Cafe Americano? Cafe Italiano?

image from TimelessMemoryPrints

in Cambridge, England. 

Here’s something I find interesting and perplexing: Italians famously enjoy long meals (easily two to three hours at a time), but don’t have a “coffeehouse culture.” Meaning, the type one stops to sip large cups of coffee for lengthy stretches of time, and even distance (coffee in a to-go cup).

As a Californian, I’d argue that Americans live in opposition of this. For us it’s common and natural to eat on the go, completing lunch or dinner in 30 minutes to an hour. That is a ludicrous concept in Italy. Yet, land of Armani, Ravioli, and Chianti, I ask, “Why not treat your cup of Joe with the same tender love and care you do your meals? Nurse it a little as Americans do?” This is something I’m currently pondering…in the early morning hours with one cup, followed by a second cup, of French Press or Café Americano. Laughing at me now? I know you’re with me: the type who goes to bed at night looking forward to the morning when you can savour your next cup. Let’s face it, as the saying goes, “Life starts after coffee.”

P.S. You must try Peet's latte macchiato

image from Mashable

My Meaningful Work: The Dailey Method.

image by The Dailey Method, San Francisco - Mission Castro

In The Gifts of Imperfection, a book by Brené Brown, I read about the importance of meaningful work. As Brown puts it, meaningful work makes one come alive, and I think it also brings joy.

Meaningful work can be in all shapes and sizes--maybe it's your day job, or maybe it's your part time job. It's jewelry making, photography, or it's basket weaving. Nonetheless, I agree with Brown in it's value toward living with joy. And when I read this passage today I immediately knew what my meaningful work is: teaching at and being a part of The Dailey Method.

Before I go on I must thank my good friend Marcie for suggesting the exercise studio to me at a time when I was looking to transform my health and fitness. And transform it did. As a practice, The Dailey Method has given me so much strength, not only physically but also emotionally.

For over two years now I've been both an instructor and student at the Santa Barbara studio. In this time I have been filled with a sense of home created by the community there and across the franchise! Here's the truth of what my meaningful work does for me, whether I'm teaching or taking class:

• I feel connected.
• I feel strong.
• I feel loved.
• I feel alive.
• I feel joy.
• I feel friendship.
• I feel I am enough!

Some of the instructor family at The Dailey Method, Santa Barbara

Where do you innovate?

image by 99u.com from Sarah Lewis: Find Your Private Domain

In her talk "Find Your Private Domain" for 99u, writer Sarah Lewis highlights the importance and even struggle for modern creators. She speaks to the question, "how do I get my work out there? But even more, how do I get the best version of my work, my creativity out to the world?"

Artistry and creativity take risking a bit of yourself. Even something small like blogging here makes one feel exposed and vulnerable. But when you take this topic further, how do great artists, writers, or creators get to a point of mastery and innovation? Lewis says it takes finding "a place of solitude" to find innovation; she uses Albert Einstein and Maya Angelou as examples here. What's in this place of solitude, this private domain according to Lewis, is a space where one does not feel critique of any kind. As a struggling perfectionist, I can speak to the value of such space. Yet when you find it, I believe this is where the best version of yourself lives--I might even argue that is where your authentic self lives. And if that is true, then isn't is true that most of us hide from authenticity? Or at least struggle with being authentic? I'm guilty of it. In doing so I think we take another risk, that of not letting our greatness show and that can risk not showing some of your greatest work.

What does your private domain look like?

Home: Without Walls

Image from "Where is Home?"by Pico Iyer on TED.com

Although I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, I recently discovered the greatness of TED talks. Late in the game, I know. Nonetheless, I'm obsessed now. I keep starting my sentences with phrases like this, "Today I watched a TED talk on...." or "I heard this on one of the TED talks I listened to" and "Oh creativity? I just saw a TED talk on that." You know the girls who frequently start sentences referencing crafts, recipes, or styles they find on Pinterest (I am totally one of those girls, too)? Yeah, it's like that.

So here it goes: In "Where is home?" Pico Iyer starts off by simply asking where do you come from? To name a few points from this talk, he elloquently discusses how today home cannot be tied to one piece of land or one structure with four walls and a door. Rather, one's sense of home is less about "a piece of soil and more about a piece of soul." This struck a cord in me. Even more, I can identify with Iyer's claim that this sense of "home" is where you are the best version of yourself, where you are grounded, and where you are safe.

I began thinking of who and what make up bits of my soul to create my sense of home.

   

The Dailey Method: health and fitness

Instructors and clients from TDM, Santa Barbara

My best friend Tiffany

My boyfriend

 

Reading

My family

Cooking