I’m just starting to wake up. For me that means, in part, going through my Twitter feed as I enjoy my first cup of coffee. I followed a link from one of my Tweeps to a video by a man who has done a self-portrait every day for twelve years. That’s a long time to keep committed to a daily project, which is inspiring in and of itself. More that that, though, the well-edited video shows how our daily activities make up our lives and how art can be used to transform our own lives. I wanted to share:

Jeff Harris: 4,748 Self-Portraits and Counting from We Know Music on Vimeo.

Via BoooooooM

Tags: documentary, inspiration, jeff harris, video

For today’s post I’d like to refer you back to another post already on this site:

100 things that inspire me!

Because I is for Inspiration.

Tags: a-z blogging challenge, inspiration

The blog Inspiration Morning posted the most lovely thought today and I just really wanted to share it:

“It is our desire that you become one who is happy with that which you are and with that which you have—while at the same time being eager for more. That is the optimal creative vantage point: To stand on the brink of what is coming, feeling eager, optimistic anticipation—with no feelings of impatience, doubt, or unworthiness hindering the receiving of it—that is the Science of Deliberate Creation at its best.”
~ Esther & Jerry Hicks from Ask and It Is Given

They always have inspiring thoughts so I’d encourage you to check out their blog and/or follow them on Twitter @InspirationDay.

Tags: inspiration

I know that I’ve slacked off on being active on this blog. However, I’m getting productive again if for no other reason than because I wanted to participate in a really cool project called Pin It Forward. Through this project, launched by SF Girl By Bay, 300 bloggers are creating virtual inspiration boards and blogging about them this month.

We’re all using Pinterest, a new website where you can “pin” items from around the web onto your own virtual inspiration boards. You simply install the “pin it” widget into your bookmarks bar and then you can pin images from any website and they’ll be attributed back to the proper source. You can add your own thoughts and descriptions to each image.

The theme for this project is “What Home Means To Me”. As you’ll see from my Pinterest board, home to me means everything from a freshly made cup of coffee in the morning to really cool furniture to cuddling up with someone I love.

Make sure to check out yesterday’s post from Il etait une fois and tomorrow’s post by Illuminession. Find links to all of the other Pinterest board blog posts here.

Tags: inspiration, pin it forward, pinterest

As I mentioned before, I’m one of the lucky 300 bloggers participating in Blog It Forward, an idea launched by SFGirlByBay. We’re all writing about what inspires us personally. We’re each being introduced by the blog before us (thanks to my intro blog, Diary of a Budget Fashionista!!) and we’re making sure that you know to check out the blog after us (definitely check out Dig Under Rocks tomorrow!). I’d really encourage you to check out all of the different posts, though, because they have been so amazing and inspiring in and of themselves!

For my part, I have to say that I really get inspired by everything. I see things and read things and hear things all throughout the day and they inspire me. Some inspire me to write a certain blog post. Some inspire my creative writing or poetry. Some inspire my desire to learn new things. Some inspire me to be kinder to others. Some just give me that wonderful feeling of vague inspiration that doesn’t get channeled into anything specific but makes me feel a little bit brighter about life.

I could go on and on forever about every little thing that inspires me but I’ll keep my list down to 100 inspiring things:

1. Live sketching events where artists gather together, create art as you watch and post it on a wall for sale right there
2. Watching children do anything that reveals that childlike wonder for things that we adults consider normal or mundane
3. Watching people work on computers or consumer electronics because I just can’t do it well myself
4. Hearing about the memories of elderly people
5. Reading books on creativity and artful living
6. Huge libraries filled with floors and floors of so many books that I’ll never be able to read them all
7. Wandering around the city people-watching
8. Indie arts and crafts events where hundreds of crafters gather together to show off their work
9. Browsing through Etsy
10. Watching absolutely any film that’s shown in IMAX 3D
11. Being handed a plate of food that’s almost too beautiful to eat but tastes so good that you can’t help it
12. The smell of coffee
13. Taking walking tours especially through areas I’ve seen a hundred times but want to see in a new way
14. Those grand things that inspire everyone like magnificent sunsets and huge ocean views
15. Finding pictures in the clouds
16. Stop-Motion video
17. People who can take really amazing pictures and then make them even better with photo editing software
18. Listening to auctioneers do their thing
19. Checking out antique stores in small towns in the Midwest
20. Long road trips with just me, myself and the radio
21. Pandora and how well it seems to know what I want to hear!
22. Anyone who can find the silver lining in a tough situation
23. The amazing women who have entered my life over the years
24. Great quotations from authors both known and unknown
25. Magic shows
26. Cirque du Soleil performances
27. Lomography
28. Random links posted on social networking sites for me to click on
29. Vintage postcards
30. Learning new crochet stitches and making something I haven’t made before
31. Scrapbooking the photos taken throughout the month
32. Journaling
33. Reading the published journals/diaries of other people, especially writers and artists
34. Documentaries that are both interesting and informative
35. Reading “strange news” websites and blogs
36. Fingering the fabrics in luxury clothing stores
37. Piecing together outfits from the items bought in second hand clothing stores
38. The changing skyline of San Francisco
39. Everything about my little sister
40. Doing things that scare me at first like riding ATVs
41. Long hikes
42. Long conversations
43. Live theatre events where a single actor plays multiple roles
44. Listening to people beatbox
45. Open mic poetry readings
46. Coloring books
47. Those 3D posters that you had to really stare at to see the picture
48. Crazy competitions like the fastest texters or the fastest Rubik’s cube solvers
49. Elaborate sandcastles
50. Project Runway
51. Women who can walk in six inch heels
52. Elderly people who are trying new things, performing in plays, really out there living life
53. Anything that manages to actually make me laugh out loud
54. Coming across really funny typos
55. Stunning strange shoes like these
56. Seeing videos of people doing free running and parkour
57. Terrific slideshows of beautiful things set to music that just really goes with the images
58. Daydreaming
59. Unique architecture, bionic buildings, upside down houses
60. That moment when you feel like you’re really connecting with a stranger
61. Collage art
62. Watching glass blowers in action
63. The smell of used bookstores
64. Burlesque performance
65. How people come together in a crisis
66. Getting groups of adults together to do things like color Easter eggs or make gingerbread houses
67. Stunning Christmas light displays
68. Seeing people use creative approches to doing the things that we do every day
69. Viewing other people’s random collections – music or salt shakers or aprons or whatever they may love that I didn’t until I saw their passion
70. Children twirling around until they fall down
71. Science museums
72. Car shows and museums filled with vintage cars
73. Articles that show specific changing technology (like how cell phones have changed over the years)
74. Fingerpainting
75. Yoga, pilates, meditation, and hula hoop dancing classes
76. People who speak half a dozen languages or more
77. The Northern Lights
78. Rainbows
79. Conventions for odd interests like the movie The Blob or the merging of sex and technology
80. Weird niche books on topics like pedestrianism or obituary writing
81. Unusual museums like the Liberace Museum in Vegas
82. Stumbling upon unique free events
83. Travel memoirs
84. The fact that scarves can be worn so many different ways
85. People who can make crazy outfits or makeup look good
86. Costumed events
87. Meteor showers
88. When you find the exact word to specifically describe something
89. Keeping a list of “ugly words” with my dad and getting excited about coming across a new one
90. Those moments when I actually feel like I’m really living in the moment
91. Weird hotels
92. Funny signage especially when it’s not intended to be funny
93. Leafy sea dragons
94. Visiting aquariums
95. Trying to cook something new and having it come out exactly right
96. Setting and meeting random goals like trying twenty different sugar-rimmed drinks or watching all of the movies with a particular actor in them
97. Riding on the back of someone else’s motorcycle
98. Collaborative projects with cool creative people
99. Exploring caves and lava tubes and ruins and old mines
100. Falling in love

Tags: 100 inspiring things, blog it forward, creativity, inspiration

There are a wide range of different topics that I write about on a regular basis. My favorite topic of all is probably creativity. In fact, I try to take a creative slant to almost any other topic that I write about (although I wouldn’t say that I always succeed). I believe that writing about creativity makes me more motivated to be creative in my own life. I hope that it encourages other people to be creative as well.

Several of my recent articles on HubPages were about being creative. These included:

• 10 Fun and Creative Projects to do with your Camera Phone. It was so fun to try to think up different projects that you could do with just the camera on your phone. I have to admit that I haven’t done all of these myself but now that I’ve thought of them there are certainly some in there that I plan to try. I think your camera phone is a great tool for little daily bits of creativity.
• 7 Fun, Free Tag Cloud Programs for Creating Word Art. Tag clouds can be so inspiring. I put this HubPages article together as I was trying to find a good tag cloud program for myself. (I like Wordle best, big surprise). This inspired another article on my own blog about using tag cloud programs to benefit writing.
• 15 Ideas for Using Your Writing to Make Christmas Presents. I believe that your writing can always be used as a gift. Here are some creative and fun ideas for how to turn your writing into affordable and appreciated presents for Christmas.
• 10 Terrific Niche Books for Curious Readers. Creative people are usually readers. These are a bunch of books that I’ve read that are on unusual topics that you don’t normally get the chance to read about. How fun!
• 10 Stunning Surrealist Artists. Finally I recently wrote an article highlighting the work of ten different surrealist artists who are not from the original era of surrealism but instead are putting out amazing works of art today. I’m so inspired by these people!

Tags: art, creativity, inspiration, smartchick, writing

Just wanted to share that my article on inspiration to try new things (“It’s Never Too Late“) was featured in a terrific blog carnival called “inspiration and motivation“.

If this topic interests you, check out some of the other great articles in the carnival. Topics included:

• The law of attraction
• Leadership
• Creativity
• Forgiveness and acceptance in tough situations
• Happiness in your life and career
• Staying positive and finding fulfillment
• Health issues such as stress management
• Change

And there were also some inspirational quotes which I love. I hope you enjoy them as well!

Tags: blog carnival, inspiration, links, motivation, reading, smartchick

I didn’t have any photos that seemed right for Fourth of July so I decided to dig back into my archive of photos from holidays that happened earlier this year. I found some that I really liked from when I decorated Easter Eggs:

Tags: easter, easter eggs, easter photos, eggs, inspiration, kathryn vercillo, Photos

My birthday just recently passed. I’ve read a lot about what my birthday means in different astrological charts and things like that because I’m interested in that sort of stuff even if I’m not sure that I believe any of it to be specifically true.

One of the things I’ve read about in relation to that is the famous people who share my date of birth. I think it’s interesting to see who else was born on the same day as me. Famous people who have the same birthday as me include Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Beckett, Eudora Welty, and Gary Kasparov (the chess champion). Interestingly there are also a few Miss America types with this birthday and the date is also shared with the children of several famous folks including Sean Penn’s daughter and John Travolta’s son.

So what? Well here’s the thing … If there’s any truth at all to the fact that people who share astrological signs may also share some personality traits then it’s possible to get inspired by looking at the famous people who share your birthday. Reviewing the works of great politicians, famous authors and smart chess players can make you feel like you have this potential as well. I think it’s a good idea to reflect on this for a moment during each birthday to refocus on your own goals and to get a sense of inspiration about how to achieve them.

Another example of how to be inspired by famous birthdays (in this case June 3 birthdays) can be seen here.

Tags: birthdays, creativity, famous birthdays, famous people, holidays, inspiration

One of the things that has become really important in my life in the past year or so is the time that I give myself in the morning to begin the day on the right foot. I have found that if I just jump out of bed and start my day, I am stressed out and miserable before noon. In contrast, if I take time for myself in the morning to get my brain in a positive frame of mind, then I tend to have much happier and more productive days.

I’m lucky because I freelance and work for myself so I have a schedule that allows me to take as much time as I need each morning. I realize that other people don’t have that luxury. But I do believe that everyone can take at least a little bit of time each day to start things off right. My tips for doing that have just been published in the article titled How to Start Every Day Off on the Right Foot.

I do many, many different things each morning to bring myself to a place of peace. I journal every day including keeping a separate journal for the things that I feel thankful for that day. I spend time reading inspirational things; (right now I’m reading a book on the Tibetan approach to positive thinking). I work on creative projects like mini-collages or scrapbooks.

But basically, what this article is all about is that I take time for myself in the morning. I give myself the right to have a little bit of time alone, just for me, to create peace of mind for myself. Because really, peace of mind is one of the things that I value most in life. Don’t you?!

Tags: creativity, health, inspiration, life, living, optimism, start day off right, wellness