enhance our appearance. After much discussion, we found the difference between what we preach and how we choose to act on a day-to-day basis troubling.
We’ve often said, “I need to go fix my face,” but really – what is there to fix? This is our journey to explore what happens when we start living in complete alignment with the message we encourage others to live by. We do not know where The Naked Face Project will take us. We do not have a hypothesis we hope to prove or know how we will feel at the end of sixty days. We’re not trying to make a political or feminist statement. We simply want to live in our own space of authentic beauty and be more intentional in our actions. That’s why we’ve chosen to completely commit ourselves in the project for sixty days. It is only through this total immersion that we believe we will come to a more authentic answer for the hard questions little girls ask.
Honestly, we expect The Naked Face Project to be very uncomfortable for us because we’ve engaged in these Beauty Habits for so long. We feel like we’ve only approached feminine beauty in one way for our entire lives. What might reveal itself when we give ourselves the opportunity to experience another way?
What resources/projects have you recently been inspired by?
image: ello lovey
Pin It
Tags: blogs, Hopeful World, Inspiration, Naked Face Project, sisterMag, The Everygirl
Posted in: Creative, Creativity & Inspiration, Inspired, Random, Treasure Chest, When You Feel
February 21st, 2012 | 3 Comments »
Welcome to this month’s Pen & Paper: Living Between the Lines written by the amazing Hope Wallace Karney. To learn more about Hope and the column, please check out the announcement post!
5 Blogs for Journaling and Story Catching Inspiration
After talking about Ali Edwards in last month’s post, I realized that there are so many inspiring blogs—many that you may not know about. This month, I am sharing with you 5 blogs for journaling and story catching inspiration that I enjoy!
Pam Garrison (blog | etsy)
Pam’s style is amazing—beautiful, colorful yet reserved in color at the same time, vintage yet modern.
Marcy Penner (blog—hello forever)
Marcy has a way of creating clean layouts with lots of information on them. I love her Project Life pages.
Samantha Kira Harding (blog—Journal Girl)
Kira creates bold, colorful journaling spreads.
Art Journaling (blog| journal image)
Pure eye candy. You never know what you will see! This blog contains user submissions of art journal spreads.
Amanda Johnson (blog—Here’s Looking at Me Kid)
I love the quirky style of journaling Amanda does!
What about you? Any journaling/story inspiration links you want to share?
images: links to sources within post
Tags: Ali Edwards, Amanda Johnson, Art Journaling, Besottment, hello forever, Here's Looking at Me Kid, Hope Wallace Karney, Inspiration, Journal Girl, journaling, journaling blogs, Living Between the Lines, Marcy Penner, Pam Garrison, Paper Relics, Pen & Paper, Project Life, Samantha Kira Harding
Posted in: Creative, Creativity & Inspiration, Guest Bloggers, Inspired, Pen & Paper, Random, When You Feel
January 30th, 2012 | 10 Comments »
I came across this quote by Georgia O’Keeffe in the latest O Magazine. It is beautifully inspiring.
photograph: joyhey on society6
Tags: Georgia O'Keeffe, Inspiration, joyhey, Quote, society6
Posted in: Creativity & Inspiration, Defeated, Random, Treasure Chest, When You Feel
October 11th, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Each week, I make a goal for myself and write it at the top of my weekly planner. As I flip through previous weeks, I notice that one goal appears most frequently: embrace ease. Time and time again, I bemoan the complexity of just about all elements of my life − nothing feels easy. I recently wrote in my journal, “Nothing is sticking. Lots of time, lots of ideas, but nothing glistens with passion.” I yearn for the days when things just clicked and came together effortlessly, with a sense of magic. Of course, I forget all of the work and the not-so-good ideas that came before The One that clicked; rarely does everything magically align without some work behind it.
“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” –Pablo Picasso
Picasso’s words never really resonated with me before, but now, I get it. Inspiration is more likely to arrive and take root if you are holding a safe container for it to enter your life. You need to cultivate a life and an environment that thrives with inspiration.
The relationship between struggle and ease is a bit like thrift store or yard sale shopping. You hunt for the treasure among piles of ordinary junk. The process is in no way glamorous or easy (e.g., waking up at 5:00 a.m., searching for yard sales, and sifting through junk in the heat), but for many, the ease and excitement associated with the ultimate find overpower the struggle. People love this practice of treasure hunting and become regular thrifters, because the beauty of the find is magnified after the work is done. Writers, artists, and other creative professionals face a similar process. One must put in the leg work, sift through ordinary words, and allow time to pass in order to reach the treasure. Rarely do you find treasure immediately upon beginning a piece of work. To recognize and fully appreciate the result, you must know and appreciate the struggle as well.
Rather than compartmentalize struggle and ease, I love the idea of these two states coexisting. It’s liberating to relish the ease of success within the struggle and the struggle within the ease. This perspective produces a much greater sense of pride and self-worth. You value much more than just the sparkling treasures. Everything counts: the struggle as well as the ease.
I’ve been fighting against the struggle, focusing on its negative impact and wishing for a quick and easy escape. But I’m realizing that, within struggle, there is ease; moments of bliss emerge for us to embrace. It’s easy to miss them or fail to recollect them when you’re in the midst of a storm. But they are there. Similarly, amidst ease, there is struggle, but we typically don’t remember that—and maybe that’s a good thing for a while. But without recognizing its presence, we may become naive to the path ahead of us.
Within the natural rhythm of struggle and ease, recognizing and appreciating this rhythm empowers you to keep moving forward.
image: pinterest via sacramento street via apartment 34
Tags: Balance, Ease, Inspiration, picasso, picasso quote, struggle, treasure
Posted in: Balance & Simplicity, Creativity & Inspiration, Defeated, Goals & Productivity, Inspired, Overwhelmed, When You Feel
September 22nd, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Currently, I am attracted to all things GOLD! It seems to be popping up everywhere from the runway to home design, stationery, and of course, jewelry. And I am loving this current color trend. I went to one of my favorite sources, colorstrology, to find out a bit more about what this oh so fabulous color means. The three main defining characteristics of this color: radiant, uplifting, and intellectually energizing. And I have to agree with these characteristics. How about you? How does gold make you feel? Do you notice that certain colors seem to energize you while other colors seem to drain you?
sources: made by girl (love candy gold) | tiffany & co (charms) | kate spade (spade paperweight) | judith leiber (crystal handbag – lattice)
PS The incredible journaling e-course giveaway ends this Friday September 23rd! And be sure to check-out the comments on the post so far—they are truly incredible.
Tags: color, color me happy, colorstrology, Creative, glitter, gold, Inspiration, Inspiration Board, judith leiber, kate spade, Made By Girl, mood board, tiffany & co
Posted in: Creative, Creativity & Inspiration, Random
September 9th, 2011 | 7 Comments »
The air is heavy this weekend. For many, this weekend symbolizes the day their lives changed forever—in a single moment. When it comes to talking about September 11th, I notice that the media is focusing on fear, loss, and general sadness/negativity. I got sucked into this mentality and avoided thinking about how I could bring up this day on my blog. I’m not sure what/if other bloggers will be reflecting on this day over the weekend. So far the topic has been mostly absent within my google reader feed.
It’s hard to discuss something that means something different to each individual. Yet, when something feels difficult to talk about (e.g., “I don’t know what to say” or “I’m sure others have already discussed this so what is there for me to add?”), it’s usually a sign (at least for me) that saying something is better than nothing — just showing up and acknowledging the emotions at play. There is no “right” thing to say. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t show up.
This weekend, I am going to show up. I am going to journal one positive thought as I light a single candle in honor of those who are desperately lacking light.
And to stay true to my blog’s core purpose: to create a beautiful ripple effect of inspiration one person at a time, I invite you to help me create this ripple effect by taking a moment this weekend to put a positive thought into the world and/or light a single candle to signify hope and light. With so much sadness coupled with fear and negative media, I believe in using the power of positivity to combat the negativity.
Will you help me create this beautiful ripple effect?
P.S. Feel free to share the little image above and continue this ripple effect. You can download it by simply clicking on the image.
Tags: 9/11, create a beautiful ripple effect, Inspiration, Positivity, september 11
Posted in: Inspired, Perseverance
August 29th, 2011 | 27 Comments »
I would love to escape into a world of glitter. Something about glitter just screams, “FUN!” And who doesn’t need an added jolt of fun?! Let’s end August on a glittery note with a big sparkly giveaway. Are you in?
Super simple giveaway with THREE winners :). Each winner chooses one item from the glittery eye candy below.
Giveaway ends Friday September 2nd at 9 PM EST. Enter by leaving a comment below – share how glitter makes you feel! The winners will be announced on ABRE Saturday September 3rd Tuesday September 6th. Check back to find out if you’ve won!! This giveaway is open to US residents.
Let the glittery fun begin!
giveaway items: tinygalaxies organic silver post earrings with white gold | social proper glitter stripe note set | deborah lippmann nail polish set | martha stewart glitter (set of 12)
additional image credits: glitter background (paper source) | glitter + glam photo (via pinterest)
* * *
This giveaway was not sponsored by any of the featured companies. I just genuinely love *glitter* and my incredible readers. This is a little thank you from me to you for your support and generosity. However, if you’re interested in sponsoring a future giveaway just send an email to carolynblog (at) me.com.
* * *
The Winners of the Glitter Inspired Giveaway Are . . .
Congratulations Chelsea, Deb, and Darnita!! Check your inbox for a glittery message :)!
Tags: deborah lippmann, earrings, Etsy, giveaway, glitter, Inspiration, martha stewart crafts, nail polish, Paper, paper source, Pinterest, social proper, stationery, tinygalaxies
Posted in: Announcement, Random, When You Feel
