Oddly Enough, This May Make You Feel Better About Your Work

DON’T GIVE UP! (The world needs what you have to give.)

Jane Fonda and I Have a Lot in Common

Yes, I’m with Jane on revelling in the third act of life, although I’m maybe not in quite such good physical shape.

I’ll have to work on that.

Jane had some great lines:

Perhaps the task of the third act is to finish up the task of finishing ourselves.

This was the clincher:

Women start off whole. As girls, we’re fiesty ~ Yeah? Who says!
We have agency. We are the subjects of our own lives.

But very often, many, if not most of us, when we hit puberty, start worrying about fitting in and being popular. We become the subjects and objects of other people’s lives.

But now, in our third acts, it may be possible for us to circle back to where we started and know it for the first time. If we can do that, it will not just be for ourselves. Older women are the largest demographic in the world. If we can go back and redefine ourselves and become whole, this will create a cultural shift in the world. And it will give an example to younger generations so they can re-conceive their own lifespan.

The Girl Effect

This just makes sense. It can be overwhelming, at times, to realize how many things in our world don’t. However, I prefer to look in the direction of what we can do, and would like to see happen.

Be sure to read Julianne Fuchs-Musgrave‘s take on this video. Julianne is an artist/photographer/writer and her blog is always a good read ~ thought provoking, inspiring, informative. I can’t think of a more appropriate thing to write about on this Christmas Day, 2011, than a way to help turn the world around.

How to Have a Good Day

I didn’t have much money, but I had time and a sense of wonder.
…………~ Louie Schwartzberg

The Power Plant of Tommorow is NO Power Plant

In order to get clean, efficient, CHEAP energy, look to entrepreneurs like Justin Hall-Tipping.

What would happen if we could generate power from our windowpanes? In this moving talk, entrepreneur Justin Hall-Tipping shows the materials that could make that possible, and how questioning our notion of ‘normal’ can lead to extraordinary breakthroughs.

A man of vision and practicality . . . . brilliant.

What Percent Are You?

We are the 1 percent.

We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby!

It’s a pretty big leap from this 1908 billboard to LG’s digital extravaganza on the side of a building!

Wanna see more?

Reach Higher 2

Reach Higher 1 was posted on October 5th, 2011.

Vulnerability

My son sent a link to me yesterday, saying that a Ted Talk he listened to, given by Brené Brown, had affected him deeply.

Opening to Vulnerability

Feel It All

I listened to it, and was struck, immediately, by three things:

1–You can’t pick and choose with emotions, numbing or burying  only the “bad” ones. If you attempt to do this, you will also lose connection with the good ones.

2–Maybe protecting our children from really experiencing their emotions, including the bad ones, is not a viable strategy ~ because of #1.

3–We need to cultivate the courage to feel our emotions deeply. That means allowing ourselves to be vulnerable.

I am going to watch this talk a few more times, because these ideas that Brené shares are very important: for our life and work, our joy and creativity. Brown’s talk is not only profound, but ENTERTAINING. That is an accomplishment.

I am so grateful to have a son that allows himself to feel this way.

The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.
………….~ Brené Brown

Watch Deborah Demonstrate Touch Drawing

There is something elemental about shaping images with your hands, and Deborah is a master at this.

Deborah Demonstrates Touch Drawing.

In your Face CROCHET!

I am speechless .  .  .  .  .