Gabrielle Bernstein – Page 3 – Emily Brickel Edelson

Articles Tagged with: Gabrielle Bernstein

In Illustration: Cutoff Comet Sweater and Senderkis Box Hand bag available on PeaceLoveThreads.com use code PLTAutumn2012 for 10% off! Also available, My illustrated notebooks!

What I know about life…

No matter how old we are or how young, there is nothing more powerful than our own mind, and our own power of creation.

When you express yourself your power grows. The more you let yourself feel it and practice it, the more mastery of it you obtain. Use it or loose it.

Ask yourself “What is it that you really want???… Do it. There is no way to convince anyone of your greatness. You have to know it on the inside and DO IT… Knife fight your way to your dream.” – Lady Gaga, The Conversation With Amanda de Cadenet.

Try harder, try a different way. What are the stories you are telling yourself about why you can’t or are afraid to move forward. What journey of a thousand miles are you creating in your head that can only be taken one step at a time?

Try until you make it. Don’t stop when it stops being easy. Take your power back, schedule time to work on it, to take your one step each day. Work through it when you are not in the mood, push on and you will get in the mood.

Be gentle with yourself, Rome was not built in one day, or month – or year.

We are on a lifetime JOURNEY to learn what we are meant to learn. Lessons will keep coming up until you understand them. Things happen to slow you down, so you can actually slow down and think!!!!! To maybe gain a fresh perspective or a big picture view, we can only see this from the slow lane. Once we know where we are going we can speed up again.

Believe in miracles, there are forces around you that you cannot see or hear. If you tune in to your intuition you will notice them. Pay attention. You are being guided and there is some kind of force greater than you, even if you can’t see that yet or don’t know what it is.

Remember when you were younger, what did you believe then? Did you think you can conquer the world? You can, you just have to scuff off all the grime you have heard by people who don’t listen to their intuition or worse yet listen, but don’t do what it says. Maybe you have become one of those people. Unlearn it. Go back to your true self. Stop making yourself sick. You are in this lifetime to get it right, to find happiness.

Don’t listen to anyone’s advice but your own for a while, your inner voice – it is your inborn compass to decipher what works for you and what YOU should be doing as opposed to what others tell you that you should be doing.

“Authenticity is sexy.” – Gabrielle Bernstein, best selling author of Add More –Ing, Spirit Junkie and revolutionary leader.

Go inward. Stop. Take inventory of what you want, what kind of impact do you want to have on the world. Course correct. Where are you NOT on this path? What gives you stress? How can you remove what you don’t like and add what you do like? How can you see it differently?

Thank you to all my mentors Gabrielle Bernstein, Marie Forleo, my Mom and my internal guide for helping me grow and learn and challenge myself, every…single…day.

Celebrate life. I have had a major breakthrough by slowing down when I got sick and by seeing things differently. How can you do the same? Ask yourself – What do you need in this life to be fulfilled and what no longer works for you?
Celebrating right now!!!! Live every day as if it were your last. If today were to be your last, what would be your legacy?

Thank you, and as always –

I hope that inspires you,

Xoxox

Emily

P.S. I am proud to support my friend and entrepreneur Tash Moore and her partner Christine Okoye of PeaceLoveThreads.com, a newly opened ecommerce boutique – they are working their dream to the max and I hope that inspires you to do the same! Check out their store and purchase the sweater and purse in the illustration above from their website with the 10% off code! How cool is that!!! Wanna know what else is so cool? They are going to be selling my Illustrated notebooks on their site!!! Check it out here for details! www.PeaceLoveThreads.com/emilys-picks. This link will be live as of Friday Oct 26 2012 at 1pm.

xoxo

October 11, 2012

Life Happens, invest in…

I’ve been sick the last few weeks, and totally missing my friends!

However, being sick is not really my excuse. I’ve been busy, been overwhelmed with the daunting task of running a business and working on another from home and attempting each month to make more than enough money to live on. It’s a fulltime job and a half, It’s a 23 hour a day baby you have to care for. It’s crazy but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have dreams to accomplish man!

Regardless, I miss my friends so much and there is NOTHING like a little catch up time with one of my girl friends. I am so excited that today I will hopefully be seeing one of my friends and I know in time and this month I will see more of them. Does this sound like you? I know I’m not the only one. As time goes by and we all get older its so crazy how much time we don’t spend with our girlfriends. I mean we used to spend every waking moment together way back in grade school and college. What happened? Life happened. But what we need to do is “make our romantic relationships more brotherly and our friendships more romantic.”

Sound strange? Let me explain: Gabrielle Bernstein said it best with this quote above. It means infusing our passions back into our friends and doing things that light you up. If chatting over coffee and getting all the scoop lights you up, then do that. If its about calling or skyping each other if you can’t meet in person do that. Write a note saying how much you love them, do something special for that person. Pick up a little gift or think of them on an extra special day in their lives. Those are the things that add some spice back into your friendships and your girlfriends are completely something to be cherished. Life happens, but your true friends are there along the way through thick and through thin, loving you, telling you have lipstick on your teeth or sharing their deepest darkest secrets. To all my besties, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! You know who you are!!! (in alphabetical order because I love you all in different ways)

The girls who have been there for me for many years:

Ashley, Christina, Jeanine, Jess, Kerry, Kim, Lory, Mei-Li, Meital, Milene, Michelle, Mona, Stephanie, Yammi, and my Mom and sister Rachel.

The girls who have been there for me for many years:

Ashley, Christina, Jeanine, Jess, Kerry, Kim, Lory, Mei-Li, Meital, Milene, Michelle, Mona, Stephanie, Yammi, and my Mom and sister Rachel.

And the new ladies who I have met in recent years: Arielle, Christina, Emily, Gabrielle, Jessica, Julie, Katie, Kim, Maggie, McKenzie and Tash.

Hopefully I didn’t leave any one out – My 3 weeks of bronchitis has def been giving me some brain fogs.

I could not have gotten through the tough times with out you! I LOVE YOU all! xoxox

Hope that inspires you

xoxo

Emily

February 22, 2012

Inspiration, balance AND getting things done – like a ROCK STAR.

As a creative, I’m sure I have told you this many times: It is my job to stay inspired and keep fresh ideas coming.
Now, the dilemma… As a business owner and two time entrepreneur (www.RockHardAtelier.com for fashion design and www.EmilyBrickel.com where I do creative consulting and illustrations – website in the works), there are also tasks and projects to get done!

my zen, and inspiration - inspiring desk!

Here is the fun part: balancing the two.
Undoubtedly the the most important, yet daunting affair is what happens when you exhilaratingly begin to grow your business and get more clients. (!!!!!)
How do you manage your task list, take time to forward-think, set goals, figure out growth, get inspiration AND create new ideas?

Well.
I for instance have struggled with this delicate dance of feeling inspired – having grand and fabulous ideas – writing things down – then inevitably getting WAY overwhelmed to the point of panic, break down, procrastination and total melt down.

With the help of many entrepreneur friends and mentors like Kelly Lynn Adams who teaches a course called More Time and More Money, my Mom Faith Brickel of Wine On My Mind.com , my spiritual mentors and running buddies Gabrielle Bernstein, Mastin Kipp at En*theos Academy, Arielle Fireman, as well as other hits of knowledge along the way, here are my tips to create balance, rock your inner goddess and live a happy life like a Rock Star while making money from your passions.

** Side note: while these concepts are 100% authentic in helping you live your best life and your highest truth, I always need a refresher so save this list and come back to it any time you get over whelmed. I know I do. Also check out my mentor’s links!

First Make your work space clean, inviting and inspiring to look at. Now

Getting things DONE:

1) Get a daily planner – (I like the Moleskin Hard Cover Red Daily Planner ) and plan out your day. I write down all of my tasks in what ever order that comes to mind but by color coding from red to purple (think rainbow people), or what ever color system that works for you. This will show you the most important tasks in RED and so on. Since I am notorious for over planning, many tasks will undoubtedly have to be carried onto the next day. I cross off the tasks I have accomplished, and through out the day refer back to my planner to see what to do next.

At the end of the day I rewrite the tasks I still need to do from that day onto the next day’s page and re-color code. So for instance today’s second priority tasks will now be the first and will now be in red.

Main Point: Physically writing your tasks and color coding them hard-wires your brain to actually process and analyze what you have to do, as opposed to typing it into a computer calendar where it may not actually sink in. When you have a planner you don’t have to worry about what happens if your computer crashes or your google calendar rearranges, deletes or fails to sync.

Lastly and most importantly, you can go back and see what tasks you have been re-writing in your planner for over a week and note why it is taking you so long. Are you intimidated by this task? Is it too big or ambiguous to tackle? Review and then break it out into 3-4 smaller milestones.

*Tasks should refer to work reaction based tasks like responding to clients and finishing projects, forward based tasks like how to market your company or a future goal for growth, personal tasks for your own well being like the gym, meditating, picking up groceries etc, and idea tasks like future blog ideas, plan to go to a museum, plan a promotion for your biz etc.

2) Three tasks a day keeps the stress away. Choose three tasks each day that if you ONLY accomplish those three tasks you will go to sleep feeling productive. Circle them and do them first. Don’t stress about your remaining other tasks. Just know that since they are written down, you know what else you need to do when you have time.

3) When your tasks come pouring in. If you have more tasks than space on the planner’s page, if one task takes a long time to complete, or you don’t know where in your planner to schedule them: take out a white clean sheet of paper (I like computer paper or lined notepads).

Write all of the tasks you know of from the top of your head, go back into your planner of unfinished tasks and add them all to the page, sometimes this takes up more than one page. If your tasks include forward thinking tasks and tasks for the many hats you wear or the many businesses you run – your page might be 3- 4 long.

This is fine, just take a breath and note that: A) you no longer have to worry that you are missing something and B) if you are in line with your end goal some tasks may become unnecessary and your brain will filter the tasks that will actually get you to the prize. Once you wrote out all your tasks you can re-prioritize them into your planner. Spread them out on allotted days or simply number them and keep this list as your master list to fold into the pocket of your moleskin planner.

4) Add some Zen. If you believe in a higher power or something greater than yourself – (even if you don’t know what that is) – you can tune into the belief that Everything will get done in due time. Know that time will expand when you are dialed into knowing that you have a life’s purpose and that there is a plan for your gifts.

The theory is that you are put on this earth for a very important reason, and that reason is to live your highest truth and live in abundance so you can serve the world with your gift/s. Using your intuition to know what your gifts are, when you focus on the big picture the little stresses will fade away. Then you can trust that everything will get done how it is supposed to. Just take your vitamins so you are prepared to do what you CAN do.

My buddha illustration!

5) Exercise, eat a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner – and maybe add some snacks in! They key to growth in life, in career and your relationships is based on the fact that YOU must be in tip top shape to get any of this done. You are the vehicle by which your dreams can be realized and your life be a happy one. What can you do if you are sick in bed or on the couch unable to move? Your body is not only your temple, task master, ring master and vessel but it is also the means by which your thoughts and BRILLIANT, oh I do mean Brill-i-ANT ideas can be put to paper, organized, delegated and completed.

Don’t skip meals, don’t go for hours without eating, and if your body is hungry feed it. If your body is full, STOP. If your body is antsy, dance, work out, do yoga, go for a walk.

Your body is your #1 asset to your company, to your family and to your friends. Treat. It. As. SUCH. You don’t get another body in this lifetime. Love it.

6) Laugh, take breaks, stop when you are fried and take time to play! The most important asset to having a fresh perspective, is taking your mind out of the game for a bit. Listen to your body and your frustrations. When you can’t focus, can’t keep your eyes open or just keep procrastinating – give in and take a break. Your body IS a machine – but all machines need to be maintained, refueled and polished to run smoothly and without a hitch. Add into your schedule “me time” – this is especially important for women because we tend to put everyone else’s priorities ahead of our own. Me time can be your work out time, reading a book, taking a class, playing with your puppy or anything that makes your feel ALIVE and EXHILARATED. Just like the flight attendants say on airplanes – should an emergency occur, apply your breathing mask first, THEN secure it onto others. Perfect segway for my next tip…

7) Live the fountain theory to nurture yourself: Imagine you are a beautiful fountain, flowing with new water 24 hours a day – but you have a crack. No matter how much water flows through you, if you are leaking you will never get filled up and you will remain dry and barren. If you instead patch up the crack the flowing water will begin to fill your basin and collect to eventually overflow in abundance. Then you can flow out onto all the by pillars of the fountain. Your fountain will prosper and will benefit many people who come to seek it’s water and marvel in its beauty. It is now a symbol of prosperity, hope and inspiration.

In terms of our energy, we must draw boundaries in draining relationships so we can fill the crack. It is with an understanding that you must fill your soul and body with nutrients, energy, time, inspiration, self respect and love in order for abundance and prosperity to flow. You, as the fountain are much more desirable when filling it with nurturing relationships, exercise, “me time”, inspiration, etc. Think of the water flowing through you as energy, money and love. When your fountain is full and over flowing, you have more than enough energy to give to work, family, friends and the world. This is especially important for moms and business owners who drain themselves by leaking energy. The fountain can only go so long being dry and barren before it starts to completely deteriorate and crumble. This is true with our own health. How can you expect to continue giving to others first if your own vehicle for providing these gifts of time and energy has a limited shelf life. Fill your cup first and you will be well equipped to provide for your family, your future and the world.

The Fountain of Trevi in Roma, Italy.

Now that I have hopefully “wet” your appetite for life, Rinse and repeat this cycle.

Set tasks, include things that will nurture your soul into your daily life and remember to breathe.

Hope that inspires you. Now go check your local museum exhibitions, write a blog or grab coffee with your friends!
xoxo
Emily

December 6, 2011

EFF it, Lets GO!

Gabrielle Bernstein – my mentor and an amazing spiritual Guru, author and motivational speaker (You know – the one I rave about all the time) has composed this amazing vlog on the power of Eff it, Lets go! or “Screw it, Lets Do It” as Sir Richard Branson would say!! Gabby says that this mentality has pushed her to create her first business and has been the catalyst for some of her amazing career moves! By understanding FEAR as False Evidence Appearing Real (as Gabby and A Course In Miracles Says) you can JUST DO IT – Nike, or Be “Not Afraid, I was born to do this” Joan of Arc.

Whomever said it, Gabby says it in most relatable terms and mentions ME in her vlog!!!!!!

Art of fellow artist Naia Maro (NaiaMaro.com) and myself are shown off here in a beautiful story of how you need to ACT on your desires, if you have fears (as everyone does) identify them – my fear of NOT BEING GOOD ENOUGH – there I said it, had me “in a headlock” and made me feel like giving my illustration as a gift to Gabrielle for inspiring me to draw again and making me feel alive through re-activating my passion, a mere drawing on paper was not good enough. I felt like I needed to frame it, or give it with a bow or add a card to thank her for how much she has changed my life. I just had the illustration printed out on photo paper, and the original with me. She restated in her lecture that night to identify your fear and DO IT ANY WAY! I did. The AMAZING thing is, that if I had waited to give it to her, to frame it or wrap it till the next time I saw her when THEN it might be “Good Enough”, I would have missed the opportunity that I didn’t even know existed yet.

It was an amazing feeling, I think we both cried – She was so happy and I was so happy to give it to her! She looked at me and said that she loved it, and that she NEEDED ART FOR HER NEW CD COVER AND TOTEBAGS! (Which are now MADE with links below)! So watch this vlog to see the inspiration and the art!! I hope Gabby inspires you as she has me to EFF it, JUST DO IT!!!

Check out Naia Maro’s art here.

Gabrielle Bernstein’s MediDating Album, get it here on Amazon.com or iTunes

Get the tote bag here!!

Hope that inspires you – to do WHAT YOU LOVE!

xoxo Emily

November 30, 2011

Seriously…

Yes, you caught me red handed.

Take life too seriously? Me? Sometimes. Well – a lot of times actually. There’s just so many things to do, to accomplish, to “change the world” about. So many people to see, places to go, experiences to have.

Life is short, carpe diem! … Right?

Yeah, well this is my main source of anxiety! This is a good concept in theory yet if literally taken to the pavement you’d be running around and never taking time to smell the roses.

Balance. Yes, it all comes down to balance. Of course we all should have major things to check of on our bucket list but some of the best and most recent lessons I’ve learned – is just to LET GO! Read SpiritJunkie by Gabrielle Bernstein. (I am in the middle of it right now).

Have faith, Let it be, Chill OUT!

Dance a little, have fun. Smile…. A great friend and amazing women just said to me – and I tweeted “When you find yourself smiling, pay attention and that’s the direction that you go in.” – Monica Taylor. How profound, yet so simple and it should be so obvious.

Let go. Stop controlling. Follow your heart. Listen to your inner voice. Trust your gut. Know that there is a big picture out there and I believe everything happens for a reason. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger right?

Well, something to marinate on at least.

GO FORTH, release. Stop planning. Follow your heart as you would your nose if you smelled an awesome just-out-of-the-oven batch of cookies, apple pie or cinnamon buns. Ok, I digress however you get the point.

One of my favorite quotes has and will always be :

“Do you want to arrive at your grave peacefully, or do you want to slide in sideways, chocolate in hand, out of breath from dancing all night, (wearing some fantabulous Louboutins) screaming “WOW what a ride”?”

I think I have been taking life WAYY to seriously these last few months, maybe thats why I’ve been having a hard time adding to my blog about inspiration. I think I can officially say its my JOB to be inspired so that I can do my best work.

Make it your job to be inspired. Do what makes you happy. Smile and dance. When you are feeling helpless, help someone.

Hope that inspires you!

xoxo Emily

November 26, 2011

Giving Thanks

This time of year is so magical, its what the holidays are about. Realizing that after your full work week, your daily cup o’joe (or green juice) after the worries and the details of your day have come and gone – all you really have and need is family, love and the relationships that will always be there for you. I heard Latham Thomas of http://tendershootswellness.com speak at Gabrielle Bernstein’s Spirit Junkie 11/11/11 lecture and something she said really resonated with me. She spoke about how she let her young son make up his own prayers over his food to give thanks. What he made up was probably one of the most sweet, insightful and grateful prayers for our food I have ever heard. I was honored to repeat it at our thanksgiving dinner.

It went something along the lines of this:

Thank you to the farmers who grew this food, thank you to the land that nourished and supported this food to grow, (thank you for the Turkey who gave its life), thank you to the field workers for picking this food, thank you to the merchants who bought these crops, thank you to the supermarket workers and owners for preparing this food so that we can purchase it, thank you for our jobs so we can buy this food, thank you for (my mom) our families who prepared this food and thank you God (or whom ever you pray to or believe in) for letting us enjoy this food to nourish our bodies.

So much goes into your thanksgiving dinner, and the daily food we eat. I am so grateful to live in a country where we don’t have to worry about how we will get our food. I am grateful for all of the systems we have in place to make our lives easier and give us the ability to nourish, feed, take care and clothe ourselves. I am most of all thankful for all of the love, friends and family I have that surround me and for the ability to welcome in abundance when I put my mind and efforts towards it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 1, 2011

Activating your “Red Zone”, the art of inspiration.

So I’m sure you may have noticed that the last two months my blog posts have been less frequent. A lot of mental shifts are occurring for me lately, and major work and career shifts that I am cultivating now have been taking up most of my time. The point of me mentioning this is significant because, like many creatives (and all people for that matter) – we tend to focus our energy on getting things done, knocking off the goal check list and assuming that time spent should primarily center around the tasks at hand. Not completely true. This post is about how to tap into your creativity.

The American culture, and especially our corporate culture denote that to be efficient and productive we must; Go, Go, go (for lack of a better term). As part of my ever-evolving studies on productivity (I am a self proclaimed process junkie always concerned with the how and with really successful individual’s daily routine) and the question I always ask myself “does studying productivity make you less productive?”, I inherently KNOW in my gut that maintaining your craft and analyzing how you do it, will, in effect essentially make you more productive as you get things down to a science.

One method I had been ensuing was the oh-so academic, basic and systematic technique of COLOR-CODING, yes color-coding my tasks. This is such an entertaining process for my creative mind, using different color sharpie pens to determine what is URGENT (any shade of fuchia, red or pink – in order of importance from darkest to lightest), FUTURE (bright green to signify how I can make money in the future), PROJECTS (orange, to alert me and help those stand out among my list), and MAINTANANCE (blue, teal or purple in order of importance and from darkest to lightest again) based tasks. Maintenance has sometimes fallen by the way side. Read on for how that can be detrimental to your success. Color-coding and hand writing not only activate your left and right brain simultaneously, it has also been proven that writing things down help support your short and long term memory – keeping your to do’s always in the back of your mind.) It works for me.

But anyway, I digress.

As equally important as the process is, what The99Percent deems your “Red Zone” is also one of the most effective ways of increasing your productivity and keeping you inspired.

This blog is about inspiration – and I have not been writing so frequently because I have not been so inspired! This is part of my job as a creative (and inspirational blogger of course). So how do I up the anti on this elusive, yet core feeling of being inspired.

This is how: “Activating your Red Zone” an article in The 99percent by Todd Henry (thank you Todd).

These topics fall into my maintenance category. I think we all tend to underestimate the importance of maintenance. In this Go, Go, go mindset – maintenance seems like an after thought. However, by treating maintenance as professional athletes, models, racecar drivers and even the winners of this Halloween’s annual largest pumpkin grow do – you are keeping your biggest asset (your mind, body, spirit and your creativity) in tiptop performance mode.

Just think about what would happen if a racecar driver failed to maintain their vehicle’s parts, if a model failed to maintain their physique and beauty rest, if an athlete failed to practice their game or if the pumpkin grower did not care for their crop. Their output; zilch, zero, find a new profession because your screwed!

Lets just watch this short video to illustrate my point. Continued maintenance will produce amazing results. Watch this fun video then read on to get the productivity-making tips.

You may be smiling from this creative marketing campaign, but let me go further to drive the point home.
Maintenance can be like pedaling that bicycle. Do you see the vibrant energy created from that small action of pedaling?
Just like how exercising your body stimulates energy and produces endorphins, creative maintenance produces GENIUS!

Creatives out there, entrepreneurs; hear my call. Maintain your creativity.

And now the juiciness taken right from the mastermind Todd Henry himself. (Click this link for complete article).

“1. Activities that increase your capacity to generate and make ideas happen, such as study, skill development, or research. When we stoke our curiosity by filling our mind with inspirational or challenging thoughts, or hone our craft by intentionally developing our skills, we gain a sturdy platform to build on. Unfortunately, these are often the first activities to get tossed out when we’re in crunch time, and by eliminating them we are borrowing a little bit of time now against the quality of our future work.

What are you doing to stretch your mind, seek inspiration, and fill your creative well? In other words, what are you doing today to increase your capacity to do great work tomorrow? Make sure that these activities find their way onto your calendar, even in busy seasons.

2. Activities that feed your creative soul, like spending time with friends who inspire you. When we get busy, it’s easy to default to engaging only in relationships of obligation or convenience. This means that we are missing out on a key source of creative inspiration. Setting aside time to connect with others, to discover what they’re working on, and to hear what’s inspiring them can expand our perspective and fuel our motivation to do better work. Who inspires you, and are you protecting time on your calendar for them, even during busy times?

3. Activities that provide creative traction, like clarifying objectives with your manager or client. Sometimes we are so anxious to jump into the work that we fail to clarify what’s really expected of us. Taking a small amount of time now to set objectives can save a lot of pain later as we try backpedal out of a mess. Set aside time on the calendar each day to re-align and ensure that you’re working on the right problems. Creatives and teams that regularly clarify their objectives are more productive and are less likely to experience the relational tensions that can kill workplace creativity.”

These may seem like simple no-brainers – yet I myself am guilty of thinking I must push forth and produce.

I did not say it! He did! My left-brain feels guilty just thinking about doing these things. My right brain is jumping for joy. Balance is KEY! As my spiritual guru and life coach Gabrielle Bernstein preaches, balance is essential to fulfill your dreams and goals. Take this advice. Seriously.

Today I will be lucky enough to visit one of my new clients BeWellWithArielle at her beautiful Manhattan apartment to do creative direction for a photo shoot for her Reiki infused jewelry. This lovely lady lives and breathes balance and she inspires me everyday! Her zest for life and creative soul will help us inspire each other to better both of our work, and then perhaps we will go to yoga! What will you do TODAY that will benefit your passion, service to the world and dreams tomorrow?!

I hope this inspires you!

Xoxo Emily

July 27, 2011

The Making of The Gabrielle Bernstein illustration by Emily Brickel

Gabrielle Bernstein is one of my amazing Mentors, spiritual Gurus, an incredible business women and my friend (not to mention New York Times Best selling author and inspirational speaker). Since getting to know Gabby and the spiritual impact she has had on my life, I was incredibly moved to draw her.

She once said that “When you are not sharing your talent, you are doing a disservice to the world.” This completely opened my eyes and I am proud to say that Gabby is the main reason I picked up illustration again. She had re-awakened a calling in me that I had been suppressing for years.

Here you go, the creation of The Gabrielle Bernstein illustration. Hope this moves you to share your talent with the world.

May 18, 2011

Inspired fashion illustration

So inspired by Gabrielle Bernstein, motivational speaker, inspired Entrepreneur and author who said tonight basically “when you don’t do something that you love, or that inspires you, you are doing a disservice to the world.”

I was thinking about that tonight after I heard that and thought about my drawings, I haven’t really drawn like this since high school and the times I draw are for my “work” which is also my love, fashion design. My drawings for fashion design, however are less detailed and labored more so to get a concept out, but I truly forgot how much I love to draw. So tonight, in one and a half hours, I have to say I’m pretty thrilled and proud of myself that I was able to get this result with out drawing for years.

Thank you Gabby.

For all of you who don’t do what you love and I mean REALLY LOVE, as a child or just your inner most love for fear that it does not fit in your “real world” or should I say the “illusion” of your real world; DO IT! Please, for your sake and the worlds, share your talent, your love and your gift with all of us.

Here I am sharing mine with you!! Hope you enjoy!!! I did!!!!!!

Inspired by one incredible Fashion Illustrator Arturo Elena.

And the original art work from Arturo Elena as inspiration

Hope that inspires you!
xoxo
Emily

March 12, 2011

The attitude of Gratitude

I apologize for my tiny deviation from keeping up with my blog posts, however I have just started to embark on a journey! A spiritual journey, and one that is far better than I would have ever thought. I am scouring the internet and books for sources and many have come up. Definitely one teacher that stands out in my mind is Gabrielle Bernstein of www.gabbyb.tv/ Spiritual Teacher, Entrepreneur, author, life enthusiast and amazing human being. Gabby – if you are reading this – Thank you!

At the mere mention of this title, one may think that yes, you’ve heard this before… this is the most heard practice everywhere however we, as busy humans seem to forget to practice this attitude. For me it has been very transformative.

Right now I am so inspired by everything, the possibilities that are out there if you just seek them.

If you have lived, take thankfully the past. ~John Dryden

If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get. ~Frank A. Clark

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. ~Epictetus

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder

Only a stomach that rarely feels hungry scorns common things. ~Horace

Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted. ~Aldous Huxley

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. ~William Arthur Ward

I just felt the need to express this especially during the scary and incredible devastation occurring on the other side of the world in Japan and Hawaii. We all have so much to be grateful for and when you are … magic happens. You will then remember what you have, how good you feel, that you are alive, have health, happiness, food, a roof over your head, family, friends, money coming in… and if one or some of those things are missing in your life, be grateful for the others because we (if you are reading this – you must have internet and access to a computer which means you are doing pretty well to begin with.) do have amazing things in our lives. The more grateful for them you are, the more good things you are likely to receive.

I am grateful for all of you (you who are are reading this now) because it gives me the freedom to express myself, and even if I can make a difference in one person’s life, to me it is worth it. I am so blessed, I have all of my limbs, I can walk, speak, think, hear, see, I am beautiful inside and out, I am intelligent, I have dreams, I have friends who are amazing, an amazing family who loves and supports me, food to eat, a place to live, an amazing boyfriend and partner, a career that I am cultivating and the freedom to do so. There were plenty of times in my life when one or some of those things were missing, or at least I THOUGHT some of those things were missing. It was not until I got truly grateful that I realized all that I have and all that I really am grateful for. So many of us beat ourselves up for not being as beautiful, as successful or as lucky in love as we think we should be. We beat our selves up if we have a family who does not support our dreams ENOUGH, or have to deal with a much worse issue, like unemployment, disease, a death, poor self esteem, etc. It is when you get really grateful for what you DO have, that you are not sitting on the street in Africa or New York City begging for change, for food or struggling to survive, that you know there are infinite possibilities.

My friend Julie Rath of www.rathandco.com/ Entrepreneur, Image consultant and personal stylist as well as an amazing friend and woman, sent me this really great quote from one of her friends when I needed it the most. “Someone once taught me to look down at my feet and remember that where my feet are, is (exactly) the place that I am supposed to be.” To me this means – if you are dealing with some s*@t in your life, these are just lessons and opportunities to learn from and to grow.

Please, be happy for what you have, give love to those who mean something to you and be grateful for everything, EVERYTHING you have. Because when you do, it will come back to you ten fold and you will begin to move mountains.

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.
~ Heraclitus Quotes

People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes from The Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson

When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters–one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.
~ John F. Kennedy Quotes

Hope this inspires you!
Xo
Emily

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Just Believe…