Non-Profits I Love

I happen to be a fool for non-profits, I just love so many of them. That is why I plan on doing non-profit work after I graduate from law school in May 2013. This is going to be an ongoing list of some that I have found recently and love. I am sure I’m forgetting others I support too! I also recently became a member of Crowdrise.com, which is another awesome way to learn about causes and organizations.

Crowdrise

Big Brothers Big Sisters

I Am That Girl 

Dalit Freedom Network

Polaris Project

To Write Love On Her Arms

Invisible Children

Make a Wish Foundation

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)

National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders

Surfrider Foundation

Love146

Do Something

Pencils of Promise

The Art of Elysium

Fuc* Cancer

Malaria No More

The Global Orphan Project

An Article Worth Sharing

I always wish I could be more creative or “artsy.” I have a lot of friends who are very fashionable and great at creating things, but I have always been a performance artist only. In fact, I used to hate art class only because I would get mediocre grades for my awful drawings. So this article is great for anyone like me, who wishes they could be more creative.

21 Ways to Be More Creative

Written by Christine Kane

Creativity isn’t a big deal. It’s like our breath. It’s just a part of who we are. Some of us don’t realize this. People who say, “Oh, I’m not creative,” or “I don’t have a creative bone in my body,” sound to me like they’re trying to convince themselves of something, rather than telling themselves the truth. They make the idea of creativity a BIG DEAL because then it will stay safely at arm’s length out of reach and require nothing of them.

Again, creativity isn’t a big deal. It’s not an event. It doesn’t so much happen, as it is allowed. It comes out slowly.

When I found my dog, she had been badly abused. I was walking in the countryside, and she was watching me from a mound of dirt in an old church yard where she had been dumped. She started to follow me. If I turned around, she’d stop. If I tried to walk towards her, she’d tuck her tail under her butt and walk away from me. But if I moved along on my own way, she’d follow me. She eventually got closer and closer, and ultimately she followed me home.

This is how I experience creativity. Anytime I try to turn around and catch it, it turns away. It’s not about willing it. It rarely takes to announcements like, “Today I’m going to be creative! I’m going to write a whole song!”

In my experience, it’s a process. It is slow. Creativity is a way of being, and though it can’t be forced, it can be cultivated and allowed. It happens when I’m already open and my mind is receptive and quiet. There’s almost a joyful laziness to it. Kind of a “Hmm, well, what if I tried this…”

There is definitely a happiness to it. A deep happiness and peace. My theory is that when we cling to our vices, when we do unhealthy things that we adamantly say we deserve, what we’re really trying to do is give ourselves what we keep denying ourselves – a fully creative and artful life. Once we start allowing more creativity in, we might find some of those old habits and “vices” just fall away. After all, they are not a substitute for the real thing.

So, if you’re opening up to a more artful and creative life, know that it’s not something to push. It’s something to allow and live. Here are 21 Ways to be more creative, and subsequently, more happy!

1 – Stop watching television

Or better yet, get rid of the damn thing. Any time I teach writing or creativity, this is one of the biggies. TV is a mind-killer. It numbs you. It fills you with emotionally-charged images and over-simplified solutions. It dulls you. Turn it off. Even if this idea scares you, turn it off.

2 – Take a 20-minute walk everyday

It’s easy to become driven about exercise. You go to the Y. You go running. You think that a 20-minute walk isn’t productive or worth much. Take a 20-minute walk and allow the world to just be. Watch things. Stop and smell things. Notice birds. Let the world unfold and show itself to you.

3 – Write with pen & paper (or pencil and paper)

Keep a journal. Do morning pages. Write in long-hand. Typing on a keypad into a computer doesn’t always open up that tactile sense-loving part of us that loves to create.

I can sometimes get weirdly happy just hearing the sound the pen makes scribbling on paper. I also love it when the paper is thin, and my pen makes indents so it feels sort of Braille-y, and the paper makes a snappy sound when I turn the page.

4 – Write songs to your pets

At the first women’s retreat I ever facilitated, (at a college campus in St. Louis) a group of women sat on the floor one night in the dorm and sang each other the songs we’d written to our various pets. It was hysterical. The more we sat there, the more women came and sat down with us.

I’ve written many songs to my dog. Greatest hits include “Mom’s Little Girl,” “She Is Going to Be a Very Clean Girl,” (a bathtub song) and “She is Unbelievably Cute.” Of course, there’s also the “Good Morning Song.” My cats each have their own songs too. I actually make myself laugh as I’m creating them because my animals look so truly unimpressed with me.

It’s easy to do because you can do it anywhere – while you drive to work, while you make dinner, while you lie on the couch with them.

5 – Dance around the House

Put on old disco (Earth, Wind, and Fire, baby!), or new Madonna, or swing. Put it on loud. Dance around your house while you make dinner. Or start the day shakin’ your groove thang.

6 – Walk in the rain

I haven’t owned an umbrella in about 10 years. I love the rain. I love walking in it. I wrote the songEverything Green after I hiked in the mountains in the pouring rain. I was journaling about how alive everything was, and I wrote “It was all just rain and mud and wild and green.” That’s how I got my CD title. Walking in the rain can be a happy thing. (Use an umbrella if you want. Rain on umbrellas makes a good sound.)

7 – Make a collage

Magazines. Some Yes Paste. A scrapbook page and lots of crayons and paints and stickers. (And thou.) This isn’t a vision board. It doesn’t have a purpose. It’s just for fun and beauty and making something. I love collaging. I’m not great at it. But I’ve gotten better and better at laying out the page and learning what colors and shapes I love. I always feel more alive when I do one.

8 – Make a list of things you love

My song Loving Hands (on my first CD) was born out of a journal exercise I did where I just wrote a long list of all the things I love. That song remains one of my most requested songs. I had so much fun thinking of things that delight me in the world. Finding feathers, finding pennies, the sound of big flags flapping in the wind, the smell of my cat’s fur when she’s been out in the snow (she smells like a big box of wool mittens). I remember reading it to a friend of mine who just sat there smiling and nodding his head. Even though this was years ago, I still remember how much fun I had making that list.

9 – Write 10 postcards

Go pick out some really cool postcards, and then go to a cafe somewhere, and order your Genmaicha Tea (Okay, get yourself a Latte if you want) and write postcards to friends and family.

10 – Get up early and watch the sun rise

11 – Listen to music you’ve never listened to before.

After I saw the movie Tortilla Soup, I downloaded a bunch of Latin music from iTunes. One of my favorite nights in my memory this year was a hot rainy night thick with humidity. My husband and I opened up all the windows and doors. We pressure cooked (I love our pressure cooker) some black beans, shared a froo-froo mixed drink and made a fantastic dinner while all of my new Latin and Tejano music was cranked up. It was one of those really happy nights, partly because I loved discovering new music.

12 – Eat with your hands

Be a kid again. Make a meal and put the silverware back into the drawers. Eat with your hands. Have some friends over for a silverwareless dinner.

13 – Be quiet

Light a few candles after dark and just sit. Don’t meditate if you don’t want to. Just sit quietly and listen. Watch the candles. Allow for more silence in your life.

We are a noisy people. I hear people say they can’t stand silence. But it is in silence where we can hear the voice of our creativity. Maybe not at first. But it will come.

Drive with no music on. Make dinner in silence. Pay attention to your hands as you slice the veggies. Just be quiet.

14 – Take a nap

15 – Take photos. Real photos. Not digital photos.

My favorite camera is a Pentax K1000. It’s completely manual, and it’s how I learned to take pictures. I’m not very good. When I first moved to Asheville, I used to walk around town on Sundays (the whole town was closed up then) and take pictures of all the buildings. These photos are now a treasure to me because nothing is the same anymore. (Every building has been bought, remodeled and now is filled with stores that sell trickly fountains, Buddahs, and things that smell grassy.)

Take pictures of anything. And have fun in the old method of actually getting your film developed and the excitement of flipping through photos you haven’t seen yet.

16 – Make an event out of watching the full moon come up

One of the things I love about my husband is that he’s always looking for the perfect place to watch the full moon come up. He’ll make an event out of it. We pile in the car and go to this one field or to a bench on the college campus and sit and watch the moon rise.

17 – Read poetry aloud

Poetry is meant to be read aloud. The words and phrases will tilt your brain and open doors like you never thought they would. My favorites: Mary Oliver, e.e. cummings, Rumi, Pablo Neruda,Sharon Olds, Barbara Brooks, and Alicia Suskin Ostriker. There are lots of collections of poetry if you don’t want to pick just one.

18 – Go see a play or live music or live anything

Get out of the house and experience creativity. Avoid mega-blockbuster-Hollywood movies whose trailers begin with the deep gravelly voice saying, “IN A WORLD…” (And then bombs go off and Mel Gibson appears)

Live performance is an exchange. As an audience member you get to participate. I know this because I perform. Every night is different. Everything is about the audience. You receive so much more energy from live shows. Go see the symphony, even the small local symphony. See a play. See some improv. There is so much life on a stage, so many improvisational moments, so much about authenticity. You can’t help but take it in.

19 – Visit a gallery

See another artist’s creation. The downtown of any city is bound to have some great galleries. You don’t have to buy anything. Just experience the artistry of someone gifted in glass blowing or pottery or woodwork.

20 – Write a letter

When was the last time you wrote a letter? I just got a long letter from one of the women who participated in my last retreat. It was funny. And it was fun to read. And I kept thinking, “Damn. It’s been too long since I’ve experienced this.” Every time I write a letter, I feel clearer and happier. Not only is it more fun to make something for someone else, it’s also just a way to get out of yourself.

21 – Stop watching television

This is an important one. It bears repeating. There are so many better things you can do than watch American Idol.

Help each other out! Leave your own thoughts or ideas in the comments…

5 Things to Learn from Sophia Bush

        

I have got an absolute girl-crush on Sophia Bush. Ok, maybe not really, but I think she is such an inspirational and beautiful woman. And given that this is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2012, I think “SB” is the first woman I want to highlight as being a stand-out. There are a few things that ladies, young and old, could learn from her.

(1) Spread the Love.

Sophia is extensively involved in charity work. She has raised over $210,000 for various organizations through www.crowdrise.com–a pretty sweet way to raise money for your favorite “causes” online. She won a contest sponsored by Mozilla Firefox for raising the most money for the catchy charity “F Cancer.”. Like myself, she is passionate about Louisiana and Africa, and she has done tons of work for the Gulf Coast, including a half-marathon. Among the numerous charities she supports is Art of Elysium, Pencils for Promise, and my absolute favorite: I Am That Girl. You get the picture. She’s using her success to promote truly respectable organizations.

(2) Be  Comfortable in Your Own Skin

As a supporter of I Am That Girl, Sophia seems to understand the negative affects that the media has on our youth, but she is not one to cave in to pressure. I don’t think we’ll ever see her on the cover of a tabloid with protruding ribs, seemingly yearning for a cheeseburger. She is curvy and healthy, exactly what a woman should be. And exactly what every man in America thinks is sexy.

(3) Aint Nothing Wrong with Being Mouthy

Unless my perception skills have waned, I do not see SB as the timid, sweetie-pie type. She says what’s on her mind, but does so with class. She has spoken out about her support for gay marriage and the keystone XL pipeline. Also, see her hilarious “Mob Wives” rendition on Funny Or Die. Really, go watch it.

(4) Attitude of Gratitude

If you follow Sophia on twitter, you see that she is constantly acknowledging the people she loves and admires. She is a passionate advocate and seems to have some solid friends, whose talent she is always raving about. Everyone knows that you can’t get to the top unless you’ve had some help along the way, and SB makes sure that her friends know how much she appreciates them.

(5) Friends CAN Disagree

This is something I have learned from paying attention to SB’s twitter: You can disagree on fundamental political beliefs with someone, and still be friends. However, in articulating your own political beliefs, it is vital that you know WHY you feel that way. This is what I love about Sophia Bush, and weirdly is probably my favorite thing about her (next to her charity work.) If forced to classify myself, I would say I’m conservative/libertarian…but I’m a “new type of conservative.” SB is definitely more liberal, but she is knowledgable as to why she believes what she does. I believe that one of the biggest problems we face in 2012, without truly recognizing it, is our inability to maintain friendships with people who believe differently than us. For some reason, we think that we have to stick to our “own kind.” This is nonsense. In order to strengthen your beliefs and be more open-minded it is vital that you find common ground with people who disagree with you. This is part of becoming a person who exercises enthusiasm, and not judgment. I love Sophia Bush because she can articulate what she believes, and why, but she doesn’t express herself by belittling others. Now that’s a friend I’d love to have in my corner.

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2012!

Today is the first day of NEDA Week 2012! I always look forward to this week each year. It is a week for me to be proud of how far I have come, and a week for me to be rejuvenated in my quest to be healthy in the future. You see, an eating disorder is not like the stomach flu or a common cold. It is a disease. Once you truly have an “eating disorder,” you really have it for the rest of your life. It never just goes away. It’s always there to remind you that you have a long road ahead of you. BUT, you can beat it. How do I know this? Because I did…

 

Reasons to Love & Save Pandas!

Article

Reasons to Love and Save Pandas

With a panda bear’s teddy bear appearance, it is impossible not to gush over an adorable panda bear photo. So get ready to fall in love, and get the urge to save these furry black and white bears.

Love Panda Bears

• Cubs are playful animals that learn survival skills from their mothers. When they become adults, their distinguishable color combination appears.
• They are all white with the exception of their black ears, legs, tear drop shaped circles around their eyes, and a strip from their arms to their back.
• Panda Bears are located at the top of Yangtze Basin, a small mountain area in central China filled with bamboo. Their diet consists of bamboo, eating an outstanding 30 to 45 pounds of it a day.
• A male panda bear’s average height is about two-three feet tall when standing on all four legs and weighs from 175-250 pounds. Females are a half a foot shorter and weigh from 150-225 pounds.
• Although panda bears may be big,they are as friendly as they look. Well, except when you mess with their cubs.

Save Panda Bears

• There are less than 1600 panda bears in the world, meaning they are endangered species on the brink of extinction.
• Panda bears usually only give birth to one cub at a time, making it harder to keep them from becoming extinct.
• Humans contribute by hunting panda bears because of their unique fur and color.
• Global warming, farming and deforestation are reasons for their endangerment.
• With a diminishing habitat, it has become harder and harder for giant panda bears to obtain bamboo.

Sources:

Bear Life

Why I Quit Watching the VS Fashion Show

http://www.modelsblog.info/2011/11/08/adriana-lima-extreme-dieting/?utm_source=crowdignite.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=crowdignite.com

 ADRIANA LIMA EXTREME DIETING

Adriana Lima, 30, recently revealed to the Telegraph what it actually takes to be a Victoria’s Secret angel. The girls aren’t born looking like perfection and have to work extremely hard to get that perfect body. Contrary to what some might believe, strict dieting and intense routine workouts are a must to be able to attain that supermodel figure. Lima goes into detail to explain what goes on in the days and weeks leading up to the show.

She has a personal trainer that works out with her every single day and has been since August. Her workouts have moved up to twice a day during the last three weeks. She explains that “It is really intense, it’s not really the amount of time you spend working out, it’s the intensity: I jump rope, I do boxing, I lift weights, but I get bored doing that. If I am not moving I get bored very easily.” Lima also sees a nutritionist that details every part of her body including muscle mass and fat ratio. Nine days before the show she gives up all solids and only drinks protein shakes along with a gallon of water a day. 12 hours before the show happens, Lima will not drink anything at all. The chief stylist for the show Sophia Neophitou, says that “It’s like they’re training for a marathon.”

Although the work is very tough, and the workout grueling, Lima explains that it is all worth it in the end because of the notoriety you get from being in the show. ”It opens up so many doors, everyone knows your name, the whole world knows you now,” she says ”Any model in this world would love to be an Angel.”

Read More: Telegraph

love

Habit 1– Be Proactive

This first habit is one that focuses entirely on the self. Because we, as humans, are the only creature who have the ability to actually think about our very thought processes (aka “self-awareness), we are therefore able to see how we view ourselves and others. This ability allows us to act, rather than merely being acted upon. One important lesson that I really got from this habit was that we have the freedom, or the power, to choose how we respond to any given stimulus (occurrence/situation/event.) Unlike animals, we in fact have a step in between “the stimulus” and “our response.” Right in the middle, we have the ability to decide within ourselves how everything around us is going to affect us. Covey gives the story of Viktor Frankl during the Holocaust, which is an incredibly illustrative story.

This was really difficult, yet amazing, for me to hear. “As humans, we are truly responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can subordinate feelings to values. We have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.”

Responsibility–“response-ability”=the ability to choose your response!

Most of us, including myself admittedly, are usually reactive when it comes to making a choice as to whether or not we will let outside conditions affect us. Reactive people let things such as bad weather or negative people/media control them.

The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person. Reactive people are driven by feelings, by circumstances, by conditions, by their environment. Proactive people are driven by values–carefully thought about, selected and internalized values.

Therefore, until each of us truly accepts the fact that we are where we are today because of the choices we made in the past, we are not able to decide to choose otherwise. Take responsibility for letting others affect you. It is not what happens to us that affects us, but it is instead how we react. It is the major events, both amazing and devastating, that force us to actually decide how to respond, and then it is with that response that we shape ourselves. So don’t just say that “if only I HAVE more money, then I will be happy.” BE HAPPY. Focusing on being, rather than having. Take control over your feelings and responses, be proactive.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

I have had this book for years, but only recently have really decided to crack it open and read/study it. So far, I agree with the millions of people who have read it. Stephen R. Covey is truly brilliant. Therefore, I am going to go through each of the 7 habits and give a brief  synopsis on the main lessons I took away from each habit. It would be impossible to put everything I learn into a single post, so therefore consider this a little spoiler…and go buy the book!

Paradigm–basically is the way that we “see” the world; “see” in terms of perceiving, understanding, & interpreting (not the visual sense)

Paradigm Shift–is that “Aha!” experience when someone finally “sees the composite picture in another way. The more bound a person is by their initial perception, the more powerful their Aha! experience is–like turning on a light bulb inside.

“We see the world, not as it is, but as we are–or, as we are conditioned to see it.”

“The more aware we are of our basic paradigms, maps, or assumptions, and the extent to which we have been influenced by our experience, the more we can take responsibility for those paradigms, examine them, test them against reality, listen to others and be open to their perceptions, thereby getting a larger picture and a far more objective view.”

So, what Covey is saying is that the key to making huge, significant change, is to work on our basic paradigms. The only way to make huge change in your life is to start at the core. You can’t just focus at changing your attitudes and behaviors because that is not change at the core, which is not going to result in real, long-term change. The only real way to achieve amazing improvement in our lives is to focus on the core which is the paradigms from which our attitudes and behaviors actually flow. Once we change these paradigms, we can change the way that we see the world. Because you cannot separate paradigms from your character. “Being is seeing in the human dimension. And what we see is highly interrelated to what we are.”

Covey talks about the principle-centered paradigm, and says that we need to focus on the Character Ethic as opposed to the Personality Ethic. “The Character Ethic is based on the fundamental idea that there are principles that govern human effectiveness.” These principles are natural laws that cannot be broken, they are what governs human growth and happiness, and they are in fact the “objective reality.” Principles are not practices. Practices are situationally specific, but principles are deep fundamental truths that have universal application. “When these truths are internalized into habits, they empower people to create a wide variety of practices to deal with different situations.” They are also not values. Principles are the territory. Values are maps. “Principles are guidelines for human conduct that are proven to have enduring, permanent value. They’re fundamental. They’re essentially unarguable because they are self-evident.”

On the other hand, the Personality Ethic is the “get rich quick” scheme that always promises you “wealth without work.” While it may seem to work, you are still the same person, and the scheme does not result in long-term success. This book instead focuses on a principle-center, character-based, “inside-out” approach to personal and interpersonal effectiveness.

The inside-out approach says that private victories precede public victories, that making and keeping promises to ourselves precedes making and keeping promises to others. It says it is futile to put personality ahead of character, to try to improve relationships with others before improving ourselves.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.  -Aristotle

HABIT: intersection of knowledge, skill & desire; in order to make something a habit in our lives, we have to have all 3!

 

 

 

 

Couldnt Have Said It Better Myself

I was so excited when I came across this article on HelloGiggles. It is me to a ‘T’.

I FLY SOLO & I LOVE IT

by Charlotte Townsend

So most women – as they’re portrayed in media, anyway – are obsessed with the need to have someone to fall back on. If she is single, she is desperate for a man; If she has no friends at school, she is desperate to be in the “it” clique. People like me are not usually exhibited in films or television shows. Am I the exception? Am I the only person in the world that likes to be alone sometimes?  I grew up an only child with divorced parents. At the age of 8, my mom started paying me to “babysit myself” in order to not deal with the “hassle” of calling a real babysitter, so being alone has been pretty normal for me my whole life. Now, as an adult, I go to dinner alone, with no book, no magazine, no distraction and Ilove it; There is no forced conversation or awkward pauses. I go to the movies alone and I love it; There is 100 percent concentration on the film, no wondering “Oh, I hope they don’t hate my movie choice” or “When the #$*& is he going to hold my hand?!”

Sometimes, though, it is awkward going out in public solo. Personally, I prefer it, but I hate all of the odd glances and wrinkled eyebrows. YES! I said a table for one, please get the blank over it! Why does it always have to be such a big deal?! There is this one really good sushi place in LA called Sushi Dan and when I lived in LA, I would go there every single school night for dinner (true story). The first week or so, all of the employees would look at me funny for sitting at the sushi bar alone while I was surrounded by couples and groups of friends, but after some time passed, it wasn’t a big deal anymore! The sushi chef’s even started to prepare my order without me ordering. (Yeah, I got the same thing every night okay?—Spicy Tuna on Crispy Rice & a water with no ice—Okay, maybe it is a little embarrassing that the chef knew my order by heart but it was delicious, okay!) Nevertheless, being alone at dinner gave me time to think about and process my day.

Alone time is something to be valued—not dismayed. So why is it that alone time is always viewed as a negative? “Ohh, you’re staying home on Saturday night? Wow! You are such a loser.” Who gives a flying piece o’ $^!+?!  I’m not saying that you should become an anti-social weirdo, I’m just saying that if you like to forgo a lame party to stay home and actually watch SNL “L”, then you should not feel condemned. It’s nice not having to change out of the comfy sweats into shoes that make your feet feel like they’re about to snap in half.

So if you’re the girl in high school who doesn’t have many girl friends (like I was) or the girl in college who has yet to go to a college party (like I am) or if you’re that woman that stays at home on weekends to do crafts (like I will probably be), do not feel bad. Don’t feel pressured to go out if you’re not in the mood. You are not alone. I fly solo more often than not and I love it! Do you?

Link to Article here