When the idea for this post came to me, I wasn’t sure if I should make it business related or personal. I’ve decided to take a stab at making it both, but in two (or maybe more, you know how long winded I can be) posts. First I’ll tackle personal.

All of last week, my sweet friend Aja stayed here with us. For those that don’t know, she is an amazing accomplished poet. After a long series of “Have you read this?” and “Did you see this documentary?” and my answer repeatedly being “No”, I just started to think about how often I get revved up. Juiced with inspiration and then the moment passes and nothing comes of it. I’m trying my hardest to take a stand to cut that out NOW.

Hence today’s post. Something I pretty much never do, despite my wanting to start sharing stories on Saturdays.

No time like the present to break stupid habits of the past. I have been abundantly blessed these past few weeks and all the days of my life but particularly these few weeks to witness things. Warmth, live music, conversation, love. I’ve been so so so blessed. At the very top of that list and easily one of the top performances I’ve have the luxury of experiencing was Dwight Trible. Not only did he totally tell me I’m a good looking young woman, he literally reached on in and snatched up my soul. Danced with it, opened the heavens and let it rain on me. Such an outstanding, powerful performance. I think that was the start of my larger than usual spiritual opening up. Energy is through the stratosphere. Deal with it.

Last night I had a not so pleasant dream about someone I might have conjured up this week in private chats with Aja. But in some ways, as the day has progressed I am feeling much better about it. Happy about it because in some minute way, I don’t think I ever fully emotionally dealt with it. I have arrived at a new point and coupling this feeling with another friend of mine in Cali telling me she dreamed about me and the entire dream was calm and happy made me feel really good.

But on to being an inspiration junkie. Hi, I’m Sherisa and I really can be a hard core inspiration junkie. Instead of allowing all these ideas pop into my mind and fizzle, I’m taking the bull by the horns. The key to my success is going to being able to trust that others are willing to help me when needed and make these things come to fruition. Also, stopping to take a moment to write out my ideas in one book so I can go to it when something beacons me.

Right now one of my bigger priorities is getting this online project off the ground that I’ve been thinking about for the better part of a year and I plan to introduce this summer. It’s going to focus on history, race, culture and identity. After some conversations with friends this past week, I realized I’m basically creating in my own way the PhD dissertation I would write if I were to go back to school (another topic for another day. That is always something up in the air.) Why wait on money and sit in classes and write because I have to instead of wanting to when I can do that right this very second. This is also very much a part of what I feel in my soul as a some of my calling. And when I’ll need the help from you, my family, I’ll be certain to ask.

Another thing I want to mention is that I’m taking a day-long intensive sewing course with Jennelle next week Saturday. I’m really stoked about it because by the end of the day I’ll be re-introduced to the wonders of sewing and I’ll go buy a machine and start hopefully making my own clothes. Finally, something else from my 29 at 29 list that can help cross off a ton of items. See, I didn’t forget about it one bit.

I’ve been thinking for a very long time about what I want to do to mark this year. Last year, I did my first list for 29 and while I didn’t complete all of them, it was nice to have some non-business, non-writing personal goals to focus on. I’m going to change it up a bit this year by making it more specific on some things. I doubt I’ll have 30 things, but we’ll see as time goes.

Meditation:  I have to meditate for at least 30 solid minutes at least once a week no matter what. Preferably on a Sunday so I get a fresh start to each week. I must make time to clear my mind.

Yoga:  45-90 minutes at least twice a week. This will eventually be just 90 minutes twice a week while I build up my stamina again. This has been my go-to source of relaxation since I was 14 and I’ve really let myself go. No bueno.

Diet:  Try to only drink juices I’ve juiced myself. Same with smoothies–easiest way to pack in the raw veggies in my diet. More steamed food; less fried food.

Skin:  Get massages and facials, get waxed, do manicures and pedicures. Drink tons of water and lemon tea. I miss being ultra feminine here. I need that special “me” time.

Baking:  Bake at least 20 times this year. Cookies, cakes, tarts, bread, it all applies.

Going Raw:  One raw weekend a month. Over time, it’ll be one raw week.

Books:  Read at least one book a month. Get back into the steady habit.

Wall Decoration:  Get all the photos and art we want on the walls framed and hung.

Greenery:  Plants. Lots and lots of plants. Large ones, small ones, everywhere.

Books:  This one is different. I’ve been wanting to make scrap books forever, but it might be fun to have some proper books printed. I’m going to aim for 4 different books this year. A pixel dedicated book could be fun. Also one with all the shows we’ve been to this year.

Project Life:  I absolutely LOVE Elise’s idea and some sort of version of that is probably exactly the type of scrapbook idea I think I can get behind. I can just do a simple photo a day of something I’m doing and then put it together every month.

That’s it for now. I’m more than certain that this list is going to grow over the first few months. Time to get started!

Catch up if you missed my 29 at 29 list.

Hiii everyone!

So much has been going on. I’m behind online but not really. Sorry for my early year absence. I highly doubt it will be like this from here on out. I don’t even know where to start.

Besides my usual thinking about too much all of the time thing that I tend to do always, I’ve been getting life stuff done. I wanted to stop by on Friday and write a post, but I’ve had zero time. On Saturday, I turned the big 3-0! I’m 30 yall!!! OWWW! I was and still am so excited. I’ve been excited for maybe the last quarter of 29 and now that it’s here, and we’re fully in Aquarius I just feel like I’m exploding with happiness over and over again. I will attempt to recap the past few weeks over the next couple of days.

What does this mean for my 29 at 29 project? Technically it is over and I’m still trying to figure out everything I’d like to see accomplished this year personally. I don’t know that it will be 30 things. I don’t really know what form it will take, but I’ll have something put together by February to share. Goals never really go away until they are done. Everything I didn’t fully accomplish last year will be carried over. I realized much later than some relied on the completion of others and with a general lack of funds for personal pleasure, they just never happened. All that is changing this year though.

Outside of my glorious, grown up and beautiful new age, I’ve also got a bit of work news: I got a freelance job as a copywriter! Another thing ticked off the list! After all these years, after paying my student loan month after month without fail, I will finally get to use my degree for profit outside of myself. I am SO HAPPY! After getting the news, I got registered with the Chamber of Commerce here and I’m legit. It feels so good to know that I’ll be a functioning part of this society. I really need that to make living here a solid reality.

Now I know it’s Tuesday, and I haven’t mentioned one thing business related all year yet, but please bear with me. I’m working on something with two lovely ladies and that will debut next month some time. It’ll be about business and it’s the next chapter to my biz talk series. Here’s something else I’d LOVE to start but I need your participation for it to work. I’d love to start doing Q&A Tuesday as well for the biz talk series. Any and all business related questions can be sent to me here and I’ll answer them in some sort of order on the blog.

Let’s see…what else?

Oh yeah! I started working out yesterday. I coincidentally also got on my bike and rode around Amsterdam for about an hour total so naturally I’m super sore right now. I have to work out today, but I’m going to do it later this afternoon instead. I refuse to slack off right at the start.

So I’ll wrap this up now. Tomorrow there will be a new happiness post up so look out for that and on Thursday I’ll revisit what I wanted to talk about last week Tuesday: writing your future letter to yourself. As long as we have breath, we have time.

Yay to newness and thanks for hanging in there!

This won’t really take the shape of my happy lists, but I do want to highlight some of my most favorite things I’ve done and/or changed around here this year.

Blogging

1. Started blogging again. It took me quite some time but I definitely got into the habit of blogging in 2011. And I did some serious blogging. This year I published 161 posts and most of those posts were of high quality. Next year, my goal is to try and double that amount. It felt really really good to write so frequently. I did suffer from some dry spells and my start was super rocky, but I wrote at least 15 posts every month come April. In May I wrote a total of 30 posts-my highest amount yet. July and August were the runners up with 21 and 20 posts respectively.
2. Created some really wonderful series. 2011 was the year of expansion for me. I was overflowing with ideas and I got to implement quite a bit of them on the blog. I actually had so many ideas, I felt overwhelmed before even starting. I picked a few to get the ball rolling and I’ll say that this is the best decision I made. By far I think my most popular series and one I had little trouble talking about at length-to the point of writing actual articles, was Biz Talk :: Back to Basics series. That series brought me opportunities I hadn’t had prior and also brought me a lot of new supporters. Those posts were enjoyed and commented on the most. Another series, which was more personal but still got a lot of response online was my 29 at 29 list. It encouraged quite a few of my friends and supporters to do their own lists and think of things they want to accomplish this year. My third favorite series was ‘Til Monday, where I would put a list together of things I saw and loved around the internet. I am hoping to upgrade that next year, but I’m definitely continuing with it.
3. Added contributors. I thought it would be fun to add contributors to the blog to talk about things they are particularly amazing at and Megan, Mariam and Marsha joined my team. It was really fantastic to add these ladies and I’m hoping to expand that as well in the new year. I would love more than anything for this to not just be a place where I’m doing all the talking all the time. I love community. I thrive on it. What better way to have that happen than to have others share their opinions on this blog as well. If you’re ever interested in being a contributor, let me know.
4. Wrote guest posts. I got a taste of fulfilling part of my writing dreams by contributing a few posts to the Vianza blog and writing a post at Miss Moss. After reading some of my Biz Talk posts, I was asked to become a contributor on Vianza, which I accepted and I hope to really dig down deep in the new year and source some serious gems. I would love to do some guests posts at other blogs as well, so if you’re interested you can always contact me.
5. The Great Postcard Swap. Although, admittedly I was pretty lousy at updating, I have more confidence than ever that I am great at connecting people. Over 20 women signed up for the swap and while not all of them participated fully (full disclosure: myself, included…but I’ll get them out. I must after all.) most of them did and a lot of these women have become friends. It went beyond postcard writing to letter writing and chatting and befriending one another on other sites and even getting together in person if I’m not mistaken. I am so thankful to have had the idea. I am also thankful for all the new relationships I gained because of this swap. I’ve met some real amazing women and look forward to even more next year. I will be hosting another one next year some time, with modified rules.

Business

1. Shop updates. I had quite a few shop updates this year that I’m really proud of. I started really creating work again this year and it felt amazing. After taking pretty much a year off really left me in a slump. But I got my mojo back! I’m on it.
2. Added new products. This year I also added two new lines to my collection: Lithe bracelets and Amis necklaces. I have made bracelets since I started this business, but didn’t really put any up for sale because I was never really fully happy with what I made. My tastes became more refined and I found my own unique niche. I’ll be expanding on the styles available next year.
3. Invested. Not only did I take out ads on Miss Moss and I Adore Style, I did something exceedingly important and so timely it scared me. I purchased Danielle LaPorte’s The Fire Starter Session. By far, one of the best investments I made not only in my business, but in myself. It helped me to really define parts of what I feel my purpose is. It triggered my Biz Talk series. It has helped on so many levels–levels I didn’t even anticipate. I’ve done my part to spread the good word.It got me thinking about things not just when I was ready to, but because I absolutely needed to.
4. Learned new things.I spent a lot of my time reading this year. I also spent a good chunk of time learning how to use a DSLR properly and how to create things in Photoshop on my own. There is nothing better than being self-sufficient. Without it, I feel empty. I am glad that I’ve been making the time to find tutorials and really spending time learning the program. I am tons better at it now. I still have a huge way to go with using a DSLR, but I’m getting there. I’ll talk more about this next week.
5. Learning my business. I’ve always felt like I’ve spent a lot of time learning who my customer is and learning how to engage people in an effective way and I finally am starting to reap the benefits of that. There are so many hats that I attempt to wear, but with time I’ve realized that I am hurting myself by not letting go. Letting go is hard for me, but I’m getting there. The more I do it, the greater my network becomes.

So these are some of my most poignant moments and lessons online this year. I am so looking forward to growth in 2012. I am excited about the shape my business will take next year. I am excited to grow a community.

How was your 2011? Did you accomplish any or all of what you had hoped for? What have you learned? Let’s talk about it in the comments.