The Purpose of Life is Joy. We often forget that All that Really Matters is to Have a Great Time. To Feel Good. To Be Happy.
That means Many Different things to as many different people, But it is All The Same. Whatever Rocks your Socks.
If you don’t really know what Makes *You* Happy - it’s time to Find Out! They may have forgotten to tell you in school but Your Life Depends On It. It’s what Life Is About. It’s The Point.
Life is About Joy because Experiencing Joy is how you figure out which Way to Go and What You Want To Create in Your Life. Joy is what Motivates and Drives You.
Anything you could ever Desire - relationships, money, bodily conditions, adventures, opportunities, experiences - you want because you Think that you Will Feel Good or Better once you have them. You think it’s The Having of those things will bring you Fulfillment or Joy, but the truth is that Joy is the Indicator that what you are Currently Doing or Focusing Your Attention On is in Alignment with You . It’s what you should be doing. You’re On the Right Track.
Enjoyment = Enlightened Joy.
Enlightenment is just a Fancy Word for Super-Awareness, and Most of Us experience it At Least once in a while. Usually when we are feeling a lot of JOY. The challenge for most of us is to Sustain that feeling Within, and Learn to Live from it Always. After all, sometimes life gets difficult and you can’t always be surrounded by your favorite people, doing your favorite things.
When you are Doing or Focusing Your Attention On Something that You Truly Enjoy - you are feeling the Joy that exists Within You. The feeling you identify as The Best - and you are using whatever you are doing as a Reason or excuse to Let That Feeling Fill You.
When you find something that brings you Great Joy (anything!) - keep doing it and as much as you can because What You Focus On Materializes and Grows in Your Life and soon you will find more and more reasons to Love and Feel Passionate about your life.
Sometimes we get So used to the relative Perfection of our lives and the looking for the (in the big scheme of things) Miniature Problems that arise that we don’t even Notice when we’re actually having a Wonderful Time. Total Happiness always happens in the simplest ways, when you least expect it.
By Acknowledging and Expressing Yourself or your Feelings in whatever way tickles your fancy, you are Embracing + Exploring + Prolonging those feelings and eventually Living from Them. In other words -Expressing Yourself Fuels Your Life.
What you Put Out in life is what you Receive in life and when you use ANY medium to Focus Your Attention on Joyful Feelings - Consistently, Often, Most of the Time! - you get into a groovy flow and you find yourself living Boldly and Purposefully, which Cultivates your dreams and makes them Sprout + Grow + Blossom into Reality.
Your Life is Your Creation. You are the Driving Force behind your life and you Can’t even Help It. All Day, Every Day you are making choices and decisions that are creating and giving shape to your life. Even when you Choose to Let other people make decisions For you - that is still what You are creating in Your life.
Any Dream You Have, You Can Make It Come True. Your fantasy can Always become reality. If you have the Ability to Dream it Up - this life is capable of delivering it to you, or rather, You have the Ability to Make It Happen for Yourself in what feels like a Collaboration with life.
Have a Blast . Create your life Consciously by making yourself feel good by doing and thinking things that feel good. Enjoy Expressing Yourself.
This is what I wore to a book signing and brilliant talk by Dr. Deepak Chopra author of some of my favorite books like : The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire or Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. It took place at the very interesting and intriguing Masonic Center in Madison, built in 1925.
* White sweater from Blanco in Spain.
* Black skirt from H&M.
* Black+Pink·Fancy·Lacy·Heart cardigan by me.
* Black tights from Target.
* Black Mary Janes by Candies.
* Swarovski crystal crown earrings from little store in Denia, Spain.
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I also wore this amazing sparkly hand knit headband made for me by Jacob Hawkins a.k.a. The Sweetie.
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It was really an amazing talk and I feel like I gained a lot from it.
And on a side note, I must mention how fashionable Dr. Chopra was. He looked charming and so modern even wearing sparkly glasses!
As I mentioned on my last Art Day post I’ve been exploring the mixed media worlds as of lately.
I’ve glued a thing or two to my paintings/drawings before but this is the first time I’ve done it so deliberately.
A while ago I got some metallic paints and I’ve been loving the way they look on wood. Combined with the rhinestones + glitter + glossy finish, it looks like wall jewelry.
This is the result of my first try, which I finished at the end of January. I used part of a drawing that I found in one of my sketchbooks from years ago (yes, way before I had dreads. yes, I draw the future )
I love how this turned out. I wish the paper hadn’t gotten all wrinkly and bumpy after putting glossy sealer on top, I still have a lot of experimenting to do.
But I like the direction in which things are going
N. asked me why would I paint the back if no one was going to see it, and I said it was like asking “why add a lining to a skirt?”. I think it says a lot about me.
I had never done collages or much with mixed media before. My mom really loves it though, and she’s been making beautiful things that way for a while. Recently she found the fantabulous, sparkly + inspiring Suzi Blu and her fun/awesome/ridiculous and super inspirational youtube videos where she shows how she makes art and talks about her philosophy of life in between all other sorts of cutesy craziness. She urged me to check her out and when I did I was delighted and instantly in love!
Suzi has a blog and an online art academy where she teaches workshops with names like: Be. Divine. , Mystic Mamas or Be Brave, for art lovers who might have been afraid to make art in the past.
Suzi’s just great.
Watching her videos got me really excited and inspired to start making collages and experiment more with mixed media myself.
One of the things she talks a lot about in her videos are art journals which she fills with drawing, paintings,collages, poems & thoughts and all sorts of mixed media and she encourages you to do the same yourself.
So I went and bought a big black sketchbook and decorated the covers mixed media style, using ribbon, lace, sequins, rhynestones ect… I enjoyed it a lot.
It’s my Art + Dreams + Desires Journal that I mentioned in my last post. I started to actually fill it on my birthday and I want it to be kind of like a vision board but in art journal form. I will fill it with photos, collages and art that represents the things that I want in my life . It’s been making me very happy . It is a very magical book already.
And I glued little silver stars all over the back.
More outfits of the day because I’ve been drawing like a maniac for days!
This is what I wore when we went and indulged in our favorite warmy cooked food on Reyes Eve. I thought this outfit was really worth documenting because I very very rarely wear brown. As a matter of fact, I think these are the only three brown items I own!
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* Brown shirt from H&M.
* Black sweater from Blanco in Spain.
* Black & Pink plaid shorts from Old Navy.
* Black knit wool tights from Urban Outfitters.
* Black Mary Janes by Candies.
* Suspenders.
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And here’s the coat I wore with this outfit, which my mom gave to me years ago.
I’ve been meaning to dye it black forever, since it’s really a fabulous coat (and super cozy and warm!) but I rarely wear colors that would go with it.
I had a quiet New Years Eve. I stayed home & had some homely fun, but dressed up anyway. To me that’s what most of the fun of NYE is about.
I get weird around the holidays…it might have something to do with the fact that I’m 5,000 miles away from home
But thinking about it later, I realized that I have the best of times by myself!! over the years, I’ve sort of become my favorite person. So who better to spend NYE with than with your two favorite people?!?
Anyway, this is what I wore:
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* Sparkly Rhinestone Hello Kitty black long sleeve shirt.
*Light Pink tutu ballerina·y dress from H&M.
*Black+Pink·Fancy·Lacy·Heart cardigan by me.
*Black tights from Target.
*Hardcore Black Boots that I got years ago somewhere in Minnesota.
*Light Pink Pearly knit headband from Target.
* Queen of Pink earrings by Tarina Tarantino.
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This outfit was the funnest thing ever! I loved it! I twirled & danced around the house in it & welcomed 2009 in sparkly princess funky style!
I talk a lot about Icing and the marvelous master mind behind it Gala Darling. I love this girl, this website & everything that comes out of it! She’s one of my favorite girl superheroes and she fills me with joy & inspiration on a regular basis! In all areas of life she aligns herself with beauty, greatness & magic and makes it easy or almost inevitable for you to do the same!! If you want 2009 to be a hell of a lot more sparkly, go to Icing as often as I did in 2008! Everyday!
Emily Martin is the girl behind A Black Apple, a wonderful Etsy shop. I find Emily to be the perfect example of a modern successful multimedia independent artist. She amazes me time and time again with her sweetness+ cuteness,productivity levels,skillfulness, dedication & wonderful creations! Her blog has been one of my great inspirations this year.
Nubby is an incredibly gorgeous woman with a ass·kicking style and great marketing, business & design tips. She is adorable, and she takes great pictures. She’s also a successful & matter·of·fact sort of girlie that makes you feel excited to get to work!!
Sometimes it gets quite hard to stay raw and eat the foods I really want to eat. Running out of ideas & feeling unmotivated is something I have a cure for now though, and that’s Heathy’s blog. She’s not only a cutie pie, she also makes amazing raw pies & everything else imaginable. She makes me want to be raw. And she makes me realize it’s not only possible but easy, exciting & fun! Even in the cold snowy lands of Canada!
The self-described “warm and nurturing environment to share and learn about raw foods, health, growth, alternative parenting, green living and more” is the perfect place for anyone wanting to learn more about the raw & living foods lifestyle. With tons of recipes, tips & advice is a great resource for beginners and seasoned raw foodies alike. The community is wonderful and always open to any sort of questions!
In January 2008 Jamie Lee Rosa started interviewing artists for the LiveJournal community AddMyArtJournal, a community of artists promoting other artists. In her interviews she always kept the same format and questions, focusing on the artist’s background, inspiration & creative methods. I loved the concept & became an instant fan. So inspirational to read about your favorite artist’s ways & histories. By May 2008 she had outgrown the Livejournal community and started her own website/magazine. “An Online Magazine By Artists, For Artists. Carmine Magazine’s purpose is to be a place for artists and fans of art to find information. Everything from interviews with artists, tips on making better art, business advice for your art business, art news, featured artists, featured web stores, and product reviews.”
It all started when last March Oprah organized a 10 week online seminar with Eckhart Tolle on his book “A New Earth:Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose”. Each week for a 90 minutes they discussed a chapter of the book & took in calls from people all over the world through Skype to answer questions. I had already read the book (recommended to me by my mother) and loved it very much, so it was a great experience. When it was done Oprah started posting on her website recordings of her XM Radio Show Soul Series. “Each week on her XM Radio show, Oprah sits down with leading spiritual thinkers, teachers and authors to talk about matters of the soul, and shares insights into her own life. Plus, she invites listeners to reflect on their own spiritual journeys.”
I love Paulo Coelho. He is such a magical man. I’ve loved every book I’ve read by him & as I’ve grown older and have developed my spiritual side I’ve found a new depth to his writing that I wasn’t able to perceive before. His blog is great, specially if you’re a fan.He writes about everything, from his everyday life, his views, insights & ideas, to answering reader’s questions about his books. He even posts the occasional podcast!
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