This week I had 4 partner conversations with people and organizations I greatly admire to discuss my passion for storytelling and New York City history. 3 months ago, my idea for a show was barely a seed. Now it’s bigger and brighter than I ever thought possible. Here’s to dreaming and living out loud. I love this town. More details soon!
A Year of Yes: Stop comparing yourself to others
I love this quote by Jon Acuff.
I made a list of all the good things that happen to you when you compare yourself to others.
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The world is lucky to have you, just as you are. Be you.
A Year of Yes: Treat yourself and travel
“Stuff your eyes with wonder. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” ~Ray Bradbury
This weekend I started planning my trips to Vancouver, Ireland, Iceland, and the Galápagos, and this quote ran through my mind over and over again. To stuff your eyes with wonder? There isn’t any higher goal or better way to live. I love to be amazed. It makes every day an adventure. Stay curious.
A Year of Yes: Finding Beauty
“I promise if you keep searching for everything beautiful in this world, you will eventually become it.” ~Tyler Kent White
Where do you go to find beauty? A museum or gallery? A concert? Nature? Social media?
Wherever you go to seek beauty, I want you to find it and bring it so deeply into your being that you become exactly what you seek. Have a beautiful Monday.
A Year of Yes: The zen of taxes
This weekend, I’m preparing my taxes and grateful that I’m able to do so. I received assistance from government programs as a kid via the WIC program and the free lunch program. I went to college and graduate school with the help of students loans and government grants. Now on this flip side of life, I’m glad that I can pay forward this money to kids and young people who need those same programs to build a better life.
I know that there are parts of our government—local, state, and federal—that are inefficient and don’t spend money well. I also know that there are programs funded through taxes that change lives. I’m living, breathing proof of that. So while taxes can seem like an unwelcome chore, today I’m focusing on all the good that taxes do in my city, my state, and my country. This is the zen of tax preparation, and I embrace it.
A Year of Yes: Lessons on going for broke from Olympic ice skaters
Here’s a lesson we should adopt from Olympic ice skaters: they receive more points for attempting a difficult jump and falling than they do from downgrading the jump to something easier and landing perfectly. Why isn’t that the norm in our entire society. Let’s reward and celebrate one another for daring greatly and failing rather than taking the easy path.
A Year of Yes: The relaxation of reading and how it helps us sleep
Good news for those of us who read before I bed: it’s one of the most relaxing activities we can put into our bedtime ritual. Research shows that reading, even for as little as 6 minutes!, can reduce stress by as much as 68%. However, before bed, keep it light—no horror, excessive violence, or grief, and no self-help that requires intense introspection. The emotions stirred up by those genres can disrupt sleep and increase stress.
Happy bedtime reading, friends! Say yes to a good book.
A Year of Yes: How to get a book written
“I think I’m going to take a class,” someone said to me. “That will help me finally write my book. That will inspire me, and then I can get the book written and published.”
Inspiration can give you the spark of a book. Discipline, especially when uninspired, is what gets it written. Not classes or books or even encouragement from others. Don’t write for recognition, ever, because that’s a road to nowhere. I have never written for the purpose of being published. Ever. Certainly I had and have dreams. I wanted and want people to read my work, and I want my work to help people. But mostly I write to exercise the thoughts and emotions and events of my life. I write the books I need and want to read.
Talking about writing doesn’t getting writing done.You have to always be writing. You have to write if you’re tired, calm, restless, happy, sad, angry, disappointed. You have to write your way out, up, over, and through. That’s the only way to get the thoughts out of your head and onto the page. There are no shortcuts.
A Year of Yes: The power of poetry
I haven’t written poetry in a very long time, and as I was walking to work this one popped into my mind. I don’t know where it came from, but I felt empowered as I wrote it down. I hope you feel empowered reading it.
Underestimation
Do not mistake my kindness for weakness,
or my desire to collaborate as an inability to lead.
I have been through the intense pressures of life and emerged bright, shiny, and polished.
Like clay in a kiln.
Like a buried diamond, now free.
Believe me when I say I stare into the fire and smile.
Do not underestimate me.
A Year of Yes: A backflip off a cliff and a visit with a blue whale
Whenever I need a dose of encouragement, two recurring dreams find their way into my slumber:
1.) In the first one, I walk outside to the edge of a cliff, turn around, and do a backflip into the canyon. Rather than falling, I fly.
2.) In the second one, I’m scuba diving. I paddle up to a Blue Whale (the largest animal to ever live). I pat the whale’s cheek. The whale winks at me and says, “I’m so happy to see you again.”
I don’t know how to do a backflip, I have a healthy fear of heights and open water, and I don’t know how to scuba dive. And yet, these two dreams bring me a lot of peace. I think it’s the Universe’s way of telling me, “You got this.”
