may this dress remind us be grateful, for all of life's ups and downs ...

“I’m grateful for past betrayals, heartaches, and challenges…
I thought they were breaking me; but they were sculpting me.” ~Steve Maraboli

The below list is from a insightful post,

 7 Lessons to Remember When Life Seems to Suck, 

 on tiny buddha, written by Benson Wong

(click here to read the post in its entirety)

from '7 Lessons to Remember When Life Seems to Suck':

The Lessons at a Glance: To sum up the lessons learned, here they are. You are what you think. So, choose carefully! Question your beliefs. Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. Stop finding excuses for why you can’t. This is called blaming. Instead, find reasons why you can. This is called taking the initiative. Be thankful for both the good and the bad in your life for both are gifts. Meditate Really decide.

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May this dress remind us to learn the wonders of balance ...

'dresstag' left at Karma Coffee, Sudbury, MA

Life is a balance between what we can control and what we cannot.

 I am learning to live between effort and surrender.

Danielle Orner

love, mom

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day40: sometimes you need to just kick back ...

Life is all about balance. You don’t always need to be getting stuff done. Sometimes it’s perfectly okay, and absolutely necessary, to shut down, kick back, and do nothing. 

Lori Deschene

This is SO true!!

Especially in this age of omni-access, it is  is critical to make sure you create a healthy life balance. 

 Since we now all carry mini computers with us, it is very easy to be 'busy' all the time,
checking emails, checking social media, checking the most current news ...

But don't do it.

Remember the importance of doing nothing!!! 

Daydreaming, doodling, pausing, just being!!

love, mom

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may this dress bring you YOUR love and affection!!

“You, 

yourself, 

as much as anybody else

 in the entire universe,

 deserve your love and affection.” 

~ Buddha

true love for YOUR authentic self

I have recently discovered an amazing website, 

Tiny Buddha.  

It offers thoughtful articles, inspiring quotes, 

forums and exercises to guide one on this journey we call life! 

I have found it helpful, insightful and accessible.  

Below an excerpt from their articles, 

How to Love Your Authentic Self, by Lori Deschene.

This article spoke volumes to my heart and i wanted to share.

To read the entire article either click on the article title above

 or anywhere on the excerpt below:

We all want validation. It’s an intrinsic human need to feel connected to other people; and oftentimes when we feel alone, it’s because we believe we haven’t proven how good we are or can be.

You don’t have to show the world you’re good. You don’t have to try to hide the things you’ve done that might not seem flattering. You just need to forgive and accept yourself and trust that other people will, as well.

Being authentic means being vulnerable–letting people see all your different facets, trusting they won’t judge you, and knowing that if they do that’s completely on them.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be real with people and know the ones who accept me accept me fully, than pretend and then have to maintain the illusion that I am something I’m not.

The article also suggest that I post a picture of myself 

when I was really happy as a way to celebrate my authentic self. 

 My profile picture fits that criteria but those 

who receive this post in an email form you don't see it, so I will repost it here.  

This picture shows my authentic self.  

The picture was taken my David Lang, 

a friend and a person who celebrates my true self, even when I forget her.  

I am hanging out the window of my studio, 

most likely just after one of our mutual shop-talk talks. 

and I was heading back into my studio, tingling with inspiration.  

Because of recent life changes I don't have the freedom 

to be in my studio as I had been before, 

however I KNOW that I will get back there.  

I needed to make changes in areas of my life,

I wanted to be authentic in all aspects of my life.

This choice has definitely rocked my boat, 

but they were very needed changes.  

So right now I am focusing on righting my boat, 

and keeping me and my amazing girls safe and sound. 

During this time, I am learning more about 

how to be my authentic self 

in EVERY aspect of my life, 

before she basically lived in my studio!

The above picture is more recent, 

after my separation, 

and here I am tremendously happy!!!

Here I am embracing my girls AND my authentic self!!

So all is good!!!

peace

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