Some simple wisdom

"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." #AndyWarhol

Some awesomely wise words I shared via Andy on the Holstee Facebook page. Truth and more truth.

A little gratitude

I have decided that it would be in the best interest of all things for me to remember what I'm grateful for. Some days that list is long or short, some days I feel like I'm forcing it, some days I think I could go on from dawn 'til dusk counting the ways in which I find life endearing, lucky, and inexplicably good.

I think the best way to remember to stay grateful is by method, by practice, with sincere intention. For me, a list-maker by nature, that involves a stock-piling of post-its, notes scribbled on the side of an envelope, reminders tapped into my iPhone, all things to keep me motivated, grounded, and thankful.

Lately, here they are:

1. Cute Colin. Having finally experienced real love and a best friend, my life has been forever changed by this particular person, this boy who made me believe in fate, among many other things.
2. Never going hungry. I'm not sure if it's the weather or the change in the air, but I've never felt hungrier than I have for the past few weeks of my life. Every time I feel that pang, I have food nearby. A simple thing, one would think, until a time when you suddenly are forced to do without.
3. Train rides, ie. an uninterrupted hour to read.
4. Bike rides. No explanation necessary.
5. Looking for apartments, which has truly become exciting, a little scary, and a little more exciting again. Making it work is one of the best imaginings I've had in a long time.

Remembering to be grateful in the midst of trials, in the middle of things we aren't exactly glad about, seems like it would be especially difficult. Who knew, however, that it is that very thing that brings us through it, that very thing that keeps us sane enough, that brings us around again to wholeness, to wellness, to feeling new again.

Being lost vs. Losing it

If "getting lost will help you find yourself" as the Holstee Manifesto reminds us, then I must be on the very edge of a massive discovery-inducing breakthrough.

Either that, or I'm more lost than ever before, and the breakthrough is miles from where I stand.

If we know that good things come to those who wait, (and we all know the wait involved in this particular scenario), AND if we can admit that most good things aren't without their challenges, then the simple if-not-annoying truth of it all is that when one thing falls in to place, other aspects (life in general) can start to seemingly unravel before you.

Too cryptic to make any real sense, I'm sure, the real point is that our problems, posed before us ready for a fight, also come with a choice, an option to press beyond them, or stay behind them, letting them take over and lead the way. Or worse, keep us from moving forward at all.

I was approached by a customer yesterday, the situation almost too ironic to bear, when he decided to inform me that we have a choice in life, to be happy or to be miserable, to stay or not, to let the circumstances win or to change them. If I ever have hated to agree with anyone more, I can't think of an example.

And, if I've ever encountered a situation where defeat felt like the more viable option, I can't think of an example of that, either. When a problem seems endless or less-than-manageable, carry on. The only way to get through it is directly through the center, through the very heart of it all, through the fire, through the loneliest place, the darkest hour. It can make you stronger, or it can make you quit. That choice, thank heaven, is ours to make. So let's keep moving. Let's do what we can with what we have, let's accept what we know and learn about what we don't. Let's make a decision, have patience, stick with something, and cut off what's hurting more than it's helping. Let's dig in, retrace our steps, and find the next turning point. It's there, somewhere. The only way to find it is to keep going.

The Holstee Manifesto, etc.

As most of my dear friends and family already know, I have recently begun a new chapter in my life, one of hope and promise and new-ness all around: I am the new Community Love Intern for Holstee! An NYC based company that conducts business on all levels of consciousness from ethically sourced materials to considering all angles of every opportunity to constantly asking questions to valuing life as a whole, Holstee is an intimate operation that's on the rise.

As many of you also know, my first introduction to this company came with the gift of their profoundly-worded Manifesto. With 8 million views around the world and counting, this daring and honest creed is getting attention, resonating with lives, and sparking necessary inspiration-turned-action.

While I found all areas of this plainly stated advice to be full of fundamental truth, when I first opened this beautiful poster by the Christmas tree this past year, my family all around, the words that met my heart the closest were: "IF YOU DON'T LIKE YOUR JOB, QUIT." Those who know me, again, also know oh-so-well the struggle that has been my life for the past few years. In terms of finding a sense of purpose, an idea of calling and of real contribution more than just a paycheck, I have been scouring the earth it seems for a place to which I could find real belonging, real drive, real spark. I mulled this dilemma over all day, in my sleep, to my friends, to myself. I could recite my resume line by line, I could give you lists of pros and cons, I could tell you I was not meant for a cubicle or a cash register, I devoted a blog in order to record my misery, my journey, my self-discoveries, though I could not say how I imagined the future, all blurred and hazy before me.

I only hoped that when the right fit presented itself that I, like only a handful of other times in my life (ie. my bout in Los Angeles, a huge decision to move on, meeting my Colin), would know it instantly, would feel a gravitational pull towards it, would have no doubt. And even though I hoped for it each day, for years, I surely faltered and doubted and spun aimlessly.

This blog is therefore dedicated to what I'll label as the next step. Change is here, and it's hugely exciting and it's what keeps us moving forward. As I shared with my new Holstee family yesterday, change is never as frightening as it is exhilarating. I'm learning each day, more about what this particular position requires, but also about myself, about what truly matters to me, and how incorporating that into our daily ventures is possible and important. I'll be writing up about Holstee itself, what this experience teaches me, what it makes me realize, re-realize, the people I've been lucky to meet, the ways it forces and encourages me to grow, etc.

POSITIVE CHANGE, PEOPLE. POSITIVE CHANGE.