A little inspiration from Star Trek Enterprise
June 1, 2009 by Juliet Chase
Filed under Tidbits
I’m not usually one for superlatives but the series opening for this Star Trek spin-off series is my favorite of all time. I’ve been known to just watch this part before flipping to another channel. That it covers 400+ years of major human exploration and innovation in less than two minutes is both fun and inspiring – to see each voyage linked to the past and the future is to see the enduring ability to persist in the face of fear and uncertainty.
Keeping the plates spinning
April 24, 2009 by Juliet Chase
Filed under Juliet's Journal
I am finding myself much more productive this week, now that I’ve got priorities assigned. And my vegetable garden is even cleared and ready for planting this weekend.
I had a momentary struggle with my great idea, one where I wondered if it was really worth pursuing now that the excitement of hatching it had faded. I decided it was and have questions out to both an insurance agent and the State to see whether I need to charge sales tax or not. Next week I’ll be working up marketing materials – at least as far as I can until I get answers back.
Today I’m heading out to take pictures in the tulip fields and nearby islands. It’s hard to force a break in routine when there are other things to be done but this also is a priority, not to mention fun. Every year that I go I take completely different pictures so I’m curious to see what this year produces.
I’ve been getting great inspiration for my top projects everywhere I look. An ebook on blogging led to a site on marketing art online, a quick online contest led to a self-publisher I hadn’t heard of before that might be the missing link in my writing projects, and in an article on finding photos for blogging, I figured out that Flickr’s creative commons would actually be a great way to allow others to use my older work; photography from an older digital camera that is now really only suitable for web use but they’re still great shots. So I’m gradually working on adding those as I get a chance.
That’s a lot to keep track of and yet I’m feeling incredibly excited about it all. This is fun:-)
The art of inspiration
April 21, 2009 by Juliet Chase
Filed under Pursuit of Happiness
The video below packs a lot into twenty minutes so it’s a little difficult to point to the most important point. I think it’s one of those things that each person will watch and find an individual message. So I’ll let the video do the talking; it’s both thought-provoking and inspiring. Save it for when you have 20 minutes to sit with it without interruption and absorb. You may find yourself setting new goals and looking for where you put the emphasis in your life. Sometimes it’s the subtle things that make the most difference.
Setting priorities
April 17, 2009 by Juliet Chase
Filed under Juliet's Journal
This week I sat down and figured out where I needed to be spending the bulk of my time. The list is still impractically long, at least to be working on simultaneously. It does show me what I need to stop doing, or relegate to spare time so I’ll be working on that. Blogging and photography remain high on the list.
I’ve been putting a lot of time in figuring out how to best attract and keep the right audience. One step in that direction was to decide to phase out the Google ads; not that they’re bad but I don’t pick them and I can do better with a little time and attention – the same way I handpicked the items in the Amazon book widget. I think in the long term it will give me and readers better service, but I admit I’ll be missing checking those analytics!
I’ve also decided to bite the bullet and get e-commerce going on my photography site. It’s something people have asked for but I’ve always been leery of dealing with the ordering and payment aspects; an easy thing to push to another day, but I think that day has finally arrived. I haven’t modified a pixel yet but my plan is to get that in place within the next 60 days. Feel free to hold me accountable to that, it might help;-)
Also in top place is my brilliant idea from Wednesday, which I’ll wait to discuss until I have it in place – more because it’s likely to morph a bit than for secrecy. Lower on the list but not requiring much effort right now is submitting two class proposals for continuing education at the local community college. I’ve got the form downloaded so all I need to do is fill it in twice and get them submitted before June. I’ve learned my lesson from the last time I did this, when I spent hours crafting the course materials only to have it cancelled at the last minute for not meeting the minimum number of students.
I’m already feeling guilty for not having the vegetable garden in yet and various other chores have slipped while I worked on this but I think the fog is thinning a bit and I’m looking forward to moving forward.
4 Reasons to keep books for re-reading
April 16, 2009 by Juliet Chase
Filed under The Art of Happiness
I had an epiphany yesterday. (That alone is newsworthy, but not really the point I’m trying to make.) An idea that would pay my bills, feed the homeless, and get home sales moving again. Who knows if it will really work – I’ll be finding that out shortly. The thrill is in the confluence of thoughts that brought the idea and a whole new world of possibilities and things to learn. As I was thinking about why I hadn’t thought of it before and how I got to it now I realized that books played a vital role and that re-reading is not given enough credit as process.
1. The inspiration for my new idea came from many sources and that’s the first reason for re-reading. I was going through one book that I’ve had on my shelves for close to ten years and read at least ten times and another for the second time that I acquired last week. The mixing of voices in my head gave me a new perspective.
2. Like many, I am an impatient reader, whether it’s a novel or a textbook or a self-help book I want to know the plot, point, or critical information as quickly as possible. Once I’ve got that down, I find that each subsequent read I retain more nuances, sidebar information or a non-essential dialogue that adds a little more color. I should point out that if I didn’t like the plot or find the key information helpful, I’m unlikely to give it a second chance!
3. Things change. The people, jobs, politics, and technology in your life are probably different in some way than they were a year ago. You’ll bring that new perspective to a book each time you approach it so new things will jump out or recede. You may have different answers to exercises in a book that will lead you to new conclusions.
4. I have heard from several senior acquaintances that one of the impacts of aging is forgetting books that they’ve read. I can hardly wait! I have kept several old favorites around for just this purpose – having re-read them so many times I practically have them memorized they are no longer a joy to turn the pages. But someday, they’ll be new again. So I keep them.
A little beauty, fun, and inspiration from Labuat
March 25, 2009 by Juliet Chase
Filed under Tidbits
I found this (page, music video, art?) when I was researching topics for my other blog. It’s incredible – and I watched it through twice before I realized you can move your cursor and the ink will follow your “pen”. How cool is that? It made me realize how important a little play in the day really is – even five minutes. I felt uplifted and inspired and simply happy in the moment. What an awesome age we live in when something like this is instantly accessible by anyone with a connected computer, anywhere in the world.
Fyi, it takes a minute to load so be patient, if you don’t see “Play” with an arrow in the center of the screen when it’s done, hit refresh (there are a lot of graphics it needs to stage so it may take twice.) If you’re in the office, be sure to have headphones if noise is an issue, you need the music to be get the full experience. Enjoy!
