Introducing Mandy Miracle
So here’s the thing. I blogged every day in May, as part of the WordCount 2010 Blogathon… and I didn’t enjoy it. It wasn’t meaningful. I only really cared about a handful of things I posted, like this.
As I discussed my quandary with a friend, she said, “Well, why don’t you try a different kind of blog?” At first, I resisted – I mean, here I’ve spent time and energy trying to build up a following for one thing, and now I’m going back to square one?
But that line of thinking alone clued me in: Building a following shouldn’t be goal #1 (especially when I don’t have a business plan to speak of). I need blogging to be an artistic outlet for me. I was hemming myself in by trying too hard to tightly define “This blog is about X” so that I could define it easily, market it easily… but I wasn’t having any fun. And that sucks.
So I came up with an alter-ego to jump-start my creativity and give me permission to do whatever the hell I want; and I found a new sandbox that I am thoroughly enjoying. Alter-ego: Mandy Miracle. Playspace: Tumblr. Check it out. I can’t promise this will last, but if it doesn’t, I promise to tell you about my next adventure.
How to Find the Work You Love
“The quest for work you love – it all begins with the two simple questions: Who am I? and What in the world am I doing here?”
- Laurence G. Boldt in How to Find the Work You Love
Ah, yes – the “simple” questions. Right up there with “Want fries with that?” – “What is my purpose on this earth?”
Who are you? Want fries with that?
I don’t know my purpose just yet, but I figure the best way to find it is by living mindfully. For me, that means striving to align my external existence with my inner one. Whenever I feel like something in my external life is hollow – that I’m just going through the motions with it – I know it’s time to make a change, large or small. (more…)
Visiting Coney Island
Today I took the subway to the ocean – Coney Island, to be exact, which is equal parts seaside playground and altar to kitsch.
Here’s what I saw:
I also took this video – I like it better as a soundscape… close your eyes and just listen:
Antidote
The aesthetic details at Cienfuegos: one of many things that inspired me this week
As an antedote to yesterday’s post – not to nullify it, only to surround it with other things that are also true in my life right now (good old “yes, and”) – I offer up this jumbled list of things that have inspired me in the past week:
- Poetry by Billy Collins
- The latest issue of HOW Design (thanks, @dloehr)
- Stinky, a beautiful food shop in Brooklyn full of beautiful things
- My friends – their strength and grace and humor and spark
- Party Down – good comedy
- Peonies
- Hydrangeas
- My parents’ photos from their trip to Europe – the gardens in southern France, the vistas in Spain
- Defying Gravity
- The beautiful decor and attention to aesthetic detail at Cienfuegos, where we drank pink rum punch served from a shiny silver bowl
- Photos of brownstone apartments
- Volunteers who are helping clean up the BP oil spill
- The “Tweets of Old” Twitter feed – so simple and creative
- Jonsi
- The Artist’s Way – paging through it for inspiration
- And so much more
What inspired you this week?
My Version of a Prayer
“Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.” – Joseph Campbell
I know old Joey Campbell is right. And I know the challenges I’m facing are nothing compared to what people are experiencing all around the world, this very minute, from the gulf coast to Iraq to the projects just a few blocks away from me.
But I’m only me, and Universe, I’m ready for a breakthrough. I’m ready for a quiet night of sleep. I’m ready for the city of New York to shut the f*ck up for a minute. Can you do that for me, Universe?
I feel it’s emblematic of my week that last night, I went to a meditation class – more like dragged myself, I was so tired – and a rock band was rehearsing directly on the other side of a thin wall. (more…)
