Showing posts with label prompts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prompts. Show all posts

9.12.2013

How High Are Your Ambitions?


When I think of high hopes, I always start humming a little song from my youth.  Here, I'll let you watch what I'm talking about:


 Laverne & Shirley sing "High Hopes"

With that lovely little ditty to inspire us, let's look at our first challenge for this month's topic: Ambition. 

How High? 

What are the things you wish for that are way outside your comfort zone - pie in the sky kind of ambitions?  Are they really unreachable?  If so, what keeps your mind on those wishes or ambitions?

For an extra challenge - use this design twist:  use the top edge of your layout to show how high you wish you could go.

We'd love to see what you aspire to.  Please share with us in our community's gallery!



8.13.2013

Enchantment Prompts - Ready to Create?

Although our website is still having some issues, we're ready to share this month's meaningful prompts.

I love this month's theme - there's so much to talk about and think about! Some of it is lovely and delightful, some of it is deeper - attraction can be met with delight or not accepted (who hasn't been there!); Euphoria is an amazing experience, but once the peak moment is over, how do you feel?

I've felt all these things - love at first sight, rejection, feeling beautiful and not so, deep connection to a place, total over-the-top bliss and the 'day after' syndrome.

So are you ready to create? I am!

Here are this month's prompts - challenges start in a couple of days where we'll help you add the visual symbolism that will take your LOs from good to GREAT!

Start grabbing those pics...

Attraction: Do you believe in love at first sight? Have you had that experience before, and if so, what was the outcome - did that person feel the same way about you? Has your strongest attraction resulted in a partnership, either for a short time or for life (you hope).

Allure: What components of beauty do you find most alluring in yourself or in others? Do you see your own beauty on the outside, and do you care what others think of your external appearance? What ‘look’ draws you in – is it a style that people would assume you would be attracted to or the opposite of ‘you’.

Gravitate: Is there a person or a place that draws you in like no other? Can its allure be likened to a gravitational pull – huge, overpowering and inescapable? Is the draw completely positive or are there negative components to it? What would break the pull?


Euphoria: Is there a peak experience that you can point to when you were happier than ever? What were the circumstances of the joy you felt? What senses were ‘lit up’ – visual, scent, touch? Can you imagine anything that could have made that moment even better? 


6.13.2013

Transform Yourself with a Challenge...

Our FREE inspiration page is filled with different items to poke you, push you, tickle you and otherwise inspire you.  Today we've got our first Transformation challenge to lay down in front of you.  Are you ready?

Adaptation: Sometimes when change happens around us we have to change too.  What has happened around you, or what new information have you received that caused you to adapt to a new situation and how well did you adapt?  How long did your adaptation take? Do you remember what it was like before the change that caused you to have to adapt? Did you know that change was coming? Were you scared or excited?

Please create a layout depicting a situation when you had to adapt.  For your design twist, fold, twist or otherwise adapt something on your page.

You know, I'm one of those women who never really wanted to be a mother.  So when I met my husband, and his three children, I knew my life was about to change.  Talk about adapting!  Hmmmm... time to go twist something and make a layout... how about you?   Please share your thoughts in the comments below, or link us up to your layout (or better yet, share it in our gallery!)

I'd love to see your creation(s)!


5.10.2013

Weekend Warmup: Let Me Ask You a Question

One of the key elements of the type of scrapbooking/art journaling/creative expression we foster at SFTIO is THE QUESTION. 

Think of it this way...if I told you we were going to spend the month making art about CURIOSITY, would you know where to start? It's hard to jump in and get going. Even asking yourself the question, "what am I curious about" might leave you with more confusion than crafting. It's too open ended.

In comes THE QUESTION.

Some call them prompts. Or journaling starters. Or challenges. I call them the place where the rubber meets the road. 

Every month I prepare a list of questions that I'd like to answer - things that are on my mind. Hmmm...maybe that's not exactly right. They're the questions I want to answer and the ones I fear answering. That's where the good stuff is...

'The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek' - Joseph Campbell

Here's a prompt from this month's CURIOSITY Inspiration Page that's especially touchy for me...which is why I NEED to answer it.

I don't want to know: Are there things that you'd rather stay in the dark about - where you might be curious but are afraid of what you might learn? Did curiosity really kill the cat...can you (or have you been) too curious and gotten in trouble? Perhaps a little internet snooping...anyone? Be honest...

There are some people in my life, past and present, about whom it would be better for me to avoid 'studying'. I'm not proud of it, but I've been guilty of making my own life more difficult by prying into areas where I'd really do better with less information.



In our Facebook/Twitter/Google/Instagram world it's WAY TOO easy to learn things that should be private...and that in the end do nothing but cause us to relive past wounds, feel bad about ourselves or create unflattering comparisons that injure us.

So why have I done those things? Have you? I bet...I've yet to meet someone who hasn't looked up an old flame, or a nemesis. 

Perhaps if I spend some time creating a LO about exactly WHY I have let myself get pulled into old stories and what-ifs, I'll be less inclined to do it in the future. Perhaps I can anchor the idea that my life, as it is, is exactly as it should be. Perhaps. No promises. :)

Want to join me on my quest for honest expression? It's my mission in life to inspire you to do so, and in doing so, to free you to be the most authentic YOU. 

Do it on your own, with us on our Message Board or best of all, with our CURIOSITY kit. We've just got a couple left...and this kit (featuring Allison Kreft's Composition and Color line for Webster's Pages and Cosmo Cricket's Sweet Disposition among other fresh and fabulous finds) will give you the perfect color, design and symbolism to tell your story. Grab it HERE.



There are 4 more deep questions to answer on the CURIOSITY Inspiration Page...and many more in your heart that I haven't thought of. Share them with us here on the blog or on our boards, and I hope you spend some time this weekend exploring what you're most CURIOUS about.

Warmly, 




4.05.2013

Is There Such a Thing as 'Luck'?

Happy Friday friends! It's been a busy week here by the beach at SFTIO HQ as we received (almost) the last of our shipments from Winter CHA orders. Our DT is about to begin work on the May and June kits and these kits are full of gorgeous paper lines and unique embellishments - I'm personally really excited to get my creative hands on them!

I hope you're loving the behind the scenes look shared this week on the blog into symbolism and design of the layouts and art journal spreads created by our DT with the April FORTUNE kit. I'm always amazed at how our designers are able to create their own interpretations of the symbols we include in the kits. There's always something new to discover.


Yesterday, Kai shared with us a cloud of synonyms and offered some thoughts on her favorites. One of the definitions that jumped right out at me is luck. As I get ready to post this month's challenges, I've been thinking...is there such a thing as luck, or is what we call luck actually the residue of hard work.

The use of the word 'luck' sounds to me to be an expression of things, good or bad, being somewhat out of our control or beyond our ability to make an impact.

Am I lucky if I get a great job, or did I work to create the circumstances that led me to it? If I find the love of my life, is it because I'm lucky, or because I put myself in situations where I was likely to encounter people with similar values?

And of course all of this begs a larger question - is what we call luck actually what comes our way by design from a higher power?

Random...impacted by my actions...or destined...

I don't know for sure. Maybe it's some of all three.

As I've grown and changed as a person, I've increased how much responsibility I want to take for my own circumstances. Generally, I don't want to believe that life is a series of random events...so I vacillate between seeing life as the direct outcome of my choices and it being a series of blessings and challenges - brought to me by whatever force binds us together.

I want to believe that there's a purpose and a meaning in all of what life brings me. There are just too many magical, connected and mysterious events in our lives for me to believe it's all a roll of the dice. And I want to have an impact on those events by making the choices that feel authentic to my soul.



So let the chips fall where they may...as long as they're my chips and they were given to me by a loving power that wants the best for me.

Enjoy the coming weekend and the FORTUNE kits that are zipping their way across the globe to your doorsteps. Our deep and meaningful challenges begin next week!

I look forward to welcoming you soon...



2.13.2013

Show yourself some LOVE - Join our month-long online crop!

It's time for an online crop and, this time, we're cropping all month! Click this link to our forum to play along. If you are not registered, all it takes is a quick validation and you are IN! 

Come join us! 

Lots of fun and lots of prizes as we explore our inner worlds creatively.

We're exploring a deep one - RISK! Are you ready to take a chance?


You don't need the kit to play - but you'll love it! Still available here.


Crate On Trend, Echo Park For the Record 2 and much, much more from Glitz, Cosmo Cricket, American Crafts, Prima, Julie Balzer...



If you're new to SFTIO, we're all about meaning. We provide the best  supplies, carefully selected for their beauty and meaning, and then provide deep questions for you to answer with our multimedia support - quotes, photos, music and more. Come make some and get in touch with who you really are! We can't wait to welcome you.


7.13.2012

Weekend Warmup: Is New Better?

Our prompts for the COMMUNICATION kit are up on our Inspiration Page. Here's one of my faves, and it's really got me thinking:

Newfangled communication methods are all the rage – Facebook, Twitter, texting, the list could go on forever. Which methods do you use regularly and how do they impact your life? Has this kind of communication helped or hindered your relationships? What old-school method of communicating do you still employ, or miss most if you don’t?

I'm not someone who typically looks back at 'stuff' and misses it. I do miss people, places and memories, but I don't long for the 'good old days.' 

When it comes to communication, though, I think it's a toss-up.

Remember these?



I remember being tethered to the wall in the kitchen if I wanted to talk to my friends, swinging around in our plastic 1970's era swivel chairs surrounding our Formica table.

Then, my dreams came true. I got my own phone! It was still on the main line, so there was always the danger of being in the middle of a private conversation and being interrupted my my parents, or worse, my annoying little sister (sorry Budge!)



But I got to lounge on the bed and talk as late as I wanted to. My best friend and I used to stay up half the night talking and fall asleep on the phone! 

The best thing about an old fashioned phone call was that you weren't multitasking - most of the time you were totally invested in your conversation. You might have had a TV or radio on in the background, but you weren't getting another call (until call waiting, that is) or reading text messages, surfing the internet on a computer or your phone, or checking email.

The connection may have been over the miles, but it felt close. Remember saying to a relative a world away, "you sound like you're right next door!"?

I loved those late night phone calls with my friends, not only for the content, but because it evokes a time when I it was all about me - I had lots of rights and very few responsibilities. I loved talking about my feelings, dreaming about the future and wondering what would be.

The good news? There's nothing better to me today than (as a verb) scrapbooking from the inside out to think about my life, dream about my future and wonder...what's next?



And with the amazing photos I can take now by pulling my phone out of my pocket, not to mention Instagram, Photoshop, Popbooth and all the other apps out there, I can now use my phone to call a friend and reconnect, but also to capture my life and what matters most to me. And keep it forever.

 
 


Have a great weekend, and come join us online for our first challenge using the prompt above. 

Also, don't miss our DT layouts on the subject of new tech and how it impacts connection in my piece on the Creating Keepsakes Blog. You could win the COMMUNICATION kit!




2.24.2012

Nighttime Challenge...

So, did you work on your last Dream challenge, scrapbooking about your dream come true?  Please, do share... link us up in a comment or post it to our community gallery.  Then... join us in this next challenge.  We're going deep and dark on this one.  Ready?


source

Nighttime: Do you remember your sleeping dreams? Are they in black and white or color? Are your dreams more involved and complex or do you wake with an automatic understanding of what your dreams mean? What symbols appear in your dreams regularly? Do you have recurring dreams? What about nightmares? Are yours about things that would only be scary to you or scary to anyone?

Let's get some of the bad stuff out!


For this challenge, please create a layout about a nightmare or recurring dream with strange or unusual symbolism. What do you think these dreams are about? What might the dream be telling you about yourself?

I have a lot of those recurring dreams, and the ones I remember are in color.  But I've never really had an automatic understanding of what my dreams mean... although, I have done some research.  I can't wait to dig in to this challenge!

Love the design twist on this one... check it out:

For the design twist, please use darkness and light - making your LO look deep and dark but with flashes of glimmer - mist? glitter? like a sparkly night... 

What do you think?  Are you in?  Let's do it!


10.24.2011

Monday Motivation - Telling the Truth

Hi smart and crafty gals! Just before we sneak the next kit (WOW, where did October go) here's a little bit of what we do at SFTIO that's so very special...our online multimedia inspiration! Every month, we provide a ton of content - using music, stock photos, quotations, pinterest (not just pinning pretty things, but meaningful ones!) and our exclusive prompts and challenges that help you dig deep.

Here's a taste...but to get it all, you'll need to come over to the site. All our inspiration is FREE...all you need to do is click over and see us. I also urge you to sign up on our message board (just takes minutes) and you'll be ready to chat with women all over the world, who, just like you, struggle, triumph, ask questions, wonder, worry and celebrate...and you'll come away with more freedom, more honesty and more courage than you thought was possible.

What's our secret? It's not a bunch of phony 'happy thoughts' or transient states of bliss. It's telling your truth, no matter how scary or ugly it may look. Self-expression can't fix all your problems, but it makes you freer and more resilient. Here's a LO I did with last month's kit, BALANCE to show you what I mean:




This was my response to a challenge (from me :)) to our members to scrap about a major shift in their worlds and what the 'new normal' looked like.

Those of you who have been reading for a while (or have glanced at the sidebar) know that I lost my precious Bart last December. This is actually the very first page I've been able to do about him...that's right, me, the purveyor and enabler of emotion-based scrapbooking. But I finally got to the point where I could no longer ask you all to share without sharing more of what was difficult for me - sharing the thing that is MOST difficult for me. And if you read it, you'll see, the journaling is not a peaceful acceptance of the loss. I'm not there yet. 

And here's my (not so) secret - I don't have to be. And neither do you. 

Being right where you are, accepting yourself now, including your anger, resentments, fears, worries and resistance to change is CRITICAL to your well-being and your growth. Fighting it won't make it disappear - but being with the present moment and letting your emotions flow will make every future moment a tiny bit easier.



Here's a little sampling of what the ACHIEVEMENT Inspiration Page has to offer:


Prompt:

Failure: Is there such a thing as failing, or are you a believer that every failure is just a step on your path to a different success? Is failure a sign that you’ve actually tried difficult things? Are you quick to rebound after a failure or are you slower to recover. Has there ever been a time when you’ve closed your ears to the voices of others telling you that your failures meant it was time to stop trying? Have you ever looked back at a past failure and seen the meaning in it from the long view? What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Pinterest:



Music:

Quote:

Periods of tranquility are seldom prolific of creative achievement. Mankind has to be stirred up. Alfred North Whitehead




Photo:




For more music (a streaming playlist), quotes, prompts, photos and pins, come visit the Inspiration Page.


I hope you use it to tell your truth.



Love,




8.31.2011

Growth Kit Inspiration

Still digging deep on the topi of GROWTH (sorry...couldn't help it.)

Design Team Creations


For more from the Design Team, and detailed close-ups, check out the  GALLERY.

 

 


Journaling Prompts




Growing Older - How do you feel about the unstoppable march of time? Did you worry about growing older when you were younger? Do you worry about it now? As you watched your parents or older siblings age, how did it impact you? Do you fear or anticipate mental or physical infirmities? Is having someone to grow old with, or people to care for you a concern or an expectation?




Breaking Through and Change - Can you recall a true breakthrough where you had a change of heart or change of mind? Was there ever, or is there now, a part of your life where you see a barrier that seems impenetrable? what did you need to change in order to break through the wall. Once you got through, did ou find out that the wall wasreal, or in your mind? Have you experienced what first felt like a breakdown but ended up being a breakthrough? Has an obstacle ever become an opportunity, by your hand or by another?




Outgrowing - How do you know if you've outgrown a friend or a relationship? Is outgrowing about growing beyond or growing apart? How did you handle the separation? Have you been able to separate amicably, or with rancor? Has someone ended a relationship with you because they believed they had outgrown you? what about moving beyond or outgrowing family members? What part of separating from family is, for you, a natural or normal part of the maturation process?




Towards the Sun - Plants turn toward the sun as one of their main sources of life. What is your greatest source of life-giving light and heat? What part of you is like a seed, and what parts are like the branches and leaves? Has the 'sun' ever been taken away and stunted your growth? Has the 'sun' ever been too bright for the pace of your growth?




Growth Chart - How do you measure your own growth and progress in different areas? Do you measure yourself against others or against your own past level of accomplishment? If you could create a chart to map your progress in an important area in which you want to gow, wha would the markers be? How would you know if you reached the top of your chart? Is there a top? Does the top of the chart move because of your changing expectations or self-criticism?




Work in Progress - How comfortable are you with being a work in progress? Are you gentle with yourself or a tough critic? Can you identify a place where you are not where you'd like to be yet, but can be peaceful about where you are? Is anyone else in your life critical about your progress in any areas? Does that change how you feel about yourself, or are you more self-contained?




Growing Pains - Growth can be painful and difficult. Have you struggled with accepting the necessary difficulty sometimes involved in growing and changing? what has been your most painful growth experience to date? Have you had to let go of old beliefs, safety or comfort to make a real change in the quality of your life? What kind of pain have you had to suffer to move your life forward?



Pinterest Board


Click here to see our DT GROWTH Board and repin to inspire yourself!


Music 








Get a playlist! Standalone player Get Ringtones



Quotes



Growth itself contains the germ of
happiness. Pearl S. Buck


Growth, in some curious way, I suspect,
depends on being always in motion just a little bit, one way or another. Norman Mailer


The joy of life consists in the exercise of
one's energies, continual growth, constant change, the enjoyment of every new
experience. To stop means simply to die. The eternal mistake of mankind is to
set up an attainable ideal. Aleister Crowley


Life is growth. If we stop growing,
technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead. Morihei Ueshiba


The purpose of learning is growth, and our
minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live. Mortimer Adler


And when native man left off this form of
development, his humanization was retarded in growth. Standing Bear


Growth is the only evidence of life. John Henry Newman


All change is not growth, as all movement
is not forward. Ellen Glasgow


For my own personal growth I had to set out
on my own. Frank Press


Where there is age there is evolution,
where there is life there is growth. Anjelica Huston


The growth and development of people is the
highest calling of leadership. Harvey S. Firestone


Growth is a painful process. Wilma Mankiller


Those who improve with age embrace the
power of personal growth and personal achievement and begin to replace youth
with wisdom, innocence with understanding, and lack of purpose with
self-actualization. Bo Bennett


We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need
8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth. Virginia Satir


It's hard to find a way forward. When
you're 18 it happens in huge chunks every day, but after 20 years, growth is
much more costly. James Taylor


I'm really looking forward to, not more of
the same, but a continual growth. Ben Harper


I think that growth and spiritual awareness
come in slow increments. Sometimes you don't know it's happening. Mariel Hemingway


We find comfort among those who agree with
us - growth among those who don't. Frank Howard Clark


We are not born all at once, but by bits.
The body first, and the spirit later; and the birth and growth of the spirit,
in those who are attentive to their own inner life, are slow and exceedingly
painful. Mary Antin


Close friends contribute to our personal
growth. They also contribute to our personal pleasure, making the music sound
sweeter, the wine taste richer, the laughter ring louder because they are
there. Judith Viorst


Growth demands a temporary surrender of
security. Gail Sheehy


People desire to separate their worlds into
polarities of dark and light, ugly and beautiful, good and evil, right and
wrong, inside and outside. Polarities serve us in our learning and growth, but
as souls we are all. Joy Page


Happiness, contentment, the health and growth
of the soul, depend, as men have proved over and over again, upon some simple
issue, some single turning of the soul. George A. Smith


I think that one's art is a growth inside
one. I do not think one can explain growth. It is silent and subtle. One does
not keep digging up a plant to see how it grows. Emily Carr


A good marriage is one which allows for
change and growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love. Pearl S. Buck


Love dies only when growth stops. Pearl S. Buck


Intellectual growth should commence at
birth and cease only at death. Albert Einstein


Intolerance is itself a form of violence
and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit. Mohandas Gandhi


Increase of material comforts, it may be
generally laid down, does not in any way whatsoever conduce to moral growth. Mohandas Gandhi


Without continual growth and progress, such
words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. Benjamin Franklin


Ambition is the germ from which all growth
of nobleness proceeds. Oscar Wilde


Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the
enemy of growth. John F. Kennedy


Between stimulus and response there is a
space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies
our growth and our freedom. Viktor E. Frankl


A man's growth is seen in the successive
choirs of his friends. Ralph Waldo Emerson


People are like dirt. They can either
nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and
make you wilt and die. Plato


The key to growth is the introduction of
higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness. Lao Tzu


True friendship is a plant of slow growth,
and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity, before it is entitled
to the appellation. George Washington


Ever since I was a child I have had this
instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a
quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential. Bruce Lee


Strength and growth come only through
continuous effort and struggle. Napoleon Hill


Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure
nor this thing nor that but simply growth, We are happy when we are growing. William Butler Yeats


Nature shows that with the growth of
intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest
degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point. Arthur Schopenhauer


The strongest principle of growth lies in
the human choice. George Eliot


It is not all bad, this getting old,
ripening. After the fruit has got its growth it should juice up and mellow. God
forbid I should live long enough to ferment and rot and fall to the ground in a
squash. Josh Billings


The fatal metaphor of progress, which means
leaving things behind us, has utterly obscured the real idea of growth, which
means leaving things inside us. Gilbert K. Chesterton


All growth is a leap in the dark, a
spontaneous unpremeditated act without benefit of experience. Henry Miller


I have always looked upon decay as being
just as wonderful and rich an expression of life as growth. Henry Miller


All the evidence that we have indicates
that it is reasonable to assume in practically every human being, and certainly
in almost every newborn baby, that there is an active will toward health, an
impulse towards growth, or towards the actualization. Abraham Maslow


In our work and in our living, we must
recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth, rather than a
reason for destruction. Audre Lorde


Men are but children of a larger growth,
Our appetites as apt to change as theirs, And full as craving too, and full as
vain. Diane Arbus




Photos



 


 


8.18.2011

Lay It Out - Charting Growth/Measuring Tool

Ooooh, we've looked at a lot of inspiration the last few days, let's do another lay it out challenge!  C'mon... let's put our creative hats on and Lay It Out!  Here's your prompt:


Growth Chart - How do you measure your own growth and progress in different areas? Do you measure yourself against others or against your own past level of accomplishment? If you could create a chart to map your progress in an important area in which you want to grow, what would the markers be? How would you know if you reached the top of your chart? Is there a top? Does the top of the chart move because of your changing expectations or self-criticism?



"All the evidence that we have indicates that it is reasonable to assume in practically every human being, and certainly in almost every newborn baby, that there is an active will toward health, an impulse towards growth, or towards the actualization."  ~Abraham Maslow

Okay, now I challenge you to Lay It Out!  How do you map or measure your growth? What are the markers?

For the design twist, please use a ruler, a map, a chart or some other measurement tool...


When you've finished, please share with us by linking it up here or join our community and post it in our gallery!  I can't wait to see what you come up with!

7.31.2011

Independence Inspiration Continues

Still working on your INDEPENDENCE layouts? Well here you go! :)

Design Team Creations


For more from the Design Team, and detailed close-ups, check out the  GALLERY.

 

 



Journaling Prompts


Independent Woman: What does independence mean to you, particularly as a woman? Do you feel dependent on the men in your life, or healthily interdependent? Did you learn to be independent, or not, from your parents' relationship? Have your relationships with the men in your life changed, and why? 



All the single ladies: If you're unattached now, how important is it for you to find a mate? Are you comfortable being alone? What things in your life do you believe would fundamentally change with a partner? If you're married or in a relationship, is there anything you miss about being single? What are the best and worst things about being in a couple. Do you ever set up your friends, or have you been on the receiving end of a setup? 



Liberation: How did the Women's Lib movement impact your life if at all? Did you live through those times, or did you come to explore feminism later? Do you think of yourself as a feminist or not? What strides have women working for Women's rights made that change your life today...voting...'equal pay'...the breaking of glass ceilings? 



Uniqueness and individuality: What makes you unique? Are you proud of what makes you different, or is it a source of shame for you? Were you ever teased or mocked because of something that makes you 'different'? Did those experiences make you more stronger and more independent or proud of your uniqueness? Is there such a thing as weird?



Money: Are you self-supporting? Do you struggle with your financial condition? How has your relationship with money changed over the years? Is there such a thing as 'enough' money? Does your income define who you are in any way, or your profession? Has anyone ever held you 'hostage' over finances, or has it been a dividing line in an intimate relationship. 



Holding on or letting go: Is there now, or has there been any tension between holding on or letting go of something or someone? if you have children, how do you manage the balance between allowing them to fly free and keeping them safe? What, if anything, do you cling to to feel secure? Does this reflect your level of personal independence? How might you let go to feel more free?







Music








Get a playlist! Standalone player Get Ringtones




Quotes



Communication is a continual balancing act, juggling the
conflicting needs for intimacy and independence. To survive in the world, we
have to act in concert with others, but to survive as ourselves, rather than
simply as cogs in a wheel, we have to act alone. Deborah Tannen



Declaring independence was the most traumatic decision I had
to live up to. Because I didn't want to do it. Ian Smith


Divorce is a declaration of independence with only two
signers. Gerald F. Lieberman


I am in favor of carrying out the Declaration of
Independence to women as well as men. Women having to suffer the burdens of
society and government should have their equal rights in it. They do not
receive their rights in full proportion. Leland Stanford


I can assure you, that the gallant hearts that throb beneath
its sacred folds, will only be content, when this glorious banner is planted
first and foremost in the coming struggle for out independence. John B. Hood


I cannot compromise or inhibit my independence. Walter
Annenberg


I knew that collaborating on songwriting would be difficult
for a lot of people, because I was known very much, for my independence and the
fact that I wrote these quirky songs that were not typical structure, not
typical sound - you know, really original stuff. Liz Phair


I know of no country in which there is so little
independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America. Alexis
de Tocqueville


I think the girl who is able to earn her own living and pay
her own way should be as happy as anybody on earth. The sense of independence
and security is very sweet. Susan B. Anthony


I was allowed to wander where I could. Here is a case in
which you search for your independence and allow something creative to come out
of that. George Woodcock


I was born with a fierce need for independence. Michelle
Williams


If money is your hope for independence you will never have
it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of
knowledge, experience, and ability. Henry Ford


Impatience is the mark of independence, not of bondage. Marianne
Moore


In the progress of personality, first comes a declaration of
independence, then a recognition of interdependence. Henry Van Dyke


Independence
doesn't mean you decide the way you want. Stephen Breyer


Independence
I have long considered as the grand blessing of life, the basis of every
virtue; and independence I will ever secure by contracting my wants, though I
were to live on a barren heath. Mary Wollstonecraft


Independence
is all very well, but we animals never allow our friends to make fools of
themselves beyond a certain limit; and that limit you've reached. Kenneth
Grahame


Independence
is happiness. Susan B. Anthony


Independence?
That's middle class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul
of us on earth. George Bernard Shaw


Injustice in the end produces independence. Voltaire


Instead of being taught independence, energy, and
enterprise, our youth today is taught to look for security. B. Carroll Reece


It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it
shall be my dying sentiment, independence now and independence forever. Daniel
Webster


Let women issue a declaration of independence sexually, and
absolutely refuse to cohabit with men until they are acknowledged as equals in
everything, and the victory would be won in a single week. Victoria Woodhull


Louis Braille created the code of raised dots for reading
and writing that bears his name and brings literacy, independence, and
productivity to the blind. Bob Ney



Mad, adj. Affected with a high degree of intellectual
independence. Ambrose Bierce

Mickey Mouse is, to me, a symbol of independence. He was a
means to an end. Walt Disney


My mother gave me a sense of independence, a sense of total
confidence that we could do whatever it was we set out to do. That's how we
were raised. Robin Wright Penn


Nature has never read the Declaration of Independence. It
continues to make us unequal. Will Durant


Originality is independence, not rebellion; it is sincerity,
not antagonism. George Henry Lewes


Perhaps my problem in marriage-and it is the problem of many
women-was to want both intimacy and independence. It is a difficult line to
walk, yet both needs are important to a marriage. Hedy Lamarr


The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of
this nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence. Eddie
Rickenbacker


The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots
of responsibility and the wings of independence. Denis Waitley


The morals of yesterday are no more. They are as dead as the
day they were lived. Economic independence has put woman on exactly the same
footing as man. Norma Shearer


The most unpardonable sin in society is independence of
thought. Emma Goldman


The toddler craves independence, but he fears desertion. Dorothy
Corkville Briggs


No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies
your right to grow. Alice Walker


To find in ourselves what makes life worth living is risky
business, for it means that once we know, we must seek it. Marsha Sinetar


A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher,
though, awakens your own expectations. Patricia Neal


Winning has always meant much to me, but winning friends has
meant the most. Babe Didrikson Zaharias


You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's
initiative and Independence. Abraham Lincoln


If money is your hope for independence you will never have
it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of
knowledge, experience, and ability. Henry Ford


Your child will be better prepared to tackle the bumps on
the road of life if he has been given the gift of guided independence. Jacquie
McTaggart


To safeguard democracy the people must have a keen sense of
independence, self-respect, and their oneness. Mahatma Gandhi


Independence
is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or
person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good. Thomas Paine


It's easy to be independent when you've got money. But to be
independent when you haven't got a thing -- that's the Lord's test. Mahalia
Jackson


If we value independence, if we are disturbed by the growing
conformity of knowledge, of values, of attitudes, which our present system
induces, then we may wish to set up conditions of learning which make for
uniqueness, for self-direction, and for self-initiated learning. Carl Rogers


Those who really desire to attain an independence, have only
set their minds upon it, and adopt the proper means, as they do in regard to
any other object which they wish to accomplish, and the thing is easily done.
P.T. Barnum


Many a revolution started with the actions of a few. Only 56
men signed the Declaration of Independence. A few hanging together can lead a
nation to change. Wynton Marsalis



Men say they love independence in a woman, but they don't
waste a second demolishing it brick by brick. Candice Bergen



Men spend their whole lives showing that they're strong and
silent. They fight for independence the way women struggle to connect. George
Weinberg



Photos


6.30.2011

Optimism Inspiration

Here's the OPTIMISM kit Inspiration Page for your creative pleasure!

And tomorrow...

INDEPENDENCE!




Design Team Creations

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Journaling Prompts

Glass Half Empty or Glass Half Full: Are you more of an optimist or a pessimist by nature? Have you changed over time in one direction or another? Are there different parts of life in which you find it easier to be optimistic? Who is the most optimistic person you know? Does it come naturally to them, or do they work at it? Who is the most pessimistic person you know, and how does his or her attitude impact you?


Certainty: What are you most sure of? Does doubt creep in when you least expect it? Which parts of your life bring you doubt, and which inspire faith and belief in a good outcome? What do you believe on faith and what do you question?


Self Talk: What tools, techniques, words and images do you share with yourself to remind yourself how strong you can be when times are tough? Is the chatter in your mind more positive or negative? Whose voice do you hear in there? Is it a part of you, or a voice from your past reminding you of what's good or bad, right or wrong? Does the optimistic or pessimistic style of your family of origin influence you today?


Hope: Are you hopeful about the future? Have you lost hope about something and had to give in to the flow of fate or the universe? Is there such a thing in your life as 'hoping against hope' or 'toxic hope' where being hopeful can be damaging to your psyche?


Rose Colored Glasses: Have you ever been accused of seeing things through rose-colored glasses, or being a cockeyed optimist or Pollyanna? Where do you keep blinders on about the present or future in order to feel better? When faced with the truth about something that you previously saw in a kinder light, how did you react?


Idealist: Who is the most idealistic person you know, and how does he or she demonstrate their belief in people's essential goodness? Are you an idealist? Were you one in your youth, but became more cynical over time?


Music









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Quotes







I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day, but I don't think there is anything such as complete happiness. It pains me that there is still a lot of Klan activity and racism. I think when you say you're happy, you have everything that you need and everything that you want, and nothing more to wish for. I haven't reached that stage yet. Rosa Parks


Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.Helen Keller


Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power. William James


Optimism is the foundation of courage. Nicholas Murray Butler


The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead. Robert Brault


All will be well, all will be well, and all manner of things will be well. Julian of Norwich


It's hard to argue against cynics -- they always sound smarter than optimists because they have so much evidence on their side. Molly Ivins


Determine the thing that can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way. Abraham Lincoln


I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama


A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Winston Churchill


I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams. Jonas Salk


Optimist: Person who travels on nothing from nowhere to happiness. Mark Twain


The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. William Arthur Ward


For myself I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else. Winston Churchill


Not only is another world possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing. Arundhati Roy


Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. Vaclav Havel


I'm a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will. Antonio Gramsci


The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before. Vita Sackville-West


When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us. Alexander Graham Bell


Positive anything is better than negative nothing. Elbert Hubbard


When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. Harriet Beecher Stowe


Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will. Zig Ziglar


There are always flowers for those who want to see them. Henri Matisse


Don't take 'no' for an answer, never submit to failure. Do not be fobbed off with mere personal success or acceptance. You will make all kinds of mistakes, but as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or events. Winston Churchill


If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience. Swami Vivekananda


If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want. Oscar Wilde


The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world's joy. Henry Ward Beecher


Got no checkbooks, got no banks, Still I'd like to express my thanks - I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night. Irving Berlin


"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily. "So it is," said Christopher Robin. "And freezing." "Is it?" "Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately." A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner.


Remember even though the outside world might be raining, if you keep on smiling the sun will soon show its face and smile back at you.

Anna Lee


Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other. Brian Tracy


In times of great stress or adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive. Lee Iacocca


You've done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination. Ralph Marston


Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. Francesca Reigler


It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to. Annie Gottlier


One of the redeeming things about being an athlete is redefining what is humanly possible. Lance Armstrong


Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress. Nicholas Murray Butler


Those who wish to sing, always find a song. Swedish Proverb


If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Mary Engelbreit


Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come. Chinese Proverb


Nothing is interesting if you're not interested. Helen MacInness


When the sun rises, it rises for everyone. Cuban Proverb


Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude. Ralph Marston


The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people. Ralph Waldo Emerson


To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring. George Santayana


The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible. Author Unknown I think, what has this day brought me, and what have I given it? Henry Moore


People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong...Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom? Thich Nhat Hanh


To begin to think with purpose is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment. James Allen


Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. Author Unknown


People are zealous for a cause when they are not quite positive that it is true. Bertrand Russell


That's my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck's back. If it's not positive, I didn't hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy. George Foreman


The question for each man to settle is not what he would do if he had means, time, influence, and educational advantages, but what he will do with the things he has. Hamilton Wright Mabie


When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic. Charles R. Swindoll


Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. Maori Proverb


Just because you're miserable doesn't mean you can't enjoy your life. Annette Goodheart


We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them. Elbert Hubbard


I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow. Abraham Lincoln


The only disability in life is a bad attitude. Scott Hamilton


The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises. Leo F. Buscaglia


Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. Proverb


Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does. Margaret Mead


The general outlook is not that the person has died but that the person has lived. William Buchanan


Positive anything is better than negative thinking. Elbert Hubbard


For every day that there is sunshine, there will be days of rain, it's how we dance within them both that shows our love and pain. Joey Tolbert


An individual's self-concept is the core of his personality. It affects every aspect of human behavior: the ability to learn, the capacity to grow and change. A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life. Dr. Joyce Brothers


Laughter is a powerful way to tap positive emotions. Norman Cousins


In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it. Marianne Williamson


Defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it. Joe Clark


In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. Albert Camus


Let us be of cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never come. Amy Lowell


Mind is the great lever of all things; human thought is the process by which human ends are ultimately answered. Daniel Webster


Let us be of good cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never happen. James Russell Lowell


We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Oscar Wilde


Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise. Alice Walker


The most positive men are the most credulous. Alexander Pope


Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don't count on harvesting Golden Delicious. Bill Meyer


It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. Mark Twain


Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Betty Smith


To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it. Confucius


The Will of Man Is Stronger Than Iron Bars. Anwar Ibrahim


Misery is a communicable disease. Martha Graham


A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition. William Arthur Ward


Where men of judgment creep and feel their way, The positive pronounce without dismay. William Cowper


Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures. H. Jackson Brown, Jr.


Don't let the shadows of yesterday spoil the sunshine of tomorrow. Live for today. Nandina Morris


The only people who find what they are looking for in life are the fault finders. Foster's Law


No life is so hard that you can't make it easier by the way you take it. Ellen Glasgow


To everyone is given the key to heaven; the same key opens the gates of hell. Buddhist Proverb


Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. Mary Shelley


Success is due less to ability than to zeal. Charles Buxton


Sometimes life's Hell. But hey! Whatever gets the marshmallows toasty. J. Andrew Helt


I have learned to use the word impossible with the greatest caution. Wernher von Braun


The world is full of cactus, but we don't have to sit on it. Will Foley


Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles. Alex Karras


You must start with a positive attitude or you will surely end without one. Carrie Latet


The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes. William James


Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune. Walt Whitman


Anywhere you go liking everyone, everyone will be likeable.Mignon McLaughlin


I am a little deaf, a little blind, a little impotent, and on top of this are two or three abominable infirmities, but nothing destroys my hope. Voltaire


Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway. Emory Austin


A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world; everyone you meet is your mirror. Ken Keyes, Jr.


Say you are well, or all is well with you, And God shall hear your words and make them true. Ella Wheeler Wilcox


Good fortune shies away from gloom. Keep your spirits up. Good things will come to you and you will come to good things. Glorie Abelhas


Whenever you fall, pick something up. Oswald Avery


The best things in life are unexpected because there were no expectations. Eli Khamarov


There's a saying among prospectors: Go out looking for one thing, and that's all you'll ever find. Robert Flaherty


Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold. Maurice Setter


If the skies fall, one may hope to catch larks. Francis Rabelais


A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes. Hugh Downs


Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses. Alphonse Karr


An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered. G.K. Chesterton


We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon. Konrad Adenauer


Surrounded by people who love life, you love it too; surrounded by people who don't, you don't. Mignon McLaughlin


Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. Italian Proverb


I not only bow to the inevitable; I am fortified by it. Thornton Wilder


The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise. F. Scott Fitzgerald


If we shall take the good we find, asking no questions, we shall have heaping measures. Ralph Waldo Emerson


Reach for the stars, even if you have to stand on a cactus. Susan Longacre


We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs. Kenneth Clark


People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them. Epictetus


Oft expectation fails, and most oft there Where most it promises; and oft it hits Where hope is coldest, and despair most fits. William Shakespeare


A person will sometimes devote all his life to the development of one part of his body the wishbone. Robert Frost


We plant seeds that will flower as results in our lives, so best to remove the weeds of anger, avarice, envy and doubt. Dorothy Day


The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it. C.C. Scott


Heaven is under our feet, as well as over our heads. Henry David Thoreau


Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene. Arthur Christopher Benson


Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities always see them, for they're always there.Norman Vincent Peale


There are souls in this world which have the gift of finding joy everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go. Frederick Faber


Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky. Rabindranath Tagore


What is possible? What you will. Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare


Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different. Katherine Mansfield


If my resolution to be a great man was half so strong as it is to despise the shame of being a little one...William Cowper


The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak, became a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong. Thomas Carlyle


If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success; if you don't, you have achieved half your failure. David Ambrose


The excursion is the same when you go looking for your sorrow as when you go looking for your joy. Eudora Welty


I never really look for anything. What God throws my way comes. I wake up in the morning and whichever way God turns my feet, I go. Pearl Bailey


Mind is everything. Muscle pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind. Paavo Nurmi


Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations. Edward de Bono


People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson


Say Yes to the seedlings and a giant forest cleaves the sky. Say Yes to the universe and the planets become your neighbors. Say Yes to dreams of love and freedom. It is the password to utopia. Brooks Atkinson


Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out. Art Linkletter


Is life so wretched? Isn't it rather your hands which are too small, your vision which is muddled? You are the one who must grow up. Dag Hammarskjold


Consider how much more you often suffer from your anger and grief, than from those very things for which you are angry and grieved. Marcus Antonius


Be enthusiastic. Remember the placebo effect 30% of medicine is showbiz. Ronald Spark


Only positive consequences encourage good future performances. Kenneth H. Blanchard


To be upset over what you don't have is to waste what you do have. Ken S. Keyes, Jr.


He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn't be done, and he did it. Edgar A. Guest

My mother wanted us to understand that the tragedies of your life one day have the potential to be comic stories the next. Nora Ephron



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