IT'S SPRING! TIME TO GET ORGANIZED!

It's Spring! Time to:

• Clear your desk
  
  
• Organize your closets
  
  
• Set up great filing systems
  
  
• Make space for you & your family

Call now to discuss your goals with veteran Professional Organizer Eleanor Traubman. For ten years, Eleanor has been helping busy New York women simplify their lives. She has been featured in Time Out New York, Fitness, Family Circle, Brooklyn Paper, and Sun Times Chronicle.

917-499-7395

MARTIN THE FLYER MAN

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn - these are just a few of the online platforms you can use to attract new clients.

Although social networking may rule the day, flier distribution is still a great way to get in front of people. Which brings me to Martin the Flyer Man.

Ten years ago, when I started my business as a professional organizer, I tore a tab off a brightly colored flyer and called Martin the Flyer Man. My instructions from Martin: Create a catchy flyer advertising my services, make 200 copies, and drop them off at his mom's apartment

Shortly after the flyers were in Martin's hands, I started getting phone calls about my services.

And from those flyers, I attracted some of my most loyal clients.

Several years of using Martin's services went by before I met him in person, as he was working his flyer-posting magic on the streets of the Upper West Side, where I lived at the time.

The next time I saw Martin on the street, he had lost half his body weight. Motivated by wanting to be a good and healthy dad for his daughter, Martin got down to his current body weight through steady moderation of dietary habits. His discipline and perserverance blew me away.

A year or so ago, my boyfriend Mike came across a story written about Martin in the book City Lights: Stories About New York. He was also written up in The New York Times.

Today, when I dropped off a batch of flyers with Martin's mom, she handed me a copy of the newspaper that Martin was featured in last week - North Jersey's The Record.

So word about Martin is spreading almost faster than he's posting flyers. Almost.

Knowing what a good family guy Martin is, what an honest and upright businessman he is (some flyer distributors never actually post your stuff!), I'm delighted for him and his successes.

Keep on keepin' on, Martin!

To contact Martin: Martin@forroflyers.com OR 201-941-9790.

IT'S BIGGER THAN HIP HOP: THE RISE OF THE POST-HIP-HOP GENERATION

I picked up this book at the NYPL and am plowing through it. Asante is brilliant.

Here's the product description and author bio from amazon.com:

It's Bigger Than Hip Hop takes a bold look at the rise of a generation that sees beyond the smoke and mirrors of corporate-manufactured hip hop and is building a movement that will change not only the face of pop culture, but the world. M. K. Asante, Jr., a young firebrand poet, professor, filmmaker, and activist who represents this new movement, uses hip hop as a springboard for a larger discussion about the urgent social and political issues affecting the post-hip-hop generation, a new wave of youth searching for an understanding of itself outside the self-destructive, corporate hip-hop monopoly. Through insightful anecdotes, scholarship, personal encounters, and conversations with youth across the globe as well as icons such as Chuck D and Maya Angelou, Asante illuminates a shift that can be felt in the crowded spoken-word joints in post-Katrina New Orleans, seen in the rise of youth-led organizations committed to social justice, and heard around the world chanting "It's bigger than hip hop."

M.K. Asante, Jr. is an award-winning poet, filmmaker and creative writing and screenwriting professor at Morgan State University. He is also the author of LIKE WATER RUNNING OFF MY BACK and BEAUTIFUL. AND UGLY TOO. His films include the internationally acclaimed documentary, 500 Years Later and The Black Candle. For more, visit www.mkasante.com

ALISON OF PAPER LOVE

After reading about her new place online, I finally stopped by Paper Love to meet owner Alison in person.

Once a writer at The Knot, Alison was also a stylist and an illustrator with an MFA in writing.

Alison wants the store to be "fun, quirky, elegant, and retro." I think it's all that and more.

Check out Paper Love's website and blog.

Her store is located 78A LINCOLN PLACE | BROOKLYN | NEW YORK | 718.783.1383

between 7th and 8th Avenues in lovely Park Slope

REJECTED: TAILS OF THE FAILED, DUMPED & CANCELLED

Rejected: Tales of the Failed, Dumped, and Canceled

• Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 8:00 PM

• Housing Works Bookstore Cafe
• 126 Crosby Street, New York, NY 10012 :: 212-334-3324
• • Map
  • Directions

Jon Friedman presents Rejected from Rejected! Featuring pieces that were, for whatever reason, left out, declined, removed, and rejected from the recently released Rejected: Tales of the Failed, Dumped, and Canceled. The show will also feature readings/performances from some of the book’s actual contributors.

Readers include Megan Ganz (rejected), Dan McCoy (rejected), Rachel Kramer Bussel (rejected), Giulia Rozzi (rejected), Rich Zeroth (rejected), Lou Perez, Tom McCaffrey, Mandy Stadtmiller, and live music from Erin & Her Cello!

Rejection Cupcakes will be served! courtesy of Life in a Peanut Shell

Categorized in: Bookstore Café Events

Since opening its doors in 1998, Housing Works’ Bookstore Café has been an unparalleled hotspot for New York’s literary community, hosting countless readings, panels, and parties for every major publisher, as well as magazines from Lucky to The New Yorker. Every dollar from every customer goes to support Housing Works’ mission to end homelessness and AIDS.

MY NEW BUSINESS CARD!

BE HERE NOW

WRITEOUS CHICKS NEWSLETTER - March 2009

BE HERE NOW

Reprinted from Writeous Chicks Newsletter March 2007

"When you're anticipating some future good, you're preventing that good that is all around you from expressing through you...[Don't] put life on the layaway plan and try to anticipate that it's going to get good in the future."
-Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith on Oprah "One Week Later: The Huge Reaction to The Secret"

In first grade I had a pair of lavender Jordache jeans with dark purple stitching, The Great Bead Machine, and beautiful long hair. My class had a pet salamander and we planted lima beans in tiny containers and watched them grow. Reading was my favorite subject even though I wasn't in the advanced reading group, and I also liked music, art, and tire swings. Life was good, just as it was.

In second grade my best friend moved to Japan, my remaining group of friends kicked me out of the interpretation of Annie we were going to perform which was my idea in the first place, my teacher got sick and was out for most of the year, my grandfather died, my parents got divorced, and I got lice several times resulting in a very short, very unflattering haircut. It was not a good year.

Thinking back, I believe that this may have been when I started the pattern of thinking: "If I can just get through this day/week/month/year, then maybe the next day/week/month/year will be better."

In fifth grade I thought that my social life would surely take off in middle school. In sixth grade I thought that once I was in eighth grade and the oldest in the school, I would have more confidence. In eighth grade I was ousted from the popular group and I thought I would have more social opportunities once I got to high school. In ninth grade I remember locking myself in my room for days working on an Earth Science research paper, thinking that if I could just get really good grades and get into Princeton or Harvard, then I would be happy. In high school I lived for the weekends and school breaks - summer vacation, winter holiday, spring break, mid-winter recess - and the parties and adventures they would bring.

Senior year I crossed off days on my calendar with big X's counting down until college. My junior year of college I transferred, hoping for a better fit and more happiness. Senior year of college I couldn't wait to graduate and start my life in New York. Living in New York pursuing acting and writing, I worked hard and sacrificed socializing more because I thought my life would truly begin once I had more recognition, success, money, a graduate degree, and/or a boyfriend, or at least a book deal lined up, and then I would have plenty of time for a well-rounded and balanced life.

Does any of this sound familiar?

The list goes on, but lately I have been realizing for the first time in my life that there is no "If I get (fill in the blank), then I'll be happy." It is actually a complete lie, and we all know it deep down. If it were true - that all we needed were money, success, and a mate to be happy - then that would mean that everyone who is rich, successful, and in a relationship would be deliriously happy, and we all know that this is not true, and further know people who have a lot of the outside accoutrements and very little if any of the inner happiness.

In the past year, I have achieved many of my dreams, and some of my saddest and loneliest moments have been after achieving something I have spent years thinking would fulfill me and change everything, only to realize that I felt...exactly the same. But this is good news because it confirms that the power to be happy does not lie in outer circumstances and with other people, but within us.

There used to be a sign painted on the sidewalk down the street from where I live that said BE HERE NOW, and almost everyday I would be rushing somewhere completely lost in thought - either ahead in future or replaying the past - when I would catch a glimpse of these words, and I was always grateful for the reminder to stop and bring myself back to the present. This growing realization has made me mindful of standing still (here and now) and recognizing, appreciating, and enjoying all that is already in my life, and everything that I have already accomplished, rather than holding out all my happiness and self-congratulations for some future event or person, or possible bigger and better achievement.

This can be a challenging practice when we are conditioned to sacrifice now for future payoff. Feeling that what you have, where you are, and who you are - exactly as you are now - is good enough, can go against a lifetime of just "getting by" and "making it through," hoping that some future event, acquisition, achievement, or person will one day validate you and make you happy. And this kind of thinking does serve a purpose to help anesthetize and comfort people during difficult times, but taken as a repetitive pattern over the long term, waiting for your life to begin at a future point (when really, just to state the obvious, it actually began on the day you were born), can limit the joy that you are open to experiencing in the present moment.

This time of year, it is so tempting to jump ahead in anticipation - it is almost Spring and in a few weeks, it will warmer, I will be able to wear flip-flops, I will be happier, and everything will be better! But instead, take some time to slow down and be present to and enjoy the transition, and each and every day, whether it be 70 degrees and spring-like, or revert back to the cold winter weather.

I recently read a wonderful Barbara Jordan quote about this subject in which she had stated: "I live a day at a time. Each day I look for a kernel of excitement. In the morning, I say: 'What is my exciting thing for today?' Then, I do the day. Don't ask me about tomorrow."

Speaking from past experience, it is easy to let many days - huge chunks of days even - slip by without having anything I was excited about for weeks at a time. But I realize that I can take responsibility for my days by being excited about something that already exists in my plan for the day, and if there is nothing there that already excites me, I can create something new to be excited about. This can be as simple as taking a spontaneous walk in the park, making the time to sit down for a cup of coffee at Starbucks and read a chapter from a good book instead of taking my coffee to go in a mad dash to somewhere else, or calling a friend I haven't spoken to in awhile. So as winter transitions to spring, I encourage you to find and/or create something special, a kernel of excitement for yourself every single day, and then compassionately guide yourself back to the present moment to enjoy the heck out of it!

Writeous Chicks is passionately committed to empowering women to tap into and celebrate their own unique voices through writing, while promoting self-acceptance and self-trust; and to building and sustaining a creative community of women in which to encourage and support themselves & each other.

Writeous Chicks. Express Your Self.

Copyright © 2007-09 by Jennifer Garam

SAVE THE DATE: BROOKLYN BLOGFEST 2009 IS MAY 7

Find out why Brooklyn is the bloggiest place in America at the Fourth Annual Brooklyn Blogfest on May 7, 2008 at powerHouse Arena in DUMBO. Brooklyn Blogfest 2009 is an exciting, idea-filled event for bloggers, blog readers and the blog curious, where you will find: Insight. Advice. Inspiration. Resources.. Here's your chance to meet your favorite bloggers; learn about blogging; be inspired to blog. "Where better to take the pulse of this rapidly growing community of writers, thinkers and observers than the Brooklyn Blogfest?" ~ Sewell Chan, The New York Times This year's event will take place on May 7, 2009 at 7 p.m. at the powerHouse Arena in DUMBO. In addition to a WHY WE BLOG panel, this year Brooklyn Blogfest introduces BLOGS-OF-A-FEATHER, special small-group sessions, where you can meet with other bloggers who share your interests. Once again, there will a VIDEO TRIBUTE TO BROOKLYN'S PHOTO BLOGGERS and the annual SHOUT-OUT: a chance to share your blog with the world! Whether you live to blog, blog to live or are just curious about this thing called blogging, you won't want to miss Brooklyn Blogfest 2009, the best Blogfest yet. For more information or to register, visit the Brooklyn Blogfest website. To find out about sponsorship opportunities for Brooklyn Blogfest, contact Louise Crawford (e: louise_crawford@yahoo.com, c: 718-288-4290). The Details: Fourth Annual Brooklyn Blogfest May 7, 2009 Doors open at 7 p.m. powerHouse Arena 37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 Admission: $10 Brooklyn Blogfest after-party Galapagos Art Space 16 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (right across the street from powerHouse Arena) Cash Bar About Brooklyn Blogfest 2009: Whether you live to blog, blog to live, or are just curious about this thing called blogging, you'll want to attend the premiere annual event for bloggers in Brooklyn and beyond. At Brooklyn Blogfest 2009: listen to some great speakers; shout out about your blog; and network with fellow bloggers during special small-group sessions. Meet your favorite bloggers; learn about blogging; be inspired to blog. Brooklyn Blogfest 2009 Insight. Advice. Inspiration. Resources.

LOUISE & ALICE CRAWFORD ON COVER OF NEW YORK FAMILY MAGAZINE

Louise Crawford and her daughter Alice grace the March 2009 cover of New York Family - Brooklyn - magazine. The cover reads: A Blogger's Tale: How Parenting Columnist and Local Blogger Louise Crawford Became One of the Borough's Most Trusted Resources.

Louise is Founder of Only the Blog knows Brooklyn, Brooklyn Reading Works, and Brooklyn Blogfest.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS: THE BROOKLYN CREATIVE LEAGUE

Think about this: If you are an independent professional - e.g. a self-employed/freelancing/ entrepreneurial individual - you may spend a chunk of your time hanging out in local cafes with your cell phone and laptop computer. Maybe you even see clients there and do some networking.

Let's say you do this five days a week and you spend $10 a day on food and/or coffee at these places. That's $50 a week or $200 a month. Then there's the bucks you spend at the xerox shop and the time you spend running between home and the cafe and the xerox shop. If your time = money, then you are spending far more than $200 a month to run your affairs.

Good news, y'all: Brooklyn Creative League offers a sound alternative to being an entrepreneurial cafe lounge lizard. For as little as $350 a month, you can rent office space while being around other interesting, creative independent professionals. It's the next best thing to coming to work in your pjs. (And something tells me that Co-Founder Neil Carlson wouldn't mind if you did!)

The BCL "[...] gives freelance professionals, small-shop companies, and nonprofits the tools they need to get their work done: affordable, green, shared workspace and a community of professional colleagues."

There are 45 semi-private workspaces, where you can take on a month-to-month membeship as a full-timer or a part-timer. There are also nine private offices. Even the semi-private spaces are designed in a way that makes them acoustically private. Think about it: you can mill around and mingle with other BCL folks if you wish, but your phone conversations stay within the walls of your cubicle.

Also: there's a kitchen, cafe/lounge area, high-speed internet access, office machines, mail service, conference room, bike racks, and a reception desk.

One of Neil's goals is to get folks in the space who are in adjacent industries so that they can learn from and collaborate with one another.

Another one of Neil's goals has been to use be green and energy-efficient in building the space while also using cheap, durable materials. LiRo architects Murray Levi and Sara Anderson have helped him to achieve that goal.

BCL is the brainchild of Neil and his wife, Erin Carney. They identified a need for affordable work spaces and a place for community among independent professionals. BCL was born out of a joint recognition that there's a lot of creative energy that comes from being part of a network of colleagues.

The doors to BCL will be open by March 15th. I encourage you to go over and check it out!

To contact Neil: neil@brooklyncreativeleague.com OR 718-576-2104

MY BUDDY PETE LAUNCHES GROOVALICIOUS IN BROOKLYN

My client and friend Pete Solomita just launched his blog. It's called Groovalicious in Brooklyn: Chef Pete on food, music, and being an entrepreneur. Pete is awesome: he's a baker, a dad, and a dj with a big heart and and a big picture of the world. Here's his first blog entry:

Kale Tastes Better Than You Think

Yeah! Thanks to my friend Eleanor Traubman (photo taken right at the computer using photo booth on our new Mac, what fun) from Creative Times I am up and running with my blog! Eleanor was a great help, I suggest her services if you are reading this and wish you could take the plunge as well.

My webmaster Tony Limuaco from The Yarn Monkey ,will be happy to hear it since he's been bugging me for about a year to do this. The timing is good since my website littlebuddybiscuitcompany.com is almost ready for a more expanded launch.

Here are some topics you will find at Groovalicious in Brooklyn on a regular basis:

• Culinary articles, tips and recipes with a focus on food that's both tasty and healthy
  
• My path as entrepreneur and interviews with other entrepreneurs and people who made career changes
  
• "On the Turntable", quick forays into my vinyl collection with short reviews about some hard to find faves and other music topics
  
• Fatherhood in South Brooklyn
  

Let's start with a recipe for kale, a vegetable many find challenging to cook and eat. I was listening to a talk show recently and one of the hosts mentioned he had gas from eating kale. The other hosts on the show couldn’t believe he had eaten kale to begin with. I suppose many people don’t know what to do with it and don’t know how to make it taste good. Too bad because it’s one of the most healthful vegetables. The greener the food the better, being chock full of A and C, calcium, iron and potassium.

Kale with Caramelized Onions
serves 4

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion
salt to taste
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
¼ cup dry red wine
1 bunch Lacinato kale, washed well and coarsely chopped

Procedure

1. Heat oil in a saute pan on medium until it shimmeys (before it smokes). Add onions and a pinch of salt, stir onions and put on lid on the pan. After a few minutes when the onions start to sweat, take off the lid and lower the heat a bit. Cook for about 10 minutes or more, continuing to stir, until the onions get a nice shade of amber.
2. Add the fennel seed and the tomato paste and stir well. Add the red wine and simmer for a few minutes to reduce the liquid a bit.
3. Add the kale, stir well, put the lid back on and cook for about 10 minutes more. If the pan is drying out you can add a bit of water. Cook until the kale is the texture you prefer (longer cooking for softer greens).
   

RED HORSE CAFE

This is Brent, one of the owners of The Red Horse Cafe.

Since June of 2006, he and his wife, Carolina, have been running this low-key, homey Park Slope hangout. Their joint features coffee, espresso, a wide assortment of teas, pastries and bagels, sandwiches, soups, Dub pies and more.

Red Horse features movie screenings, art showings, and live music by local talent.

Matter of fact, Mike Sorgatz will be showing his paintings there in April. His art reception takes place on Saturday, April 18th so mark your calendars!

Red Horse Cafe
497 6th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 499-4973

WHAT CAN YOU BUILD OVER THE NEXT YEAR?

Reprinted (with permission) from Seth Godin's Blog entry: Slack

A lot of corporations have seen dramatic decreases in revenue and have cut back projects as well. In many cases, this is accompanied by layoffs, and so everyone is working far harder.

But in other organizations, and for a lot of freelancers, there's more time than work. In other words, slack time.

Assume for a moment you don't have money to develop and launch something new. So, what are you going to do with the slack?

What can you build over the next year that will take time now and pay off later? How can you invest the slack to build a marketing asset that you'll own forever?

May I offer two suggestions:

1. Learn something. Become an expert. For free, using nothing but time, you can become a master of CSS or HTML or learn Python. You can hit the library and read the entire works of important authors, or you can borrow some books from a friend and master Analytics or discover case studies and corporate histories that will be invaluable in a year. You could learn to become fluent in Spanish...

If you're a glass blower without a job, you can't do much glass blowing. But if you're a digital marketer between gigs, you can do a lot of digital marketing... build a tribe for your favorite non-profit and make it a case-study for an entire industry.

2. Earn a following and reputation. Use social networking tools to connect to people for no good reason. Post tons of useful answers on discussion boards where your expertise is valued. Build a permission asset in the form of an email newsletter or a fascinating blog that people want to read. Do resume makeovers for 100 friends. Start a neighborhood or industry book group. Don't go to conventions, earn the right to speak at them.

If you were as serious about these two endeavors as you are about doing your job (eight hours a day on a slow day), imagine how much more powerful and in demand you'll be a year from now.

Beats the alternative, by far.

ALL ABOUT TRACY COLLINS

I met Tracy Collins through the world of blogging. I first saw his photography at the Third Annual Brooklyn Blogfest. Truly awesome. Then he co-presented a talk about photoblogging for Brooklyn Bloggers.

Tracy's work is powerful, beautiful, thought-provoking, and respectful of human beings.

Here's where you can learn more about TC:

Tracy's Blog
Tracy's Photography
A Walk Around the Blog with Tracy C. & Adrian Kinloch

TRACY AND.....................

growing up rural

• Grew up on a farm in the rural CT town of New Preston.
• Helped raise animals and tend to a vegetable garden.
• Effects of growing up rural: Tracy loves peace, quiet and alone time as well as being social and being in the city.
• He's drawn to the natural world, as you can see in his photography.
• When he visits home, he takes daily walks in the woods.
• In his own words, the walks are "a meditative thing - they ground me and remind me there is a planet and that the city is a small part of it."

going from rural ct. to silicon valley

• Tracy was en engineer in Silicon Valley.
  
• His older brothers were and still are engineers.
• When he was little, he was always getting into their elecrtonic equipment.
• From watching them, he saw he could make a living from his interest in math and science.

coming to brooklyn

• In 1999, he quit his job as an electrical engineer in Silicon Valley. He was burned out and he needed an artistic outlet.
• He moved to Brooklyn.
• Since then, he started focusing more intently on photography. (It had been a hobby for many years.)
• Since then, he's built a network of bloggers and photographers.

going to brazil

• He has already been to Brazil twice (and wants to go back again) to compare how development and gentrification are impacting Brooklyn and Salvador (the capital of the state of Bahia).
• His observation of Brazilian culture: "More than two Brazilians in a place and it's a party."
• He has been taking classes to learn Portugese.
  

being in washington during obama's inauguration

• After going to Brazil for a second time, Tracy came back to the US on election day.
• He went to the mall with three friends. At 6 am, it was "already a madhouse."
• During the"electric" event, Tracy felt "lightness, gidiness, like a kid on Christmas day."
• He remembers thinking "This is a day I will remember. This is history in the making."
• Afterward, it was hard to believe that is actually happened.
• And then, he thought: " What other things that I once thought were impossible are also possible?"
• It was the first time he was really proud of his country and proud to be American

thoughts about obama

• "He will be an inspiration to young Black boys."
• "He is raising the bar."
• "He makes it cool to be smart, to be intelligent."

hopes

• To grow as a photographer.
• To find his voice.
• To search for what he wants to say.
• To continue to work on his craft.

brooklyn

• "Feels like i've put down the deepest roots here that i've put down anywhere since graduating from college."
• "Seems like the optimal place to be. Feels like home."
• " I can be who I am without feeling out of place."
• "There's nowhere to go after Brooklyn."

GONE IN 60 SECONDS (AND IT FEELS SO GOOD!)

Yesterday evening, an amazing spring-like evening that swirled with post-rain breezes, I cleaned out my home office. Got rid of tons of books and tchotchkes, threw away papers, took holiday cards off the wall and replaced them with a few inspirational posters and magazine pages.

In the process, I found my long-lost Kermit the Frog doll that is part of a crew of Muppet Show dolls my mom gave me several years back. Poor Kermit was covered with dust and so happy to rejoin his Muppet crew.

Around 9 pm, I put all the stuff I didn't want anymore out on our front steps. The loot included these items:

• A dysfunctional rainbow drawer storage cart
• Fairy Barbie
• Gauzy butterflies
• Martha Stewart's first ever Garden Issue of Martha Stewart Living
• Hello Kitty Lunar New Year banner I got in Chinatown
• The Party Issue of Vanity Fair Magazine
• A silver purse and tiara that went with my retired Halloween Disco Fairy outfit
• A rainbow xylophone that I purchased at a stoop sale when we first moved to Brooklyn(see above pic.)
  

The next morning, everything was gone except for about 10 books and a few magazines.

Now I am breathing in the quiet clean and order of my home office and hoping that someone is overjoyed with their newly-found Fairy Barbie.

EBRACEABLE YOU: COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS

Text from Daily Om
Sketch by Michael Sorgatz

You are unique. There is no one else like you in the entire universe. In honor of your unique self, it is good to acknowledge and embrace the special qualities that make you the person that you are. One way to do this is to not compare yourself with other people.

It is human nature to want to see how we measure up in comparison to others – especially if we think that they are better than us or have more of something that we want. Yet the truth is that it is not a good use of time to compare ourselves with others because there is no one like us and this makes us incomparable. It is sometimes almost easier to look outside of ourselves and feel like we are deficient in comparison to other people rather than taking responsibility for our own progress in relation to the fulfillment of our life purpose. It actually takes more courage to be self-referential and look at ourselves to see whether we are measuring up to our standards or meeting our full potential. Each of us has very special gifts, and we are here for very specific reasons. We each have a life purpose to fulfill and with this come the lessons that we must learn and the circumstances that we must go through in order to evolve as spiritual beings. To compare our lives to other people’s lives when we have no idea of what they are here to learn or fulfill doesn’t benefit anyone – especially you.

Instead, if we can accept ourselves, appreciate the special talents and qualities that we alone possess, and realize that each of us is going through certain kinds of experiences for a reason, we are less likely focus so much on what other people have or are doing. Realizing and valuing our uniqueness enables us to bring out the best in ourselves so we can get on with living rather than preoccupying ourselves with meaningless comparisons. Try to not compare yourself to others, and you will see how much you have and how special you are.

FREE $25 BARNES AND NOBLES GIFT CARD

As a thank you for for each successful referral * you send my way for my services as a Professional Organizer or Blogging Consultant, I will send you a $25 gift card for Barnes and Nobles.

* Someone who becomes a client

BARE BUTTS, NOT ARMS

A greeting card from www.artiststowatch.com

THE PRESENCE OF PEOPLE

From Daily Om
Scorpio Daily Horoscope

Your own sociability can surprise you today as you observe yourself doing all you can to spend time in the company of others. You may jump at the chance to participate in a group project organized by a loved one or business associate. Or you may be inspired to take advantage of communal activities that will likely give you a chance to meet new friends. Since you may be feeling more outgoing and companionable than usual, the time you spend in the company of others can leave you feeling invigorated and happy. In fact, if you are a bit sluggish today, you may find relief from your lethargy by engaging in social activities that put you in contact with interesting people.

The presence of other people in our lives can be wonderfully energizing because we unconsciously draw energy from those whose level of liveliness is greater than our own. The concept of sympathetic resonance comes into play when we spend time among upbeat and active individuals. Whether or not we are consciously aware of the changes occurring within us, our bodies’ own energy levels naturally adjust to correspond to those of the people we spend time with socially or professionally. When we need a boost, participating in lively group events can enliven our mood and amplify our vitality, granting us the stamina we need to participate fully in the events unfolding around us in the various spheres of our lives. Your sociable demeanor will help you find the camaraderie you need to regain your vigor today