2017 Year in Review

It seems that these Year in Review posts get later every year. It's mid-May in 2018, which means I'm doing 2017 almost halfway into the next year. Oh well. I'll chalk it up to spending a good deal of (all of?) my free time chasing a rambunctious 3 -year old who never seems to be far from one hazard or another.
Although they may be later or more brief than they were when I started this blog (previously called Packing Lust - and today called simply "Genevieve's Blog") I do think having one post to summarize each year is something I want to continue, even if it takes me a while to get around to it. I've posted reviews of 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. These posts are mostly for me to get an eagle's view of my years, but they are also for anyone interested in what my family and I have been up to since 2012.

If you'd rather skip reading about what I did in 2017, and would rather read about what I read in 2017, click here, where I share the best 10 out of all the books I read in 2017.  I guess you don't have to skip this post. You could read both. It doesn't have to be an either/or situation. 

Travel Mini Blogs

Instagram. It was my favorite social media platform in 2017, and for perhaps a year or so before that. To see if I'm still using it, check out my current Instagram feed. I'm not sure how long Instagram will be around for, but so far in 2018 I'm still enjoying the highly visual nature of the channel. And because it's quick to post from my phone using Instagram, it's a way for me to blog from anywhere when I simply don't have my laptop or the time to spend writing out a long post with lots of photos.

And now it's time for a quick overview of 2017 by month.

January

2017 feels like the year we slowly traveled across the U.S.A., although we did a lot more than just that.

In January I march in the (now famous, it seems) Women's March in Los Angeles with my friend Andrea. I'm proud I showed up for the event to improve visibility about things that are important to women. 

February

We started some serious slow-travel around the USA. Realizing after our lease was up and we were both remote-working that we had the flexibility to stay in AirBnB homes in small towns across America (which was also more affordable than big city rent) we decided to go for it. As a result we got to see we got to see our own country in a beautiful new way. The first stop was in the Sonoma, California area.

March

We stayed in each location for about a month, so March saw us travel up to the Portland, Oregon area where we got to see some dear friends.

April

We were still in the Pacific Northwest for this rainy month, so we left our kid with our dear friends and left the country for the first time in while. We visited Vancouver, Canada.

I also had a lot of fun testing out the newest bike from my family's company, Cruzbike.

May

In May we headed to Burley, Idaho. Prince Charming found this small town and wanted to see it. We really liked our time there. The people were the friendliest I've ever met. I'd never been to a small, non-tourist town that had healthy self esteem, but Burley had it. Instead of saying "why would you want to live here?" like many people in small industrial towns do, the people said, "Why don't you move here?"

We considered it, but I wouldn't be thrilled long-term with such a distance between me and the sea.

June

In June we got a rare chance to see some family in the Kansas City area. 

Then it was time to take some new visa photos...

Because Charming accepted a new mission to help refugees in the Middle East. We sped up our planned trip across the country to get to my parents place in North Carolina and make arrangements to move to East Jerusalem.

July 2017

Before we left the country, we joined my family for a beautiful beach trip. I got to add a month to one of my passion projects -- the breastfeeding awareness calendar.

About the Calendar

Our culture uses glamour to sell just about everything to women, including unhealthy things, like chemical-laden "beauty" products. The goal of my calendar is to use a touch of glam to sell something really healthy and truly beautiful: breastfeeding. The calendar is entirely volunteer staffed. If you'd like to be part of this evergreen project which will raise money for a nonprofit that supports breastfeeding, email me at Genevievewrites@gmail.com. When I was breastfeeding my son, I found that I was uncomfortable taking part in normal life outside the house. I think this is partly due to a stigma that we still haven't erased in the USA and in many cultures. The calendar is my part of erasing a stigma that says breastfeeding is unusual, disgusting, private, or sexual. I know that most days, mothers don't feel glamorous when they breastfeed. Nor is there any need to feel or look any certain way when breastfeeding. However, many of us love to be pampered, have our hair done, wear a gorgeous designer gown, and look -- well -- like a woman straight out a magazine. Why can't that woman be breastfeeding? Of course she can. My 2017 addition to the calendar was this beautiful mom/baby model team, who jumped passed the "magazine model standard" and leapt straight into Greek goddess sculpture territory.

August

Prince Charming began his mission in East Jerusalem while the kid and I stayed behind in North Carolina, planning to join him after attending my sister's upcoming wedding. We took a family road trip with my parents and some siblings to see the total eclipse of the sun. It's apparently very rare to be so close to the path of "totality" as we were.

September

These two beautiful people married each other.

Photo by Susan Ely

My sister's wedding in a charming town on the northeast coast was splendid and exactly what she and her groom wanted down to the lobster and glorious September weather. Now have lots of babies, you two! Just kidding. No pressure.

Also in September? I released my book, The Wealthy Creative.

My son and I also went to visit Grammy and Trog in Virginia.

And we moved to East Jerusalem.

October

Settling into our new home in Israel Palestine was easier than last time because of that previous 2+ years we'd spent. in the Middle East. This time we were living in East Jerusalem instead of Ramallah, but we made lots of trips to see our friends in Ramallah. Also, one of my Los Angeles friends had moved to Haifa, so seeing her felt like moving half way around the world was sort of like walking a few blocks to see her like I used to do in LA.

November

My baby turned three. He's not a baby anymore.

December

Santa came to the kid's wonderful school on the Mount of Olives.

The kid and I did a mandatory visa run to Cyprus. The luxurious beachfront hotel and beautiful sunsets were not mandatory. They were magnificent.

10 Books to Read in in 2018

Christelle BOURGEOIS

Find a cozy couch corner and snuggle up with a vouched-for book. Last year I read four dozen books and took notes. If you like the same things I like, (mainly memoir and motivational or business nonfiction) this list could save you hours browsing Amazon and take you straight to the good stuff.

These are my top 10 favorite of the 48 books I finished in 2017. It was hard to narrow it down to 10, because I typically abandon books I don't like, (meaning I enjoyed all 48 books I finished) but I did finally whittle it down for you.

This list includes affiliate links so I make a small percentage (at no cost to you) if you click through and buy a book. I've linked to the format I read, so if I read it on Kindle, I linked to the eBook, if I read it in paperback, then I linked to that format, and if I listened to the audio book, I  linked to that.  Thanks for supporting my blog.

Happy reading!

10. The Universe Has Your Back

Gabrielle Bernstein's latest (at the time) book had all the new-agey, straight from the heart, Real, spiritual-but-not-snobbish stories and advice I could want about making decisions from a place of love instead of fear.

9. Contagious

Most business books I read go in one ear and out the other. But thanks to his S.T.E.P.P.S. acronym, Jonah Berger's book is one that I remember and actually apply when I want to make something ( a blog post, a book) as shareable and viral as possible.

8. Help, Thanks, Wow

I will usually devour anything Anne Lamott writes, this book on the three core prayers being no exception. In my imagination, Annie is my writing godmother and she has an on-again-off-again relationship with with my writing godfather, Mark Twain. Clearly, era is no obstacle in my imagination.

7. Love Warrior

After finishing this book, I wanted to ask every woman I know to read it. Glennon Doyle was born with no insulation around her emotional wiring and she just lets the current fly. It hits you right in the heart and zings everywhere. Read it and then google what's happening with her now because the ending has a mild cliff hanger.

6. Big Magic

I challenge you to finish this book without having started writing (or whatever your creative calling is) before the end of it.

5. The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo

If you like raunchy feminist comedy from a self-described "trash receptacle" (The incredible Amy Schumer) then you'll laugh your way through this no-holds-barred, memoir-ish jokefest.

4. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

I've read just about every self-help book out there. This one takes all the traditional advice and turns it on its head. And somehow ends up being really inspiring, just like the traditional advice. The cliff-edge ending (not a cliffhanger) really stuck with me.

3. It's Okay to Laugh

This is part memoir about losing a loved-one to brain cancer, part love letter to a lost husband, and also part of the "things I want my child to know as he grows up" genre. It's sweet and funny and sad and heartbreaking, and ultimately beautiful and uplifting. Also, Mandy Moore likes it. “Thank you for the perfect blend of nostalgia-drenched humor, wit, and heartbreak, Nora," says Mandy.

2. Essentialism

I've written and read a lot of stuff about minimalism, but this book manages to hone in on exactly what makes focusing on only the essentials so powerful. It applies to corporations, small businesses, managers, and individuals. 

1.  The Big Leap

I finally read this self-help modern classic that's been recommended to me over and over. I can see why it's so beloved. If you've heard the phrase "upper limit problems," but aren't really sure what it means (my situation before reading this) then this will give you the answer for how to break through the limits that are holding you back. 

BONUS: The Wealthy Creative

Because what kind of indie author would I be if I didn't plug my own book? It's really, really good. Get it. I interviewed dozens of creatives all making a living from their work and organized their answers by the vital practices and habits we all need to succeed. Reviewer Steve Garvin calls it "upbeat, encouraging, valuable." He writes, "I rank The Wealthy Creative right up there with Steven Pressfield's The War of Art and Austin Kleon's Show Your Work." 

Book Cover Reveal, Plus a Location Update

I'm thrilled to post my beautiful new book cover for my upcoming book THE WEALTHY CREATIVE: 24 SUCCESSFUL ARTISTS AND WRITERS SHARE THEIR WINNING HABITS.

But first, I'll share a family location update. This is what I posted to social media yesterday (in case you missed it):

"So, we moved to the Middle East. Again. Yes, this pic is a metaphor of how I feel with my baby living in the diplomatic blocks between the Israelis and Palestinians. But it's also what actually happened today. Because not far from the dormant conflict zone where we now live there's this great zoo, and it was a beautiful day, and we bought the annual family membership and got to see 🐅 . 
So, we'll be taking breaks from this political seam to spend time with the animals and ecology experts at this little oasis of zoology. 
My plans also include continued study of and writing about my own species. Next book: soft launch/hard launch September 30/October 3rd."

Book Cover Reveal

My book cover was designed by my sister-in-law Morgan Parker, who, on top of being a gifted graphic artist, also just launched a company: Powerhouse, a botanic distillery (powerhousebotanics.com). Her products will help you love your skin. Check them out if you are into plant-powered handcrafted skincare sorcery.  But back to my cover reveal.  Here is it is! Squeaking with excitement over here:

Isn't it beautiful! I love the cut-out letters.  I can't wait to soft launch in just five days!

Join THE WEALTHY CREATIVE Launch Team

Speaking of launch, allow me to invite you to be part of it.  You can join my launch team! Launch team members will get a free copy of THE WEALTHY CREATIVE in either Kindle format (which you can read on any device with the free Kindle app) OR the Audible audio book version when it comes out (later). In exchange I ask that you post a review of the book on either the Amazon or Audible website. Of course, you can also do anything else you'd like to help the book find an audience, like share the link with your friends and family and talk with all your coworkers about how they just have to read this book and post a selfie on Instagram where your e-reader is open to the cover page and you are smiling and drinking a pumpkin spice latte/merlot/vodka martini. Extra points if you are also in the bath, but please be careful with electronics around water.

Launch team members will also be thanked by name in the book. But! You have to join the launch team by THIS Thursday (September 28, 2017) to be part of the launch team and get your free book. All you have to do is sign up here with your name and email address, and fill out which format of the book you'd prefer to get for free. 

An Alternative to S.M.A.R.T. Goals (which can suck sometimes)

Sixteen hours ago my sister, Lucia, posted these words to Facebook: "I am overcome with love and grief."

She was writing sweaty, dusty, tired, living out of a van for a week on the road following a team of cyclists who are racing across the U.S.A. Two days ago on her 30th birthday she woke up in a Wal-Mart parking lot. What a celebration.


She is crewing for a team of racers with the goal of raising $50,000 for brain cancer. 

They are failing at this S.M.A.R.T. goal.


They are almost completely finished with the journey but they are only half way to their fundraising goal. 

They could seem like losers -- dirty, tired, drifters hanging on to their sanity by a thread as they pursue a goal that they likely won't achieve. 

This is the fifth time Lucia has volunteered for team 3000 Miles to a Cure's Race Across America. She's in a peak emotional state  -- that is, fully alive, feeling all the love and grief and depth of human experience that we all long to feel. She's using her natural talents in service to a world-changing goal. She's connecting with people who, like her, have lost a loved-one to brain cancer and she's actively doing something important that is making a positive difference. She is winning at life. So is her team of cyclists. This is not just something that happened by fluke this week. This is how her life works.

I'm a big fan of the self-help genre and the business advice genre, both of which are really into a certain type of goal-setting. If you've ever looked up goal-setting advice, you'll have come across SMART goals (an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound).

The problem with SMART goals is that they are better for team projects in service to VALUES than they are to guide the overall trajectory of your life. When you use SMART goals to measure the value of your life or to decide whether or not to pursue an unexpected opportunity, they can can get you off-track. They can keep you playing small, saying "yes" to things that should be "no" and "no" to things that should be "yes." They can discourage you. They can become the be-all, end-all when they should be one tool in your arsenal. Achieving SMART goals won't make you happy in the long-term.

Living from well-examined and consciously chosen values brings lasting joy.

My sister Lucia is clearly not stuck in the S.M.A.R.T. goals framework. I've known her for her entire life.

She didn't dream of growing up to crew for a team of country-crossing bicyclists. She didn't set out to be a fundraiser for brain cancer researchers.  If someone had asked her ten years ago to write out SMART goals for the decade they wouldn't have included either of those things. Her steps are guided not strictly by goals, but by her values. 

My mom started 3000 Miles to a Cure almost five years ago with the goal of raising one million dollars for brain cancer research. She still hasn't reached that goal and doesn't know when she will. It's not a S.M.A.R.T. goal in that way. It motivates her, but it could also discourage her since she's been working on it for so long and making "slow" progress. The goal may change since it hasn't been achieved. After all, the larger mission is to cure brain cancer. 

I made up an acronym that is more useful than S.M.A.R.T. goals for making life-altering decisions and confronting opportunities. It fits the way life works more than S.M.A.R.T. goals. After all, life isn't a blank slate you fill with goals. It's a riot of opportunities you must navigate. In this culture of FOMO, (Fear Of Missing Out) you want to make sure you aren't missing out on great opportunities. Openness to what the universe has to offer you is important. On the other hand, you don't want to become trapped in "shiny object syndrome" -- chasing whim after whim based in dubious values without ever achieving something truly meaningful.

Enter M.A.V.E.N.

It's a useful framework for examining your values and making decisions. If your life feels "off," lacking in meaning, or somehow out of alignment, you may want to consciously choose M.A.V.E.N. values and allow your choices to serve what you really stand for.

M.A.V.E.N. stands for:

MEANINGFUL - I start from the why and embrace my reasons behind why this matters to me. What's the deep meaning that will keep me going.

ACTION-ORIENTED - I can identify small actions that will get me started living this value out right away. Like, right now. These actions will lead to motivation and more action. I am flexible and open to taking different actions that support my true values.

VERIFIED - I am honest with myself about my values (even if previously chosen unconsciously) and take full responsibility for the values that have gotten me to where I am in life right now. I confirm that my values are in my domain of responsibility -- they are about my choices, not those of other people. I may not be able to control what happens to me, but I can control my response.

This is probably the most important component, now that I think about it. Look at your life. If you think you value honesty, but find yourself lying, you don't value honesty. Identify what your true value is and try to change it to a more meaningful one. Values are hard to change, but it is possible, and I've seen it happen in the lives of the people I most admire. Believe it or not, changing values starts with taking a small action, usually an experiment, like telling the truth where you would normally tell a lie.

EMOTION / ENERGY - My values and choices today support my core target emotions -- how I want to feel in body, mind, and spirit.

NATURAL - I'm not developing my weak areas, but instead, am going with the flow and ease of my natural strengths as much as possible. There are always many paths to choose from -- I choose the one that aligns with my natural abilities and sensibilities. What I focus on grows, so I focus on serving, giving, creating, building, solving, or leading from my innate talents. When I develop my strengths I naturally excel.

One simple way to test MAVEN for yourself right now is to respond to an opportunity. Right now I'm inviting you to give money to 3000 Miles to a cure. 100% of your donation goes straight to fund cancer research. (Operating expenses are covered by earmarked donations).

Donate $50 here!

MEANING: Cure brain cancer (take a step to relieve global suffering and help scientists understand the human brain.) Honor the memory of a loved one or honor a friend fighting cancer.
ACTION: Click below and put in your credit card information.
VERIFY: If you value giving, connection, healing, and science, this is an opportunity to prove it. If you don't regularly give money or time to a cause like this or similar, you probably don't value these things. And that's okay -- I'm not here to judge your values.
EMOTION: This gift can help you feel generous, loving, connected, euphoric, and powerful.
NATURAL: If it feels natural to give, then this is a no-brainer.

I invite you to donate to help cure brain cancer today! Click here.
 

Small and Large Graces on a Tough Day

I'm slowly reading Small Graces by Kent Nerburn.

Each chapter is a short, gentle reflection on "the quiet gifts of every day life." Today I feel the graces I've received are more like Large Graces. I've had a rough day, a day that found me with two flat tires, crying (for various reasons) while walking down a hot, dusty road next to a car dealership, unable to connect with any friends or family (for the moment) due patchy service in this small town. 

I found a coffee shop hoping to borrow the bathroom, cry my eyes out, and splash some water on my face. When the woman behind the counter asked me how I was doing, I told her I'd been having a rough day. Her response was so deeply kind and caring that I started crying again -- this time happy tears. Then I talked to my mom and my sister and they were so full of grace and understanding even though when I'm feeling fragile I can be taut and combative.... and self-centered. 

This minimalist nomad life is (for me) so fabulous and dreamy that I can't believe it's real sometimes. It just feels so wonderful that we created this and get to create it every day. But it can also be hard; it can be challenging in the way that all unconventional lifestyles are. Creating this every day, putting myself out there as an author, coach, and consultant takes constant creativity, focus, unshakable confidence, and an ability to wear a stunning variety of hats. I love it, and I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've been given to live this life. But sometimes life is hard... and I have a day where moisture builds up behind my eyes... a lot.

So this afternoon I'm grateful for the Large Graces of caring family + friends and strangers in coffee shops.  With gratitude, I can create anything I can imagine, and I do. You can too.

2016 Year in Review (Plus Writing + Coaching Brags)

Happy new year! I'm still allowing myself to say that even though there is only one day left in January of 2017.

In 2016 I continued my hiatus from blogging except for micro entries on my Instagram account. It doesn't feel as important to share, connect, and analyze my experiences when living in the US compared to living overseas. My life experience here seems to have a lot more in common with that of family and friends, many of whom also live in the U.S. or have spent a great deal of time in this country. Also, blogging just for fun (as a hobby) has fallen down my priorities list since becoming a parent in late 2014. If life were to take us abroad again, I'm not sure I could maintain the blogging schedules I used to keep pre-baby.

Still, I wouldn't want to skip my year-in-review tradition since I've done it now for the years 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. This will be a very edited overview.  Here's a bullet list so you can scroll down to the parts that interest you most:

• 2016: A few memories and events by month (with photos)

• 2016: My writing and coaching brags

• 2017 Plans and possibilities

Memories by month

I have selected just a few highlights to mention for each month.

January

We enjoyed selecting a Hollywood apartment; we contacted our old landlord and were able to move back into the same charming complex where we met in 2010. My mom was so supportive and flew from NC to help us with the move.  

Prince Charming took a work trip to Indonesia.

It was great to reconnect with our California friends this month.

February

Making new mommy friends and joining a "mommy and me" belly dance class with Bump.

March

A tough month. I locked Bump in the car. Everything turned out okay as roadside assistance came to our aid. Thankfully it wasn't a hot day.

Also, we made the difficult decision to find a new home for Jelly Bean. We couldn't take care of her in the way she really needed to be cared for.

We said goodbye and found a great organization that flies Canaan dogs and Canaan dog mixes to places better suited to their need for lots of space. She was quickly adopted by a new family and now lives in Washington State.

April

We took a fun family trip to San Francisco where we visited the SF zoo for one of the most vibrant zoo days i've ever had. The tigers were pacing, the lions were roaring, and the monkeys were swinging. It was really fun and cold.

We got to see my cousin Charlie who has started a successful craft-beer distributing company. 

We caught up with Uncle Jeff and took a special picture. I noticed when visiting my Grammy that her baby pictures of her son Jeff (my uncle) look a lot like Bump. So I theorize that when Bump grows up he will look a lot like his handsome great Uncle Jeff:

May

I started learning more about my family's bicycle company, Cruzbike, and doing lifestyle consulting for their customers. I call and email people interested in the bikes and help connect them to test rides and decide which bike is right for their lifestyle. I'll post a photo later in this blog post of me riding a Cruzbike, the world's fastest and healthiest bikes. 

This month I also got to see the Los Angeles premiere of a film made by one of my classmates and friends from the 2007 Act One screenwriting program -- the first class I did when I moved to LA and the community that helped me feel supported during my transition to living in LA after college. His movie was hilarious and I hope it will lead to more film making opportunities for him. It was great have an Act One mini-reunion and catch up with some old friends I hadn't seen in years.

June

See all the bridges in the photo below? Yes, that's a sign we're in Portland, Oregon, where my friend Liz lives. It was wonderful to meet her new baby (#2) and chase our toddlers around.

July

July brought a family reunion in Vermont and lots of Cruzbike fun.

I also celebrated my birthday with neighbors and friends. My belly dance teacher and dear friend Katya danced with me in my dining room:

August

Bump had been obsessed with his space shuttle replica toy, so in August we took him to see the real thing, the shuttle Endeavor at the Califoria Science Center. 

My mom came out west again to watch Bump so Charming and I could take a vacation in Hawaii:

September

Kimberly was traveling through LAX and it worked out that we got to meet during her layover and eat brunch near the airport and then take a picture by the Pacific:

We took a few days as a family to go to Desert Hot Springs ("hot is our middle name" is the town motto).  We enjoyed stargazing and hanging out by the pool. We drove by the smelly but beautiful Salton Sea at sunset:

October

I traveled to Cincinnati for the recumbent bicycle convention. 

I'm proud to work with my wonderful family and sell the world's fastest, safest, healthiest bicycles to a growing tribe of eccentric and sexy athletes -- is there a better kind? -- many of whom have come back from overwhelming physical injuries to ride much faster than most cyclists ever will. 

I also started a new creative project this month. I think we need more images of breastfeeding to normalize it in our society so I'm creating a breastfeeding awareness calendar. I'm looking for 10 more volunteer mommy-child teams to be part of this project. Let me know if you want in. 

November

Birthday month for Bump. I celebrated two years of this life with my sweet genius 2-year old. Sometimes I whisper in his ear before I put him down to sleep,"thank you for being here." I just can't believe how wonderful he his and some part of me believes that he got to pick me, to choose us, to select this particular adventure and that he still remembers that brochure and making these trip arrangements.

Oh yeah. November was the election too. I don't keep my political views a secret. I'm disappointed by the results and feeling anxious about what direction things are going in here in the U.S.

December

Three dear friends came to visit me in LA and we celebrated Julie (below left) on her birthday with gourmet tacos and palm trees and the beach.

We went to visit family in North Carolina -- a nice long trip -- over the holidays. My family has been wonderful supportive during the adjustment to parenthood. 

We relaxed, ate, relaxed some more, and I got pranked a little when my dad and brother showed me a mockumentary about dragons that I thought was true.

After Christmas it was birthday celebration time again.

I baked a cake for Prince Charming's late December birthday.  I relish celebrating my brilliant poetry major husbands birthday (which is sort of torture to him). Today I am especially grateful for (and apt to brag about) his location-independent work building nonprofit programs to help refugees. Did you know he played a key role in saving a program in Los Angeles to help persecuted members of religious minority groups immigrate to safety in the USA? He has saved so many lives. He just keeps going in his low-key way. No big deal.  My hero.

___

My writing and coaching brags

I had a lot of fun with my writing and coaching in 2016. I collaborated on a great screenplay project. I got paid to create an original superhero with a backstory for a comic book universe. I helped train a team of storytellers who used their skills and talents to raise over $48,000 for brain cancer research as they documented the 2016 Race Across America. 

I still enjoy making passive and semi-passive income from my Simple Living Toolkit books and courses, and the Minimalist Living community has grown every year.

"I would NEVER have been able to do in many weeks what Genevieve accomplished practically overnight."

I really enjoyed continuing to coach and encourage writers and artists throughout 2016, and at the end of the year, I got to see the fruit of some of that time spent when one of my author contacts published her updated book manuscript with my support. She kindly wrote:

"When people talk about having the right person come in to your life at the right time, Genevieve was true to her word and took me by the hand and made my book happen! I would NEVER have been able to do in many weeks what Genevieve accomplished practically overnight. The book is available on Amazon.com, is being downloaded almost daily, and I've regained confidence to get the next project going."

Scroll down for more on the topic of coaching and publishing.

2017 plans and possibilities

 I'll wrap up with website updates and general thoughts for what 2017 may bring for us as a family and for my writing and coaching.

Website and blog updates coming in 2017

As you can see, you are reading this blog at a new URL. I am moving my blog content from my old site (Packing Lust) over to this site since I'm changing the hosting platform and am ready for a web home renovation. Hopefully it will go well and you'll see my archive happily hosted on this site soon.  

I experiment with different web site products because I always want to simplify my web maintenance and I like to keep things feeling fresh around here. I'm experimenting this year with using Squarespace as my new hosting provider and site builder. I'm hoping this will streamline my website maintenance. I got frustrated with WordPress since it seemed like I was constantly needing to be updating plugins or fixing something buggy.

In 2017 I'll be posting here about writing, publishing and coaching, as well as posting the occasional travel, family, or life update.

Some 2017 predictions and possibilities

I've grown wary of making yearly goals or resolutions publicly because either a) I get disappointed when they don't happen, or b) something totally unexpected happens and I want to embrace the new adventure that has arrived.  I've learned to deeply savor the present moments and meanings as they come.

Our family has faced a lot of uncertainty over the past two years. I predict we will soon be entering another nomadic phase so the future is delightfully uncertain. Well, I guess I'd like some certainty at some point. Certainty could be delightful. As ever, we'll see. Right now I'm really enjoying the adventure of looking into the unknown. Someone recently asked me, "But don't you want to have a community, roots, support, something settled?" And the answer is yes, I do, but I also have the bug -- the travel/nomad bug. And it hasn't gone away yet. So I try to find some kind of balance between growing roots and exploring new places. I'm grateful there is technology that allows me to access my support system and keep up with friends all over the world.

I hope that whatever this year brings, I  keep writing. In 2016 I wrote 128,187 words in my journal. While I didn't publish any books, I'm grateful for journaling. So far the first month of 2017 has gone well with my writing. I have intended to publish two books a year for the past several years and failed on that, but I keep writing and publishing in some form over the years whether it's on Amazon, my blog, Facebook or Instagram. 

This could be a breakthrough year for my writing and publishing and that of others in my writing community. Perhaps this year I will publish one book. Maybe two. I feel that in 2017 it's important for me to defeat what Steven Pressfield called "Resistance," which for me is mostly comprised of the fear that what I write won't help anyone. I want to remember that if my writing helps, uplifts, or connects to anyone -- even just one person -- it is worth the time, effort, and risk of putting my words out there. I am so grateful for the support of my family, friends, and all the writers and creatives who support and encourage me as a writer and storyteller.  We are all connected and we are here for each other.

I find more and more meaning in giving back by supporting and coaching creatives, which leads me to...

My work with writers and creatives

I'll be doing more writer- and creative-coaching with a special focus on self-publishing in 2017 so check back here soon as I'll get new coaching information and payment pages active just as soon as I can. 

Best wishes for a creative and powerful 2017!

Follow me (@Genevievewrites) on Instagram!

Packing Lust and Nesting

I skipped posting on the last full moon -- the first one of 2016. Why? -- a combination of forgetting and then feeling too busy to post. Last year it was fun to post on or before the full moon -- at least once a month. That was less frequently than I was posting when I started Packing Lust in June 2012, when we were just starting off on our adventure of living overseas. Around once a month felt about right for last year, the big year of being a new parent.

After moving to Los Angeles just a few days before Christmas 2015, there's been a lot going on. We lived in a temporary furnished apartment near the La Brea Tar Pits (which was awesome -- not the pits at all) for a few weeks before finding a charming apartment mere feet from the spot Prince Charming and I met in 2010. We couldn't resist living in and around the same apartment complex where we fell in love, not to mention the fact that we have dear friends who live walking distance away. This building is almost 100 years old and the place itself has needed a bit more work to make it clean and functional than a newer place would.

There's more too. With every move, I've handled the instability and unknown somewhat well. But this last move has been harder than the little temporary moves before it that helped us to adjust to life back in the states. Since I know we're going to be here for at least a year, I have plans. I've been nesting. And I've put a lot of pressure on myself to get and keep my home cleaned, childproofed, painted, decorated, etc. And it's still not done... even though we've been here for almost a month. Which is pretty normal, except that I feel like I've dropped my writing, this blog, and everything else to work on it. I definitely overestimated the amount of projects I could get done while also making sure my 14-month-old isn't running around with scissors in one hand and a knife in the other. And while making sure that I don't miss his adorable smiles, games of peekaboo, and delightful discoveries.

Now I'm feeling overwhelmed and sort of stagnant at the same time. I need to give us more time to settle in and find more patience with the process.

Missing my normal full moon post last month made me realize I needed to think about when and what I want to post on Packing Lust in 2016. So I'm going to keep thinking about what I want to make of this blog in this new year. Until then, Packing Lust will be on hiatus.

I like having this blog as a way to share photos and stories in packing, travel, and adventures. It's been a sort of family photo album, a way to stay in touch with anyone who wants to, and place to practice writing. But I'm not sure that with everything already on my plate there's room for it right now. We'll see.

I'm hoping to continue to share some of our adventures and simple living toolkit stuff on social media, so make sure you're following me on Instagram if you want to keep in touch for right now.

2015 in Review (and Favorite Books)

It's time to sum up the year on Packing Lust! This is my fourth year doing this, and it's one of my favorite ways to get the big picture and remember the year as a whole. In 2015, we didn't travel outside of the U.S., however we certainly did some significant traveling and moving within the states. It was a family-focused year as we learned to parent and watch Bump thrive over the course of his first year of life. Our doggie, Jelly Bean, spent a few months living with my parents and then reunited with us in Washington, D.C. in October. At the end of the year we moved again (yes, just a couple days ago) and we're having fun in our new city.

Favorite Books

Of the dozens of books I read this year, my top three favorites were:

1. Dying to Be Me -- A kind of spiritual-health memoir by Anita Moorjani about her near death experience and subsequent speedy healing from cancer. She shares her unusual experience in vivid and convincing detail and what she learned about the importance of living fearlessly and as true to her self as possible.

2. Me Before You: a Novel -- I've read two Jojo Moyes books and both placed one of their main characters in the type of ethical quandary that most of us will never have to experience. This one is about the relationship between a paralyzed man with a death wish and one of his caretakers. I loved the masterful storytelling and the way it helped me see the central question from several perspectives.

3. Life in Motion: an Unlikely Ballerina -- Misty Copeland's memoir reveals her journey to become the first African-American principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre.  I loved the window into the life of an elite dancer driven by the pursuit of excellence. Most of us will never experience being a prodigy in anything; this books lets you share the excitement of being 14 and discovering that you are one of the world's most naturally talented ballerinas. I was also impressed with the storytelling; it manages to be a page-turner even though we already know the happy ending to the story. I laughed; I cried. At one point I had to put the book down and dance alone in the room just to express the triumph I shared with her. This book is for anyone who ever worked hard on a dream and had to overcome unexpected obstacles to achieve excellence.

By Month

January

Having had baby boy Bump in late November 2014, I was two things: A) tired and B) excited to maintain my writing habit and keep the creative juices flowing.

To help out with A) I featured a guest post on creating a digital vision board to inspire your travel dreams and B) I did a 7-day blogging challenge.

February

My only post for February was a 2014 year in review piece. I guess I was still sleep-deprived from those early months as a new parent.

March

This month I launched SimpleLivingToolkit.com where I help people to declutter and join the simple living movement. I kept getting advice to narrow down/focus what I do to help people with my business (it's so hard when I do a variety of things, both to help people and just to express my creativity) so this new website was my answer. Join other simple living enthusiasts by signing up here.

April

This month I felt that it was time to share what I'd learned about about two things. One: self-publishing. Two: keeping things simple (stuff-wise) when you have a baby. Check out the very shareable "Minimalist Baby" list.

May

This month we took a romantic-foodie trip to Myrtle Beach while my parents took care of Bump. Fun and yummy. Another fun outing was the Dance of the Spring Moon powwow.

Also this month I launched my "Start a Daily Writing Habit" email coaching series. It's awesome and a great way to kick start yourself if you want to write more in 2016.

June

I posted my first and only packing related piece this year in June. It's about how you pack differently when you become a mommy and how certain things are less glamorous than... I thought they would be. I also blogged about a couple trips I took to Charleston, South Carolina.

July

We moved from Lumberton, NC, to Arlington, VA and I wrote about the ups and downs of big city life with a baby.

I reflected on how simple living lets me enjoy textures and details.

August

Though my book on habits to help you make money from your creativity is very behind schedule, I did work on it this year with additional research. I posted this month and later in the year when I found articles about creativity and about the changing landscape of making money as a creative.

Don't worry ; I didn't let the year go by without publishing. Prince Charming and I co-wrote a book called Simple Kitchen and published it this month to Amazon Kindle and Audible. It's a quick read you'll want to check out if you like keeping things simple in the kitchen without sacrificing the cooking experience.

After moving to the Washington, D.C. area last month, we enjoyed exploring our new city including a trip to Teddy Island.

At the end of the month, Bump (his nickname on the blog) turned 9 months old and we took photos in a park in our Rosslyn neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia. I shot more people too.

September

We explored the Washington, D.C. area. You know us; it was all about the food.

 Creative types may enjoy my notes on an interview that Elizabeth Gilbert gave in which she talked about fear and creativity and being a grown-up.

October

We moved within the D.C. metro area from Arlington, Virginia to the Columbia Heights area of Washington.

I traveled to Black Mountain, North Carolina, reuniting with a bunch of family on my mom's side to celebrate my grandmother's 80th's birthday.

November

We enjoyed exploring our neighborhood of Washington (Columbia Heights) on foot and living car-free. On the blog, I wrote about a memory of a snow ball fight I had back in Palestine in 2013. Bump turned one this month and started walking just before he hit that milestone birthday.

December

We moved to Los Angeles on the eve of Christmas Eve. Now, rather unexpectedly, but very happily, we're back in the city where Prince Charming and I met over five and a half years ago. I'm looking forward to what life in this city over the next year brings.

My Snowball Fight in Palestine

Late 2013

I was out walking in the snow when I saw a group of young men who made me begin to doubt the wisdom of my strol.

They emerged from a hookah joint housed in the bottom floor of a large buildin in downtown Ramallah, the seat of the government of Palestine. I was the only woman around, the only person around on the deserted, snow-gray streets. Just me and the red-eyed men rifting out of the café toward me.

It had been snowing for days. All across the West Bank, there was an extended power outage. People washed with water heated on a gas stove and huddled around their propane heaters. We had two; the larger one we lovingly called our R2D2, and the smaller one we delighted in calling by the brand name etched onto its metal plate: ORGAZ. I was still cold. No matter how many blankets I layered around me or heaters I crouched in front of, my feet and nose stayed cold. I was angry cold. Bored cold.

The anger, fueled by the cold and pent-up energy, made me feel restless and twitchy.  I bundled up, put some plastic bags over my shoes to help keep the hree feet of snow out, and announced to Prince Charming that I was going for a walk. I left with a quick "bye!" without giving him much time to respond. I heard him manage to eke out a "be safe!" and I was off.

My cabin fever was quickly replaced by wonder. Glittering snow banks smothered the garden and turned trees into bowing swans. Getting from our apartment's vestibule to the street was tricky. I had to find a way around and through the snow banks. Having grown up mostly in moderate climes where a few inches of snow a year was the norm, I had no snow-walking skills to draw from. Each step I took was a new experience. My foot would sink down six inches, then when I lifted up the other foot that first one would sink down another ten inches into the snow. I hobbled my way out to the street, where the snow was less thick and a truck had made a pack-snow indentation I could follow.

I threw my head back and gazed at the sky to take in the joy of being outdoors, finally. It was still snowing, gently, not the thick blizzard of the last few days. When I got to the main street, I could turn left, or I could turn right. Left would take me away from the city center. Right would take me towards the city center, Al-Manara, where there's a monument with four stone lions that has become the iconic backdrop to many Palestinian protests against the Israeli occupation. I turned right. The city was feeling a little post-apocalyptic-deserted, and I was hoping I'd bump into someone in the center, anyone, a friendly face. I imagined we'd gesticulate to each other about the eauty of the now; it would be easy even though we might not speak the same language.

But instead of a friendly face, I saw the men. Unsmiling young men, maybe seven, with more behind them, jacked up on icotine. One puff on a hookah pipe was, I'd heard, the equivalent of smoking a bundle of ten cigarettes, so if they'd been smoking all morning, well, it was s if they' alread smoked hundreds of cigarette that da. Restless energy coursed through their wiry bodies. I'd heard these oung en called "shebab." I wasn't sure what it meant. It seemed to denote "outh," but the connotation was "unemployed, disenfranchised, hopeless, able-bodied oys and men who must roam the streets because they have nothing else to do." As they emerged from the café, I was reminded of a scene from the 2007 movie I Am Legend, where Will Smith's character is stalked by bloodthirsty mutants who hibernate in clusters in dark corners of the city. They moved slowly in my direction, as if meandering, but their bloodshot eyes, I noticed, were intensely focused. On me.

Suddenly I felt very self-conscious. Afraid. My active imagination quickly supplied me with headlines of the "Brutal Gang Rape" variety. I had a friend who'd been sexually harassed on the street not far from here I was. I looked around, behind me. No one. Just me and the shebab grouping. Get a grip, I thought. These are not bloodthirsty mutants. These are people, just like me, curious. It's human curiosity to want to see the foreigr alking by herself in the snow.

ut I had to take action. I couldn't continue my walk nwards, knowing I was getting farther from home and that I'd have to walk past the shebab again on my way back. I'd be scared the whole time. I couldn't turn around either, not without an interaction. I didn't know how they'd take it. It might be okay. Or they might follow me back, harassing me the whole way, finding out where I lived. They might just leave me alone, thinking I was scared of them, which was true.

Either way, they'd have effectively ruined my stroll, and the thought made me angry. I wasn't going to let these guys ruin my outing. I was so tired of sticking out on the street, of being the foreigner, of being looked at with an inscrutable combination of lecherousness and discomfort. I was an oddball. An American woman who wasn't afraid to go jogging on the streets, show my knees, or yell curse words at wayward bus drivers.

So I bent down, packed some snow together, and, smiling, hurled ball of snow at the man closest to me.

My snowball glanced off his legs. is reaction took a moment. Surprise. Then delight. Whether malicious or kind, I couldn't tell.

I was betting that the bridge-building power of a good snowball fight was universal. e gathered up a snowball of his own, and pitched. is was no lo. The speed ball hit me square in the face, the impact leaving me breathless. I couldn't feel my mouth or nose anymore. When sensation started to come back, everything stung. I tried to smile, hoping that's what my mouth was doing; I still couldn't really feel my face. Bleak pain. Oppressed young men of the West Bank have one weapon left. One way to fight back, vent frustration, protest, cause damage. Stone throwing. They learn young and, as observed by horrified Israelis, can do impressive damage and some even claim there have been several deaths resulting from stone throwing.  I'd picked a snowball fight wit throwin experts. I gathered my second snowball and made what I was hoping would be seen as a spirited throw, a game attempt by the obvious underdog. But instead of cheering me on, one of the bystanders joined his fellow shebab and chucked another snowball at me. Then a third joined the fight against me. At this rate I'd be unconscious within moments, was my only slightly hyperbolic thought.

I had to win allies, and fast. I opened my arms wide, palms up, trying to figure out how to get some of these guys on my team. My Arabic was meager at best, but in the moment I remembered how to ask for help. I tried the phrase, pointing to two others who hadn't gotten involved so far. I gestured, inviting them to my side. I tried to say some numbers I'd learned, Arabic to express that I needed more people I my team.

They understood. I could see it click: of course. A fair fight. Three against three. Quickly a couple of them joined my side scooping up snow and throwing icy projectiles at the other shebab.

Chivalry wasn't dead. Disparity would be addressed. Justice might win.

I exhaled a huge sigh of relief. And despite my aching face and earlier apprehension, I started to have fun. More customers of the hookah cafe joined both teams.

After what I shall diplomatically refer to as a tie, we ended the game. Our hands were cold, blood was pumping, spirits were high. We were all one team, just a group of young people playing in the snow. I waved goodbye, said "Ma'a Salama."

I walked home no longer angry cold or bored cold. I'd found a friendly face. More than one.

"Make a Plan to do Something that You'll Enjoy"

bench

looking back

on a rock

On October 3rd, my maternal grandmother, Peggy Paparella, celebrated her 80th birthday. As you can see from these photos, she's vibrant and beautiful (with remarkably great legs) at this age and seems ready to take on a new decade. She has filled her life with love, creativity, service, and travel, and plans to keep doing what she's doing.  (It's working, after all.) She seems to really enjoy her life and the love she shares with my grandpa, who she's been married to for fifty-five years.

Grandma has figured out how to wed her creativity with her desire to be of service. She does this in several ways. She gave birth to six children, which any parent will tell you, demands a great many acts of service. Nowadays her creativity takes the form of cooking, baking, sewing, crocheting, knitting, and crafting. She donates many of her hand-made items to be sold at auction to benefit the local Hospice. Other items she gives away to one of her thirty-one descendants.

big smile

pretty close up

So how is it possible to be so prolific while maintaining her energy and joy? Grandma hasn't always had an easy life, and her childhood and adolescence was difficult at times. Yet she rarely complains. She practices kindness and forgiveness and has a soft, tender heart. Grandma also has a very active spiritual life, praying many times a day and starting each day with a written back-and-forth conversation with Jesus. In my family we say "if Grandma's praying for you, watch out." God seems to listen to her more than the rest of us, so if I have a tough situation, I call up Grandma and Grandpa and I don't even have to ask; I know they are praying for me. For years they were praying for my future husband, so you know I'm not kidding around when I discuss the efficacy of their prayers and the special place Grandma has in God's heart.

Grandma credits her physical health to "living with a man who likes to eat well and eat healthily," which makes her want to eat healthily too. She said this with the barest hint of chagrin; grandma's love for bread, pasta, and sweets is well known and has been passed along to many of her progeny.

She keeps things low stress, and says she doesn't have much anxiety in her life, except, she adds with a twinkle in her eye, when Grandpa is driving their big RV, which is one of their favorite ways to travel.

She also keeps her mind active by reading a lot. She recently told me she'd just gotten back from the library with a huge stack of books, which she'll consume quickly. When her supply of unread books starts to dwindle, she starts getting nervous about running out of reading material.  She wrote me that, "Time to read a good book is one pleasure that I reward myself after I get my work done on some days.  Other days it could be a craft project or baking cookies or knitting something special for the great grand babies."

daisy in hand

She says "A wise woman once told me, wake up in the morning and make a plan to do something that you'll enjoy."  This idea of having something planned each day that you can look forward to, a way to get back the sparkle when life seems dull, exhausting, or depressing, has stuck with Grandma and helped her stay happy.

sunshine

Union Market DC, a Foodie Oasis in a Forlorn Area

Obviously, someone has a plan.

The renewed Union Market in DC is the beginning of a plan to revitalize the surrounding historic area, a thriving market for most of the 1900's, fallen since the 1980's into a state of sad dilapidation.

It's the sparkling, almost-trying-too-hard-to be-cool center of an area filled with falling down warehouses, their alleys perfumed with urine. The site, UnionMarketDC.com says the plan is that the area "surrounding the market will be a vibrant mix of retail, restaurants, hotel, entertainment, incubator space for new food concepts as well as retail and wholesale space."

It hasn't happened yet, though that didn't stop us from pushing the baby stroller through rather pedestrian-unfriendly streets to enjoy the delicious offerings of the restaurants and shops inside on two occasions  - once in August and once in September.

All the beautiful food inspired a brief but shining period that had me baking bread daily for almost a week and enjoying it like this:

That looks good. Maybe I'll bake bread today. It's been a while.

Elizabeth Gilbert on Fear, Paradox, and Being a Grown Up

I listened to every heart-grabbing minute of this interview. It hits the bullseye of what I believe about creativity and fear and taking smart, measured risks with your creativity.

If you don't want to watch all 47 minutes, 57 seconds of this interview and you'd rather read my notes, this is for you.

Why You Aren't Moving Ahead on Your Creative Project

• People come up with all sorts of rationalizations
• These reasons for not doing it all sound so logical and reasonable
• The underlying reason you aren't moving ahead with your book/painting/etc., according to Elizabeth Gilbert's vast experience of deep conversations with creatives, is fear.
• Some people are afraid that it's all been done before and they want to be original.
• It HAS all been done before. But it's never been done by you.
• Marie Forleo: "Everything is a Remix," I think it's a book to check out.
• There is nothing truly original because we are creative creatures, there are billions of us, and we've been creating for millenia.
• Do it anyway because, paradoxically, since you are unique, you can make something original. It will, however, always be a twist on, or at least contain references to something else.

How to Conquer Fear

• Don't try.
• Treat fear as a respected friend whose job it is to keep you safe.
• Bring fear along for the ride but don't let fear make any decisions about what you create.
• Fear thinks uncertainty will be the death of you, and it's job is to prevent your death.
• Creativity is all about uncertainty, so that's why fear speaks. Say, "thank you for protecting me but I'm just writing a poem. It's not going to kill me."

What it Takes to Live an Enduringly Creative Life

• Even your dream career comes with "shit sandwiches," (i.e., rejection letters and mean comments on social media) so get ready to eat some. If you're unwilling to eat the shit sandwiches that come with your dream, then you probably haven't picked the right dream because you will happily eat the shit sandwiches if you really love the creative work.
• Following our creative bliss promises joy and fun, not financial gain
• We're all grownups here, so let's talk about this:
• Take big risks (sell the farm, quit your job) for your creativity only to the point where if you fail totally and lose it all, you won't be embittered or so broken you won't be able to try again in the near future. Throw yourself into your creativity without risking so much (time, money, relationships) that failure breaks your spirit.
• This conversation about going for it - within limits specific to your life -  doesn't happen enough.
• Failure is part of it and shouldn't be shameful.
• Most life coaches, etc, just say "go for it!"  But inspiration never promises to pay our bills. Inspiration promises us the wild ride of our lives. The results MIGHT pay the bills sometimes but don't quit if it doesn't.
• Elizabeth wants to change the bumper sticker from "Leap and the net will catch you, to "Leap and the net MIGHT catch you."
• Leap any way. Just be happy to pick yourself back up and dust yourself off.
• Marie Forleo worked "day jobs" (bartending, etc.) for seven years before her creativity-based business could support her. Now it brings in millions annually. She kept taking the right kind of risk, which is the one that lets you keep risking even if (when) you fail and fail.
• I'm good at doing this and love coaching creatives to walk this line.

How to Beat Perfectionism

As my mother always taught me, done is better than good.

Elizabeth Gilbert

• Yet again it all comes down to fear.
• Often perfectionists don't finish things. Worse, they often don't start them for fear of making crap.
• Self-forgiveness is what will get you to finish your creative project, not rigor. (SO TRUE!)
• We all think that first day of writing, that first novel, whatever, is crap, something to be ashamed of when we look back from the perspective of writing on day two or the second novel.
• "You forgive yourself for disappointing yourself... and you go and you do more. And that's it." - Elizabeth Gilbert

Play with Paradox

• The paradox of creating is that you love your work and think it's precious, but simultaneously you must be able to be cavalier toward it. Trash a beautiful sentence you wrote if it's not working for the whole paragraph.
• Once a book is published, let it go. It is not you. It's not your baby. It's out there in the world. Move on. Paradox: it totally is your baby, of course.
• Another paradox is around helping people. Do your work if it brings you joy. It's great if it ends up helping people, but don't set out to serve.  (Note from me: serve by teaching if you have students, but when you create, just do it for fun.)
• Eat, Pray, Love, was written for fun at a time when her life was a "hot mess." It ended up helping people but she certainly didn't write it from a desire to serve.

I have paid hundreds -- probably thousands -- of dollars for seminars on writing and creativity that don't do as good a job dealing with the voices of fear and inspiration in your head, so if this interview seems up your alley, you'll love watching the full video. There was also a section around minute 25 on the interview where they go fairly deep about preparing to for a public speaking gig (with Oprah). That's worth a listen if you are a speaker or performer.

This interview was centered around Elizabeth Gilbert's latest book:

Bump is 9 Months Old Today

On the eve of his 9-month-iversary, we went to this odd little manicured, AstroTurfed mini-park; it's part of a sky walk in Arlington:

I snapped a bunch of photos. These are my favorites.

Painting Your Own Career

Come fly with me. What do you say? #escape #flying #soaring #GaryBaseman #Baseman #sketchbook #drawing

A photo posted by Gary Baseman (@garybaseman) on Aug 25, 2015 at 1:03pm PDT

It's such a good time to be a creative! I was so excited reading Steven Johnson's August 23rd NYT Magazine cover article "The New Making It," today because I have an upcoming book (long delayed) about making a living as a creative in the digital economy. Johnson looked into the numbers to tell us what has seemed apparent for a while now: The internet and digital economy makes it easier to build an artistic career (for those who are entrepreneurial and want to interact with fans/build an audience). And writers, musicians, and filmmakers are doing it successfully in greater numbers. "On the whole," he writes, "creators seem to be making slightly more money, while growing in number at a steady but not fast pace." And "[...] the trends are making creative livelihoods more achievable." The article focuses on musicians, opening with Lars Ulrich's fear in 2000 that Napster (and free music) would kill the music industry. It has dramatically reduced it. But it hasn't killed musicians. The actual creators (not the labels and executives) are thriving.

Now that it's easier than ever to create and get one's work out into the world, critics worry that the lowering of the barriers to entry also lowers the quality of the creative work, that the masses entering creative fields will generate work that appeals only to the masses - to some shared base human tendencies, like a fascination with Kim Kardashian. But Johnson lays out some evidence that this is not the case. He also includes one of my favorite definitions of quality in the cultural sphere that I've read, writing, "All these numbers, of course, only hint at whether our digital economy rewards quality. Or -- even better than that milquetoast word "quality" -- at whether it rewards experimentation, boundary-pushing, satire, the real drivers of new creative work."

The book I'm writing will focus on the principles and habits needed to succeed as a creative in the digital economy, something the article only touches on briefly. In short, artists have to  be willing to create their own path, to shape and form their career in the same way they shape and form a painting, book, or sculpture.

To find out more about my book and when it will be coming out, sign up for full moon updates.

Teddy Island

 

I love that we can be in a city that feels so urban with high rise buildings and a constant hum of activity, and then just a few minutes down the road feel like we are deep in the forest, complete with swamp bugs and a green canopy high above.  The green space I'm thinking of is Theodore Roosevelt Island, or Teddy Island as I now think of it, a memorial to our 26th president.

We visited on Saturday. A kind stranger took the top shot of our family gathered at the feet of the impressive statue of Teddy in an energetic pose, almost like he's dunking a basketball. Or preparing to kick a tourist.

The memorial area around the statue has these stone structures with quotes from Teddy on topics like MANHOOD, NATURE, and YOUTH.

Crossing the Potomac via a pedestrian bridge on the way off the island, we paused to take more family photos.

New Mama and Sleepy Baby

I took these newborn photos in July 2014, a week after my friend Liz became a mommy for the first time. It's hard to believe this adorable little guy is more than a year old now. When I took these, I was about five months pregnant, and seeing those little hands, lips, ears, and all that newborn perfection made me look forward to meeting our Bump even more.

Summer Family Portraits

I took these photos of family members over the past few months. I love shooting people, in a photographic sense that is. I've been practicing my portrait photography for years (and improving very slowly), especially focusing on these types of shoots:

• couples
• engagements
• families
• mamas and babies
• birthdays
• anniversaries

I love taking pictures to mark special moments, milestones, and celebrations. I love how an image can capture a fleeting expression, a laugh, a moment of delight, thoughtfulness, or mischief. Also, my mom always quotes my grammy as saying, "You'll always look back at photos and think you looked good." Or something like that. The idea being that even if the mirror isn't kind to you today, the passage of time will give you a new outlook on your past attractiveness.

There's also the fun and creativity of doing "just for fun," photo shoots, which I have done with many of my friends since college. It's the grown up equivalent of playing dress up. It is playing dress up, with the addition of photos to remember the fun. I did one of these shoots with my friend Leena, where we did dramatic makeup and tattoo shots. You can see those photos here.

Also, I personally believe there is a bit of magical power in these fun photo shoots. I think seeing beautiful photos of yourself and your family can help us remember and appreciate what is important.

I do love to imagine, whimsical though it may be, that the photos I take of friends, where we play and enjoy and act and pose and dress up, do have some life changing magical power. I think portrait photography can help you see yourself in a new way. You can see your soul when you look at your eyes in a photo in a way you can't when you look into the mirror.

Leena

These are photos I took back in March 2014 of my friend Leena in Palestine. She recently got married. Congratulations to Leena and her groom. We miss you!

Textures and Details

One benefit of simple living is the space it allows me to appreciate and create instances of detail, texture, and beauty moment-to-moment. I've been collecting close-ups in the form of photographs lately. Here are a few of them.

Some will say that art, or creation, thrives in a state of chaos. Envision the stereotype of the studio piled high with canvasses filled and empty, paint brushes, scattered fruit. See the cliche of the writer behind her desk, hidden from view by books, pages, and files stacked high.

I find that controlled chaos, or what I prefer to think of as curated or chosen chaos, is helpful for making connections that wouldn't be made otherwise, like how crashing into into someone at a packed party might help you meet a friend you would've otherwise never met.

I like chosen chaos for a certain stage in the creative process, the time when you are well into a project, deep in the jungle of it.

But, and here's how minimalism helps my creativity bloom, I like to start with a blank slate. My mind needs calm, an empty room, metaphorically and sometimes literally, to gain the deep serenity from which ideas arise.

If you never allow yourself the time to clean, clear, declutter, forgive, and take out the trash, traffic backs up, and with it the exhaust fumes of writer's block, burnout, procrastination, and distraction.

As scary as a blank canvas or empty page can be, you do need it to create something new.

One of my writing projects became the Simple Living Toolkit, which aims to help people reap a more joyful life by embracing minimalism. You can check it out here.