Saturday, July 27, 2013

After a busy 12 days... I'm back!

What a great way to welcome myself back to this space (after a stressful few days) than by talking about one of my favorite things, yoga.

Now, I wouldn't call myself a true yogi, just the occasional practicer (that's not a word) and that's what I love about yoga. You don't have to be super flexible or amazing at meditation to do it. I find that what I enjoy the most about practice is simply giving myself a bit of time each day to focus on something other than life's distractions. It's a time to breathe, move, and get my blood flowing. What could be better than that?

I have to admit, some yoga classes are pretty intense. I went to a yoga sculpt class once and almost died in the process (same thing happened in hot yoga). That's when I discovered that I don't go to yoga to get a good workout, that's not my purpose. My purpose is to relax and renew. I don't know about you, but my stress tolerance is pretty darn low and yoga is one way to help me cope with that.

I was so excited to find a place, literally 2 seconds away from where I am living, to practice yoga this summer. It's perfect after a long day at work.

One thing I have notice during my short time of practicing yoga is how expensive memberships to studios can be. My tip on this: find a different studio. There are so many of them out there and if you keep searching you'll find one that knows the price of relaxation. Also, I found that the smaller the studio the cheaper. Plus, small/unique studios are a better experience in general and it's where the real yogis go.

Anyway, I could probably keep writing and end up with a novel on this topic. Instead I'll leave you with a little quote that I found on the wall when I went to yoga this morning:


Have a great weekend!
Happy blogging

Monday, July 15, 2013

Why I Blog


Why do I blog? Because blogging is awesome (simply put).

Whenever I tell people that I read blogs in my free time the first reaction I usually get is a confused expression, followed by a comment like "Wow, I didn't know blogging was still a 'thing'". Yes, thank you, it's still a 'thing'.

When I first started exploring the blogger world I was simply interested in following photographers. It was like attending a free art museum from the comfort of my bed, and it was amazing. I quickly realized how many talented writers, artists, and entrepreneurs express their craft in a simple space on the internet. Slowly, I started expanding my interests and began following crafters, foodies, motivational speakers, and stay-at-home moms that transformed blogging into their full-time job. It still amazes me the amount of creativity that could go into a blog. Each one is different and unique to the writer's personality. It's like reading a picture book for adults (bad analogy).

After realizing the endless possibilities that blogging held, I contemplated starting one of my own. Of course, I had no idea what I would write about. I just knew I wanted to have fun and be semi-creative in the process. Now we reach present day.

Although I am still trying to figure out my purpose and goals for my little corner of the internet, I have found the process to be a learning experience. Not only is it a way to express oneself in writing, but it's also a way to document life's thoughts, memories, and adventures. Unless you are one to keep a journal, how often do we get this type of documentation? Not often.

To sum it up and to answer my previous question, the reason that I blog is because I want to create, express, learn, and document life one post at a time.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Let's talk about success.

What defines success? Who is successful and how did they get there?

These questions may be answered a million different ways, but never have I come to understand the perfect recipe for success until I read Outliers.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell speaks directly to the question of how one becomes successful. It mentions that a successful individual is made up of several components: a dash of intelligence, a tremendous amount of hard work, dedication, and most importantly, luck.

Gladwell notes that Bill Gates, the Beatles, Bill Joy and others became successful and incredibly talented at what they do, not just because of their DNA (of course that is part of it), but because of  the countless opportunities they "happened upon" throughout their lives. Outliers explains that if Bill Gates' parents had not chosen to send him to one of the few high schools in the world that had access to a time-sharing terminal (a.k.a. the school had access to a computer that was beyond its years) then he wouldn't have been able to practice programming every day after school. Another example is if the Beatles weren't initially invited to play in Hamburg, then they wouldn't have had the opportunity to play 270 nights in just over a year. I don't need to say it, but that's a lot of time to practice! No wonder they were so good...

Without opportunities like these who knows what kind of world we would live in... a world without the Beatles' musical genius or a world without Microsoft?

Malcolm Gladwell's definition of success opened my mind to the idea that success can stem from anywhere and at anytime. Some people work their entire lives and never become "world renowned" and it's not because they aren't working hard. They simply haven't found themselves in an outlier situation or a situation of extreme opportunity.

It's ok that we all define success differently. What's important is to understand how those that deem themselves successful got there in the first place.


Sunday, July 7, 2013

A Thought to Ponder



"Millennial's - a generation that may change the world as we know it?"

Okay, that may be a bit extreme and perhaps sounds a bit bias considering I am included in this group of individuals, but I think it goes without saying that there is a curiosity (from all ages) about how life, business, and our cultural structure will change as Millennials grow older and become society's leaders. 

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a women I currently work with on this very subject, which actually inspired me to write this little tid bit :) . This woman was in her early 40s, had a substantial amount of experience in the corporate environment, and had a lot of questions about folks my age. She had already recognized that many "folks my age" don't just want to go to work, but rather we want to work for something. In other words, she was essentially saying that in order to keep the younger generation engaged and satisfied at work there needs be some purpose or greater good in the things that we do everyday in order to make those things worth doing

I completely agree. 

Take a moment and think of how many companies have incorporated a "socially responsible" aspect into their business model, or how common it has become for employees to volunteer during works. If Millennial's are even partially responsible for this transition in the workplace, imagine what the corporate culture will be like in 20+ years...

I'm not saying that corporations will all look and feel like Google in the future, and I'm also not saying that today's business leaders are not socially responsible. What I am saying is that there is a growing vision and desire for a future that looks a little bit different than what it does today. Change can obviously be a scary thing, but if change simply means bringing additional purpose and meaning to the things we do everyday, then by all means... bring it on!

Another source of inspiration for this post
http://www.fastcoexist.com/1682348/millennials-genuinely-think-they-can-change-the-world-and-their-communities ]

Monday, July 1, 2013

Happy Monday

It's a Monday and I think everyone needs a few words of wisdom at the start of any week :)