Date Thyself

Being the single lady that I am, over the years I've gotten used to going out and doing things on my own. I like going out on dates with myself and treating myself to little adventures. On Wednesday, I went and saw World War Z (because zombies are awesome) and I had a great time sitting by myself enjoying the movie.

I talked a little bit about it on Facebook and was happy to hear that a lot of other people like going out on solo dates as well, but some of you are still skeptical.

Chances are you're afraid of feeling awkward and looking weird.

That's totally okay, because you probably will feel awkward the first time and you might look weird, but weird is awesome because it encourages others to be weird and awesome too.

There are so many ideas for solo dates. You can go out to dinner, go out to the movies, go get a massage, or a manicure, or visit a museum. You can go to the bookstore and then to a coffee shop, or go look at art, or find good live music to listen to. Taking a trip to the park and enjoying writing blog posts used to be a favorite of mine!

Don’t let being alone intimidate you!

If you feel a little awkward about being alone bring along a book, notebook, sketchbook, a laptop, or a fully charged phone, it'll makes things a little bit easier, and if you start feeling awkward you can distract yourself. If you need a little bit of inspiration on the whole aloneness front CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO it's totally inspiring and after you watch it you'll feel pretty good about the going out alone thing. 

You can also have a stay-at-home date.

Cook yourself a great meal. Take a luxuriously long bath. Have a movie-marathon of your favorites or watch the newest release. Cuddle up with a good book. Make a cup of delicious tea. Sit outside on the porch and enjoy being alive.

For your date, get all dolled up, wear what makes you feel good and confident and sexy. Put on makeup or don’t, wear a dress or your favorite jammies, as long as you’re happy it’s all good. Think about buying yourself a new outfit or even new underwear. Never underestimate the feeling of absolute world-dominating power you can feel with some pretty, sexy, underoos.

What's your ideal date with yourself?

Read More

Three FREE spots on Journey Through Journaling!

If you've been interested in my Journey Through Journaling ecourse, here's your chance to win a free spot ((valued at $45))! It can be a pretty intensive ecourse, 6-weeks of daily writing designed to help you tell your story.

There are so many prompts created to uncover the dark aspects of your story as well as shine light on the beautiful things that are happening in your life.

JTJ starts Sunday July 14th!

This course is perfect if you're a blogger who wants to add more of yourself or your personality to your website but aren't sure what to write about it. It's also great for shedding light on issues that you still need to work through or deal with. Write about the things that you're proud of, ashamed of, what you fear, and what makes life worth getting up in the morning.

Today I'm giving away three FIVE free spots to the July 14th session. If you've already signed up and you win you can get a refund for your purchase or give it away to the person of your choice.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you'll sign up and share with everyone you know! I also have a 50% commission Affiliate program.

Read More

My Favorite Self Love Quotes

Ya know, I love quotes. You totally knew that already didn't you? I love them because they are quick, easy, spoonfuls of wisdom that have the ability to go straight to the heart. Some quotes, just a few sentences strung together, can completely transform the way you see things or the way your mind connects with a situation.

Here are a few of my favorites.

If I could give you one key, and one key only to more abundant life, I would give you a sense of your own worth, an unshakeable sense of your own dignity as one grounded in the source of the cosmic dance, as one who plays a unique part in the unfolding of the story of the world... -- Greta Crosby

“It doesn’t matter whom you love or where you move from or to, you always take yourself with you. If you don’t know who you are, or if you’ve forgotten or misplaced her, then you’ll always feel as if you don’t belong. Anywhere.” ― Sarah Breathnach

“You can be the most beautiful person in the world and everybody sees light and rainbows when they look at you, but if you yourself don't know it, all of that doesn't even matter. Every second that you spend on doubting your worth, every moment that you use to criticize yourself; is a second of your life wasted, is a moment of your life thrown away. It's not like you have forever, so don't waste any of your seconds, don't throw even one of your moments away.” ― C. JoyBell C.

“There comes a point when you either embrace who and what you are, or condemn yourself to be miserable all your days. Other people will try to make you miserable; don't help them by doing the job yourself.” ― Laurell K. Hamilton

“Never be afraid to fall apart because it is an opportunity to rebuild yourself the way you wish you had been all along.” ― Rae Smith

What are your favorite inspiration inducing quotes? Share 'em!

Read More

Strange Brain Territory

Is June over yet? In fact, I think I'm ready for 2014! This year has held some hard times and as we reach the half-way point of the year, I find myself reflecting, contemplating, and wandering into strange brain territory.

Strange Brain Territory: Thoughts that you aren't used to, that make you feel wibbly.

Today's card from the Wild Wisdom of the Faery Oracle is spot on for me at the moment. This card represents those exact feelings of wandering into new territory and the uncertainty that comes from that.

This Faery looks like she'd be in her element as she wanders through the woods. In reality she's not confident, she's nervous, and afraid that perhaps she's not where she's supposed to be. She's hesitating, feeling unsure and awkward as to whether or not she should keep moving forward or go backward.

Wouldn't a compass be great right now?

Usually when we feel out of our comfort zone, and out of our element, it's a good thing. It means we are stretching, growing, blossoming, and moving. To do anything else invites stagnation in our lives, yet moving brings with itself a little bit of terror.

Question the path you're on.

When you start feeling that uncertainty and that scardy-cat-ness, question it. It might be time to choose a new direction or it might just be time to choose a better attitude, to be brave and wander into the unknown with a pep in your step and a smile on your face. Get in touch with your inner compass. Ask yourself these questions:

Why are you scared?
What's stopping you from wanting to move forward?
If you didn't move forward, what would happen?
Will this path benefit you in the future?
Does this align with who you want to be?

Tap into that inner guidance and figure out where you are truly meant to be going, and what in the end, is going to make your heart and soul soar.

If you'd like a bit of personalized wisdom from me, another tool to find your direction, I'd love to do an oracle card reading for you!

Read More

Happy Positive Social Media

I have a pretty happy online life. I don't get bogged down in negativity or drama and most of the time, hanging out on Facebook and Twitter makes my day a little brighter. Then again, I know some pretty amazing people.

I want to show you how I do it and help you to do it too. Don't let Social Media bog you down and suck the life out of ya!

#1 Have awesome friends.

If you want to have an awesome social media experience, you have to surround yourself with awesome people. Don't just limit yourself to people you get to see every day or those folks from high school that you never talk to. Follow/Friend your favorite authors, bloggers, and people that inspire you or give you the giggles. (psst! You can find me here!)

#2 Don't feed the trolls.

A troll is an internet a-hole that likes to piss people off. Do. not. feed. the. trolls. Seriously. If you see an inflammatory post on your social media, or your blog, don't give it your time or attention. Delete it or ignore it. Believe me, it's not worth your time, you've got more important things to do, like living your happy shiny life and being a badass. Arguing with idiots accomplishes nothing.

#3 Utilize Facebook's Lists

Facebook has this "List" feature and it's awesome. Adding people to certain lists allows you to see certain people's posts, as well as share certain posts of yours with a select few people.

So how do you do it?

Say you want to make a list of a certain group of Awesome People. Go to https://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/lists and choose "Create A List". Once you create the list make sure to add it to your "Favorites" by clicking the little edit icon next to the name of your list. You can then see your list on the Facebook Homepage!

To add the Awesome People to the Awesome People List go to your friend's profile page, hover over the "Friends" tab and then click "Add to another list..."

Want to share something with only certain people? 

Facebook has you covered. Maybe you're going through a really tough time and don't want to share the details with everyone you know. Maybe you're afraid of judgement, or that the busybody you know if gonna spread your business everywhere. Share your status with the people you're comfortable sharing it with.

We all have that friend, you know, that friend. The one that posts the negative political stuff you're not a fan of, or pictures of abused animals that you're too sensitive to see, or the one that's always complaining about something. You don't have to unfriend them. Just hide them from showing up in your newsfeed. Voila, no negativity but without the possible drama of the 'unfriending'!

#4 Twitter has lists too!

Depending on how much your people tweet, a lot of good tweets might go unseen and it can be a lot of work to individually visit people's twitter profiles so you don't miss anything. Create a list so you can easily keep up!

Go to your buddy's twitter page, click on the sillouette of a human bust, and then click "Add or remove from lists..."

Create a list or add certain people to your already existing list. Awesome people are everywhere! It also helps keep up with your favorite bloggers, musicians, and generally other fantastic people.

You can find your lists by going to your Twitter homepage, clicking on "Lists" and then clicking on the title of the list. There you will find the twitter feeds from all of those people you want to connect with, without the clutter!

#5 What's your favorite way to keep social media positive?

I'd love to hear how you keep your online time positive and happy inducing! Share in the comments or let me know on Facebook!

Read More

Business + Depression

Somedays I get really depressed. It's hard to deal with that when you work 40 hours a week at a retail job and it's even harder when you run an online business to boot.

I do it anyway, and most days I do it gladly.

Then there are the other days. The days when I question what I'm doing because all I want to do is hide away in my apartment and do no work ever.

That's the Depression talking.

She reminds me of the days when I sat around playing video games all day and when my diet consisted of pizza and ice cream.

"You were happy then," she whispers. "You didn't have to do anything, no responsibilities. You could sleep all day if you wanted, play whatever computer games you wanted, eat as much as you wanted, all day long..."

She tells me that I was happy but I know the truth, I was miserable then. I tell her that those things didn't make me happy and she should know better. So she changes her tactics, gets a little meaner.

"You're not making a difference. Nothing that you do is going to matter in the big scheme of things. You're just wasting everyone's time. Just quit. No one will notice or mind. Don't show up anymore.  Just quit."

It's really hard to run a business when Depression visits.

Lately, I've been dealing with it. It's a rather hard line to walk, depression vs. my business, but I'm beginning to feel like an old pro. I thought I'd share how I cope for anyone out there that fears Depression will keep them from doing the stuff they really want to do. We can work around her.

Push yourself, but not too far.

Sometimes the only thing that I can do is push through the depression. The thing is, I have to use my intuition to know if pushing is going to help or hurt. Somedays I won't want to do anything at all, and that's okay, so I don't. Other days, it is worth it to push through the resistance and do it anyway because it reminds me of how much I love what I do. It's a thin line to walk, knowing when to rest and when to push, but it's important to know yourself well enough to know what's best for you.

Manage your time.

I spend two days a week doing the bulk of my online work and the rest of the week doing the little day-to-day things or working on projects. Managing my time that way gives me the opportunity to rest when I need to. I can spend five days focusing almost solely on myself if Depression decides to visit, yet I don't lose my stride, and if I spend five days not working, when I get my mojo back, I'm not completely overwhelmed with everything that I have to do.

Know your cycles.

My bouts of depression usually don't last very long, a week at most, every few months and are moderate in severity. I'm thankful for this, and especially grateful that I'm attuned with myself and my cycles. When depression plans a visit, I hear her coming and I start making plans to make her stay as short and unpleasant as possible.

Know what will make you feel better.

Aside from giving myself time, I have my Depression Kit. It's not a real kit, just a list of things I know to do for myself. Something on that list will make me feel better. I might have to try twenty things, but one of those things will loosen Depression's hold on me. I don't give up. Ever. On those sucky days, practice EPIC SELF CARE.

Don't beat yourself up about it.

Don't feel guilty for not blogging, posting, updating, creating, emailing, whatever-it-is-that-you-do -- when Depression comes to visit. Guilt will eat you up and take the joy out of your business and it's a killer. Letting other people down, especially your peoples, sucks but at the end of the day, if you're taking care of you, you're ultimately helping your business and making yourself available in a healthier way. Let the guilt go.

What you do is important. 

Even though Depression may tell you otherwise, what you do is important, and if it makes you happy, on the normal days, then hold onto that, don't forget it, no matter what mean ol' Depression has to say about it.

Does depression ever stop you from doing the things you want to do? What are your own tips?

Read More

Summer Solstice

This Friday marks the first official day of Summer, or the Summer Solstice. It is the longest day of the year, when the sun reigns as king in the sky.

It's a celebration of light.

A celebration of heat and passion and sunshine and sweat trickling down your back as the sun shines on you.

I love the celebration of the seasons and marking the changes as the wheel of the year turns.

You can celebrate the season of summer in so many different ways. Go outside and spend time in nature, enjoy the sunshine upon you, the sun that nourishes all of the things that you see and gives them life. The energy that you feel buzzing and vibrating through you and the things around you, is the energy of summer. The heat radiating from the pavement, the shadows created by the sunshine through the trees, the warmth of the soil beneath your feet.

Noticing those things, those simple summertime things, and appreciating them, is a great way to celebrate.

Go outside and go on a nature walk. Spend time playing outside with your family. Go camping or swimming. Show your appreciation for Mama Earth and all she gives us by spending some time with her.

How are you going to celebrate summer?

Read More