I had to share… since I am and always have been Inspired by my home country, Iceland. Enjoy!
Inspired by Iceland Video from Inspired By Iceland on Vimeo.
May 25th, 2010
Women and Body Image
Lately, I’ve been on a detox diet, mainly for health reasons yet I’ve been catching myself getting excited about the pounds I’ve been losing in the process. I am by no means overweight and this should not even be a concern for me but given that the modern day unrealistic ’standards of beauty’ also meet my eyes from time to time, it is fascinating to note that as aware as I deem myself to be, I still get affected by the messages which repeatedly seem to say; “Thin is beautiful, and we can never be too thin”.
Not to worry, I am not obsessing about my weight in any way and I’m generally not that interested since I’m focused on being and feeling healthy… but… I am interested in ’self-awareness’ and ’self-acceptance’, and so it becomes fascinating to note how women are portrayed in modern day society, through the many channels of media, and even to note that these ‘ideals’ affect me as well, as much as I deem myself to be completely aware of these ‘illusions’. I truly wonder if anyone in today’s western society is 100% immune to comparing themselves to the ‘ideals of beauty’.
Today’s society recognizes all too well labels such as; anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorders, and body dysmorphic disorder. It is said that about 50% of girls between 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight! And, about 80% of 13 year olds have attempted to lose weight. Now that’s absolutely insane! How women see themselves is completely different from how men perceive their bodies. Only about 10-15% of people with eating disorders are men, the rest is women. For women, our perceptions of our amazing bodies are often all but healthy and realistic, and it seems the ‘ideals of beauty’ are getting more and more skewed with the prevalent use of ‘photo re-touch’ softwares and manipulation of any and all perceived flaws. The truth is that the women we see in the magazines don’t even get to look like the women in the magazines!
Anyways, enough with my ranting… I discovered this great article on Telegraph Online. The author’s perspective is interesting and puts our obsession with ‘youth and beauty’ in a fascinating light. I encourage all women (and men) to read this article. When you’re done reading you may want to take note of other ads and articles on the page, it drives home the overall point. Everything we see is a manipulation of our perceptions of ourself. We, the female version of mankind, spend SO much money just to feel good about ourselves and believe we LOOK GOOD so we’re a prime target for money makers. Yet, when it comes down to it, all we ever need is self-awareness and self-acceptance. That is the foundation of REAL LOVE, REAL beauty and everlasting happiness.
Check Out this Article: Women and Body Image: A Man’s Perspective
Related Post: Whatever Happened to REAL Beauty?
May 24th, 2010
I am open, LOVING and thankful!
When you have an open, loving and thankful heart life is nothing short of perfect! Nothing really ticks you off that much and whatever occurs in your life you can handle because you know how to reconnect with love and recreate harmony and balance.
How open, loving and thankful are you in your heart?
Here are some questions for you to answer for yourself:
How open am I towards other people’s uniqueness and their differences from me and what I know?
• I am very open
• I am somewhat open
• I am a little open
• I am somewhat closed
• I am very closed.
How judgmental am I of other people?
• Very judgmental
• Somewhat judgmental
• A little judgmental
• Somewhat non-judgmental
• Very non-judgmental
How genuinely loving and affectionate am I towards other people?
• Very loving
• Quite loving
• A little loving
• Quite un-loving
• Very un-loving
How thankful am I for the people in my life and how expressive am I of gratitude towards them?
• I am very thankful / grateful
• I am quite thankful / grateful
• I am sometimes thankful / grateful
• I am quite unthankful / ungrateful
• I am very unthankful / ungrateful
The truth is that whenever you feel you are out of balance in your relationships with other people it is time for you to do something about YOU!
Our issues with other people have less to do with them than they have to do with ourselves. Are you lovingly asking for what you want and coming from a place of love in doing so? Do you feel that receiving other people’s love is based on fulfilling their conditions? Are you yourself being conditional in your expressions of love towards others?
How do you suppose you are really, truly coming across? How are you conveying your message and your point of view? What do your actions say? What are your words saying? Do your words come out clearly in your actions? What are your facial expressions conveying? How are you really communicating with other people?
What we give is usually very close to what we get! Which means that we have to start “owning the message” we give out to the world.
If we give a little love, we may get a little love, if we show a little acceptance, we may get a little acceptance, if we demonstrate a little gratitude, we may get a little gratitude, and so on an so forth. The same goes for not giving any of these things, if we do not give any, we can’t be upset about not getting any. Yet, our whole motive cannot be about giving it “only” so we can “get” it! That’s not being unconditionally loving and it won’t trick anyone for long.
Have you noticed how everybody loves being around people who know how to be unconditionally loving, and how those same loving people also seem to know how to respect and love themselves. Being an unconditionally loving person means we love without conditions, we are not expecting anything just because we are giving our love, but even so it still does NOT mean that we give our power away and take whatever we get and accept it!
read more »
May 18th, 2010
Will Smith’s Shares his Wisdom
“I have a great time with my life and I want to share it!”
“Greatness is not this wonderful esoteric, elusive, God-like feature that only the special among us will ever taste. It is something that truly exists in all of us. It’s very simple. This is what I believe and I am willing to die for it.”
May 18th, 2010
Are you a Victim or an Owner of your LIFE?
It is said that people fall into one of two categories when it comes to their approach to LIFE. You can either be a Victim or an Owner.
Many great authors have written several books on this topic, one being Steve Chandler.
So how do you spot an Owner and/or a Victim? And which category do you fall into?
Here are some clear distinctions between victims and owners:
- Victims take no responsibility while Owners take full responsibility for their happiness and success in life.
- Victims like to tell you their sad stories but Owners focus on success stories.
- Victims talk about what happened to them in life and how that “made” them feel … Owners may tell you about their life experiences to emphasize what they’ve learned.
- Victims complain and complain, and usually complain some more … Owners learn, and learn and learn some more.
- Victims believe other people have control or are in control of their lives but Owners know they are in FULL control of theirs.
- Victims are generally unhappy with where they are and how their lives are progressing but Owners are happy with where they are and where they’re headed.
- Victims can make up and have many excuses for where, why and how they are while Owners do not use or buy into excuses.
- Victims focus on all the things that can, and probably will go wrong… so why bother trying … while Owners focus on creative steps and solutions.
- Victims REACT to whatever comes along, Owners use what happens to CREATE some more.
- Victims come from a place of FEAR! … Owners come from a place of LOVE.
What is your choice? Fear or Love?
May 15th, 2010
“Top 10 List of Priorities”
Sometimes we are so utterly out of tune with ourselves and our true needs. I have been experiencing restlessness, rush and perceived pressure in the past few weeks as I’m finding myself wanting to create so many things at the same time and wanting to impact so many people, that I end up forgetting about myself in the process. I start to ignore my body, mind and spirit and push my well-being off of my “Top 10 List of Priorities”.
In order to truly move forward we so often forget that the real trick is to S L O W down! When one travels at 100 miles an hour to nowhere the end destination is always a crash and burn.
The interesting part about our daily stresses and pressure is that in one way or another it is 100% created by our selves or in fact, our egos. This is somewhat encouraging to realize because it means that I, and YOU can just as well un-create whatever perception it is we created. Your ego created the mess, stress and pressure (or in some cases calm) that you are in at any given moment by placing itself in a story about what, who and how you are and are supposed to be. Our minds (egos) place meaning into tasks, things and thoughts that enter our existence and it is essentially our choice if we believe those perceptions or not. The I, who created the perceived mess that I’m in can choose to step outside of the turmoil, see it for what it really is (a created reality or perception) and choose to part with it and redesign my reality in a way that better serves me.
In my life, in this very moment this means that I will choose to slow down and place my health and wellbeing at the top of my list of priorities which includes creating time to prepare and enjoy nutritious foods, exercise, simplify my surroundings and do what I know will soothe my mind and spirit. What soothes my mind and my spirit is getting back to and being in alignment with my values and creating time to do what I enjoy the most which is reading and writing, and being with my children.
So what do you have on your “Top 10 List of Priorities”, and how can you restructure and redesign your life so your list of priorities will truly honor and serve you in your life?
May 14th, 2010
Celebrate Your Life Conference
I want to bring this amazing event to everyone’s attention. In November of last year I went to the Celebrate your Life Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. It was an absolutely amazing conference with so many awesome authors, speakers and teachers. I was literally on a ‘high’ for weeks afterwards and walked away an even happier person than I had been before the conference.
This is a highly inspirational and motivational event and the most awesome gift you can give to yourself to just relax, listen, learn, reflect, renew and be inspired! After the weekend I walked away with newfound calm and clarity and felt connected to an awesome community of great minds, healers and spiritual teachers.
If anyone has the ability to go and attend the Celebrate Your Life Conference in Chicago starting June 4th and lasting through June 7th, I highly and wholeheartedly recommend it.
For more information about the conference you can visit the Celebrate Your Life website;
May 13th, 2010
What Makes Us Happy?
“Is there a formula—some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation—for a good life? For 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been examining this question, following 268 men who entered college in the late 1930s through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age.”
Check out this article in The Atlantic on “one of the longest-running—and probably the most exhaustive—longitudinal studies of mental and physical well-being in history”. It’s pretty enlightening! It seems that happiness can be manufactured by US!
May 13th, 2010
Cool Video of Iceland’s Volcano
This amazing video of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in my home country Iceland was made by Sean Stiegemeier. Check it out!
Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull – May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.
Source: http://vimeo.com/11673745
Who are you “really” BE-ing? Are you the ‘odd one out’?
Every single one of us has been raised with some ‘conditioning’ and we learn how to act and ‘behave’, and how to ‘stay out of trouble’ and ‘get approval’. Then as the years pass and we mature and grow into our independence we may choose to search and discover our ‘true’ identity? Doesn’t everyone want to simply BE who we really are, and long for the strength and courage to effortlessly BE that, whatever that may BE? I wonder…
Whether we give our ‘identity’ much conscious thought or not, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of us see ourselves quite differently from the way we’re perceived by others? Perhaps you’re the extrovert in your ‘clan’ but as much as there is the social, outspoken side to you there’s also the quiet, reflective persona that many, if not most, never get the honor of meeting. Maybe it is the other way around and you’re the quiet, humble and somewhat mysterious one on the outside, but within you dwells a dynamic performer longing to shine through ever so brightly.
Who are you really? And why are you here? And why in this specific point in time? If you could’ve chosen any other time in history, and chosen any other family, town and country to belong to, why would you have picked NOW as your time to show up and BE here? What is this all about? What are you here to do or who are you here to BE?
These types of questions have always been roaming around in my head (and soul). A part of me was always quiet and observant, taking note of the life outside of me, noticing everyone else’s life stories while I was somewhat disconnected with my own. In a way I didn’t feel like I truly belonged in my family, or in the neighborhoods we lived in or in the schools I went to, or even in the country I was born in. I remember this lonely feeling of not ‘fitting in’ and almost feeling as if I’d been misplaced. I didn’t get it. I felt ‘weird’. There had to be something ‘wrong’ with ME. I loved my family, and loved my friends, neighbors and fellow countrymen but I absolutely felt like the ‘odd one out’.
Interestingly enough, I’ve learned to love being the ‘odd one out’ because that simply means that I’m BE-ing ME! And, guess what!? Every single one of us is unique and different. I’ve had the pleasure and honor of meeting so many people, from all over the world who’ve talked about this same exact feeling of ‘not fitting in’ and being the ‘odd one out’. I guess we’re all much more alike than we think we are:)
What if being ‘odd’ was the norm? When are we going to fully embrace and nurture our amazing differences? Life definitely wouldn’t be as interesting if we didn’t have all these different colors to observe and enjoy. Even though our paths are different we’re all headed the same way. We’re here to grow and evolve, and shine as brightly as we can while we’re here. So here’s to BE-ing YOU! Go out there and bravely BE the ‘odd one out’ and put YOUR colorful mark on the world!
Related Post: “Here’s to the “crazy” ones…”
Posted in Designing ME, MY Life, Personal Growth and Development, Social Commentary | 2 Comments »