Where Flowers Bloom So Does Hope

I know the key to writing, even when I don't feel like writing, is writing.  Write your way to what you want by writing about anything.  Once upon a time, starting a journal saved me.  It wasn't a conventional journal, but it served the same type of purpose.  Now, years later, starting a blog is essentially the same thing.  The every day practice of writing your thoughts in a journal is powerful in that it can help cultivate what you want from life.  In my case it helps channel my energy, directs my mind's focus, but sometimes my mind doesn't feel much like it wants to focus.  There is an art to creating the life you are hoping for, and doing it on your terms.  I am basing all my hopes for the future on my desires, talents, values, and dreams.  The pressure can get a little overwhelming, and it's a little scary.  I'm starting year one right now because unforeseen circumstances halted my progress.  I'm in that stage where I'm having to learn to not allow my fears or my insecurities to step in and block what I want most in life for me.  This journey begins with the seeds I had already planted years ago.  To this day, those seeds still bloom.

To Dream By Day

As much as I loved being a bartender and the people I worked with, I woke up one day and decided that bartending no longer gave me a sense of fulfillment.  There was no thrill in mixing drinks and creating new ones.  There came a point when I could no longer justify spending my days working behind a bar doing something that didn’t make me tick. I quickly realized that in order for me to be happy I needed to make a change.  I did the thing that no one thought I'd do, I resigned from my position.  Many people asked me why I would quit my job.  The simple answer is that the paycheck I was receiving for doing the job did not provide me with any financial security.  I'm not ready or willing to live that lifestyle of a stable yet unfulfilled job.  It wasn’t my passion. It no longer felt right to do the job.  I could spend the same amount of time sitting in front of my computer, never leaving my home, and make the same kind of money writing and marketing.  It turns out, when I'm focused, I make substantially more.  The reality is that bartending was never really my dream.  It was something different for me.  I had worked retail for so long, I needed to step out of that comfort zone.  Retail is in my blood.  I have extensive experience in retail.  Bartending was a new creative experience for me. 

What is my dream?  I used to think that writing would just be a hobby for me.  Through my teenage years, I never thought that I could actually make a living as a writer.  Now, after a few years of working freelance, I realize that I really want to live the life of a writer.  It's harder, but I'm much happier.  It does take practice and I'm still a work in progress.  Life is way too short not to do something you love.  It's amazing how when you start with one small step, how that can build into so much momentum.

Our Destiny Hides Among Our Free Choices

Have you ever had that sense of internal conflict about enjoying the present moment while also working toward your dreams?  It's not a constant feeling for me, but an awareness that while I'm working every day to accomplish these incredible goals, which in turn shapes my future, that I may be missing out on the present that I am living in.  I've found that finding the harmony between living in the moment while also planning for the future is something I struggle with.  For me, the balance between today and the future comes from knowing that my intentions, my actions, and how I spend my time are leading me to a new place that I am hoping to create in the future.  I actually feel more free and secure in pursuing my goals without the fear and anxiety that I used to have, because I know that it doesn't matter if I reach the exact goal I set out to reach, the journey is what matters.

The Secret Of Having It All Is Believing You Already Do

Howdy friends!  I've been takings some time reading blogs and organizing my thoughts.  I'm kind of in that phase where I feel like I am creating a landscape as to how I want my on-line life to be portrayed.  I've noticed that there is not a whole lot of talking on fashion blogs, it's more about what I wore.  All this reading, which is more like sifting through pretty pictures, it feels like comparing lives.  It's easy to look at someone's blog and see this version of their curated life, and then look at your own and question your choices.  You are constantly comparing your life, blog, wardrobe, photography, home, decorated skills, bank account, time-line for starting anything.  Sometimes it feels like your life sucks in comparison to theirs. I think we have all experienced that feeling a couple of times, and it's a slippery slope, especially when you are looking at a peephole version of reality.  Personally, I'm truly enjoying simply living in my life for awhile.  There is less pressure when you are starting out new. 

Absence Sharpens Love, Presence Strengthens It

I've been in this place of transition for awhile now and I've spent a lot of time thinking about who I am, where I'm going, and calming down on the way to getting "there".  I'm working on my health in every aspect.  I'm working on building a career.  I'm working on creating a life for myself, to eventually be shared with someone else when that time comes.  Every day is a new day.  Every day is a new opportunity.  Every day is a new chance to try.  My personal thought about life is that you need to stop and take time to appreciate the little everyday miracles.  Like the sun gleaming through an icicle and making a rainbow, it's the little things that seem so insignificant that bring so much beauty into your life.  Saviour these moments, life is too short and passes us by so quickly that if we don't consciously make the time, we are missing so many great things.

Love is a Canvas Pattern

There are many facets of love. In the Greek language, where a lot of these different types of love were verbalized, they identified that there is a very real difference between friendship and love of your friends, the love of a mother to their child and the romance of new love as opposed to the love of an established couple. It is definitely a richer, more practical understanding of love than what Hollywood portrays. These different facets acknowledge the wonderful thing that love does. It changes and touches those in contact with it and we grow and react in relation to it, therefore we have the different types of love as a result of the people we encounter. Love is ever adapting in that way, but always there in some form.

There Is No Better Cosmetic For Beauty Like Happiness

I forget the actual origin of my belief, but I remember being taught at some point that happiness is not something you can obtain. It's not a commodity that can be bought or bartered. It's not something you can win in a contest. It's not some kind of prize. Rather, it is something that happens to you. It's a by-product of living a good life, and reaching worthwhile goals. If your only goal is to find happiness, you're doomed never to experience it. "Happiness" is a relative term, hence the phrase "PURSUIT of happiness". It's different for everyone. My "true happiness" is different from the next person's. Whatever makes you truly happy is your true happiness.

Every Great Story Seems To Begin With A Snake

All major accomplishments come with hard work. I push hard every day to accomplish these lofty goals that I set for myself, and most of the time I'm successful. My goals are grand and ever changing, but that’s why they are perfect for me. I'm constantly challenged. It doesn't matter the size of my goals, it matters that I take action daily to achieve them.

The Earth Laughs in Flowers

“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” ~Johann Von Goethe

I’m pretty happy. Every morning I wake up energized and enthusiastic. Every day I’m willing to apply myself to anything, whether it be taking on a new freelance job, starting a new project, researching new ideas, or anything proactive that propels me further along this new path I'm on. I feel connected to my future. It's an incredible feeling for me.

Today's look is business casual.

Spending Some Time With Nature

Autumn is my favorite season, probably because the season is synonymous with change.  I feel the magic in the air every autumn.  I know there are many people out there that would agree with me.  Some might believe it has something to do with the upcoming holiday season, family and friends coming together to celebrate the joy of togetherness.  Others may attribute it to the unpredictable change in weather, from warmth to snow, Autumn seems to encompass the weather of all seasons.  Some the magic is felt with the changing colors of the leaves.  I’m not sure what it is about this season.  I just love that everything about it feels like magic.

  Autumn is youthful, mirthful, frolicsome--the child of summer's joy--and
on every side there are suggestions of juvenility and mischief.  While spring
is a careful artist who paints each flower with delicate workmanship,
autumn flings whole pots of paint about in wild carelessness.  The crimson
and scarlet colours reserved for roses and tulips are splashed on the brambles
till every bush is aflame, and the old creeper-covered house blushes like a sunset.

Roger Wray

There is nothing more satisfying that traipsing around wooded areas in the midst of a changing season.  To walk through deep layers of autumn's fallen leaves, that range in color from crisp golden yellows and oranges with green frilled edges to deep scarlets, coppers, and russet brown, and find your peace.  Nature has a way of healing the spirit.

“Keep close to Nature’s heart, yourself; and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. ... Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” — John Muir (1838 – 1914)

Happiness Held is the Seed; Happiness Shared is the Flower

Roughly two year ago, I began a journey that was supposed to take me from one place career-wise to another.  Through some hardships and incredible obstacles, I have managed to persevere.  I've taken opportunity after opportunity to learn and grow while managing two full-time careers.  Recently, I've taken a leap of faith, and chosen to pursue a full-time career freelance writing and blogging from home.  While I deeply miss the face to face interactions with the individuals I worked with, I believe that my decision was one that will bring my life happiness and meaning.  The images in this blog post reflect the change in my uniform.  I went from wearing an actual uniform to wearing my own clothes.  One of the lessons I am taking from others who have decided to make working from home their career, dress like you are going to your place of business.  I'll be writing my reflections, in the next few months, on how I feel about my decision to jump from one very stable career to that of an entrepreneur.

Even the Most Beautiful Days Eventually Have Their Sunsets

 

 

Wild Child

Because I am making an attempt to get back into looks of the day I thought I'd do something basic and simple.  With my schedule at a hectic pace I needed to do something that wouldn't overwhelm me.  I went with this look because it was easy to put together.  The goal is two looks a week until I go full-time into fashion.  Please bare with me as I try to put a schedule together that works for me. :)

The dress was found at AXParis and the shoes were purchased from Burlington Coat Factory