Good Life Theme: Abundance

The good life theme that has been on my radar lately is "Abundance".

If you stop and think about it for a moment, you'll notice that abundance is all around is. There is an abundance of nature...flowers, trees, rocks, animals... Many artists are fully aware of this abundance as you will see it in many works of art.

I just started a gratitude journal where I write down ten things I am grateful for. This practice has made me become more aware of all this abundance in my life. I also post things I'm grateful for on my Twitter profile using the "#gratitude" tag.

A friend and I were having a conversation the other day about the little things we take for granted. She lives in Chicago where it is very cold and she was telling me that the electricity in her building had been out for a few hours. That was her little wake-up call. At that moment I said a mental, "Thank you" for the beautiful weather I have here in San Diego!

Have you noticed the abundance in your life? What can you be grateful for right now?

And speaking of abundance, I'd like to thank Suzie Cheel of Abundance Highway for honoring me with a "Super Abundance Bloggers" award. Awhile back I interviewed Suzie for the Studio 747 Blogtalk Radio show. If you missed it, click here to listen.

Start Living an Abundant Life: Find Your Passion - Live Your Dreams!

The Key to Unlimited Wealth

In this time in which many people are wondering about their financial future (or present, for that matter), I'm even more inspired to encourage people to start their own business. This is one of the main reasons why I started the Studio 747 Blogtalk Radio Show.

I truly believe that starting your own business is the key to unlimited wealth. With your own business, you're relying on yourself for a paycheck. The income opportunities are endless!

Well, this past Tuesday I had the pleasure of interviewing Phil Weslow of FeedbackSecrets.com, a website that is dedicated to helping people start an internet business with minimal costs.

There are so many people being laid off and don't have the money to start a regular brick-and-mortar business. What many people don't know is that it doesn't cost very much to launch an internet business.

I wanted to write up a recap of the main points from the show, but I think it's so important to listen to the whole thing because Phil offers a great deal of tips and advice.

Click here to listen to the show...

Also, another source of information you may want to check is this article over at PCWorld, How to Start an Online Business for $100.

Want to learn more about starting an internet business? Visit: Online Business Resources.

Learn how to create an abundance mindset over at The Good Life.

Marc Jacobs: Pushing the Boundaries

In every industry there is at least one or two people whose creativity seems to stand out from the rest.

In the art world there was Michaelangelo...

Then we had Ansel Adams in the photography world...

And in the fashion world nowadays we have Marc Jacobs.

There are many designers who are very creative, but for some reason Marc Jacobs seems to get a great deal of attention. Of course, he's rightly earned it with some of the off-the-wall designs that he comes up with. He's one of those creative souls that make you stop for a moment and ask yourself:

"What can I do to be more creative?"

"What is stopping me from reaching my highest potential as an artist?"

I'm not saying that you should try to "outdo" other people, but I think it's good to challenge yourself to push the boundaries once in awhile.

For Fall/Winter 2009, Marc Jacobs came with a very visually stimulating collection. Watch a video of the runway show below...



For more fashion commentary, visit one of the blogs in our network, Beauty Is Within...

Less IS More

I'm sure you've heard the saying, "Less is More"...

How many of us really live by that motto?

And how many of us still think that more is indeed...more? More money. More awards. More of this...More of that.

There was a time when I thought that "More is More". If I blogged more or I made more jewelry, I would make more money. I would have more subscribers or more customers.

However, I've come to realize that in trying to do more, I was sacrificing the life that I had worked so hard to get. I had already achieved the goal of being able to work from home and to come and go as I please. And even though I preached about living the good life, in retrospect I realize that I was sometimes going against my own advice.

The "Less Is More" Challenge

For the next couple weeks I challenge you to live by the "Less is More" philosophy when it comes to work. I've written about my own personal journey in Productive At Being Unproductive at my personal blog.

If you're a self-employed artist, maybe it's cutting down on studio time and making time for yourself - like going to the beach and lounging with a book...

If you work in an office all day, maybe it's not bringing work home and spending time with the kids...playing a board game or having a family outing...

For the past couple weeks I've been challenging myself to slow things down a bit. Instead of putting 10 things on the "To Do" list, I've listed only 3 or 4 things to do. When I went to visit my parents this past weekend, I actually spent time with them versus sitting in front of the computer like I usually do.

Being At Peace

What I have found in living by this "Less is More" philosophy is that I'm more at peace. The pace of my life has slowed down and I no longer feel that I have to rush to achieve my goals. I've always loved creating and writing, but now...I'm truly in the moment and simply enjoying my work instead of associating $ with it.

I'm sure many artists can relate when I say that I started to lose a little bit of that joy of creating when my art and writing became a source of income.

However, now I'm learning to just be at peace with what is - to just be at peace in the moment and with what I've accomplished so far. That's not to say that I've become complacent because I certainly have so much more that I'd like to do.

How about you? Are you aware of the gifts you have? More importantly, are you grateful for what you have right now?

Can you be at peace with who you are if you don't sell another painting, CD, or work of art?

Would you like to live a more fulfilling life? Check out The Good Life blog which is part of the Studio 747 blog network.

Photo Credit: Al Muya