about two months ago i saw
'the happiness project' by
gretchen rubin on the 'summer reads' table in B&N. as soon as i saw the bright and cheery cover, i knew instantly that i needed to purchase it - primarily because during that time, i was feeling overwhelmed, not myself and ultimately, not happy. i knew i wouldn't have much time to read it right then, so i purchased it and packed it away in a box [since i was moving]. three weeks ago i unpacked it, and finally started the journey through gretchen's happiness.
although i am only half way through her book, i have already been inspired by some of the changes gretchen has made. since her life was filled with work, chores and taking care of her family, gretchen decided she needed to add more things to her life that filled her with happiness. in one month, she decided to begin scrapbooking , develop a blog, and start a kid-lit book club.
these additions to gretchen's life made me start thinking about what i would want to add to my life. i already read and blog when i have time... yeah, when i have time. see that excuse? and i photog all the time. i like coloring and painting, but don't feel like i am very good at it. all of these thoughts came to me last weekend, sp i made of list of what i enjoy and what i would like to do more.
then this week, everything fell into place.
on tuesday, my friend
katie posted a facebook status that said:
"I have all of the resources available to work out, I just don't use them. Need to start so I can have an awesomely toned body. Just need a kick in the butt and a workable schedule to do it. Halp?"
my response?
"ugh. SAME. PROBLEM."
as soon as i hit the enter button, i knew katie and i should do something about our predicaments. so i posed the idea of a joint health-esq blog. she is such a great writer, cook and motivator - i knew that our readers [and myself!] could learn so much from her. we agreed on a name, a theme and so it goes :] here is a little
sneak peek of our joint blog [aka katie's blog right now, since she is the only who has posted thus far!]. enjoy and feel free to join our subscriber list to follow our healthy journey!
that same tuesday, i had a thought about my photography. although i get great feedback regarding my photos, i feel as though i have much much more to learn. therefore, i messaged my good acquaintance
april [whom i may or may not have tracked down six months ago after seeing her amazing photos...] and asked her whether or not she would be interested in helping me form a photography group. she happily agreed! so once a month, a couple of us will get together for an hour or so to discuss techniques, future opportunities, marketing tactics, equipment, etc. i plan to blog about some of the things i learn, so if you're a budding photographer such as myself, be on the lookout for that! i am very excited for our first meeting :]
two days after forming the new health blog and a new photography group, i came across a third opportunity.
jaimee, one of my best friends, tweeted thursday morning that she wanted to read '
the help' before it came out in
theaters. jokingly, i tweeted back "me too! book club? :D" and guess what? she thought it was a great idea! so we corralled a couple more of our girlfriends and decided to start one!
so as you can see, i will have my plate full for the rest of the year ;] but ya know what? that's okay, because all of these things are going to make me happy and healthy.
when you open yourself up, the possibilities are endless.
