(43-314) Be Yourself!

When I wrote "Reel Life Wisdom" I told you about the movie quote directory. Writing a daily blog, I often have to go looking for inspiration, and today I've decided to share a quote that was emailed to me a number of weeks ago.

When I first read this quote I though that it had a lot of merit, but I wasn't prepared to expound upon it at the time. But truth be told, there really isn't much that I should need to say. The quote was from the 2007 movie "Stardust" (which I'll admit I haven't seen.) “Why fight to be accepted by people you don’t actually want to be like?”  I like that!

Even though I'm a big fan of peace and harmony, and the "can't we all just get along" mentality; on a smaller scale I think this quote is something that many of us need to remind ourselves of on a regular basis. Let's expand on it too. I believe that we could go as far as to say, why care what people who you DON'T care about think about you? Be YOURSELF! Like YOURSELF! And let everyone else worry about themselves. Don't try to impress people that you aren't impressed by. YOU are a gift, and you should share your time, your thoughts and your uniqueness with those that you choose. Some people may think that they know you based on something superficial or something that they heard about you, or because of how you conduct yourself at work, at school or in social situations.  But they only know what they perceive of you. And no one is to say that their perception is correct.

I try to be kind, courteous and respectful to everyone, but that is not to say that I want to be "friends" with everyone; and I believe that's OK.  If you think about it, I'm sure that you can name a friend of yours who has another friend that you might not have chosen as your own friend. And that's OK. But should you be worried about what that person thinks about you, if they're not someone that you yourself would want be friends with?  No!

Now let me give this disclaimer, before I get in any trouble. This post is not directed towards anyone that I know. It is merely some thoughts that were triggered by the quote that I shared. These are lessons that I attempt to teach my children, in my efforts to help them express their individuality and build positive self esteem and it is something that I myself need to remember. If there is someone who is disapproving of me, and I don't care for them anyway, then why should it matter, what they think of me? It shouldn't! It doesn't! And I hope that you will remember that too.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

                                                                                         

(43-212) Brave Girls Club

Sometime during this past summer, my friend Rachel K, forwarded me an email called "A Little Bird Told me...Your Daily Truth from the Brave Girls Club." Now trust me when I tell you that this club does not need my endorsement, as they are known far and wide, especially in the scrapbooking community. But; I've decided to write about Brave Girls Club today, because I really loved the "daily truth" that I received last night; AND, because I believe that receiving these emails is actually in the best interest of your (say it with me,) "Greater Good."

I am definitely of the opinion that if it ain't broke; you shouldn't fix it. So rather than try to explain what the Brave Girls Club is or "Your Daily Truth," for that matter; I'm just going to copy and paste, the founder's (Melody and Kathy) explanation:
"This is a crazy world that forces confusing lies upon us every day -- lies about what is most important, who we are, who we can become, what we can accomplish, our value, our potential, our worth, what makes our lives meaningful, how and where we can find true happiness, and on and on. So we've decided to wage our own little war against those lies by sending our brave friends a daily truth. Think of it as a little bird delivering your truth -- and imagine that this truth-teller is someone who loves you and understands you completely.
Our daily emails are a free gift that is sent most weekdays, Monday through Friday, with all our love and wishes for everything joyful and brave and true.

"With that being said; here's the daily truth that they sent out yesterday:

"Dear Creative Girl,
Did you know that being creative is simply making something that did not exist before you made it? We are ALL creative, and being creative is a very important, wonderful part of being alive.
You can be creative with your meals, with your clothes, with your parenting, and with your job. You can be creative in friendship, in gardening, in the books you choose. Anything!
Please don't EVER tell yourself that you are not creative, or that others are more creative than you are. Creativity is a tremendous gift that was born into all of us and that keeps our lives interesting. It is a gift that helps others because we can all think of new things that others would not think of themselves.
Share your creativity today. It is healing, it is exciting, and it is essential for forward progress. We believe in you and all that you do. Don't let the world miss out on your creative ideas!!! We need you!"

The "daily truth" is not always about creativity; not by a long shot. That just happened to be the focus of last night's message. So trust me when I tell you that you don't have to think of yourself as a creative individual in order to benefit from these emails.

Thus far, I haven't participated in the Brave Girls online community; but they do have one if you're interested. I can and will say, that I have found great comfort and encouragement from receiving the "daily truths" email. Sometimes I feel as though they've read my mind. They let me know that certain feelings, thoughts or behaviors, that I may have felt were uncommon are really VERY common and they inspire me to be who I am. Do I always love them? No. But there are "daily truths" that I've saved and re-read when I've needed a reminder that I am brave, I am special, and I am worth it; and I think that you're worth it too. You are all unique and wonderful; and a daily reminder of that is an excellent thing; so I encourage you to check out. "A little bird told me" - your Daily Truth from The Brave Girls Club."
Till next time...                                                             
Queen of EVERYTHING

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon - Challenge #1

When I wrote my last post; "100 Random Things About Me;" #18 was: I excel at Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. (Feel free to email AsktheQOE@gmail.com to challenge me.) Well, I am SO excited to say that someone has taken me up on my offer, and this morning I was delighted to find my very first Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon Challenge; submitted by none other than the wonderful, Michelle (I guess I'll just have to call her)K. Now, for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about; (even more so than usual;) let me explain. There is a trivia game called "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" and according to Wikipedia "it is based on the concept of the small world phenomenon and rests on the assumption that any actor can be linked through his or her film roles to actor Kevin Bacon. The game requires a group of players to try to connect any film actor in history to Kevin Bacon as quickly as possible and in as few links as possible."

I believe that I first played this game in 1997 and took an immediate shine to it, as given my capacity to retain an extraordianry amount of useless information pertaining to all things entertainment; it is the perfect way for me to showcase this "gift," which by the way I have NO IDEA how I've come to acquire.

Anyway; it has been said that high self-esteem is associated with solid problem-solving skills; and since I can always use a self-esteem boost; I'll play this game any chance I get. LOL

Now, I'm sure that Michelle thought good and hard about this as I know that as much as she loves me; she'd love to stump me; so her email simply read "Six Degrees challenge - Roddy McDowall." And so here goes:

Roddy McDowall to Kurt Russell in "Overboard" (Which by the way, I LOVE.)

Kurt Russell to Meryl Streep in "Silkwood"

AND Meryl; Streep to Kevin Bacon in "The River Wild." Ta DA!!

I really do LOVE this game!!

So there you have it, nice and brief. I thank Michelle for indulging me and CHALLENGING me. Roddy McDowall (GOOD ONE!) If you'd like to get in on the act and feel like boosting YOUR self-esteem then I would love for you to play too. If you have a different path to share, or if you can take fewer steps than I did to join the actor to Kevin Bacon; PLEASE post your answers in the comments. I don't think pix will be possible; but it sure would be fun to get something going. PLEASE feel free to email me at AsktheQOE@gmail.com if you'd like to challenge me (us). If you don't want me to post your challenge, just let me know; and I'll email you my response. Otherwise, you'll find your answer here. Also,My offer is also still open to accept advice questions, if you think I might have something useful to share.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING