Fear

Jen Lemen, in her post the Mean Reds, reminds us that sometimes we find ourselves afraid and we don’t really know what we are afraid of. In these times we need to remember that it is only fear and that we can find it within ourselves to overcome that fear. We just have to be reminded to overcome it and not allow it to hold us back. She shares with us a wonderful saying and song that help her when she needs to overcome fear and let go.

“Of course, there’s nothing to do, except acknowledge that fear is at the bottom of it, and whenever I’m afraid it’s always this phrase running through my head. Perfect love casts out all fear. This always comforts me, because I know that while ordinary human love is often hard to come by, a strange infinite kind seems ever available.”

Recognizing Barriers

In her post Pema Friday, Jena shares with us a quote from Pema Chodron. Here Pema tells us that it is natural for us to put up barriers to our heart and to shy away from love and kindness. Although this is a natural reaction, what is important is that we recognize our barriers, and admit we have them so that we may begin to work towards dissolving them. Enjoy the full quote from Pema to see what she says about the importance of recognizing when we begin to shut down and put up barriers.

Combining Your Interests And Your Work

In this guest post by Emilie Wapnick at Illuminated Mind, we are reminded that wanting to do more than one thing with your life is acceptable and inspiring. We often believe that we have to have one calling in life, but this is not necessarily the case for all people. Many of us find that we are interested in and excel at many things in life. Emily shares with us that we can use this to create our own business and do what we love by incorporating all the things we excel at within one overall theme. She encourages us to follow all of our interests and to embrace our multipotentiality.

“Not having one true calling can be a wonderful thing. Having many interests, blending those interests and working at the intersections of different fields doesn’t make you indecisive or non-committal. It makes you original and innovative.”

The Rules of Ladies

Here is a site, The Rules of  Ladies, that gives us little bits of wisdom almost daily and  brief looks into interesting blogs. Here is a rule to share, No. 179:

“Don’t take someone for granted just because everytime you push them away, they’d always come running back. Because one day, they won’t.”

Being Tired

Today on ZenHabits, Leo shares some advice and tricks that he will also be addressing in his upcoming book, The Effortless Life. In his post today he discusses being tired, including what can cause it, how to rejuvenate from it, and what to do to prevent it. In all, Leo reminds us that we can still have an effortless life while also being productive and feeling energized. He says,

“When you’re tired, not much seems appealing. Life is dulled, and you don’t get much accomplished. Worst, you don’t have the energy to change the situation.”

Bits of Wisdom

In her post, Fortunes You May Tell, Jen Lemen reminds us that we often have the answers already to what is ailing or bothering us but we may have difficulty accepting our own answers or we may be reluctant to accept them. Jen has an activity that can help with this, fortune tellers, something we might have all done as a child at one point or another but that we can now use as an adult. For Jen, these adult fortune tellers allow her to remind herself of the truths and answers she already has and to give herself rays of light and hope to begin acting on them. In all, we are reminded that even if we already have the answers we seek, sometimes we also need guidance or support to begin accepting those answers, especially with hard to face truths. She says,

“My fortune tellers help me recapture my smallest, truest wisdom and help me understand that sometimes it’s just that simple. I can get the magic marker out and just write the right answer under the flap and then act surprised when I by some stroke of good fortune, arrive back at the answer I knew all along. It’s another way in and it doesn’t offend me. It gives me a little bit of light to follow that doesn’t leave me heavy or scared. It puts a hopeful twist on something that might have me all tangled up inside. “

Unlocking your Creative Ideas with the Accidental Creative

Author and founder of Accidental Creative, Todd Henry has provided his readers with several new tools that compliments the ideas presented in his book, The Accidental Creative. In addition to the book, the Accidental Creative Team has developed several study guides to help people but the ideas from Accidental Creative into practice. They will also be offering a new online community for sharing and live webinars that discuss many topics included in the book. To find out more details, check out Todd’s post, Three Tools to Help Unlock Your Creative Ideas.

3000 Books

A new find for us on the internet, but a blog that has been going since 2007, is 3000 books. Estelle, the blog’s authors is an editor for an Australian publishing company and has set herself a goal to read 50 new books a year. As she travels from one fictitious land to another in the books she reads she shares smalls bits, reviews, news and events for writers, and even some samples. For all of us who love reading, this is a blog to share, in case you are looking for that next great book to read.

Recovering

In this post by Andi Teggart at Polish my Crown, we learn some tips and tricks for quickly recovering from a bad or chaotic day. Andi reminds us that even though we can enjoy everyday, we still have those times and days when things are not going our way. She gives us several ideas that we can use to turn our day, mood, or situation around to improve it and face it rather than hide from it. She says,

“Yes, for the most part, I do enjoy every day, but there are some days where I am just plain mad or bad or sad. Rather than just pretend this negative energy and gloom doesn’t exist, I’ve learned to face it head on. We ALL have “those days” and it’s key to step outside of the situation (aka the mood you are in, the actual physical spot you’re in, whatever) and hit the REFRESH button on life.”

Everyday

In this post, Epistolary you, by Colleen Wainwright, she reminds us that when there is something in your life that you wish to work on or improve at, you need to do it every day. For her this was writing, for each of us we may have a different goal in mind but the key is give ourselves the time and opportunity to share in that activity in some way every single day. Think about your goal and how you can incorporate that into your life on a daily basis.

“One of the best ways to get better at anything, writing included, is to do it every day.”

Keeping the Truth Hidden

In this wonderful post by Jen Lemen, we see how our true self can get lost when we keep our truths hidden. Jen reminds us that as we hide the truth about ourselves from the world, we begin to lose some of who we are in the process. Although putting ourselves out there and revealing the true about ourselves may make us vulnerable, it is better to risk vulnerability than to forget who we truly are. We may find along the way that there are places that we can expose those truths in a caring and honest environment.

” You lose touch with who you truly are. You deny that you are magic, until you are not. It shows.”

The Magic Within You

In her post Magical Powers, Karen Maezen Miller reminds us  that although we may seek the how, seeking the who and why is where the true magic lies. She tells us that we can share prayers, chants, even places to practice, but the heart and soul who truly seeks a teacher displays the true magic.

“These are the magical powers — no more magical and no less magical than you are. And yet none of these things is as powerful as the heart that seeks a true teacher.”

Dream Lab

The return of the Dream Lab course has arrived just in time for a fall session. In this course you will learn from the wonderful ladies at Mondo Beyondo, Andrea Scher and Jen Lemen, while focusing on courage, gratitude, and tribe. The course begins on October 17th so if your interested check on the full details of the course at Dream Lab Fall.

Clutter

In this post from catching days, we are reminded that just as our rooms,houses, and spaces need rearranging, so do our lives. Sometimes, all we need is a little rearranging and here is a post to inspire you. As Cynthia from Catching Days shares with us the completion of her story to rearrange her office to find more time and space to write, we are reminded that everything in life needs a little rearranging. Take away the clutter in your spaces and give yourself more time and room to explore your creativity and perhaps you will find a little inspiration to take away some of the clutter within your life and simplify. What inspires you when you remove the clutter?

Perfectionism

In this article by Brené Brown, she discusses how we can be happy by not trying to be so perfect. She reminds us that we should embrace who we are, as we are right now and learn to let go of trying to be perfect. Instead we should focus on realizing that you are enough right now not through perfection and we should allow ourselves to feel worthy of love and belonging.

“We get sucked into perfection for one very simple reason: We believe perfection will protect us. Perfectionism is the belief that if we live perfect, look perfect, and act perfect, we can minimize or avoid the pain of blame, judgment, and shame. “

The Apparent Project

This week is the Girl Effect Blogging Campaign, which includes female bloggers that spotlight important causes that aid women and girls in receiving education and medical care. In this post by Magpie Girl, their featured cause is one of their favorites, The Apparent Project, which helps women and in some cases men, to create sustainable small businesses in Haiti in an effort to improve their economy and bring relief to the many families or women who might otherwise have to leave their children at orphanages. Instead, the project hopes to help women and families create these businesses to help sustain their children and their lives. Visit Magpie Girl’s full post, Curated Care: What’s an un-orpanage? to learn more about this wonderful organization.

Change

In How to be Born, Jen Lemen, shares some advice for those of us who are experiencing change in our lives that is completely reshaping who we are and who we want to be. She shares several tips for making the most of such a challenging time in our lives. Jen points out that often change is not wanted but necessary and accepting this, showing care and consideration for yourself and others through such a change, and embracing the new you on the other side is a powerful and transformational experience.

“For better or worse, that process of being born doesn’t stop. There are moments when we realize with dread and loathing that everything has to change and that everything will have to keep changing until you feel completely strange and brand new.”

First Steps

Leo Babauta from ZenHabits shares with us today that often on our journey to do what we love or to discovering what we want to do there are many questions, doubts, and fears holding us back. He emphasizes that we have to put ourselves out there and learn from others’ suggestions, advice, comments, and experiences.  Instant feedback is the route to discovering how to improve, how to make it work, and how to engage others. Leo’s solution to overcoming our worries when it comes to doing what we love is simple. He says,

“And these are tough problems.

But I have a method for beating them. And it’s a simple trick.

Do it in public, and get immediate feedback.

It’s one of the most powerful things you can implement, I promise”

Helping Others to Live Their Dreams

In this post, Remy Gervais from 8 Women Dream, shows us through her own experience how we help others follow their dreams while living out our own. Remy tells a personal story about living her dream and shares with us how her dream was realized, how she helped a friend realize her own dream, and how she learned from others that were already living their dreams.

“Dreamers, it is possible to live your own dreams while helping others go after theirs.  You just have to look for – and possibly create – the opportunities to make it happen.”

 21st Century Youth Project

This Indiegogo campaign, 21st Century Youth Project, seeks to raise funds that will implement a pilot program for teaching students transferable skills in the realm of technology. The project is not only creating software to provide to educators and students for free but is also planning on filming a documentary of the work they will do this fall with the 5 to 7 high schools for the pilot program. To find out more about how you can help this project read the full campaign details.