1. May Studio
2. Inside Out
3. May Links
4. Wrap-Up
The energy of Spring is in full force! Believe it or not, there is a "spring" season in the Virgin Islands. We have all sorts of new blooming things, from frangipani to mango blossoms. You can tell best from your nose, when the scent of fresh flowers wafts by--or when you keep sneezing. The weather is warming (ok, so here it only warms about 10 degrees more from winter to summer) and the ocean water is getting much easier to jump into (it's COLD in January!). I'm getting ready for a "Beach-to-Beach Power Swim" event on Memorial Day weekend. Participants swim from one beach around to another, the distance depending on the beach they choose. I'm aiming for one that's 2.5 miles from the start. Two weeks ago, I quickly discovered that there's a lot more to open-water swimming than I thought. During a warm-up event, I was dead last as the others waited on the beach for me to finish the one-mile route. I found it's much more about techinique and form rather than strength. Having runners' endurance doesn't help much if you don't know how to use it properly. Needless to say, I've gotten some instruction since then. Next time around will be better!
My design website, www.asolaredesign.com, got rejuvenated in these past few weeks with a new design. Take a peek if you have a moment; I appreciate your two cents!
Embrace the weather, pick a flower, stop and smell something. Have a bountiful month.
In today’s society, most people live from the outside in…and it's making them useless. Living from the outside in is letting the outside world—society, corporations, politicians, the media, other people of every kind—decide the direction and value of your life. The boredom, emptiness, and lack of enthusiasm many people feel is so common it’s accepted as normal. If you believe that, though, you’re making excuses rather than taking charge and doing something about it.
Our society is filled with people who feel empty and lonely. They feel like they aren’t making any impact on anyone; they haven’t accomplished anything great. They’ll pass on and will be forgotten. They aren’t having fun.
If you’re holding yourself to the standards of what you perceive to be the world around you, it’s likely that you’ll feel insignificant. You can always find someone wealthier, someone more attractive, someone who’s more successful, someone who’s done more. The media exploits the newest and most exciting person one day and drops her as soon as something else fascinating comes along. Michael Jackson hits the news every so many months with something crazy—but then you hear nothing as something else takes over. MC Hammer, Monica Lewinsky, Spice Girls, Marilyn Manson…how often do you hear about these guys right now? If you’re caught up in a life that goes with these standards, obviously you’ll feel unremarkable because NO one’s life has any resonance.
Instinctively, you know that it’s silly to compare yourself to celebrities, to billionaires, to your college roommate. It trivializes your life and makes you only a label: an employee, a “baby boomer”, a student, a consumer. You get caught up worrying about what you’re being told to worry about, fearing what the media builds up for you to fear, buying what you’re told is the great new thing to buy, going to the events you’re told are the most important…and ultimately living life as you’re told to live.
If you don't have a sense that what you do and who you are has meaning and value, you'll feel like a grain of sand: significant in mass, but unimportant as an individual—destined to just be a little, teeny speck in the whole universe of everything.
But that’s a choice you make. You are you and no one else. Outside you can mold into looking like everyone else if you chose, but inside you are only you.
Living from the inside out is going with your gut, basing your life and your actions on what matters most to you, not to anyone else. It means being clear about your dreams and aspirations, setting your sights on what matters most and refusing to accept any substitute. It's expressing who you are, instead of being content to be a number—or mutely accepting what others want you to be. It means working to be the person you're meant to be, a unique individual with unrepeatable strengths and possibilities. Most of all, it offers you ways to make who you are count for something—maybe not to the world at large, but certainly to yourself, the people closest to you and those you encounter in your daily life. A life well lived doesn't have to be large or famous. It only has to be true to the unique individual who lived it.
People who live from the inside out find the fulfillment they're seeking. Externals don't define them, they define themselves. They act from their deepest values, accepting their uniqueness as the source of strength and importance. The more they're themselves, the more others value them. It's because they're authentic, not a mass-produced copy—and that’s always valuable. We all recognize autheticity when we see it—in people, in jewelry, in antiques. No copy has anywhere near the value of the original. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery…but why should you imitate others when you can flaunt your own thing? We only naturally try to fit in with what the world wants because we're so damned used to it!
Living from the inside out means matching what you do and how you live your life to whatever means most to you. It’s when your heart, your mind, and your actions are acting as one. You can start REALLY living by listening to your gut, honoring what matters to you most, and respecting yourself enough to embellish your unique strengths and talents that can drive your life if you let them.
Almighty Boston
Almighty Boston, a design firm, has created a site that's a refreshing change from the masses. Organic yet contemporary, it's in my list of Favorite Web Examples.
http://www.almightyboston.com/
US Patent and Trademark Office for Kids
Learn about inventions, inventors, patents and trademarks through games, contests, calendar, and stories. For all ages, its fun for the moments when you just don't want to be doing serious work at your computer!
http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/
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Asolare Design
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