Empowering: Change Your Words, Change Your World

This week, I was introduced to short film on YouTube entitled “The Power of Words.” I found it incredibly inspiring and empowering.

Please consider taking the time (less than 2 minutes) to sit and watch this beautiful, little film.

Here’s the link to ”The Power of Words”

Contemplation…

How would your world change if you were to change your thoughts?

Inspiration: 10 Tips to Bring on Spring

Even though it may still be a bit cold and gray outside, you can still do some inspiring things to evoke a feeling of Spring in your heart and your surroundings:

1. Shop online for a spring outfit or accessory. Get inspired and be creative at www.polyvore.com.
2. Paint your toenails a bright spring color that will simply make you smile every time you look at your toes. Just make sure you are using a nail polish that is free of formaldehyde, toluene and DBP (dibutyl phthalate). 
3. Make Smitten Kitchen’s Double Coconut Muffins. They are delicious!
4. Do a little early spring cleaning in your office. Tune into how it lifts your spirits and renews your energy.
5. Take a virtual tower of the Skagit Valley, WA Tulip Festival. Better yet, if you are in the area next month, go see the tulips in person.
6. Take a moment to visualize the sights, sounds, aromas and textures of your ideal spring day. Immerse yourself in the experience. Think Spring!
7. Bring your awareness to your next drive across town and see how many signs of spring you can observe. I saw my first Cherry Blossoms today and noticed that the tulips in our yard are now about 5 inches tall.
8. Start planning a springtime outing that will allow you to immerse in the beauty of nature. We are going to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens to enjoy and photograph the emergence of Spring.
9. Since we are springing forward to Daylight Savings Time this weekend, make a plan for how you want to leverage your extra hour of daylight starting next week. What do you want to do that will give you a breath of fresh air? 
10. Put a tulip or your favorite spring blossom on your desk or find a talisman that reminds you of the Spring that is just around the corner.

Mobilize Your Creativity!

Jessica Colaluca’s Design Seeds “Cloud Tones”

It’s Mobilize Monday and I am definitely feeling creative this week so I want to help to mobilize your creativity by introducing you to an incredibly inspiring and creative resource called Design Seeds. 

Design Seeds: Creative Color Inspiration

The creative genius behind this breathtaking and inspiring website is Jessica Colaluca, an entrepreneurial woman who is clearly following her passion and sharing her gifts and talents with the world. 

Jessica will mobilize your creative spirit through her evocative and beautiful Design Seeds. Jessica’s work invites us to enhance our own awareness of color. She wants to help us fall in love with or renew our love of color. Her innovative site sparks creativity.

Compelling Color Pairings

Design Seeds are Jessica’s original creations. She begins by carefully selecting a photo that represents a particular “feeling, trend or concept.” Leveraging her phenomenal sense of color and artistic talents, she pinpoints specific color elements within each image and then “hand mixes” a unique color palette to complement the photo. The resulting Design Seed is a compelling pairing of the inspiration photo and the custom color palette.

Bringing Conscious Awareness to Color

I love the way Jessica’s work brings our awareness to the exquisite color patterns that exist in nature and in everyday items. Her Design Seeds invite us to become more conscious of the beauty and color that exists in the world around us. 

The primary image in this post is Jessica’s “Cloud Tones.” I find myself absolutely captivated by this Design Seeds pairing. I love how Jessica’s work invites me to tune into the details that exist in this cloudscape including the taupe color that delicately outlines the clouds and the deep rich gradient blend of colors in the sky that transforms from slate to azure blue. 

Design Seeds are “meant to inspire.” And that they do! Let these compelling color explorations serve as a mobilizing and inspiring muse for your next professional or personal project be it a new business identity, a website update, home remodel or wardrobe update. 

A Meditation in Visual Beauty and Color with Design Seeds

Another way to experience Jessica’s work is take a moment or two during the day to sit with one of her Design Seeds. Tune into the inspiring image and its color palette. Breathe deeply as you give yourself the gift of immersing yourself in a moment of visual beauty and color. Let the beauty and the colors wash over you. See what details reveal themselves to you and what feelings the colors evoke. This restorative practice is both grounding and inspiring. 

Explore Design Seeds

Jessica has hundreds of Design Seeds on her site and she publishes new ones daily. You may also want to tune into her blog (which is on her site) and check out Jessica’s Pinboards on Pinterest. 

I also invite you to explore the Design Seeds and other images that are mobilizing and inspiring my creativity by checking out my Pinterest Pinboards! (Look for more info on Pinterest from me later this week.)

Thankful

Here’s a great daily gratitude practice that you just might want to try. Much has been written about the value and importance of a daily gratitude or thankfulness practice. This particular practice has an added bonus in that it doubles as a sleep readiness practice. 

Every night as we are about to fall asleep, my husband and I share our answers to these three powerful questions. It is a lovely ritual to give thanks at the end of the day and to set a positive intention for the next day. It also helps to release the thoughts and experiences of the day in order to prepare for restful sleep.

So, no matter how tired you are or how taxing your day has been, try to make this simple question and answer practice the last thing you do before you doze off each night. You can answer the questions out loud, or silently think through and visualize your answers or write your answers in a journal.

Ask yourself the following three questions:

What are 3 things from today that I am grateful for? 

Think in terms of the things that you experienced, witnessed, accomplished or received throughout the day. Perhaps you had a shift in perception. Or were there positive things that occurred in your life today? What did you witness in your life or observe happening in the world today that you are grateful for? Did you receive good news? What random act of kindness did you receive? What was something that you did for someone else? What made you feel happy, joyful, or what simply made you smile or laugh? 

What are 2 accomplishments from today that I am proud of?

When most people read the word accomplishments they tend to think about it in the context of their work and career or in terms of crossing things off of their to-do list. While those can certainly be the types of accomplishments you might want to acknowledge as part of this ritual, it can be helpful to expand your perspective around the concept of accomplishments. 

Consider some of these perspective-shifting questions around accomplishments:

• What do you feel proud about as it relates to your personal growth and development?
• What is something you did today to nurture your body, mind or spirit? 
• What baby steps did you take today that moved you forward with a personal goal or intention?
• How were you proactive?
• Did you spend more time being still, calm and peaceful?
• How was your personal energy restored and nourished?
• Were you able to reframe an experience or call upon your own personal resiliency?
• What shifts of perception or new aha’s and insights did you experience today?
• Did you react differently to a difficult or stressful situation?

What is 1 intention that I have for tomorrow?

Most people will approach this question in a practical manner. For example, they may think about what is on their to do list for tomorrow. What meetings do I have? What projects do I need to focus on? What new clients am I working with? What is on my to do list that I want to complete?

However, the very nature of the word “intention” asks us to uplevel our thinking a bit. This question invites us to look more holistically at our life.

Consider some of these perspective-shifting questions around intentions:

• What intention do you have for the overall day?
• What would you like to consciously set as the tone of your day?
• Beyond the tasks, what larger intention do you have for your life tomorrow?
• How do you want to approach your day?
• What qualities do you want to bring to your life and work tomorrow?
• What way would you like to see things shift tomorrow?
• What would bring you joy or delight? 
• What would make you and those around you smile?
• What intention would you like to see manifest in your life?

Consider giving this restorative practice of thankfulness a try tonight!

Now

Think about this moment. Think about NOW.

Soak it all in while taking 3 deep replenishing breaths. Breathing in and out, slowly and deeply. Knowing that each breath is bringing you restorative energy. Focus on the NOW and on being in the moment.

Once you feel present and a bit more grounded and centered, take a moment to think about some of the small things that have been draining your personal energy. Think about the little things that have been on your to do list, personally or professionally, for quite some time. 

Now ask yourself the following questions:

• What could you do right now that would take something off your plate?
• What simple thing could you do to lighten your load?
• What baby step would help you to transform your stress and overload?
• What little thing could you do today that would make a difference in your life?
• What is one thing you could do now that you have been putting off doing for days?
• What is something that you have been putting off doing for your own body, mind and spirit self-care?

Identify One Small Thing

Now ask yourself, what is one small thing I can do right NOW that would in turn restore my personal energy? What baby step could I take in this moment that would move me forward?

Now…Just do it and Take That Small Step

Try not to think about how hard it might be. Try not to focus on why you haven’t gotten it done to date. Don’t try to multitask. Instead, just focus on the moment and on accomplishing this one step.

Shifting Your Energy Away From The Drain and Toward Sustain

After completing this task, take a moment to reflect and appreciate what you have done. You’ve gotten that energy drainer off your to do list. And doing so has shifted your energy away from the drain and toward sustain.

Want to further restore your energy and shift even more toward sustain? Try identifying an energy giving activity or practice that you can integrate into your day, your week or your life that will fuel you with even more energy.