and the winner is...

beverley!!! congratulations...you can contact brandi directly with your shipping info...here.

also, i have a piece of mine over at joyrebel.com...stop by and say hi for the giveaway.

storytime

so you may have noticed a little blog-makeover this week...i've been working hard to make my online home better reflect my real life. it kinda felt like when you move the furniture around in a room and it looks totally different...even though it's the same old stuff! i realized that i've been talking about all of these concepts over the past year, now i'm just giving them a breath of fresh air. and i'm making good on my promise to connect more with the creative women who inspire me every day.

if you've read my blog before, you know that i've tried to do a new discovery post every week over the past year. well, with jodie's playground, my goal is to engage others to join me in adding play to our daily routines, and friday will be the day to check in and see how we're doing. i imagine my flashback friday's will be similar to my discoveries, but focused on what i'm doing to nourish my childlike spirit.

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this week i'm going to talk about one of my favorite subjects: reading. as a 20-something i started collecting children's books--you know the ones:

• the very hungry caterpillar
• corduroy bear
• alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

i don't know what made me start doing it, but my mom and i had such fun flipping through dozens of amelia bedelia's mishaps! thinking back on those books reminds me how much i loved reading as a kid...hours spent at the peoria public library, lounging on bean bag chairs, checking out mountains of summer reads.

my cousin was recently in town for a week and finished 3 books on her trip (p.s. she's a teacher and has a master's in reading--she reads FAST). once she finished one, i took it and i actually finished a whole book that week too (and i was working!) it made me think of those awesome summer reading lists...and how i devoured words like candy back then, a sugar-high when my heroine saved the day.

and last week i realized that i still get that high. that feeling when you're at the peak, not knowing what will happen next. and then the depression that sets in when the last page is turned, and i must bid farewell to  my new friends. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is an incredible book...i highly recommend it for the last lazy weeks of summer. and if you don't have time for that one, then maybe one of shel silverstein's poems will do the trick. 

what are you doing this summer that makes you feel like a kid?

whimsical women interview #1

i'm so excited to introduce you to the very first joy rebel...brandi reynolds! not long after my initiation into the blogosphere,  i stumbled upon brandi's joy rebel army and am now a proud member. i could go on and on about how i drool over her photographs and that sometimes her blog posts make me laugh so hard milk comes out my nose, but it might embarrass her.

so, i'll let her describe the essence of the joy rebellion in her own words: "One idea: We could watch the news, read a fashion magazine that calls anyone over a size 6 'plus sized' and become more jaded with every commute through traffic. OR we can rebel; find the beauty, get doggie kisses, make messy paintings, write sappy love songs, compose bold memoirs, forgive radically, hope abundantly, shine encouragingly and otherwise claim the inner joy that I believe is at the core of each of us."  you took the words right out of my mouth....

let's get to know brandi {and her incredible photography--pictured here}, shall we?

as i leave behind my old blog, the year of discovery, i'll ask for one thing you've discovered in the last year?

I’ve discovered a need to get back to basics, to slow down, to breathe and to have fun with other venues of creativity (other than photography). And that I can’t do it all. And that I can’t give up *crack* dr. pepper.

how do you bring fun into your life…anything you do regularly that makes you feel like a kid again?

I laugh as much as humanly possible. Fortunately, both my husband and I have the same 12 year old boy sense of humor so laughing is pretty easy in our house. And whenever I am in water, I totally connect with that joyful kid energy.

how do you maintain balance in your life (IF you do), between creative endeavors and the other parts of your life?

*crack* dr. pepper. Kidding! I’ve figured out that I HAVE to take time for yoga and quietness. It seems that if I can give myself that space and that peace, I am better able to balance everything else.

what does community mean to you? could you describe a community of which you're a part?

I am so fortunate to be part of a community of creative bloggers. People like you, Jodie! And the wonderful group at wish studio and Connie and Darrah. I get so much inspiration, support and joy from this group. And that’s what community means to me as well.

what is the BEST costume you've ever worn?

Dressing up for a renaissance faire was so fun! I was a gypsy.

if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? and who would you take with you?

I’d go to new Zealand and visit all the sites where lord of the rings was filmed. (total LOTR dork here!). And I’d take my husband with me.

tell us something about yourself that only a few people know…

Um….I don’t think that’s possible. I kinda blather about everything on my blog….lol.

and last, what's something you've been working on…or an upcoming project you want to share with us?

Well, I am totally looking forward to the art show with you sweetness! But other than that, I am allowing whatever comes up to come up.

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ahhhh, she mentioned a little thing called the art show...so much fun coming in august my friends. i am kicking off my whimsical women series with a tour of texas, and all the artsy-love we've got going on down here. i'm bringing the girls together for an all-women's show at our studio in one month. and to start the celebration a little early, brandi has graciously donated an incredible print for one lucky winner!

to enter the giveaway, you'll need to either:

1.   comment on this post, answering the question: what makes you feel like a kid again?  OR
2.   comment on tomorrow's flashback friday post

i'll choose the winner from the comments from both days (and yes, you improve your chance if you comment twice!)  and announce it on saturday 7/31.

************

thanks so much to brandi for visiting the playground...if you're loving her photographs and can't wait to see if you win "dive," you can peek at her etsy shop here. she also has a fabulous new website she created herself. yes, she is kind of a show off...

but i forgot one very important question: are you more of a swings or slide kinda girl?

welcome to the playground...

wanna play???

discovery #40 - the final entry

anything is possible

what i have discovered over this year of blogging is that anything is possible--if you open yourself to the opportunity. since i pressed "publish" on that first post, huge shifts have occurred...i have chased down my dreams and created bigger ones. i could never have imagined this life as i sat contemplating the boredom sure to follow my 32nd birthday. over the course of the year i have discovered the power of listening to the universe, noticing the overlaps, and paying close attention to my inner whispers. and i have followed all of these to an incredibly fulfilling place.

i have discovered that when i commit to something, put in the hard work, and ignore the fear of failure...i can do almost anything. i have pushed outside my own boundaries, explored the unknown, and found myself living a creative lifestyle that existed only in my dreams. and now those dreams have grown--with the delicious anxiety that comes with spreading my wings wider. i am learning to embrace that fear, the one that says "you can't do that"...i have begun to respond: "why not?" and then laughing when i prove the fear wrong.

as i look back on the things i have accomplished this year, i am filled with a great sense of pride. i am proud that i have opened my heart to possibility, followed my own path, and created my own destiny. as i scan back through the archives, i am given the gift of transformation. because of this year, i truly believe that anything is possible. so often we limit ourselves by the excuses we make for why we could never do something, rather than flipping it to why we would love to do something. once we admit that we want something (whether we believe we can actually attain it at that moment), we can begin taking ACTION to achieving it.  and i am a firm believer in baby-steps to get there...

my year of discovery has shown me many things, but this experience of blogging and dreaming and stretching out of my comfort zone has proven the benefits of following my heart. i have known that i was not cut out for the 9-5 life...but kept trying it anyway. i have known that i am creative...but never put myself out there for others to see. i have discovered that i am powerful beyond measure...that just when i think i know what i am capable of, i do something even bigger. by putting my dreams up on the screen, by holding myself accountable for all those built-up wishes, i have found a place of true happiness.

thank you for joining me on this journey of discovery...