I landed my first international client. These handmade trackable gemstones are on their way to France. oui oui and wee wee
They will serve as Christmas gifts and the recipients will get to see all the places the stones go as they trek the globe.
This was a fun project.
If you’d like some for you, your kids, for geocaching, or for gifts, visit this page. 100% free shipping in the U.S. puts them well under $2 each. Or, just go to Geotrackable.org to start your own project!
You’ve heard “follow you bliss,” right?
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”
― Joseph Campbell“If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”
― Joseph Campbell[This is wiki link for the scoop on Campbell]
Campbell wrote “The Power of Myth”, “The Masks of God”, and “The Hero of A Thousand Faces” among many other works and was an American mythology professor, writer, and orator best known for his work in the fields of comparative mythology and comparative religion.
Follow your bliss refers to a path you take. The journey and the making of a hero.
(video is cheeky and humorous summary of what happens in a Hero’s Story)
It’s the journey of every great person and every life well-lived also.
(photo source)
My offshoot and focus is “KISS your BLISS”.
Why? Because nothing’s more active than that (and it rhymes, which is a nice mnemonic device).
This is the name for the moment you cross the threshold to adventure and finding your purpose. It’s when you decide you have a deeper calling in this world and living from your core is what counts most. I’m crafting a book on this right now and it’ll be out this fall. I hope you’ll come back for more details soon.
You will find that once you embrace your passion and gifts and kiss them full on the mouth a switch happens. At that point the sides fall off your holding cell and it turns into a go kart. You pick up speed, scream in delight and your passion is infectious.
Make no mistake: It is a risk.
There is true danger involved.
At the KISS POINT you will gain two things:
1. A following–people you splash with your passion who come for the ride, guide you, or cheer you on.
It is also characterize by new and better-fitting opportunities unveiling themselves and new connections and relationships emerging. You’ll “be on to something” with all kinds of vague but palpable mystery that whispers of the divine. You’ll feel “in the flow” with new energy and a revived sense of purpose.
2. The devils–people (or systems) who are threatened by your passion or jealous of it because they are lacking it and feel empty.
The obstacles will be new too and formidable. You’ll feel a target on your back and a strange level of animosity that has no proper explanation except that which points off the map to something cooperative and moved by the otherworldly trying to thwart you and divert your path. Weird, I know.
This is the Kiss your Bliss Effect.
Sound at all familiar?
Sometimes when we’ve been working hard or spinning our wheels, rest it what we need most.
But, never forget about WHIMSY!
This week I was working on a new project and I could just tell I needed whimsy.
What is it exactly?
Whimsy is caprice. It’s playful or humorous behavior. It’s the opposite of work and taking yourself too seriously.
If you are burned out, give it a try.
Here are some ways:
• Do something you did as a kid (a game, an activity, a piece of art, hopscotch, legos, build a card house, color, whatever you want.)
• Whistle. (People don’t whistle much anymore. It’s a crisis of scarce whimsy. Just pick something and do it.)
• Create something for nothing but the fun of it. No one even has to see it. Exuberance and a no-holds-barred attitude is key!
• Sing or hum or play an instrument.
• Whatever made you belly laugh last time? Do that again.
• Tell a friend or family member a funny (or whimsically embarrassing) story and invite one from them.
Just 5-10 minutes of pure whimsy works wonders!
What did I do? I made something whimsical. I call it a “Whimsy Box”.
(People have said that just looking at this makes them feel a creative burst coming on!)
Each Whimsy Box is one-of-a-kind and tells a story.
It’s part art, part whimsical tale, part conversation piece, and part interactive inducer of creative tsunamis. Some Whimsy Boxes have a bona fide riddle about them or mystery to solve. Others play music, make a noise, have moving parts, or light up somehow–like this one!
(Sorry…this one is SOLD. If you’d like one, though, contact me.)
So, that’s how I took my break.
What will you do?
the Wait is Over!
You can buy the book! (and it’s cheap too)
Here’s the BONUS EDITION (It contains TWICE the awesomeness. For Super fans or underdogs only!)
Doug and I thank you.
Please remember that purchases will also benefit 2 non-profit organizations that care for dogs in need.
Don’t have a Kindle? No problem. If you are reading this, you’ll be able to read the book too. Download the Kindle App for free here. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771
BONUS EDITION
Or learn more at the splash page where you can read reviews and get the…um scoop. (Not THAT kind of scoop)
(The best part about Teresa’s article to me? The various mentions of not wearing pants. It’s just always funny.)
Teresa Shourds writes a very funny blog and I love how she handles this review which could have been awkward seeing as she is not fond of dogs. gulp.
Can a non-“dog person” enjoy the book I wrote with Doug Jackson? Read on and see!
EXCERPT:
Doug asked if I would take a gander and review, you know since I’m a fellow writer and all.
Specifically, he thought it would be an interesting perspective “coming from a person who is ahem – less than enthusiastic about dogs (per a recent blog)”. I’m assuming he means this blog.
He’s right.
I’m not a dog person, or an animal person really.
I don’t torture them. I’ve learned over the years to add that clarification because once you’ve acknowledged counter cultural feelings concerning pets – people go to dark places… immediately.
I’ll watch your cat sleeping on great dane video – once.
Past that – I’m out. I don’t like messiness, germ-i-ness, destruction or poop.
I have no affinity for the idea of Spot roaming freely throughout the house taking liberties with shoes, table legs, rugs and the trash in the bathroom. I really don’t want you sitting on my furniture – YOU HAVE NO PANTS ON. Plus I’m pretty sure you drank out of the toilet. Oh, and please stop licking my leg…
I saw what you licked prior.
