What I mean is this:  think of when you have shared a dream with someone?  Didn’t you feel more empowered? Remember when someone supported and encouraged your dream?  Didn’t you feel stronger? I hope that on this cold frozen day you will let yourself be free to dream and find the strength and encouragement to pursue it!

Love & Peace,
Sandy

PS, if you missed any of Saturday Soul last week, check out the links below so you don’t miss a single heartbeat!
A lesson in driving (or not driving) on ice and how to make better decisions:  Stop! Slow Down! Chill out!
Learning to be content with our circumstances:  Learning to surf the waves
Our sheer existence is an awesome miracle: The Awesome Mystery and Miracle We Share
Is your mind handing you a pile of shit?  Are you taking it? Beware of Destructive Mind Storms

Dreaming ties us all together . . .

We can often get bogged down with the duties of living and building a business.  I loved this quote from American novelist and poet Jack Kerouac:  ”All human beings are also dream beings.  Dreaming ties all mankind together.”  Everyone from the CEO to the mailroom clerk have dreams, I wonder what would happen if we allowed each other our dreams without judgement?  Think of how our lives would flourish and our businesses would grow if we were truly free to pursue our dreams without reservation and embrace those around us to do the same?

Building our business requires that we engage with passion, tell a compelling and sincere story, and really care about what our product can do to serve our clients needs.  Keep your heart and mind focused on your dream, ignite it with passionately skilled action and watch it come to life!

― C. JoyBell C.

Learning to be comfortable with yourself and to Spread Your Wings

For someone who was married most my life and now divorced, learning to be alone and trust and know my own self and my thoughts has been a challenge at times but an adventure toward priceless self-discovery!  I believe that living the fullness of our soul is in becoming increasingly aware of ourselves and the beauty and the magic we possess!

Love and peace!
XOXO
Sandy

The fear of the unknown can be very intimidating, daunting and at times debilitating. Ultimately, today is the only moment we have any control over, no matter what our goals are, no matter what we have our sights set on. We may be able to aid the outcome or hinder it, but so much is dependent upon how we take advantage of the bounty the world has to offer us each and every day.

Whether the uncertainty you have is in relationships, your career, your longevity or anything that keeps you up at night, the key is to always make sure your wings are spread. For example, in a relationship, it is better to trust and work toward something wonderful that you may be uncertain about(a future, a life together, etc) rather than to settle for something mediocre that while certain, may not be all that fulfilling. The same can be said for your career. It is only when you take a leap, when you do something slightly different than what you’ve been doing before that progress has the chance to happen.

Here are ten ways to practice spreading your own wings:

1. Look for the opportunity in every situation. Any time you find yourself in situations that are less than desirable, choose to see the opportunity for growth. Maybe a difficult situation at work allows you to hone your negotiating skills, or perhaps a failed relationship is allowing you to learn how to be a better partner and also how to communicate more clearly what you need in a relationship and what you can compromise on. Believe it or not, there is a silver lining to everything.

2. Always be observing as well as participating. This past year I have had more new and amazing experiences than I could have predicted when 2012 began, but through each experience I tried absorb as much as possible. For example, if you are in a new environment, take in all of the surroundings, cultural traditions and behaviors.  Drink in all of the inspiration that is just waiting to be captured. While you will most certainly want to participate, you will also want to be an observer of how and why things work – what you gravitated towards and what shocked you. Take note. Who knows when these observations could come in handy one day.

3. Ask questions of those who are the experts in the fields. If you are in a quandary, seek out experts in the fields you are curious about. If I have a question or concern about teaching, I often find myself calling up my mentor to ask her questions about teaching, or instead choose to read books by top researchers on topics that pique my interest.

4. Be willing to look foolish. Be willing to try, no matter what the outcome. Trying anything new can be intimidating partially because there is the fear that you may fail horribly. Well, of course this is a possibility! Think about a baby trying to walk for the first time. Many, many, many attempts are made immediately followed by tumbles to the floor before success occurs. But so long as you continue to try and fine tune what you learn from each experience, you will eventually build that muscle and find yourself standing without a hint of a wobble.

5. Keep a journal. Recording your thoughts in the present sometimes seems like a waste of time. However, just like a good bottle of red wine, well after you’ve tucked it away, the wisdom and truth begin to blossom. From my experience, it isn’t until a year has passed or more that I can look at the words I have written and see a pattern, or determine a passion, a curiosity or a purpose to my actions that may not have been visible initially in the moment. Give this amazing gift to yourself – keep a journal. You may be surprised by how much it could help guide you to where you are meant to go.

6. Don’t run from what you fear. Address it. Confront it. Ask why you are fearful. What are you fearful of – losing, feeling, discovering? After all, it is when we confront what we think we cannot that we gain confidence and strength rather than by doing what we already knew we could.

7. If traditional mores don’t suit your soul, try something else until you discover what it is about the tradition that makes you uncomfortable. Often it isn’t the entire event, but labels, preconceived notions and assumptions that go along with it. Dig deeper and understand what your instincts are trying to tell you. Then decide to create your own culture that suits your sensitivities, passions, values and curiosities.

8. Become comfortable with your own company. Embrace what you discover about yourself through all of life’s trials and adventures.

9. If you feel you aren’t being heard, attempt new and different ways of expressing how you’re feeling (write a blog, take photos, start painting, begin sculpting, try dancing, exercise your voice through your sartorial choices, etc). Most importantly, find a way to communicate with the world which is healthy, helpful and cathartic. By working through your thoughts and feelings, you are not suppressing yourself, thus allowing for the world to communicate with you based on how you interact with it. Often times, what it communicates is full of valuable suggestions on how to progress forward.

10. Don’t give up so quickly. Have patience. I would like to use my experience in blogging to explain why patience is something none of us should ever lose sight of. Nearly three years ago I began The Simply Luxurious Life (at that time it was only Simply Luxurious), and as I now meet fellow bloggers who are just getting started, I realize that they have just begun to realize the multitude of opportunities that await them so long as they continue with their craft even when there is no fanfare. Much like planting perennial bulbs in the fall, we won’t see or know their beauty until nearly six months later in the spring when we’ve forgotten about the time spent in the yard digging, spacing and kneeling to place them precisely where we want them to spring up. So continue to spread your wings, soak up all that life presents to you even if it doesn’t make sense at the time and trust that your continued efforts to live your best life on a daily basis are already paying off and will one day build to create an amazing legacy.

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”  ~Henry David Thoreau

Thanks to the folks at Simply Luxurious for sharing their lovely ideas on living – be sure and stop by to visit them!

Sometimes we have to go backwards to go forward. I know for me, it has always been a good thing to look back at the things that brought me joy, prosperity, success, knowledge etc. etc. and look at those activities and decide whether or not they’re worth doing again. I’m stoked for this new decade and anticipate that I will take many of those old things and weave them into my journey along with the new.

Everything is old. Everything is new again.

This decade, I have the gift of a grandchild to inspire, love and teach. She is a great little meme and copycat, and a good workout partner who loves the outdoors and hanging with the girls. I realized I needed to get out and move again, like I used to. She inspired me to be better. From time to time I have allowed work and responsibilities with family and business to take precedence over taking care of myself and enjoying the things that bring me joy. I have no doubt you can say the same thing. Discovering those things that we once loved, renewing them and reengaging them, renews our passion!

Mediocrity is the result of losing your passion and just going along without thinking. We can get super lazy when we don’t have a drive toward something. We can get very nonchalant when we don’t have a strong belief in something. We will ignorantly accept poor quality relationships, bad music and art, unfulfilling jobs, inferior products, unhealthy food, and just about anything when we don’t know – or have a passion for – what we want.  Mediocrity blends all the lines into a nasty, plain, and uninspiring grey that hides, or worse, rejects, the exceptional… I could go on and on.

So get that passion back ya’ll! Look deep and connect yourself to something you used to do that worked for you, that you loved. Refine it, reestablish it, rework it, update it, and do it. Get out and move, take in the moment, eat healthier food, watch smarter movies, read inspiring books, practice love. Be selective in your relationships and don’t compromise yourself and what you know you want.

This year – this decade, say YES to what YOU want!

XOXO Sandy

* * * * * *

Love Let Go Flow
Ahh life – the ever unpredictable, changing ebb and flow of love, understanding, joy, ecstasy and pain, longing and desire. There is no other way to navigate it except by lifting the rudder and allowing the current to take you out to the beauty of the unknown.
Two seconds… the first is gone and the second… is here.
Embrace it, love it, be in it.

* * * * * * *

© Sandy HibbardImage © Lisa Kristine and available at LisaKristine.com

“What is this feeling of love,
life,
freedom,
exploration,
beauty?
I feel it all in one breath.
In one sound of his voice.”

Photo by Sandy Hibbard at Lensqueen.com
Amsterdam Hotel

Arms dead weight

Lips blank of passion

Dripping with silence

Hushed

Still

Feeling the emptiness of you

Craving the connection we knew

Mindless matters

Rattled breath

And miscomprehension’s

Leaves hardly a word to say

I’ve tried to find a reason

But I still don’t understand

Feels like

My heart is

Numb to the touch

© Sandy Hibbard

I want to press it to my lips

like sweet honeycomb

…holding it there

until we are overtaken with passion

 
 
 
 
 
Image by liliroze.com

© Sandy Hibbard 

For days I languish in love and sensual thoughts.  The sweltering heat keeps me inside my house, musing over photographs from the past, evoking laughter and tears, joy and anger…love and passion.  Sickness grips me for weeks, months on end yet, there is a sweet languor about the days that have produced strength and resolve in my mind.  Just what an artist needs – a cocoon of dreamy space to weave around the heart – secret desires and conversations of love and living and life…in time she will emerge.

 
Photo: The Grand Odalisque by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, oil on canvas, Paris/Louvre

Broken Through to Silence 

Why won’t you say something?
You’re the one I want
Yet time and distance keeps us apart
The fire of your smile captured me a long time ago
I will follow you to Marghdeen
Just to hear you sing
But don’t let the starlight fade
     Won’t you say my name?
What can break the silence between our hearts
Where time and distance pulls us apart
One word
Only one
Will give us a start
Your words broke my walls of shame
You showed me your heart again
And again
This wasn’t a game
No whose playing who
We occupy the same place
     Won’t you say my name?
I’m letting go for the first time
But i know it won’t be my last
Star gazing
Passion’s fading
And I’m afraid
Afraid of never feeling this again
 
© Sandy Hibbard