Reflection Campaign

How great are these reflection shots? Makes my heart hurt a little about life.  How it comes and goes. 

 

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The creative is the place that no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself.
-Alan Alda

Weekend Recap

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This weekend was jammed packed with fun activities... I have a love hate relationship for summer weekends like these, but I had fun so that's all that matters, right?

Friday:
- Homemade pizza's on the grill
- Drop Dead Diva Marathon
- Got to bed early

Saturday:
- Went to Bennihana's for lunch with some good company
- Had some delicious ice cream from Coldstone
- Saw my cousin perform his hip hop routine on stage, he's growing up so fast!
- Had scrumptious organic arugula pizza with homemade red sangria

Sunday:
- Had breakfast with the usual's :)
- Photographed my first official wedding - supa scared but worth it
- Had a season premier party at my sister/brother in laws for True Blood full of delicious food, and great company.

This weekend I could feel myself getting sick, and this morning I woke up feeling sicker than ever. Heavy chest, left ear plugged and hurting, sniffles, stuffy, eyes watering... ugh! I headed over to the minute clinic and was diagnosed with an ear infection and an upper respiratory infection and was prescribed some med's to stay on for the next 10 days. Yucky!

Here's to hoping I feel better soon! Have a great week everyone!

Ok Universe, I'm listening.....

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Remember when "The Secret" came out, everyone was literally freaking out right? The book basically states your thoughts became actions, the universe in essence is a genie and you send out your wish and the universe will conspire to make it happen. They said you can manifest wealth, health, happiness etc. I sent out in the universe a red mustang convertible and while I still have yet to receive my dream car, there is something to this thinking. I'll give you a perfect example.

My mom is a BIG Oprah fan. She has always been very vocal about always wanting to see her show. I even started a Facebook page over a year and a half ago called "Let's get Marcy to the Oprah Show" we got 100 members. This piece of information will be important later. As we all got word that May 2011 will be Oprah's last show after 25 years my mom slowly realized that her dream of seeing an Oprah show was closing in... in April my mom called me while I was at work, she said she had some news but didn't know if it was real (the ever superstitious)

She told me the story: She was watching Oprah's show on Master Class and was really moved by a story Oprah told on how if you were meant to experience something or have something it will happen - maybe not when you want it too or how you thought it to be, but the universe will in someway work to make it happen. Oprah's story was how she new she was supposed to have the part of Sofia in the movie The Color Purple. She just new it in her bones, she was destined to play that part. So she went in and did her lines and she walked out feeling like she nailed it. After a couple of days of not hearing from the casting director she decided to give him a call. When she asked him if he had made a decision, he criticized her "Who are you?" he asked "I'm Oprah" she responded. Mind you Oprah was just getting started with her show and wasn't well known or a household name just yet. She didn't have much experience in movies and he criticized her for that as well. As she hung up the phone, Oprah described feeling deflated and thought she probably didn't get the part due to her weight. So she promptly headed to a fat farm to loose some weight and get back out there. She described while she was out on the track she was overcome with emotion and fell to the ground crying and said "God, I know I was supposed to get that part, but you must have another plan for me, I surrender!" she picked herself back up and continued to walk. A short time after, a member of the camp came running up to her and said she had a phone call. When she got to the phone, it was Steven Spielberg and he said "If you loose one pound, the part isn't yours." And she got the part. The part she knew she was destined for.

After watching that my mom felt compelled to go onto Oprah's site and write her a message. Basically stating that she (Oprah) has been a big positive influence in my mom's life over the last 25 years and she (Mom) knew she was supposed to see her show but if she doesnt she wanted to let Oprah know she looks up to her and she surrenders. Not 12 hours later does my mom get a message from the Vice President of Harpo studio's assistant stating the Ms. Winfrey read her comment and would like to invite her to a show. We later found out that when my mom signed on to the Oprah page to write her comment she used an old email that she no longer used or was invalid. So this assistant scowered the internet to find my mom. Cue the Facebook Page. She found my mom on that "Let's get Marcy to the Oprah Show" and got her most current e-mail from her profile page.

My mom was destined to go to an Oprah show, the universe conspired to get her there by having me create that facebook page over a year ago, for my mom watch the Master Class, to compel her to write to Oprah which she had never done before, to have someone actually READ her comment, to physically look for my mom, to write to my mom and to make that dream come true. The Universe made it happen. And my mom and I went to Oprah's last audience show. As we sat there in the crowd thousands we looked at each other in awe and thought, WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO TO MAKE THOUGHTS INTO REALITY?!

Can I apply this to taking my photography to the next level? Can I apply this to trying to loose weight? Can I apply this to living life with purpose and adventure? Can I apply this to living an authentic life? Can I apply this to being truly 100% happy? And the answer is of course a yes.

I'll tell you something interesting about me you may not know. Not many do. Up until a quite a few years ago, I would say maybe 8 years ago I was able to truly meditate and even have out of body experiences. I was able to tune out my thoughts, think clearly, and examine myself outside of myself. I was able to look at myself as a person in this world - not my thoughts. I would sit and begin to think "I am real" "I am me" over and over almost as a mantra. And the feeling I got to be able to tune everything out, to see myself as a person was unlike anything I had ever felt before. As time goes on and my ego was fed with petty thoughts it became more difficult to tune out and think that way. I was never able to. Until the other night. I was laying in bed very still repeating my mantra and really listening to them not examining them and I began to feel it happening, but my ego was trying very hard to NOT let it happen. Thoughts began to creep into my head, work, conversations that happened, conversations that hadn't happened, but I kept pushing them back and concentrating on my mantra. Now I hadn't quite gotten there but I began to feel it. I opened my eyes and smiled because I knew the Universe was helping me. Meditating was something I wanted to master, I put it out there and it's happening. I want that feeling again.

What I am trying to get at is, I'm going to try... i'm going to just put things out there. If I was meant to experience it - it will happen, the universe will begin to move to make it happen. If i'm not open than I am closed, right? I dont want that. I always want to be open because that means experiencing new things, meeting new people, learning new things and experiencing what the Universe has in store for me. So i'm listening Universe. You got my attention.

30 life tips

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Memorize something everyday.

Constantly try to reduce your attachment to possessions.

Develop an endless curiosity about this world.

Remember people’s names

Get fit!

Learn to focus only on the present.

Even more specifically, live in THIS moment.

Smile more often.

Drink water.

Don’t take life so seriously!

Think positive thoughts.

Read books.

Help others.

Set aside a specific time to worry each day.

Be honest at all times.

Sleep more.

Figure out what your goals and dreams are.

Start your day off right.

Travel

Learn to be unaffected by the words of others.

Develop the ability to forgive.

Be the person that makes others feel special.

Meditate Daily

Learn to control your emotions.

Relax!

Make eye contact

Be mysterious.

Get good at something.

Choose your friends wisely.

Keep a journal

Fill in the Blank Friday

1. This weekend I'm going to spend some time home and catch up on a couple projects I am working on

2. My last vacation was to Chicago with my mom for Oprah's surprise spectacular. It was the best!

3. My next vacation will be none planned at the moment sad :(

4. My favorite way to relax is sitting around with family and/or friends having some meaningful conversation with a sangria in my hand. Or curling up on the couch with a good book and a glass of wine.

5. When vacationing one should always relax and enjoy the ride - dont stress about seeing things or not seeing things.

6. When vacationing one should never feel guilty. Live it up!

7. The best part about a vacation is being outside of your comfort zone. Experiencing something new :)

Have a great weekend!

Thank you to this blog for introducing me to FITBF

What I needed to read

Summer Must Have: Schick Quattro For Women Trimstyle Razor & Bikini Trimmer

Summer is here ya’ll that means we cant go months without shaving our legs and we cant let our bikini line go all jungle fever.  I’ve tried it all, wax (no thanks) special razors, the soap razor (intuition) and while they were OK it wasn’t what I really needed.  What I really needed was something that would do the job while on the go – a quick trim and im out! I picked up this baby at Target the Schick Quattro For Women Trimstyle Razor & Bikini Trimmer.  You don’t even need any water for it to do it’s job.  This product is seriously the best I’ve ever come across and on top of it it’s dirt cheap.  If you order off of Amazon it’s $6.50! But if you cant wait you can get it at target for less than $10.  Brilliant!

May Book Review: Writing down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

Soooo… I may have missed two months of my book a month.  No excuses, but I am back on track for May and read the book “Writing down the Bones” by Natalie Goldberg it’s a great book written in an amazing voice about writing your guts out.  I love writing but I get so caught up in my voice, am I writing with passion? am I writing without worry of critics? I’m not looking to write the next best American novel.  But I am looking to write what's in me… and this books talks to you in such a way that makes you want to write better, truer, more authentic.  Here are a  couple of my favorite quotes from the book.

“… if you want to become a good writer, you need to do 3 things.
Read a lot,
Listen well and deeply,
and write a lot.
And don’t think too much.”

“I feel very rich when i have time to create, and very poor when i get a regular paycheck and not time to work at my real work…”

"Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open."

"This is your life. You are responsible for it. You will not live forever. Don't wait."

"Anything we fully do is an alone journey."

"If you are not afraid of the voices inside you, you will not fear the critics outside you."

"Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down."

I enjoyed this book, because it talks to you about writing but also about life, and it was exactly what I needed to hear when I read it.  I recommend it to anyone even if you aren't into writing and want to read something uplifting and inspirational

Just a quick hello….

From the best dog in the world… MIMI!

A glimpse into our Spring

Michigan is notorious for having the must absurd weather, hell, it’s the only place in the world where you can get sun brunt and frost bit in the same week! Here is what our spring has looked like, although the last couple days have been nice break in the weather with all the sun.

Today's Faves

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Happy Hump Day! We are almost to the weekend again, can I get an AMEN! It's been a good couple of days, and i've been incredibly productive and this makes me happy. I am a MUCH happier person when I am busy and checking things off my list. Here are a couple of my Faves for the day:

1.) Morning snuggles with Mimi
2.) A clean organized car, I feel like I am no longer living out of it
3.) Photography assignments
4.) Frappuccino's on a hot day like today
5.) Dinner plans with drinks involved
6.) Feeling inspired
7.) Feeling productive and accomplished

What are some of your faves for the day?