MONDAY, JULY 5

What  do  you  love?

 Finding out what you love and doing it sounds like the easiest thing in the world to do. But for most of us it just isn’t. We like to do a lot of things but what are we passionate about? I mean, I don’t know. What if we have never been obsessed with a sport or horses or playing the guitar? What if we are the dabbling type that likes all sorts of things just fine but has never found that “one thing that you would do even if you weren't paid to…” 

 

The truth is we are all passionate about something. All of us. Some of us just have to do a little work to find it. It’s up to you to decide if it's worth it. (psst… it is!) 

You ready?



 

 

 

THE WORK
Pre-grateful…
Let's see if we can use gratitude to trick our brains into showing us what we love.

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I have heard Oprah say, “Gratitude is the single best way I have ever discovered of changing your personal vibration. You can instantly do it with gratitude.” She is right. Taking a moment every day to actually say out loud or write down 3 things you are grateful for changes your whole energy. 

 

I realize this is very basic and something you see everywhere but I still struggle with it so maybe you do too. During the deep days of the pandemic I really struggled with it so I decided to set an alarm on my phone for 4PM every day and called it Gratitude Hour. I had to stop whatever I was doing and say out loud three things I was grateful for - and so did anyone who happened to be with me. It still goes off at 4PM every day. It changes my mood every time. I highly recommend! 

 

I have found that gratitude not only improves your energy but it is a really good indicator of what you truly love too. And understanding what you love is what often leads to an amazing new idea for a project. 

 

So here’s a twist on the whole “think about what you are grateful for” idea. In this time of new beginnings I have been doing a lot of thinking about the future. The other day I went down a whole rabbit hole of things I am pre-grateful for. My favorite restaurant I haven’t discovered yet, the new dear friend I haven’t met yet, the book of poems I haven't discovered yet that will heal my heart, my next favorite concert, the trip I haven't even considered yet. It made the future seem so exciting and full of possibility and it really brought out the things I really loved.

 

So here is your work…

Get that journal and cool pen you bought out and write down ten things you are pre-grateful for. (I bet you can’t stop at 10)

 

Are any of these translating into things you love? Are these things you love things you could turn into a project? Book club? Volunteer trip? Community cooking group? See where this could go...

IDEA SPARKS
Let's get inspired!

These activists turned what they loved into ways to help…

 

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24-year-old Stefani Shamrowicz loves to travel and loves nature. She found herself with an unexpected week off of work and wanted to figure out how to do something meaningful while also doing what she loved. She didn’t have a lot of time or money to work with but she decided to turn her few days off into a road trip clean up project. She decided she would pick up trash along the road in different cities she passed through and post about it. In order to pay for gas and snacks along the way she asked people to donate $10/bag and she would clean up in their name. And they did! The person’s name is written on how many bags they’ve donated towards and Stefani posts a picture on her Instagram when they are filled, thanking them for helping clean up the city she’s in.

 

“I’ve been to 23 national parks in the U.S., so to me cleaning up this litter is a huge thank you for all the joy and good times national parks and nature in general has brought to my life.” - Stefani Shamrowicz

Creativity Explored was founded on a belief that art is essential to life. They exist to provide developmentally disabled people access to the human right of creative expression. Their life-changing programs open doors of inclusion to center the personhood and creative vision of developmentally disabled people. Most importantly, Creativity Explored is a source of community, empowerment and dignity.

 

Creativity Explored was founded back in the 80's with just one art student who was disabled but loved to express herself through art. Slowly more and more families found the organizations and they began holding art shows in spaces donated by restaurants and other businesses in the community. Today they have three studio locations and have helped give 100s of disabled people share their voices through creative expression.

 

“This is a center that does miraculous things. We're here to change lives in the Bay Area. We're here to let people know we're somebody. I take my art seriously, though. It's an expression of who I am and I am glad to share it with people who come here.”

— Vincent Jackson, CE artist since 1984

 

 


Quote of the day…
“Gratitude is the quickest easiest most powerful way to effect change in your life”

 

- OPRAH WINFREY

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Hope this made you think a little more about what you love!

 

If you haven't yet, click below to join us on Slack! We can discuss the ideas you are working on and get to know each other leading up to the  #riseupbootcamp challenge!

#riseupbootcamp runs from August 1-14. 

 
 

                   Until next time…

Ashley

 
 
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