49 comments

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  Angela

  1 year ago

  You have to let your adult children go...even if they are still in college. Remember they are using their skills, what you taught them are just primary building blocks, compared to what they have to endure and become as an adult.
  
  Just be proud!
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  Kristin

  1 year ago

  Children. Friends stayed last week with a 5-year-old and a 9-month-old, and my admiration for mums and dads shot up to the heavens. Aside from the usual balancing act of relationship, work, travel, mother/fathering, and the self, this couple has raised two incredible kids - the 5-year-old was more polite and charming than most adults I meet. I tip my hat in humbleness to all mums and dads out there who are doing their best to raise our next generation.
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  Laurel

  1 year ago

  Let me be the one to toss in a weird fact (because I adore accumulating weird facts): kerosene and jet fuel are basically the same thing. Helicopters use it too. I always thought jet fuel was dangerously flammable but apparently, in comparison to ordinary gasoline, it's not. I am not sure when this information will come in handy . . . but you never know, right?
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  bene

  1 year ago

  I have learned more about what I want in a man and that I am in title to A. a man who makes me blossom and be the best self I can be ( this regards my friends as well) . I will be with people who makes me feel good about who I am am.
  B. He shall treat me with respect and as equal ( this I take for granted) C. Be a gentleman ( every woman loves to be treated like a queen once in a while ie. open doors, bring you coffe etc:) sounds lush doesnt it? Well, why should you settle for anything less. I have learned to raise my standards, and frankly so should you! I think we all should. It feels very liberating! Wish for the stars!
  All this came down to my meeting with a truly handsome man at a meeting. He was very good looking and a true gentleman. He was polite and made me feel oh so comfortable, in other words he made me shine like I never done before. That came as a revelation, that people can make me feel that good. I have people I am friendly with, and family ( oh yeah, the joy of family, right?) that makes me feel really bad about my self. Now the bar is raised and that is so liberating. I feel that I am an my pat now, where I should be. Life is a journey, and i will not yet againg get caught up in the destinations. Phew and God bless:)
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  Deborah

  1 year ago

  To truly be in the moment. To delight in and fully engaged in each activity. Important discovery with this revelation: time slows down so there is more time to do things. Interestingly, I find I set fewer daily goals for myself, yet am far more satisfied and content at day's end. Truly a remarkable gift of knowing.
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  Chantal

  1 year ago

  Using an airbrush gun!?
  I'm creating a new line of hand-painted tribal/tattoo style tshirts based on my paintings. I've had to get down and dirty to figure out the painting process on textiles and never picked up an airbrush gun before. It sort of feels like working as a graffiti artist using spray cans. Fun! but I might just have them painted in Bali...
  Next week I will know more about composting.
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  Joannie

  1 year ago

  Family.
  
  For the past few days, I've been with my cousins, some of whom I've never met. Yesterday there were 12 of us. It was a beautiful day, warm, sunny, with everything set up for a picnic outdoors. NOBODY moved out of the living room. It was as if we couldn't bear to be apart after having found one another. I came to see the powerful bond created by blood. I hadn't ever seen this before in quite this way. It is a sacred thing.
  
  I am a writer. The time yesterday was so overwhelmingly beautiful, I need time to take it in before I can write about it and make any sense of it at all.
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  Kelley Burrus

  1 year ago

  Photography is not a mere "hobby"--it has the power to allow me to stop and see (and hopefully capture)....not only the physical world around me but the passion, joy, hurt and healing powers of individuals.
  
  I just gifted myself (for my 40th) a 9-day course at Santa Fe Photography Workshops and came away with so much beyond camera mastery, framing and composition. It is soooo good to have my eyes opened---when I had no idea they were closed!
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  Emily Cline

  1 year ago

  That even after 40 years of life, 4 years of therapy, living a good 1,500 miles apart, my dad can still push my buttons. The good news is, I caught it 45 minutes after he left. Not 7 years and 3 countries later! I'm growing! :))
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  Sharon

  1 year ago

  I found my style statement this week (Understated Joy) and now I know more about what makes me tick. Like why I spent my early 20s wearing clown shoes and stripy tights (Umm..a little too heavy on the Joy, a little too light on the Understated!), why people say I get calmer the more anxious the people around me get and why I always divide up big lavish boquets into little sweet ones. Knowing what makes you tick is really liberating. ;)
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  Ngonzi Truth Crushshon

  1 year ago

  The only prevention tools against HIV/AIDS are latex/polyurethane condoms, ABSTINENCE, & using clean needles.
  
  In Spanish, "NADA" has two different meanings "he/she swims" and "nothing"
  
  My boo is back from serving in Iraq, safely. WOO HOO!!!
  
  I know how to draft a Microsoft Access report.
  
  That my dad watches the BET Awards...HA HA!!!
  
  After missing a month of going to the gym and hip hop dance....that I truly enjoy excercising (sweating) and eating healthier!!! It's fun to be healthy!
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  Stacy

  1 year ago

  Well I learned yesterday that my official last day at my freelance job will be next Thursday. I've learned after being in the office for 2+ months that a dirty house doesn't miraculously clean itself...and in fact can get even dirtier?! And I learned this morning that cassette tape is toxic for dogs...who knew that!!!
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  Kat the Drumming Diva

  1 year ago

  This week I discovered that the universe really does work in mysterious ways. On Sunday night I spontaneously said to my boyfriend, 'Hey we should do some yoga before we go to bed!' (We took a beginner class together in the fall.) He said 'Just a second' and clicked away on his computer for a minute and next thing you know, a Kundalini yoga class was starting up. I had heard of it but had never tried it. Turns out it's amazing, feels like flying and de-stressed and re-energized my entire body. I instantly wanted to run off to India and come back as a Kundalini Yoga teacher! The next day, I asked him where he had gotten it. Turns out, the very first time we met (actually a year before I initially thought was our first meeting) I had just come from a yoga class and told him a great way for a guy to meet women would be to take a yoga class! He was interested in me, but naturally assumed I wasn't interested in him if I was giving him advice on meeting other women! So that night he went home and downloaded that very Kundalini Yoga DVD so that he could 'practice' should he ever decide to take a class. Long story short, he never ended up trying it out or taking a class, and when we met a year later, I was definitely interested. And we've been head over heels in love ever since (that was 18 months ago.)
  
  So, the universe brought me the yoga I needed now, that I actually brought to myself through Chris. Or something like that!
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  coletteburnham

  1 year ago

  Manifesting! It is easy, once you stop thinking about trying to do it....
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  Annah

  1 year ago

  I love this story!!
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  Annah

  1 year ago

  I have learned by intense trial-and-error exactly how to cancel and get a refund on a Western Union money order.
  
  I also learned that Wednesdays are 75-cent margarita night at one of my favorite Tex-Mex restaurants. Definitely useful information.
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  Tamara

  1 year ago

  Trust. I'm seeing that trusting people (or anything) is about knowing and accepting the truth about them. The deep-down core reality. It's not about hoping or wishing or assuming or expecting or demanding. It is about KNOWING in your heart, following your intuition. Trust is when you can simply say, "This IS."
  
  "Either you are or you are not.... There is nothing between doing and not doing that can be trusted." Iyanla Vanzant
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  Meredith

  1 year ago

  Last two weeks! Try within the last week. On Sunday I ended a 4 year relationship. Clarity is the name of the game right now. I have had so many revelations about what I THOUGHT my life was and what it ACTUALLY was and most importantly where it is going. I thought he was the love of my life and that it was okay if he didn't meet all of my needs nor want to- I still loved and owed it to him to hang in there because I had made a committment. I thought it was okay that we weren't working on moving forward and fixing us - I was confident that we would...someday. What it actually was, was me trying so hard to make something fit that just didn't anymore. It was me convincing myself that this would someday be the relationship that fulfilled me when in reality we were never going to fix us. I had started getting back in touch with (as Carrie and Danielle would call it) my authentic self. That authentic self I had rediscovered was viviacious, confident, fun, sexy, beautiful - traits I had buried to make room for his world. It was Sunday morning and I stared at him and thought, "I love him. I could never leave him. We'll fix this. We'll fix this." Then I stared at these beautiful, chocolatey, silk sheets I had bought to help make our room more sexy. I thought to myself, "I bought those, so I guess I could take them with me when I leave." And with that, I realized I was out of my relationship. I don't know exactly where I was, but I sure wasn't there. And once I knew, I ended it. So, what do I know now that I didn't two weeks ago: LIVE YOUR JOY, you know the answers (another Carrie & Danielle life lesson), be true to you, don't sacrifice you for someone else. There ya go!
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  Laura

  1 year ago

  The meaning of the adage: The devil is in the details. I'm dancing with that devil trying to find the right handle for my new kitchen cupboards. The Style Statement helps narrow my focus but WOW this stuff takes time. It seems so inconsequential but the decision still has to be made.
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  Katie Kay

  1 year ago

  What I now know about myself that I did not know 2 weeks ago is that I am really strong! Huh, I know that sounds weird. But, I have been working out at my Trainers new Crossfit Gym for 8 months now (crazy calistenics type work) and I realized that I could not have painted my living room with the 12 foot cathedral ceilings all by myself this week with ease. Oh! I'm a little sore, but nor more sore than I am after a workout. I can fly up and down that ladder and roll paint over head like a professional painter, Woo Hoo!
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  Katie Kay

  1 year ago

  That is so romantic, Ilove it!
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  Jemma

  1 year ago

  That you don't always get to have satisfaction in an "ending". And when you're the one unsatisfied, you need to let go of the anger and frustration. Use the opportunity to grow... even if you thought you were old enough to know better! Really, not new information but kick in the pants when it happens to you!
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  Jemma

  1 year ago

  Guess I'm not alone in the wilderness. Thank you.
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  Ellen

  1 year ago

  I learned a lot about Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
  Also that I could respond graciously and gratefully in the face of criticism.
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  Jamie

  1 year ago

  How wonderful! What a beautiful story the universe wrote for you two :)
  
  Kundalini's one of my recent discoveries too.
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  Jamie

  1 year ago

  Right on, sister! Congratulations on liberating yourself. May the joy grow!
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  Kat the Drumming Diva

  1 year ago

  thanks to you all for your comments!
  
  it makes me think the world really is round, when things come full circle!
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  Ruth

  1 year ago

  That I am stronger when I am true to myself.
  And that family, friends and community are much more important to me than I had thought (I'm in the middle of working through my copy of Style Statement. :-))
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  lisaohhh

  1 year ago

  that years of 'crossing my legs' like a 'good girl' is a major contributors to the back and hip pain i now suffer in my mid thirties! and so are carrying my boobs around! :)
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  Karryn Ransom

  1 year ago

  Congratulations my dear friend! How happy am I for you? You are a beautiful paradox Understated Joy. It reminds me of those times when you seemed so shy and quiet, but once you stepped on stage, you exploded in this incredible fireball of energy. You have always been Understated Joy. Now you have a name for it. Blessings to you.
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  Karryn Ransom

  1 year ago

  Oh, and I need to add in that it's totally true: Sharon got calmer when I started freaking out before my wedding. She sat me down and made me eat food, and breathe. She had tissue tucked into the bodice of her dress and was there in a flash. She's amazing and I love her.
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  Susie Hutchinson

  1 year ago

  That 90% of all re-usable shopping bags are made with plastic - you've got to be kidding.
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  Krystl

  1 year ago

  What it is like to have an MRI, and a little bit about how it works (I had a lot of questions for the operator - I'm fascinated by machines!).
  
  Buckminster Fuller. I got to attend the opening of the great exhibit on him at the Whitney, which included a full tour led by the curators. I've always been a fan, but now I know a lot more about him. I now know he was a friend of Isamu Noguchi, which makes so much sense. And I heard for the first time about Black Mountain College, where he taught for 2 years. I must find out more about that place - it was a hotbed of radical thinking in the 40s...
  
  Being outgoing at a cocktail party, and the rewards therein.
  
  My Morning Jacket - finally got to see them live!
  
  Radio City Music Hall. The design was based on the view of sunrise from the deck of an ocean liner. And it is somehow reminiscent of the MRI machine... :)
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  Emerson Zora Hamsa

  1 year ago

  Self Love. I turned thirty this year, and slowly, the need to be validated and accepted by others is being replaced with a profound sense of self-love and a desire to create true community.
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  Lynda

  1 year ago

  Thanks for the great question! I believe with every inch of me that you should be constantly learning.....so this question put that idea to the test:-) I know now that I can live within my budget...wait for something material that I want to acquire until I have the funds to get it.....during the last two weeks I made this decision for myself...this is huge for me, and I feel wonderful that I'm actually stronger than what I thought myself to be.
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  Lynda

  1 year ago

  YES!!!!!
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  Lori

  1 year ago

  I learned that there is a fabulous school in New York called Mama Gena's school of womanly arts that does courses for women on reaquainting themselves with pleasure (thanks to my coach Beth for this info). I just finished the book, appropriately called Mama Gena's School of Womanly Arts, and it was fabulous! Each chapter has exercises to do and let me tell you, mama Gena has got it going on!
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  Sharon

  1 year ago

  awwwwww
  Right back at ya! ....*sniff*
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  Connie

  1 year ago

  I know more about most of the people I love or care about; I know more about my feelings for them and vice versa. I also know more about trust and belief in my own intuitions.
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  Afi Scruggs

  1 year ago

  I know more about photography. I just finished a digital photography class and it was awesome! I took photographs of my friend's secret garden and I can't wait to work on the project.
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  justagirl

  1 year ago

  that my odd behaviors, bad feelings, gradiosity, etc. has a name. I'm bipolar, not broken or bad.
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  Carrie McCarthy

  1 year ago

  Ditto, I amazed by many of my friends & families commitment to being a parent. Three here at C&D;! Danielle,Dan & Karryn.
  
  All amazing parents!!
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  ElegantDiscovery

  1 year ago

  Sometimes you just have to let go. Understand that you've done all that you can do and have faith that things will be just as they should be.
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  Composed Cherishing

  1 year ago

  I made a very bad decision about a week ago and sent an anonymous letter to someone. As soon as I released it into the mailbox, I knew I'd done the wrong thing. My fear of discovery caused extreme anxiety and even heart palpitations. My action caused me to question my usually good judgement and ethics.
  
  So, what I know more about today is that I'm capable of doing something really stupid and that I need to think more about the implications and consequences of my actions--but without squelching my spontaneous streak.
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  Beth C.

  1 year ago

  That people really do love to get hand-written notes of encouragement. I volunteer for a large organization whose mission is to provide trained volunteers to the community. To fulfill that mission, we rotate positions every year. This year, I decided to write letters of encouragement and congratulations to all of the ladies I know who are moving into leadership positions. It felt great to write them and it has felt even better to hear back from friends who say that it was a nice pick up to get a hand-written note in their mailbox instead of just the normal bills and junk mail that flows into our homes these days. That just made my heart feel good.
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  Hilma

  1 year ago

  Knowing that you are heading into a heavy demanding time does NOT prepare you for it. Nothing can stop the exhaustion from shutting you down when you reach that point. I thought if I planned breaks, made time to sit and rejuvenate, and generally prepared myself the heavy demand, I would be able to stave off exhaustion. The body does have its limits - and they are not necessarily what we "think" they are.
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  Angela (a different one)

  1 year ago

  I found my style statement - Comfortable Clever. I learning to recognize it, trust it and embrace it in all areas of my life.
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  Dena

  1 year ago

  I learned that my actions can hurt another person whether I intend to or not.
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  Caroline

  1 year ago

  that what i ask for in relationships is not unreasonable or overly demanding. i often have a tendency to make it my problem if someone cannot meet my needs. i am learning that sometimes people are unable to show up and commit for their own reasons and that it serves no one for me to ask for less.
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