Month: May 2012

I Am More Than Just a Girl Book

Four Books

Impower You

This week I mailed out four copies of my book, I Am More Than Just a Girl. One is going to a friend who has lots of friends in high places and the other three are going to youth organizations. Yippeee!!

These books will go to the Fred Finch Youth Center in San Diego, Voices for Society in New York, and Butterflies and Wildflowers Empowerment Network for Girls in Missouri.

I also sold 2 books online to a mystery buyer. My book may not be on the best seller list, but I WILL complete my goal of getting one million copies made and out there so more young women can have more resources and more tools to create self confidence and success in all areas of their lives.

Creating and sharing this book is such a good feeling in my heart. I have waited so long for this feeling and I am not going to let it and I am going to treat me great! I finally feel like I own my life.  I am no longer waiting for something to happen. It is happening. I am king it happen and I have some wonderful people helping me succeed.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE RECENTLY THAT CREATED A FEELING OF ABSOLUTE JOY?

Self Defense

Not A Screamer

Impower You
   I spent years being depressed and unhappy because I thought I could not make a difference. From the ages of fifteen to thirty I soaked my brain in so much injustice, horror, pain, and drama that I wished I could die already because I thought life was hopeless. Over the past few years I have slowly pulled away from that negativity. Thankfully after pulling away from that, I had the idea for my book, I Am More Than Just a Girl. Publishing it, creating my curriculum around it, and connecting with new people that are in prevention has been a catalyst to learn that I can fight back in my own way. I even have hope for better. Prevention is where I belong. I no longer am in the mindset of  “If everyone was like me the world would be fine.” What’s worse than a right wing/conservative soul saver? A liberal/soul saving hippie.
  These days my focus is more on sharing my knowledge and my opinions with others and letting them take it as they want. Years of working with victims has shown me that people don’t always want to change or try anything different. Many people love to be angry, start drama, have pity parties, and be victims. At this point it makes me laugh. Not to say that I don’t have compassion or that I won’t keep fighting for equality and peace, but my strength is sharing a different point of view.  I am appreciative of those who are more than happy to do the yelling.  Once in a while I scream, but the mechanics of my brain and my emotions work best in a more calm “talk it out” manner.
   One of my mothers favorite quotes is always running through my head; “We are god’s comic strip”.  She is not religious, but it’s something she has said since I was a kid and it seems to be true most days. Unless I think about places like the Congo with it’s ongoing war, rape, and children forced into fighting or nearby where violent whack jobs kill abortion doctors, then it’s more like “We are god’s grade B horror movie”. How we look at the world varies based on our experiences and what we feed our thoughts. How we deal also varies. So my suggestion is to find your personal style of fighting.
 WHAT IS YOUR FIGHTING STYLE?  HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH INEQUALITY AND INJUSTICE?
🙂
Art

Wednesday Art: Happiness Is An Inside Job

Impower You

Happiness, change and self-love are inside jobs.

My insides have brightly colored birds singing in funky trees which makes me very happy.

External forces can make happiness grow, but deep down I know the root of happy is in my own control.

What does your happiness manifest on the inside?

You can create an inner vision board to express your happiness. Is it a stroll on the beach, your favorite comedian making you laugh, or maybe it’s all those moments you felt like you were on top of the world? Make that vision your go-to spot when you’ve fallen down and are struggling to get back up.

There will always be moments of disappointment, anger and grief where feeling happy is out of reach, but I can tell you from my own depression and losses that happiness really is an inside job.

Buy this card at my Zazzle Gift Shop.

Or Check out my book Word Art and Affirmations for free at Bookemon.com

…

word art book, affirmations book
Available to read and purchase at Bookemon.com
Book Reviews

Review: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

Impower You

I love a good story and especially a true story of people who beat the odds, but I get tired of ones that are so sad I don’t even want to finish it.  I can only read about so many victims. I want survivors and adventure in the face of danger or personal growth.  “The Dressmaker of Khair Khana” by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, is not a story of victims. It is a inspiring tale weaving together the power of family, friendship, neighbors, luck, determination and entrepreneurship. All of this happened in the midst of a war. As someone who has never lived in a war zone I cannot begin to relate to hardships that must bring.  I LOVED this book.

Set in Afghanistan during their latest war, the dressmaker is a young women who was determined to provide for her family and keep her sisters from the boredom of no longer being able to go to school or leave their home. Her father and mother were living in another area of the country and the streets were dangerous with no thanks to war. She worried for her family and was at the same time bored. Her sisters and her were not allowed to leave home without a chaperon, and even then were threatened when they went out. So she and her sisters (including a brother who was a stellar beader) started sewing and selling dresses and pant suits to local tailors. She eventually expanded enough to operate a school in her home to teach young women how to be tailors.

A real perk about this book is the men who were supportive and lent a hand.  From her brothers who accompanied her as she walked the city and also assisted with beading to the neighbors who kept her school secret and the tailors who supported her work, there is no lack of men who were not just in the story as oppressors and warriors.  This book is just the write length and is an enjoyable read. It is also a good business book if you are considering the path of self employed life.

What is your favorite book about overcoming the odds to succeeed?

Empowering Discussions, Social Action

What Is Your Intent?

Impower You

Throughout the years my intent has changed so much.  As a child I intended to play with my friends, snuggle with my mom, read book, go on adventures and have lots of toys. As a teenager I intended to have fun, be popular, be treated like an adult and be rich.  In my early twenties I intended to finish school, get a career where I made lots of money,  become a world traveler and fall in love. In my late twenties I intended to  change the world, fight injustice, show people how I was right and they were wrong, and start a family. Now in my early thirties my intent has changed course once again.  I am the same person and a lot of the intents I had still hold sway with me. I still want to have lots of money, but I want to earn it on my own terms. I no longer wish to be famous. Thanks to our celebrity obsessed culture fame now seems like a game with far to many traps and haters to seem fun.  I no longer vie to have the coolest toys and gadgets because I see how all our waste eventually becomes all our pollution and all our crippling health problems.

My main intent these days is inner peace. I am no longer looking for fights where I can be the victor and prove others wrong. I wish to be for peace, love, personal responsibility, tolerance, respect and acceptance for everyone and everything in our world. I do not intend to be against anything. Negativity holds no interest to me anymore. Gone is the drama entertainment, gone is the judgement of right and wrong, gone is wasting time hating and changing others. The world is way too many shades of dazzling colors to be only this or that. So as you fight against the pain, the media influence, the governmental control, and any injustice you face, I will fight for your right to be intelligent, compassionate, a critical thinker and an individual. I believe in you.

What is your intent?

Empowering Discussions

Altruistic Anniversary

Impower You

I found Cecily’s Closet on Facebook and was immediately hooked. They are a small, but loving volunteer corporation that lends a hand to families of special need children. It was started by a mother who was so thankful for all the help she received with her own daughter that she wanted to give back to others in the same situation.  I love being able to share their altruism and inspire you to put more good into our beautiful world.

In the past two years they have accomplished quite a lot:

– 22 room makeovers with 2 more currently in progress
– Provided just shy of a hundred belly bands to children with feeding tubes
– Recycled durable medical equipment to children in need of resources to help them achieve their goals
– Provided Christmas baskets to 80+ children with special needs and their families
– And shared various donations with families in need – toys, books, and lots and lots of love and encouragement!

Follow the Cecily Closet Blog   or their Facebook Page.

 Remember only you can make today great.

Art

Art on Wednesday

Impower You

Available as a greeting card on Zazzle.com/OviedoStyle

and just for your enjoyment on Facebook.com/OviedoStyle

Book Reviews

Another Book Update

Impower You

Below is a list of organizations that received a free copy of my book, I Am More Than Just a Girl.  On Friday I will be meeting with a local youth organization about my book and curriculum.

  -FLY Girls Mentoring, Houston, TX        -Healthy Start, Fall City, WA

-SANDAPP, San Diego, CA        -Girl Power United, Chesapeake, VA 

-Young Women Empowered, Langley, WA      -Malibu House of Hope, Agoura Hills, CA 

-Girls Leadership Institute, Emeryville, CA       -The Priceless Project, Lancaster, P

-Malibu House of Hope, Agoura Hills, CA       -Women’s Resource Center, Oceanside, CA

-Young Women Empowered, Langley WA      -Big Dreamz Inc., Charlotte NC

Thanks to all my supporters for helping me live my dream and also supporting the empowerment of young women.

🙂