AJ’s Art Journal: Be Audacious
Don’t Let Anyone or Anything Dim Your Inner Light
“The more light you allow within you, the brighter the world you live in will be.” ~Shakti Gawain
I was born with it. I know I was. There was a light within me that showed in my smile, my dancing around the house, my love for life, for friends, for family, and my bright future.
I don’t remember the exact day it happened, I don’t remember the last event that did it, but my inner light went out. I was no longer the happy-go-lucky girl I once was; I became lost in an abyss of darkness and sadness. Happiness …
How Simple Little Happy Habits Can Make a Huge Difference
“Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness.” ~Charlotte Brontë
Habits are a double-edged human habitual practice—they can be healthy and unhealthy, and can bring us happiness and unhappiness.
We’ve all read about the importance of healthy and successful habits, and how to choose and practice them. But I’ve also recently read about how healthy and successful habits alone don’t necessarily lead to good health or real success. There’s more to it.
What I’m reading now shows that happiness appears to be just as important to well-being and success as lifestyle choices, that happiness alone may actually lead to the …
Charity Water: How Your Birthday Can Bring Clean Water to the World
Scott Harrison started the non-profit Charity Water on his 31st birthday to help bring clean, safe drinking water to developing countries (where 800 million people live without it). If you’re looking to make a major difference, consider pledging your birthday. I know what I’m doing on mine!
4 Steps to Let Go of Blame in Your Relationship
“When you blame others, you give up your power to change.” ~Dr. Robert Anthony
After living alone for five years, I moved in with my girlfriend just eight months ago. I knew that I would have to make some adjustments, but I had no idea what they might be.
I expected most of the changes to be around the dynamics of our relationship and spending too much time together. I didn’t foresee any personal growth coming out of it.
But that’s exactly what happened. I grew, and I evolved.
What Sparks a Fight
For both me and my girlfriend, cleaning …
Tragedy Can Help Us Find Our Life’s Purpose
“Sometimes in tragedy we find our life’s purpose. The eye sheds a tear to find its focus.” ~Robert Brault
Just over two decades ago, I happened to be planted in the Midwest. Chicago. The southside to be exact. A location once recognized as a haven for successful black people handling their business while their kids frolicked throughout the streets, making up secret handshakes, basking in the sun and enjoying their youth.
And then, as the years progressed, things began to change; our haven was becoming less safe.
As if a nebulous cloud began to form over our neighborhood with a …
4 Lessons on Surviving and Thriving When Times Are Tough
“Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.” ~Unknown
Five months ago, I was sitting outside with a friend when a mosquito bit me under the arm. I went to scratch the bite and felt a lump on the side of my breast. My doctor sent me for a mammogram, ultrasound, and fine needle biopsy. I had breast cancer.
I am a 44-year-old single mother of two beautiful young girls with primary custody. I am also Director of a psychology practice and self-employed.
The day I was diagnosed was the day I lost the carefully …
Say Goodbye to Your “I” and Hello to Freedom
“More important than the quest for certainty is the quest for clarity.” ~Francois Gautier
It’s the last place in a million years I ever thought I would find myself.
Stuck in a day job I had originally taken to fund my art and still feed my family when times were lean. It all sounded so logical back then.
Except that after several years, this “I” that was showing up to work had zero passion, was totally unmotivated, and not exactly someone I was too proud of.
Which was very strange since I was always so committed with my dedication to …
Improv(e) Your Life: Lessons on Risks, Gifts, and More
“Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.” ~Eckhart Tolle
Improv comedy is something I’ve always enjoyed. I thought it would be fun to try, so I eventually took a class. Countless classes and many laughs later, I’ve learned that improv is a lot like life. In fact, applying what you learn in improv can actually improve your life.
Risky Business
Showing up at an improv class for the first time might prove intimidating or anxiety provoking for some. I felt some nerves when taking my first class, …
You Don’t Have to Be Lonely: Proactively Choose to Connect with People
“Make the best use of what is in your power and take the rest as it happens.” ~ Epictetus
Do you know that feeling when you are completely alone?
I don’t mean in a calm, solitary, I-choose-to-be-on-my-own kinda way.
It’s the alone that inflates with silence that makes your ears ring. It’s the ache in the pit of your gut that boils the insecurities and needless feelings of rejection. It’s the push of desperate pain that wells in your eyes and stains your cheeks.
You know, that kind of alone?
I never intended to feel this way. When I …
Mr. Happy Man: Reminding Us That Life Is Beautiful
Eighty-eight-year-old Johnny Barnes spends six hours every day telling people on the side of the road “I love you!” and “Have a great day!” Rain or shine, he makes it his mission to share joy and kindness with everyone who passes.
Following Johnny’s lead: Happy Monday, I love you, and have a great day! Now go and pass it on. 🙂
Who to Fall in Love with First: 6 Ways to Love Yourself
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” ~Rumi
Most of us are so busy waiting for someone to love us that we’ve forgotten about the one person we need to love first—ourselves.
Ironically, it was when my ten-year marriage fizzled that I began the innermost process of self-discovery about love.
While discouraged and saddened at the crumbling of our relationship, I began to explore love more. How had it fizzled? Why had we stopped loving each other, and what had happened to …
Slow Down and Fully Enjoy This Moment
“Don’t miss all the beautiful colors of the rainbow looking for that pot of gold.” ~Unknown
Have you noticed that time seems to go by faster as you get older? Holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries all come and go—and before we know it, here they come again.
One theory neuroscientists have is that when we are young we have more novel experiences. These novel experiences create more vivid memories. As we age, we have less “new” or “first time” experiences. There are no unique memories to stand out.
We can also look at it another way. When we’re doing something new, …
Being Mindful and Releasing Worries: 5 Tips for Living in the Present
“The next message you need is always right where you are.” ~Ram Das
I try to exercise mindfulness in all things. Nowhere has this been as important for me as in my relationships.
I try to remember that I am not the same person I was as a child. People in any family play different roles at different times.
It’s been heartening to see myself, formerly a frequent recipient of unwanted advice, in a position of sharing the wisdom of my experience and being a conscious example of what I recommend.
I am a younger sister. I am fifty-six years …
How to Rewire Your Brain (and Renew Your Life)
I began practicing yoga and meditation in 1970 when I was seventeen years old.
I practiced in my small bedroom at one end our family’s long New York City apartment. My room was next to the kitchen. My parents, brother, and sister had bedrooms on the other side of the apartment.
I’d get up early and move through a sequence of yoga asanas before sitting down to meditate.
I’d sit in meditation until I heard the kitchen noises as my mother and siblings began their breakfast routine.
That was the signal that it was time for me to move from …
Life Is Practiced Rather Than Perfected: Balance Is Good Enough
“Good enough is the new perfect.” ~Becky Beaupre Gillispie
Taking another look through the treasure trove that is Tiny Buddha’s quote archive, I realized that there’s actually no category for quotes on “balance.” Because I’m interested in (read: slightly obsessed about) balance, I delved into the groupings more closely and realized that the list itself is, in fact, finely balanced. And it’s a metaphor for life.
In the archive you can find wisdom in words on loss, pain, and sorrow, or seek solace in quotes on happiness, hope, and healing. Sage advice on weakness may speak …
Though I run this site, it is not mine. It's ours. It's not about me. It's about us. Your stories and your wisdom are just as meaningful as mine.