This! More of This!

You've no doubt been privy to this video already, but I'm putting it here to share with you now and to keep in the chest of awesome for all time. I had a really rad explanation of this video and what it means to me, to you, to marketing and business. We're all aware of why it's so wonderful for the same reasons Love Actually is one of the greatest movies of all time. Because it makes you feel! And gives you hope! And inspires you to remember that life CAN be that wonderful, full of crazy love, be it friendship or soul mates, and it's only us that stand in the way!

Golly, I love this stuff.

For the sake of time, I'm going to barf out the resonating inspiration I took from this gem from WestJet Creative/Marketing team (you know, after the obvious happy tears, laughter and "gotta watch that one more time cuz I'm a hopeless romantic" phase) - I HAVE TO GET BACK IN THE GAME. This is my place! I love this stuff! I am so ready to be at that table creating these kinds of ideas, working on a team scribbling those crazy concepts on the board, crossing them off, dialing down on them. Conceptualizing. Fantasizing. Strategizing. And burning midnight oil to finish it off. (That sounds like the beginnings of a nerdy rap song.) No, I'm not claiming inside my head lies the next greatest holiday viral video, I can't even say I have a rad email tagline stored in there for next weeks promotion (okay, I'm sure I could come up with something after a delicious Americano), but I KNOW, that this is what I want to do. Creating. Invoking. Inspiring and building. Growing. The bottom line and people's capacity to care. Isn't the goal to do it all at once?! We're creating change in mankind and in the economy. One builds the other, it's no shame to claim that's ones motivation. I'm in! Growth and change are GOOD. All it takes is a group of people and some elbow grease. Thank you to those who are doing this on a bigger level than myself at this moment. I'm coming!

10 Sizes That Day

It's Christmas. The holiday season. And so many wonderful things are happening and worth celebrating, toasting, laughing and cherishing. For example, this year we welcomed a new sister in law into our family who is now blessing us with ANOTHER new member to our family. Joy abound! My life alone has gone through some drastic changes in the last 12 months and I couldn't be more happy with where I am in the grand scheme of things. My home town took every state title they competed for this fall. A dear friend performed in a choir all on her lonesome. A best friend brought their first child into the world and after a rough birth, the family is happy and healthy enjoying the sandy beaches in Hawaii. Another landed a great job in Bend allowing their family to move to a place they've always dreamed of being. I could go on and on.

So what is it, the healthy balance (?), with all the pain? Here we sit on the edge of the season of cheer, and I find so many wonderful, and I mean WONDERFUL, people experiencing pain. Those that I speak of are phenomenal individuals that represent the goodness in the world, the pillars of strength that the rest of us look to, and they are living in the thick of thorns that life can throw at us. Some in the same capacity, others different, but no less of an arduous time. I find myself torn between being blessed to live in this with them, but upset that these challenges are coming to them at such a wonderful time of the year. Perhaps that's best - all of the joy and energy that surrounds us in the holiday season is giving the strength that normally doesn't exist the other 11 months of the year when most are caught up in their own issues. 

What am I getting at here? Prayer. Giving. Freely. When your cup is full, someone else's is empty. Take time to not share, but to give. GIVE. Please give. Give in thoughts full of strength, give in hugs, give in cookies or casseroles. Time. An ear. A shoulder. Be open and be willing. Put yourself out there in strength and bravery. Fight the fight for those who are too weak. Stand strong when others can't. Man, how lucky are we to provide that for others?! HOW LUCKY! It's the beauty of life to live to the ends of the capacity to which we can feel, all the way, to the unknown places, we are capable! Go there! Not only for yourself, as a way to enhance your own life, but to help others in an exceptional capacity! This doesn't require last minute plane tickets with $800 prices, but to feel, to empathize to that uncomfortable extent. That's where the good stuff lies people. Get uncomfortable for someone else. You never know what it's like to give until you give so much that it hurts. 

Let your heart grow ten sizes today :)

Leave the Labels.

Be the YOU that you are meant to be. You owe it to yourself. Go. 

It don't feel like butterflies, it feels more like fireflies…

Aaradhna, a New Zealand vocalist, won a handful of awards in Kiwi land and was in Portland at the NPR studios recently when this was recorded. I immediately was drawn because of her origin but then, the lyrics of this simple, beautiful song, just stole my heart. *enjoy*