ode to a note

When I was in elementary school, the one where I had to bring my lunch, every so often I would find, stuck neatly in between the contents of my brown paper bag, a sweet note from my mama.

Handwritten notes are very important.  Especially in the age of 30-second, spur-of-the-moment text messages, e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter.


{We'll talk about the lost art of the face to face conversation some other day}

I've been reading a book about how the culture of Starbucks supports progress by following certain leadership principles.  The other day, I read the chapter about caring like you really care.  In that chapter, Howard Behar, the author, recounts how he sent a hand-written card to every employee on his or her birthday.  Every employee.  Every. single. one. of. them.

Whoa.

I mean, I spent a whole 31 days {ish} focusing on sweetness.  And.  I definitely covered the idea of caring like I care, even though I didn't really know that's what someone else had already called it.

I even planned to write a little ditty about the good 'ol thank you note.

But I didn't.

This week, though, I have been putting the idea of thank you notes into action.  With a twist.

The school where I teach uses a unique system to help track students' behavior and attendance over the course of a week.  The students carry a 4x5 in card to each of their classes, during class the teacher is able to mark if the student is not doing what he/she is supposed to be doing and the student is able to earn incentives if they have less than 3 marks on their card on Friday.

Because I hold on to the card during the hour and give it back to the student before they leave, I decided to use my trusty and super cute posty-note pad to leave encouraging notes to random students.  I don't write their names or mine on the note, because I don't want the kids to be embarrassed by the praise {or that I may have noticed they were feeling particularly down}; they know the note is for them because it is on their card and that is from me because it wasn't there when they gave it to me at the beginning of the hour.

I've given out five this week.

Most of the students have been very grateful and almost seemed to not believe that nice things could be said about them.  It makes me happy to know that they know I see the good in them.

day 21: impossibilities

"Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said: 'one can't believe impossible things.''I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'"

- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

Source: pinterest.com via Nabil on Pinterest

There are a lot of different takes on how it happened, but Alice fell through the rabbit hole and no matter which version is being told, nothing happened the way anyone expected it to.  Some days are strange like that.  Maybe the cat doesn't talk, the Queen of Hearts isn't breathing down our necks, and we don't have to fight the Jabberwocky.  But maybe, just maybe, we're caught in a day where other's expectations have us feeling trapped.  Where we feel like we will simply burst if we have to put on the act one. more. minute. 

A girl can just simply not be sweet when she is suffocated with all of the rules of the should's and must's.  It's why sweet has to come freely from the heart.  

A free heart is one that is open.  It is free to dream and explore and make mistakes and have successes.  A free heart is not stifled.  It is childlike and open to impossibilities because impossibilities do not even exist.

If we get caught up in believing everything that we are told as truth, well, we simply will have nothing else to do except find ourselves searching frantically for an escape.

Whether we realize it or not.

  

How many impossible things have you believed today?

day 18: be brave

I'm a lover of all things worded.  I love pretty fonts and profound words.  I love reading, pinning, and re-reading pinterest quotes.  {Really, this shouldn't be too surprising!}

Source: stylecaster.com via Laura on Pinterest

So, while I was looking through my boards for an appropriate quote for my last post, I realized something:

I have a lot of quotes about overcoming fear.  Probably because I spend a lot of time being afraid.

Source: flickr.com via Laura on Pinterest

Afraid of what, you may ask?

Really, I'm so glad you did.

I'm afraid of:
failure, success, dishonesty, honesty, moving forward, staying stuck, growing old alone, having a family, doing things wrong, being too dependable, being mean or rude, being a doormat, regret, being attacked by a crazy, being annoying, loving too much, loving too little, being fake, being to honest, not being good enough, being too good, but most of all...

I'm afraid that I've let all of this fear limit the amazingness of my life.

Source: laurenconrad.com via Laura on Pinterest

This past weekend, I took a little vacay to my cousin's wedding.  I almost let fear spoil my sweetness.  And when I look at it from a different angle, it becomes clear that when my anxiety gets kicked up a notch, I am not a sweet person.  at.  all.

Source: via Laura on Pinterest

Some time ago, Susan Jeffers told me to "feel the fear and do it anyway" and I know she's on to something.  Upon some further net searching, I came across the insight of John Maxwell who suggests that a gal might be plagued by fear if she is feeling apathetic, scatterbrained, alone, putting things off, or getting easily sidetracked.

We all want a diagnosis these days, what if most of our problems are rooted in that grand friend, plain old fight-or-flight inciting fear?  Just.  What if?

~or~

What would our lives look like if we pushed the limits?  If we were really brave enough to do it anyway?  

I'm not talking about jumping off of literal bridges here, just maybe digging a little deeper into the words of that little side-talker inside of our heads, you know, the one who says things like, "You don't have to do it today, if you don't want to..." and "You know you won't be good at that" or a personal favorite, "You know everyone expects you to, you just can't let them down now."  

What if today we all took a baby-step toward something we've always wanted but never thought possible.  Even if that baby-step is a simple internet search or a single sentence on a blank page?  Take a baby risk, then tell me about it.  How sweet was it to be brave?

true life is better than fiction

I read once that real writing, the stuff worth reading, is the stuff that scares its author.  I'm processing through one of those pieces right now, but in the mean while, I thought I'd leave you with two books whose authors', I'm sure, were terrified to write.

A powerful story of forgiveness.  It got a little bit preachy at the end, but WOW! is all I can say about this woman's story.

sent. shivers. down. my. spine. repeatedly.  This book took me zero time to read, is well written, and has been in my head since I finished it.

Have any of you read either of these?  What did you think?

Happy reading, y'all :)

wealth

Last May, I quit my second job in effort to save my sanity.  It's been quite an adjustment these last couple of months, I do not have a lot of money now.  At.  All.  I mean, it's a little dire y'all.  But you know what?  I'm so rich.

I will dedicate today's post to a list of the things that have increased my wealth now that I have only one job and zero extra dollars:

I can turn up the music and have a dance party across the hardwood floor, which I am absolutely, whole-heartedly, and completely adore, in my living room.

I have read more books this summer than I have read in the last two years.

I have been able to spend so much more quality time with so many of my ABs that I'd lost touch with.

My Goddaughter and Godsons know who I am.

I have, on more than one occasion this summer, played in the sprinkler both with and without a kid to join me.  

I have been able to spend more time writing again.

I have time to actually taste the food I eat.

I have to cook on the cheap, which means lots of creative concoctions involving eggs, spices, veggies, and tortillas.  Oh, and grilled eggplant.  Uh, YUM!

I have run more miles more consistently than possibly ever in my life.

I have had the opportunity to strengthen my faith and am gaining such an amazing sense of peace and balance.

Money may be tight, but I have not once regretted my choice!  What simple things bless your lives?

summer reading

Now that summer is here, I have tremendous spot in my back yard,  am officially broke, and down to one job I have been reading a lot.  Let me tell you a little bit about the book I'm currently toting!

Source: barnesandnoble.com via Laura on Pinterest

I must admit that I haven't read much fiction lately and I didn't much know what to expect when I downloaded this little gem onto the iPad except that the title intrigued me.  I never would have guess I would be so addicted to it!  The basic premiss is that Alice wakes up from a bad fall and can't remember the last ten years of her life.  As the book unfolds she struggles to make sense of her life without any memory of the events that got her there.   Aside from the heart wrenching realizations Alice makes about herself, this book had got me thinking about my life...  What would my 22 year old self think of my life today?  Would she be disappointed or proud? 

So now it's your turn to tell me... what are you reading now?  Have you read this goodie yet?  What did you think? 

the possibilities are endless

“There is no living thing that isn’t inherently equipped with the skills and abilities it needs to secure it continued existence. … no lion or giraffe has ever had to go to trade school to learn what it needs to know to survive.” - Kimberly Seals-Allers 

I think too often we get caught up in doing what we are told to do, in following everyone else’s plan for success, and we forget that we have so much inside our selves.  Yesterday was turning point kind of day for me and I’ve decided to truly stop "measuring out my life in coffee spoons.”

And so for the great reveal.   I’ve decided to think seriously about selling my jellies and jams to people outside of my group of friends.  Can you feel my hands trembling thought the keyboard?

It’s one thing to imagine living out my dream of entrepreneurship in the shower and during my commute to and from my day jobS, while I weigh my purchases based on the predictable, bi-monthly paychecks.  And yet, I have always prided myself on the promise that I would stop teaching when the passion ceased to outweigh the drain.  That time has come.

I’ve dreamed of owning my own shop and being self-sufficient since I was a high school student myself.  I thrived on my Commercial Design and entrepreneurship classes, I was inspired by colors, words, tastes, and movement.  Today, a week before I turn 32, I am still dreaming and still inspired in these things.

In the next days and weeks, I will be making a concerted effort to move my life in the directions of my dreams.  I am learning, researching, connecting and praying.  I will be paring down on the unnecessary luxuries and exploring new possibilities.  And.  Through this blog, I will be taking you along for the ride. Buckle up!

Revamp and Reinvent

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People found its way back into my life recently.

I believe that God puts things in our paths when He wants us to learn something.  So, um, about a month ago, while I was cleaning out the trunk of my car, there it was.  Staring at me.  I thought I gave it to Goodwill, but apparently God felt I needed it more.  So I read it.  Slowly.  And lowandbehold, it made sense this time!

I started this blog to record my semi-successful OCD thwarting efforts, remember how much fun my life is, and track the progress of operation-find-a-husband.  Oh, and because I like to write.  Once upon a time, I was actually quite good at it.  Sadly, as soon as school started and physical therapy continued and the new seasons of Teen Mom and Jersey Shore came on and the budget got tighter and my best friend go married and...  you get the point, my beloved writing project became a side note.   I never dreamed that my new best friend Steve (when you've spent this much time with one author and his book, it is acceptable to be on a first name basis) would support my rambling efforts in the blogosphere; but apparently, I'm sharpening the saw!

There is so much about this little blog that makes me happy!  I love writing creatively.  There is amazing gratification for writing to an audience in whose real lives I don't exist.  I love reading other people's musing about lives that I otherwise know nothing about.  I love looking at the statistics and see that someone actually (well, maybe) read MY writing!  Despite the overwhelming positives, blogging and all of the joy it brings, it turns out, has the surprisingly easy ability to get swallowed by helter-skelter urgency of life, but I've been reminded that it doesn't have to be this way.

And so The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People have found a way back into my life.  I have spent some time learning.  I am committed.  Now, I must do.  I will start with the end in mind (habit 2) and work first to sharpen the saw (habit 7), because its become quite clear that when life is allowed to take over one's life, it is one's self that suffers most.

Thank you for reading, you make me smile!

So, now my question.  What do you do to recharge your batteries, and no, I don't really think that Jersey Shore counts for you either!

Girl Power!

I just devoured an intriguing little book that seemed to unearth itself right before my pretty little eyes as I scoured the library for help on planning a work event (more about that later, I'm sure): Seducing the Boys Club by Nina DiSesa.  I really hoped it would help me learn to refine those flirting skills I've been working so hard on...  I'm not sure that I can say that it was a page turner or that it was all I had hoped it would be; but I can attest that it offered a bit of hope for those of us professional women who do not ever hope to become men nor want to be confused as one.  Not to say that I don't love men.  Oh, I do.  I just don't anyone to forget that I'm a woman.  Then, I want them to remember my name.  And finally, how well I put all of that together!

So at any rate, I got some reaffirmation that there is no reason to feel bad about embracing my female-ness (selling myself up, not out; really, I'm far too blunt to dumb myself down) to get what I want.  But I really want to know what to do about this woman who seems to have possibly forgotten that underneath her pants, we both have the same parts.

I'm still dealing with the woman I spoke about in my last entry and some things keep presenting themselves to me: the "charminacity" does seem to be working (as I have worked diligently to be charming towards EVERYONE I have dealt with in regards to the situation, in person and in print) and as I have climbed the bureaucratic ladder with my complaint, the higher the position of female I have encountered, the more coldly she has presented herself.  It makes me wonder, and I shudder to say this aloud, if ... this would have already been resolved ... if the person ... in ... charge ... wouldhavebeenaman.  ugh.

It seems to be a strange happenstance that I should have found this particular book at the crux of this particular battle between two powerful women: one who, as DiSesa puts it, may have gotten "drunk with power" and one who is willing to pour the wine.  I'll keep you posted on my progress :)

Cheers!

A Spoonful of Sugar?

I first fell in love with Joyce Carol Oates, then Faulkner, then the Southern Gothic genre as a whole.  Then, after visiting my friend in South Carolina and vacationing in Georgia, I just simply fell in love with the South.  Currently I live vicariously as fantastically Southern as possible through books, blogs, and Paula Deen.  I suppose I'm practicing here in my Northern city until the day that I can finally afford to migrate.

At any rate, I've recently been practicing the art of flirting as Ronda Rich has so kindly outlined for my poor misguided Northern self.  I must say, I think I'm doing a pretty good job and I know I'm a happier person for it!  And its all fine and dandy to be flirty and fun when the world is offering scrumptious hor d'oeuvres off of a silver platter, but I'll tell you what, today has sure been a test!  I don't always think before I speak; but today, I thanked God about a hundred times that the oh-so frustrating conversation in question was via e-mail and therefore forced me to choose my words a bit more wisely.  Its so much harder to press send on the I-would-really-like-to-tell-you-about-yourself email now that I'm a big girl.  Ugh :/

Luckily, this little crisis occurred in the privacy of my own home. I keep reminding myself that Ms. Rich has promised me that the trait of "charminacity" is one to reckon with (and also that I am simply too cute to ruin it by feeling so ugly about the situation).  You will all be happy to know that I have devised a constructive plan of action complete with research, outlines, and most importantly, questions; I have scheduled a date with myself to perfect my manicure; and I have continuously visualized me in a meeting with this woman (or her boss, she can choose) being pleasant, respectful, and collected all the while calling her bluff :)