Category Archives: resources

I hear in my mind …

I hear in my mind all of these voices
I hear in my mind all of these words
I hear in my mind all of this music
and it breaks my heart, and it breaks my heart…
-Regina Spektor


I’m sure you’ve noticed that it’s been quiet lately here at Invincible Summer.

I’ve posted recently about a strange onslaught of music that’s had me at my keyboards for hours a day. I play for five or six hours some days, and then I settle down a little. It’s a wonderful thing, a magical process, taking my creativity in a new direction. 

Of course, there’s also the issue of the five-day unwashed pony-tail & the stinky pajamas, lack of vacuuming, and an ethics paper I forgot to write, turned in at the last minute, knowing it was the worst paper I’ve ever written in my long-lived academic career. (Oops!)

I allow these things and forgive them. I’m still working every week with focusing on my core desired feelings via Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map (which I reviewed here, if you’re curious).

There’s also the black eye which I obtained from dropping my iPod on my face (yes, it is possible, but the story is just silly, if mildly embarrassing).

There are the days I accidentally go to class late because I was lying on a couch in a secluded part of the library with my headphones blaring, and the time just got away from me.

You see, I have a lot of growing to do and I’m struck by this muse, and I like her, and I’m following her. (Do you have one? Follow her.) My new keyboard is named Pandora because as soon as I started playing her, she brought out a sort of artistic madness in me, opening a box of endless ideas, beautiful and gritty alike.

So I follow the sounds and do my best to work at time management, which was never my forte in the first place.

I’m telling you all of this because I have some still-semi-secret projects in the works, and I’m shifting my creativity in a new direction.

So, Invincible Summer is changing in major ways. I already have assembled a team of at least three amazing writers (identities forthcoming!), and I am still looking for one or two more. This blog is going to be a group effort, possibly with a URL change to reflect that I’m not the only person writing here anymore.

I’m on hiatus from blogging until (…drum roll…) March 8th, my 33rd birthday! That day, you’ll see the new and revamped Invincible Summer revealed, meet the new tribe, and fall in love with these incredible wordsmiths the way I have.

Meanwhile, if you just can’t stand being without me for that long (I hope you get that it’s a joke. Prosody is so difficult in web-speak), you could always hop on over and grab the new issue of Wild Sister Magazine, where a bunch of crazy-wild-empowered women (including yours truly) wrote all about self-love. It’s seriously one of the most beautiful issues I’ve seen yet; such delicious words this month.

Actually, I’ve been hanging out at the Wild Sisterhood a lot, too. I wish you would join and come hang out with us! I hope you do. I find so much inspiration there.

Anyway–for now let me blow you a kiss & say … see you on March 8th. In the meanwhile, be blessed in a billion ways–like a shower of diamonds.

love,

Jess

THE New Year’s Read: The Desire Map (Danielle LaPorte)

Do you get vertigo when you look at the array of e-courses, workbooks, and other products designed for people like US (artistic, wandering, ever-dreaming, renaissance souls) each new year?

It’s like a buffet of creative bursts and self-improvement journeys. Who do you want to be? What do you want to change? What is your wildest dream? My mouth waters at the questions, the colors, the beauty of products created by coaches and bloggers and leaders I love.

How do you choose? There’s cotton candy for your soul, so much sweeter and more colorful than chicken soup. There’s meat & potatoes for your soul, ice cream for your soul, and probably cheesecake, too. (Have you noticed that I adore food?)

I tend to go on trusted recommendations.

This year, I’m exuberantly recommending Danielle LaPorte’s The Desire Map.

My food analogy: The Desire Map is dark chocolate for the soul. And oh, my soul wants nothing more. It’s rich, it’s the perfect combination of bitter and sweet. It’s delicious. You want to savor it in tiny bites, but it sits there staring at you and you pick it up again and again because it is just that wonderful.

I’ve worked through (or half-finished) several products geared toward designing a healthy, creative, and prosperous 2013 … but I’m only writing a single book/product review, because this one blows the rest out of the water.

The Desire Map is changing my life. It’s laying a strong and steady foundation for the creation of miracles. 

By moving through Danielle’s process of identifying your “core desired feelings,” you will find that you’re actually creating the most basic and necessary piece of your mansion of new year’s intentions, or goals, or dreams–call them what you will; The Desire Map is the creation of the blueprint. I’m learning that I need to understand how I want to feel at the manifestation of a dream before I can even begin to decide what to dream. 

I’m coming to understand my rut in school this past fall, and why I stopped having that feeling of tingling excitement about my blog and the little business I’ve created around it. I forgot why I had begun loving those things in the first place–because of the feelings they generated in me. 

Let me quote Danielle, briefly. (This comes from page 30 of The Desire Map.)

“When we make feeling good a priority, everything changes–our individual lives change, and social systems change. How we make and spend money changes. How we teach and learn changes. How we love changes … Heading toward your core desired feelings will revolutionize your life.”

Other stuff I love about The Desire Map?

The audio meditations and poems belong permanently in every iPod, everywhere, in their own playlists. The world would be a better place if everyone listened to this stuff every day.

The graphic-creating apps are fun to play with, even for a graphics-phobic writer like me.

And I love the electronic workbook being there, cause then I can do my desire mapping over & over again, whenever I feel it’s necessary.

Yeah, and you get a hard copy too. How I love print books.

So … let me tell you my five core desired feelings. I went through a few hours of looking things up in dictionaries and thesauri (isn’t that a funny plural?), as Danielle encourages you to do in the workbook-half of the book. So if you’re a word-lover, you will love the desire mapping process.

My Core Desired Feelings:

1. Ardent. I fell in love with this word after sifting through definitions and synonyms for “enthusiastic,” “excited,” “on fire,” “inspired,” and “passionate.” None of those words quite fit the kind of calm-yet-impassioned fervor I want to feel whenever I’m writing, studying, teaching, playing music, or creating.

(Ardent: “Having, or expressive of, intense emotion; fervent, fierce, burning, fiery, vehement, enthusiastic.” Oh, god, yes.)

2. Courageous. “Confident” showed up over and over in my lists, but “confident” felt too general. With Danielle as a poetic, no-nonsense guide to truth, I dug into words until I decided I liked courageous the best.

(Courageous: “Having the quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face difficulty, danger, or pain with firmness and without fear.” Let me repeat that last bit–with firmness and without fear. YES, yes, yes.)

3. Elegant. I found my way to this word by digging deeper into what I really want when I say I want to feel “prosperous,” “abundant,” or “luxurious,” as well as “graceful” or “beautiful.”

(Elegant: “Tastefully fine or luxurious; gracefully refined and dignified.” Yes, please.)

4. Tranquil. I liked this word so much better than “calm,” because I don’t necessarily want to be super calm and mellow all the time. But the definition of “tranquil” speaks to a deeper calm, one I can carry with me always, even if I’m not totally relaxed in every moment.

(Tranquil: “Having a command of emotions, often due to strong faith, that keeps one unagitated, even in the face of extreme strife or excitement.” Good, because I like extreme excitement now and again.)

5. Divine. I had so many words that I narrowed into this one: I wanted to feel spiritual, sacred, connected to the source, part of the dance, ecstatic, one with divinity … Divine.

(Divine: “Of, pertaining to, or proceeding from a God or Goddess; addressed to or appropriated from or devoted to divinity; godlike; befitting a deity; OR [more colloquially] extremely good, lovely.” I really want the first piece of this definition, but I’ll take extremely good & lovely with the rest).

So … seriously, creative soul: Go get your own Desire Map & use it to plan a most divine 2013.

Oh, and happy new year. See? The world didn’t end. It’s just changing. Changing so much, for the better, brighter, and more beautiful.

how do YOU want to feel?

“How do you want it all to FEEL?”

This is one of my favorite questions posed by Danielle LaPorte in her recently released book, The Firestarter Sessions (non-affiliate links). When Danielle first posted this as one of her “burning questions for bloggers,” I answered thus over here at Invincible Summer.

(An excerpt from that post:

I want to feel the music of this day, for it to surprise me; are the notes long and mellow, do they skip and dance, do they linger lost in a minor key? And I need more music than just that beneath my hands on the piano keys. I want to hear music in the running shower (allegro!), music in my step against the sidewalk (a victory march), music in the noises the house makes when we think it is quiet.

I want this day to feel like a crisp sheet of paper sliding into my antique Royal typewriter—the decision to create, uninterrupted. I want to feel the power of that urge, I want it to feel it deep in my belly …

Give me an adventure, a hurricane, an ancient diary left open on a park bench, its fragile leaves full of stories waving in the wind.

Give me something to write about—I promise to give it back.

-me, back in February.)

In The Firestarter Sessions, Danielle refines this question, asking readers to seriously dig deep, identifying and naming the core feelings we desire in our deepest, most secret, powerful & yearning souls. One of the things I realized I long for is to feel appreciated.

For me, this feeling of appreciation can be so simple, so easy, so sweet. 

I chose this word–appreciation–very, very carefully.

I don’t want to be famous, I don’t always feel comfortable having “fans.” I don’t need 1,000 Twitter followers or newsletter subscribers (although I can’t deny that those things would be nice).

I just want someone–anyone–to see what I’ve done, to benefit from my work, to know who I am.

A good friend of mine recently had to put her dog down due to cancer. If you know me at all, then you know my deep personal appreciation for dogs & all the good, sweet & simple love they bring into our lives.

Since miles upon miles separate us, I sent my friend a gift–something that seemed so simple to me, something pretty and easy with the dog’s name engraved on it.

The gift seemed so simple to me that I was moved to my core when I heard her voice on the phone, telling me that this gift was “the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her,” and how incredibly happy it made her, to have me in her life.

The feeling of appreciation was secondary to my essential reason for sending her the little plaque, but it was just as sweet (melting my heart like candle wax) as the feeling I get when you tell me my blog posts, prompts, or newsletter have touched you, changed you somehow.

When we state our wishes aloud, when we define what we want to feel and manifest in our lives, we bring them that much closer to our personal realities. And then they come to reality in the strangest, most unexpected, beautiful and miraculous ways. 

Name the feelings; let them come; let them warm you and fill your life.

What feelings do YOU want to fill YOUR life? (If you answer this question in your blog, please do link to your response in the comments for this post!)

p.s. The new issue of Wild Sister Magazine comes out tomorrow (and I’m in it, again) … and YOU will love reading all about random acts of kindness–another fantastic way to bring a sense of appreciation into your life. Click the link to get it tomorrow, OR hop on over & pick up some back issues today!

invest a little in yourself

July is swooping in so fast, and I’m in a phase of honoring myself, working to develop myself, and growing spiritually. I’m remembering, all over again, how to slow down.

Often, slowing down involves unplugging from the internet and all things electronic–savoring a good book, taking a long nap in the warm sun, taking time to walk barefoot in the grass.

Sometimes, though, the right e-course or program or sisterhood pops up on the web, and we’re given an opportunity to develop personally, spiritually, artistically while plugged in.

One of my favorite hubs for creative/independent/spiritual/entrepreneurial/you-name-it women is Leonie Dawson’s Goddess Circle.

I’ve been a Goddess Circle member for over a year now, so I offer this endorsement wholeheartedly, guided by my belief that this program truly has the power to change women’s lives in myriad ways.

Of every 99-odd dollars I have spent on products and e-courses for self-development, my Goddess Circle membership has been, far and away, the most valuable.

It holds value in terms of the tangible goods you get for the price … but, more importantly, it holds value to me because Leonie has created a truly gorgeous, safe, and joyful space that exists like a sweet secret hub hidden in the midst of the madness we call the internet.

The community of women, over 2000 of us drawn together from countries all over the world, all share the common goal of self-development.

Oh, and in addition to all that community? A Circle membership provides access to every product, book, e-course, guided meditation, etc etc, that Leonie has created.

These include courses on becoming a “business goddess,” a “creative goddess,” turning your home into a haven; meditations for restful sleep, chakra healing meditations, and (my personal very favorite) the Holy Dinger Uber Deep Zennifying Meditation Kit. (It’s awesome for more reasons than just the title).

I especially wanted to make sure you guys know about Leonie’s program today, because as of tomorrow (July 3rd), she is doubling her rates–and with good reason. Right now, the cost of a year-long Goddess Circle membership is $99.

Tomorrow, it will be twice that–and Leonie’s raising prices for reasons I support and appreciate (including the fact that, since she started the circle, the number of individual products and e-courses included in the membership has more than doubled) as well as–in her words:

“I’m no longer willing to work with women who aren’t willing to do the work and invest in themselves … I want to work with women who will use what I’m offering and make their worlds light up so big and bright they are an incandescent joy to witness.”

Nope, I won’t hide the fact that I’m an affiliate with Leonie, which means I earn commissions on sales generated through my site.

But one of the major lessons Leonie’s taught me, through her blog as well as the Business Goddess e-course, is that abundance is our birthright–that we deserve to live in, and to create, abundance for ourselves. This includes earning money and not feeling guilty about it–because if you’re offering something that’s of value to people, you deserve to live abundantly. 

(I actually wrote an article about cultivating a mindset of abundance, which you can read in the newest issue of Wild Sister magazine–it just came out yesterday & the new issue comes with a free ebook all about changing the world!)

Treat yourself to something that holds deep value to you.

Believe in abundance; in the fact that if you invest wisely in yourself, the world will return that investment to you. Really, it will.

the best self-care links ever:

I declared this week self-care week for myself, because I’d been slipping in my self-care practice. And moreover, conversations with several friends have convinced me that there’s a little wave of this going around! So let’s all work together this week on remembering the importance of self-care, and re-establishing our practices … or even creating new ones! 

To that end … here are some of the coolest resources I know to spur you along in practicing gentleness and love with yourself.

Jenn Gibson over at Roots of She is the queen of self-care! Better yet, she even offers a free self-care ecourse! Check it out.

The Balance Whisperer is a blog & website that I frequent. Mostly, I really enjoy being on Kathleen’s mailing list–she sends out a weekly balance tip every Monday, and it’s always good stuff.

Just about anything you grab at Leonie Dawson’s website, goddessguidebook.com, is sure to uplift you and lighten your spirit. She offers tons of amazing guided meditations that I’ve used & loved, as well as ecourses galore. And she gives away tons of free stuff on a regular basis. I’m also a member of her community, the Goddess Circle, which gives you access to all of her ecourses, meditations, and other goodies–and an amazing community of creative, spiritual women doing great things. (Getting close to people, building community: what a great self-care practice that is!)

Joy Holland’s blog, Facets of Joy, is an absolute miracle of inspiration with each & every post. Additionally, Joy offers clarity and energy sessions to help facilitate healing in her clients. (Oh, AND she’s generously contributed a gorgeous lesson to the Invincible Summer ecourse. We’ll be learning how to build a yoga rock sculpture. How cool is that?)

Oh, and my blogging pal Pip Miller is the As You Wish healer. She does light healing sessions for people all across the web. In fact, I have one lined up with her tonight, and I’m very excited. I will let you all know how it goes!

I’ve been working with Michelle Ward, the When I Grow Up Coach, as part of her awesome When I Grow Up clubhouse. Having a creative career coach has really helped me start bringing my dreams into reality–and Michelle’s just amazing at helping her clients to remember and practice self-care.

This is just a taste of some of the blogs & sites I look to for soothing and comfort when I know I need to slow down and take care of me.

What about you? What are some of your favorite places around the web for self-care and healing?