The Power of a Deadline
This month has been one of the most amazingly productive and creative months of the last year.  I’ve finally been able to focus on the dynamics of my business and fine tune its execution. …and I’ve been rocking the bejesus out of Photoshop. So why have I been tripping the month fantastic?  Because I have not one but two looming deadlines.  First, we return to Raleigh in 16 days.  Second, the credits that I purchased on iStockphoto expire today. Today, people! As it turns out, in order to get my productivity on, not any old deadline will do. subjec

More Than Giving Thanks
Usually for Thanksgiving, I write a “you don’t have to spend time with anyone who doesn’t contribute to your awesome, even if it’s family” post. And I think that’s important.  Sometimes we need permission to do what is healthiest for us even when it flies in the face of social convention. Or I talk about everything that I am grateful for…which is a lot. Or just gratitude in general. But this year…I want to talk about next year. Thanksgiving is the beginning of the holiday stretch that moves us right into the next year.  And usually it’s January 3 before we’v

sensitive (adj.) deeply perceptive
People who seek to connect are usually intuitive, observant, and deeply insightful. They are also pretty sensitive to the ugliness in the world.  The small acts of disrespect, the attrition of personhood, the subtle owning of another person. This is all wrong!  Why can’t anyone see what happening here?? Instead of experiencing deep connection, the sensitive end up feeling deeply alienated.  Alone.  Misunderstood.  As if the world is broken. The thing about “plugging in” is that we have to be able to unplug.  To simply be.  To turn reconnect with our being and process our ex

The Power of Negativity
I was still in contact with my father when I first went away to university.  I’m not sure why but I think it was rooted in a sense of familial duty. Because even after everything he had done, he was still my father. And I loved him. It wasn’t until further into my freshman year that I finally cut off contact.  (Until that point, I spoke with him every couple of weeks.) One day, as he was in the middle of a they’ve-done-me-wrong-monologue I realized that I simply couldn’t remember anything positive.  Every conversation was a merry-go-round of health complaints, work related negativity, and a lita

Marriage on The Brink
FYI, this is a totally personal post and not really related to self-improvement or personal development in general.  If you are looking for tips on dealing with a marriage on the brink, may I suggest Simple Marriage. For those of you who don’t know, last June Chris and I picked up and relocated to 10 miles outside of Jackson, Tennessee.  Why?  His mother was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer and given 8 months to live. There is a connection between Chris and his mother, a deep well of love and respect and something else I can’t quite place my finger on…something on a soul lev