Human sunbeams! Listen up: sister girl Rose is suffering from some serious vitamin D deprivation right about now, and I know I’m not alone. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing, and even if the lack of sunlight doesn’t have you dusting off your coffin backpack, the evermore fatalistic peeps surrounding you have probably inspired that black lipstick you’re sporting. It’s time for some alternate inspiration… and I’m not talking this kind of alternate (unless Hello Kitty Vamp is your thing. Power on, girlfran!) I’m talking a list much like my Thursday Inspiration List: catalyst of a thousand kind response emails… ok, ten kind response emails. I’m all for spilling your guts – your goals, your ideals, the patent keys to happiness you’ve already got janglin’ on yo’ chain – to the universe, and I think the message is all the more powerful when we band together for a collective holla. So let’s holla! More ways to thrive in this gloom:
- Wake up early. All right… I can literally hear you guys X-ing out of this screen, but let me explain! If you go to bed by 10:00 p.m. and wake up before 6:00 a.m. on any given weekday, you get your beauty sleep and a couple hours of you-time. I hold my early mornings sacred to the extent that it takes major goading to keep me out til midnight during the week… because truth be told, my morning ritual grounds me for the whole day and without it, I’m sort of a lobotomized chicken. Said ritual is this: wake up around 5:00 a.m., put my french press and blender to good use (my neighbors may hate me but c’est la vie), caffeinate/break the fast while writing – either a blog post or morning pages - and then hit the gym for some meditative exercise. No, I don’t actually meditate at the gym. I’m not Sting! I either zone out in spin class or do some brainless running/elipticaling. Either way, I turn my mind off, and in between Rihanna videos and bumpin’ techno music, I’m usually struck with some pretty cool thoughts. Sweet!
- Eat well. Pretty, pretty readers, all health is mind-body health… you really can’t separate the two. Surely, there have been brilliant creatives who’ve survived on chicken wings and grilled cheese (Idk?! What are the kids eating these days?), but you can have nine Pulitzers and a Mensa pin on your lapel and not be mentally healthy; see: van Gogh. Okay, so that was a bit of a tangent and I have no idea what Vinnie the One-eared liked to eat, but I do know that we are all emotional eaters. Even if a meh day doesn’t send you straight to the (coconut milk) ice cream aisle, in which case, you’re a mutant and I’m jealous; a night spent consuming crap will lead to brain-fog and a bad attitude in the morning. Aside from lack of sunlight in the winter, everybody’s crabby because they’re on a mission to self-insulate! Check in with yourself and ask what your body needs. Ask aloud if you want! Afterwards, just make sure to insist to company/eavesdroppers, “I am mentally healthy!!!” For real, though, I have to check in with myself after dinner every night. I always need something sweet, but I find that I usually feel better with fresh fruit and some peppermint tea than I do with too many raw vegan nutella brownies. Usually. You all know that sometimes a girl need a REAL dessert. But sometimes is not every night.
- Troll the internet for ladies who are living your dreams right now. The sooner we accept that successful women in creative fields weren’t all born with freak-genes and trust funds that we don’t have access to: the sooner we realize that we really can do it, as soon as we figure out what it is. (Loving the random bolding today, can you tell?) Not gonna lie, though… it helps to know rock stars personally. Check out http://lovebombnyc.com/ to see what Alessandra’s up to, and then vist my fabulous friend Michelle at http://www.dogfishaccelerator.com/in/. Two true to themselves, down to earth women in their twenties. Changing the world. There are so many more of you out there taking part in this honest to goodness grrrrrl revolution in our midst and I’ve got to tell you… I. am. so. excited.
- So last time we did this, we talked about our vision… our future selves, doing our future things, chilling in our future happy places. Today, since I’m all about must-haves, (that post was the catalyst of a few less-than-gushy email responses. Sorry men. I know what I like.) I want to chat about the absolutes we need in our life’s work. Maybe you don’t know what you want to do yet. That’s cool – I barely have it figured out myself – but you probably know how you want to feel once you’re doing it. Writing down your personal career/purpose essentials puts you one step closer to making your dreams happen. When I’m finally fulfilling my life’s work…
I’m free. Free to navigate through my day on my schedule and my terms. If you’re passionate about something the way I’m passionate about tapping into our inner muses and letting those girls the Hell out, you’ll never walk away from your desk at the end of the day thinking “did I even accomplish anything in the past eight hours?” Business hours be damned – I want to work when I want, where I want (home, France…). I don’t know about you, but nothing about a cubicle’s feng shui screams PRODUCTIVE to me. Future Rose is a slave to no office!
I’m perpetually inspired by my work, and I’m able to use the tools I’ve collected for my own purposes to uncover inklings of inspiration in my clients. Future Rose is able to provide encouragement for extraordinary women because she knows, firsthand, that you find real, soulful, wallet-full success when you do what you love.
So naturally… Future Rose loves what she does. And she can pay her rent.
Anyone else out there need some inspiration right now? How do you keep your focus on your dreams? How do you solidify those dreams? I promise that answering those questions will help get you there!
Stay strong, winter warriors! XOXO,
Rose
February 19, 2013 at 6:45 pm
Early mornings are the best. I wake up earlier than I need to so that I can have my me time.
February 19, 2013 at 6:47 pm
Amen sister. I’ll think of you next time I’m up at the crack of dawn (… soooo, tomorrow!)
February 19, 2013 at 8:16 pm
This list is right on the money (er, the chain). I think winter is more fun when we see it as a limited time offer instead of a prison sentence. Revel in the soup and the socks and the Netflix, because in three months everyone will judge you for wanting to spend your Saturday watching six straight hours of Gossip Girl (who, me?). There’s a season for everything! Although I also have this theory that going out is more fun in the winter, because it ends up being only the people who really WANT to be there and are committed to having a kick@$$ time. I have reverse SAD.
February 19, 2013 at 10:02 pm
I love this, girl! So right on with reveling in all that is cozy and lazy. 6 hours GG marathon? Count me in! Making my way through it right now, having somehow missed the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite when it was actually aired. I’m totes a Serena. And I’m totes in love with Dan.
Re: going out in the winter… yes yes yes! If you’re willing to freeze your butt off in line at Danny’s, you have EARNED a sweaty hipster dance party. That theory is GOLD.
Hope Chicago was funnnn! You did not rub up against me anywhere because I was… watching Gossip Girl. XOXO.
February 20, 2013 at 12:36 am
It was wonderful, thank you! I do so love your city. Don’t worry, I did enough DDPing for the both of us. And you had better be on season two or before if you’re still calling yourself a Serena, she is the WORST. (I’m a Kristen Bell. Tee hee.)
February 20, 2013 at 1:52 am
Being Kristen Bell is cheating!!! Although, I’d say it’s accurate – you seem pretty in the know
Ugh, and I just started Season 4. Does that make me a terrible person? I’ve got the flighty, slightly reckless, (fake) blonde thing DOWN… but yeah, she should stop sleeping with senators and chasing her Baldwin father and stealing other girls’ boyfriends and stuff. Whatevs.
Thank you for DDPing. I plan to make up for my previously sedentary state this weekend.
February 19, 2013 at 11:05 pm
Yup, so true re: waking up early. It totally sets the tone for my day, not to mention provides me with ample time to work out and/or act psuedo-intellectual with my coffee and Russian literature…but I love it. Now, as far as the mind-body health is concerned, I couldn’t agree more; the problem is that it is sometimes so. damn. hard. to marry the two. I’m working on it, and slowly but surely coming to terms with my body’s own needs and wants. I’ve also found that helping others is a surefire way to get out of my gloomy doom. I volunteer at an animal shelter, and working with the animals helps me abandon whatever was plaguing me!
-Molly
February 20, 2013 at 2:00 am
Love that you inspire yourself by volunteering, Molly! Noble AND good for your soul. And I’m with you on morning time… super important. You don’t want to mess with me if I haven’t had my me time
Figuring out what works for your body, though, sister… that’s a journey. Are you sorta new on the vegan scene or have you been around the figurative veg block? If you need any self care advice from a chick who’s been there, (and who has learned through trial and error; sickness and health, what NOT to do) shoot me an email! I love chatting about this stuff.
February 20, 2013 at 2:35 am
I’ve been a vegan for about three years now, but unfortunately developed an ED as a new vegetarian in high school. I personally don’t believe my veg*n diet spawned the disordered eating patterns; they just happened to occur simultaneously. Anyway, I’ll definitely shoot you an email–I love discussing this stuff, too!
February 20, 2013 at 6:26 pm
Check your inbox for a new novel by yours truly, gf. <3
February 20, 2013 at 12:47 pm
I watched the dog fish accelerator video on their website. Wowzie! Michelle really sounds like she knows what she’s talking about. That is inspiring!
February 20, 2013 at 1:46 pm
Oh my gosh, Marg. Let her know!!! Isn’t she a whiz?! AND she designed those websites!!! (right Goo?)
February 20, 2013 at 10:10 pm
I KNOW I need to get up earlier! But I can’t! Sleep trumps all for me! Plus, I write at night, usually! Help! Hellllllp!
February 21, 2013 at 6:55 pm
Girlfran, I’m not especially worried about your process considering you’re a super talented artiste WHO ACTUALLY CREATES and does so consistently. You could probs give me a lesson.
Don’t mess with success!!!
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