January 2011
4 posts
2011: Calling All Dreamers →
I feel like I’m on mile 23 of a marathon with the book coming out in less than three months (!!) and now is the time to turn on the burners — put every minute that I’m not…
December 2010
41 posts
Happy 3-Year Blogiversary to Life After College! →
3 years, 3 cupcakes. Get in my belly.
It’s been a great year here at Life After College. Better than great. SO GREAT that I was going to skip doing this round-up…
#reverb10 - Dec. 26 - Soul Food.
Dec. 26 - Soul food. What did you eat this year that you will never forget? What went into your mouth & touched your soul?
Too many amazing meals to count!
The most recent: in New York City with Julie and her sister. We each felt fabulous and were having dinner at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill for Julie’s Birthday. There’s nothing I love more than a long, slow, four- or...
#reverb10 - December 25 - Photo.
Dec. 25 - Photo - a present to yourself. Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.
First, Merry Christmas!
Photo:
Shot by: @benjyfeen
This was shot on a beach in San...
#reverb10 - Dec. 24 - Everything's OK
Dec. 24 - Everything’s OK. What was the best moment that could serve as proof that everything is going to be alright? And how will you incorporate that discovery into the year ahead?
I don’t know that there was one moment…but I was fortunate enough to have several where my mind got quiet and I felt totally present. Moments when I was driving in my car, walking in NYC,...
#reverb10 - Dec. 23 - New Name
Dec. 23 - New name. Let’s meet again, for the first time. If you could introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would it be and why?
Trixie. Just kidding. That would be my stripper name. Kidding again. We all know it would be Cupcake.
#reverb10 - Dec. 22 - Travel
Dec. 22 - Travel. How did you travel in 2010? How and/or where would you like to travel next year?
I was fortunate to do lots of fun travel in 2010 - mostly domestic, with a few exciting international work trips. The recap:
January - Dublin, Ireland for work (second time)
March - Austin, Texas for SXSW (first time!), NYC for work
April - Elisa visited! Okay so I didn’t travel, but...
listening to "Lloyd - You ft Lil →
I’m groovin’… Lloyd’s “You” just came on Pandora. Older but gooood. Baby-making music.
A Letter from my Future Self (#reverb10) →
This month I am participating in the #Reverb10 project with 4,000+ other bloggers (read the archive of my entries on my Tumblr); a daily prompt to help people “reflect on this…
experience the answer
heyamberrae:
crazy is staying comfortable in the familiar. irrational is doing work you don’t enjoy. unrealistic is thinking that you can’t evolve, change and grow as you go.
life is a colorful adventure made of happy yellows, sad blues, romantic reds, mysterious blacks and many more colors in between.
we can’t predict what will happen so we might as well start experiencing the answer...
#reverb10 - Dec. 20 - Beyond Avoidance
Dec. 20 - Beyond avoidance. What should you have done this year but didn’t because you were too scared, worried, unsure, busy or otherwise deterred from doing? (Bonus: Will you do it?)
This prompt is funny to me, because on Day 1 I committed to making 2011 the year of freedom; “freedom from “shoulds,” “cant’s”, “have tos” and obligations.” Therefore, I propose there is...
#reverb10 - Dec. 19 - Healing
Dec. 19 - Healing. What healed you this year? Was it sudden, or a drip-by-drip evolution? How would you like to be healed in 2011?
My healing happened in a few sudden bursts, each time I declared to the world that I was ready to be myself, stick up for myself, and follow my heart. Many of those healing moments were precipitated by action. Action I was afraid to take for fear of how things...
#reverb10 - Dec. 18 - Try
December 18 – Try. What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn’t go for it?
5 Things to try in 2011:
Saying no more
Living in NYC for at least two months
Speaking to an audience of at least 500
Ramping up my coaching and yoga businesses
Teaching a group yoga class (eek!)
“Do or do not, there is no...
#reverb10 - Dec. 17 - Lessons Learned
December 17 – Lesson Learned. What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward?
Trust my gut. Listen to red flags and respond. Don’t hide myself or my feelings to protect another person. Protect myself, take care of myself, and trust myself to know what is right. Trust that if something isn’t right, the sooner I...
#reverb10 - Dec. 16 - Friendship
December 16 – Friendship. How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst?
My friend Elisa has shown me many things. First, that you can meet someone online, call them regularly, and be as REAL and as TRUE friends as it gets. Elisa has shown me what it means to speak your mind, not apologize for having...
#reverb10 - Dec. 15 - 5 minutes
December 15 – 5 Minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.
Another amazing prompt! Here we go:
Lounging on the back of an oar boat completely relaxed, soaking up the sun
The amazing giddiness I felt while talking to a boy who made me smile more than anyone I had...
10 Questions to Help You Stop Thinking and Start... →
This post is going to be absolutely worthless to you if you don’t actually take action (hence, the title). If you’re busy or not interested in taking at least 10 minutes to…
#reverb10 - Dec. 14 - Appreciate
December 14 – Appreciate. What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it?
My friendships. They have lifted me up in so many ways - too many to count. The women and men in my life who I am lucky to call friends have been an endless fount of support, inspiration, wisdom, laughter, fun and LOVE. I realize now that while romantic...
#reverb10 - Dec. 13 - Action
December 13 – Action. When it comes to aspirations, it’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step?
Idea: Live in NYC and CA (and possibly LA). Three home bases.
Next step: Start by committing to living in NYC for two months in 2011 without selling my place in CA. Get creative about how to make that happen financially.
#reverb10 - Dec. 12 - Body Integration
December 12 – Body Integration. This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn’t mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present?
Doing yoga on the Rogue River - an excerpt from my blog post about the experience:
There is something magical about doing tree pose while staring at a river bank lined with lush green trees,...
#reverb10 - Dec. 11 - Things
December 11 – 11 Things. What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life?
Love this prompt! Here we go:
Negativity
Self-doubt
TV (already rid of it, but want to stay that way)
Laziness
Auditioning for other people’s lives
Doing things because I “should” not because I...
#reverb10 - Dec. 10 - Wisdom
December 10 – Wisdom. Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out?
Oh my goodness. Hands down, no question, the wisest decision I made was to at least TRY to find a literary agent and pitch to publishers (rather than self-publish as I had originally planned).
How do you find a literary agent? I had no effing clue. I didn’t know where to start, I...
#reverb10 - Dec. 9 - Party
December 9 – Party. Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans.
[I’m cheating on this one because I’m going to write about a party that happened after this prompt.]
On June 4, I took myself to dinner alone, on the verge of tears. I was determined not to let a series of disappointing events get...
#reverb10 - Dec. 8 - Beautifully Different
December 8 – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful.
When I was about ten years old, my dad taught me the word “tenacity.” He told me that one of my best qualities was tenacity - the drive to be creative, never give up, and...
#reverb10 - Day 7 - Community.
December 7 – Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?
2010 was such an incredible year for connecting even more with all of my friends online. I feel like I’m in on a secret that the rest of the world hasn’t figured out yet — You can make AMAZING friends...
#Reverb10 - Day 6 - Make.
December 6 – Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?
Hmmm…does my book count? Okay, okay I’ll stop talking about it for two seconds during the #reverbBonanza.
But seriously, I have tunnel vision at the moment since writing the book felt like making a freaking baby. Wait -...
#reverb10 - Day 5 - Let Go.
December 5 – Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?
(Okay so this daily posting feels like running on a treadmill at 8mph, but I’m kinda digging the extra push to write every day.)
I let go of a fantasy this year. It sucked.
Let me rephrase. The fantasy didn’t suck, but letting go of it did.
The fantasy was absolutely gorgeous. It was beautiful and rich;...
A Delicious December Hodge-Podge →
Grab a cup of coffee, this is a long one! Many of my blogging counterparts have a weekly series where they round-up their work and link to great posts from others: Friday Linky…
#reverb10 - Day 4 - Wonder
December 4 – Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year?
I’ll go short and sweet on this one. I cultivated a sense of wonder when I stopped trying to force things in my life. As doubt flew out the window, wonder came in the front door.
I stopped questioning why things weren’t happening, and developed a sense of wonder at how serendipitous and wonderful...
#reverb10 - Day 3 - Moment.
December 3 – Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).
This prompt came on the perfect day.
After a long day and an odd mood I couldn’t seem to shake, I walked up the steps to my condo on Friday night and saw a large brown box at the top. For me?
For me. I saw the return address,...
#Reverb10 - Day 2 - Writing Blocks
December 2 Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?
I handle all the small rocks and pebbles (email, tasks, etc) without making my writing a priority. I already got rid of my TV and that was a HUGE step toward carving out more time for me to do yoga, think, read and write (instead of turning into a vegetable by default every time I...
#Reverb10 - Day 1 - One Word
December 1 One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?
***
2010: I went into 2010 dedicating it to the year of LOVE. I thought it meant falling in love with someone else…but really it meant falling in love with myself, as cheesy as that...
1 tag
Great post from JO (@jeremyorr) this week on challenging existing beliefs: Running Downhill - http://bit.ly/epg5A0
RT @bettyjeanbell: NEW PODCAST: “Life After College – The Complete Guide to Getting What You Want” w @Jenny_Blake | #LoveYourWorkLife — …
New at Life After College - Where in your life are you pounding on unlocked doors? http://bit.ly/gylbpS
Where in your life are you pounding on unlocked... →
It’s as if you’re pounding on the massive doors of the kingdom of your wildest dreams. At first lightly, even respectfully, then, losing patience, louder and louder. You…