Whoop! I am not a whoop girl, but that’s a whoop. 30 posts in 30 days! How DO you do it? For me, it was quite a challenge! Wow. I knew that I would do it, but I also knew that it would be certainly easy to forget about it and let the date of reckoning slide right past me!
A lot has happened in the last 30 days. Of course, we all probably know that challenges show up on our doorstep the very moment that we don’t want them there… so this challenge came to me and I thought myself a bit crazy for doing it because I was in the middle of creating a new social media training program and it just was not the thing that I expected to be doing! But, you know what? Just completing this is a big hoorah for me. I am challenged by completions so this is big for me!
I have to say that it was certainly not tough to think of things to talk about. What was tough was getting in there and then finding that a five minute post was taking 30 minutes to an hour as I dug through and found details and links to share. Thank GOD for Flickr. I love you, Flickr, and I love the people on there that so freely let me browse and use their Creative Commons photos. Such beauty abounds!
Thanks for stopping by. I promise I won’t stop writing now that I have reached my 30 days. This was actually like just STARTING an exercise routine. You don’t abandon it after the first 30 days! This is just a start. But it does say that I do need to find another challenge to keep it active. I may have to give myself one…
anyone out there have any ideas?What should I do for my next blogging challenge?
As I was poking around, looking at all of the other Joy Rebels out there yesterday for my post on Joy Rebel Day, I realized just how intricately the circles of our web are woven. It is virtually impossible for me to understand “who knows who” except by finding little connections, and – even then – I don’t write them down so I just have to remember that so-and-so knows so-and-so through such-and-such. It is just so much fun once you get into it. Is there a website out there that does this with bloggers?
At first, when I started blogging, I was just writing to thin air. Although it was a journalling of sorts, it was not as valuable without the contributions of the other bloggers that are out there. This is my 29th entry of my 30 posts in 30 days and I just want to thank all of the wonderful people that have made this possible for me. Without diving in and reading your amazing posts, I would have been sitting here at #10, wondering just what to write about! Every day, you give me so much to think about and you make me laugh and you make me cry.
So as I work to define my life and determine what it is that I am here to do, I would say that my role is to meet and connect the wonderful people who are out in the world doing great things. I hope to continue to do so for many years to come!
There are two tools for the blogger that I find to be invaluable. The first is Google Reader. If you like to read blogs, you will love this tool if you haven’t experienced it yet! Google Reader is a tool that keeps track of all of the blogs that you subscribe to. I love it because it tells me which posts are new so I can just skim the newest posts that are out there. If I use it daily, (which I try to do, but…often don’t!), I can use it to keep track of new posts and remember to log a comment for their posts.
The second is a little add-on, within Google Reader and (as far as I know, only useable in Firefox) called Grease Monkey, which lets me post good blog items to my Twitter. All I have to do is open the blog post within Google Reader and press Shift+T and it creates a post on Twitter of the title and link! Fabulous!
Today is Independence Day in the US. The day that we all got freedom from that pesky England way back a couple hundred years ago. So today is a day that we celebrate freedom. On Cirkla (www.cirkla.com), we are celebrating freedom this whole month where people can write little posts about what freedom means to them. I hope that you will join us!
One such freedom fighter that I have been appreciating lately is Jamie Ridler. (That is her in the video below this post.) Jamie is doing a Wreck this Journal series and she has some videos on her site at The Next Chapter blog to walk us through the process of generating CREATIVE FREEDOM. I will write more about creative freedom in my Creative Freedom post, but in the meantime, please enjoy Jamie’s video and stop by her site for more of them!
There I was, out enjoying my Joy Rebel Day… when it occured to me! I forgot to post a Hump Day Hero this week!
So here we are…when I got home, I checked out my Google Reader (the source of most of my Hump Day Hero selections) and there was a post about Joy Rebel Day! Of course, after reading Sherri’s post on Life After Web, I knew that I had found my Hump Day Hero. (I had thought about making Brandi the Hump Day Hero today, but I already made her one before! I guess that she can be a fill-in, just in case Sherri isn’t up for it..)
I just wanted to share this PRESS RELEASE with you about Joy Rebel Day, that is coming up on Wednesday, July 1st. On that day, take some time (I am taking the entire day, but take as much time as you can) and do something joyful. Please feel free to copy and paste this PRESS RELEASE and share it with anyone you know.
The creator of Joy Rebel Day is Brandi Reynolds. Her Blog is Welcome to the Joy Rebellion and she was the person who wrote this wonderful press release. Please spread it around!
At 7 PM CST, next Wednesday, July 1st, I will be interviewing Brandi LIVE on the internet. Mark your calendars and call in from 7 – 7:30 PM to listen to her speak. The number to dial is (718) 508-9274. Please tell everyone you know about this special day.
They come from all walks of life and across the world. Joy rebels. There may be one in your own neighborhood.
What is a joy rebel?? A joy rebel is a member of an elite army started by Brandi Reynolds in early 2009. Brandi was tired of the ‘must fix list’ tirade found in most of the self help section and decided she wanted to have some fun, reclaim joy and live a fully authentic life.
And then she invited some friends and they invited some friends and now an army of strong, crafty, fun loving, authentic men and women all over the internet and blog sphere have taken up her cause and marched into the streets and across their web pages with…heart shaped sticky notes. And sidewalk chalk. Oh and warrior names that reveal their innate talents like ‘bubble blower extraordinaire’.
They do things like leave notes in books for others to find. Write joy in sidewalk chalk. Hug trees. And generally wreck havoc on the doom and gloom population glued to the network news.
Anyone committed to the sublime art of being their authentic self is welcome to join this rebel army. Potential warriors can join at http://brandireynolds.blogspot.com. There they will be welcomed into a community of amazing humans, receive weekly missions and get a badge to add to their blog or web page. They should probably not be averse to glitter glue.
Let’s make this a joy nation. Join today!!!
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{Brandi Reynolds is a photographer and joy rebel that clearly doesn’t take herself that seriously. For more info, you can contact her here: brandi@brandireynoldsphoto.com or visit her website here:http://www.brandireynoldsphoto.com}
I really love blogging. This current “30 Posts in 30 Days Challenge” by Connie Ragen Green has really tested my grit and made me appreciate it even more by making me get out here every day and write more. (Thanks, Connie!) It has also made me write more concisely because I frankly don’t have time to write a novel every day! When this challenge is over, I may write the posts a bit longer but this has been really good practice for me.
Blogging has changed my world in many ways. Blogging has made my world bigger. I now have access to literally millions of people and their intimate postings. Before, what would have only been available to professional writers is now available to anyone.
Granted, there is some degradation of quality like unchecked spelling mistakes and the like that you do not find in professional media but, like the grainy home videos, there is a homespun quality to that which makes it comforting. It’s real. As you can maybe tell if you are a grammarian (?), I am certainly not the best writer! I like to think that I am getting better as I go along. I become conscious of how something doesn’t flow right or it just doesn’t sound correct. I know with the blogs that I read, it doesn’t really matter to me unless the glaring problems distract me from getting into the content, but I would think that most people don’t mind it.
(Even in this post, I can see that I am rambling around a bit so I will get back on point…)
My point is, blogging is important. I can post articles on Cirkla, and I often do (you can too!) but my blog is my way of helping my global audience get to know who I am and I get to know who they are through their blogs. It has really helped me to define myself and what I am bringing to the table in the cosmic sense of the word. For years, I always felt that I was a writer with nothing to say. As it turns out, I have a lot to say but the blog is helping me to find my theme.
What is your theme? Do you blog? If so, where do you struggle with your blogging? Or, why do you think it is important? If you are just a blog spectator, what do you look for in a good blog? Tell us your story in the comments.
If you haven’t heard of Seth Godin, consider this my birthday present for you. Seth Godin is amazing. If you own a business, you simply must check him out. Every small business owner really needs to think like a CEO. You are the sales department, the marketing department and the service department. It is a little tough sometimes to fill all of those pairs of shoes. (Or to wear all of those poofy colorful hats with cool feathers on them…)
Seth Godin makes it all fun. His lectures and blog and many other writings by him are free to watch online and he is popular enough to be a book that you can find in many libraries. (If not, be sure and ask for them to order it… you can do that, you know!) Once you start reading his books and watching his lectures, you will see what they mean when they say that the old way of marketing is dead… or at least, should be. Most of us either know that or intuitively know that, but Seth Godin has made a living by announcing it to the world with humor. Check him out.
As a blogger and an internet radio show junkie, I meet all kinds of interesting people. You gotta just LOVVVE the internet! One woman who has caught my attention and given me some great ideas to help me with my business is Connie Ragen Green. Connie can be found just about everywhere and this month, she is creating the Power Blogging Challenge for bloggers everywhere.
The challenge is basically this: 30 blog posts in 30 days
Simple.
There are a couple of rules but you will have to stop by her site to get the details. If you are reading this, and are taking the challenge, please add your comment to let us know and we will check out your blog! So fun!
On Wednesday, July 1st, we are celebrating a very special day… Joy Rebel Day! I think that Joy Rebel Day is best explained by the creator herself, but in a very short explanation – Joy Rebel Day is a whole day to dedicate to doing ONLY WHAT YOU LOVE. Read Brandi’s description of Joy Rebel Day
How fun that it is happening on July 1st… on a Wednesday when I do my Cirkla Radio Show! So I immediately contacted Brandi and GUESS WHAT?! She is going to spend 30 minutes of her wonderful JOY REBEL DAY to talk with us on our show!
So… here is what I want from YOU! Yes, making demands… I know that you don’t HAVE to listen to me, but this will be fun!
*Put a little note in your calendar or on your blackberry, iphone, etc… to remind yourself of JOY REBEL DAY on July 1st.
*HAVE SOME FUN THAT DAY! (See?! I told you this was going to be a fun demand!)
*Tell ALL YOUR FRIENDS to do the same thing – make sure that you send them this link so that they can know where to call in, etc, too!
*Then, join us on the Cirkla Radio Show right at 7 PM CST on that Wednesday, July 1st. Call into our chat line at (718) 508-9274 and press 1 to let us know that you want to tell us about your day! Then, we will put you on our show and you can tell us what fun stuff you got up to on JOY REBEL DAY!
Doesn’t that just sound so fun? The really cool thing is, you will be able to tell THE CREATOR OF THE SPECIAL DAY all about it! What a treat she will get for creating such a great idea. Just imagine – people all over the world celebrating by doing what we all love doing! I personally think it should be an INTERnational Holiday! (
Is there even such a thing – a global holiday?) OK, I am not a whoop girl but that’s a whoop. *Whoop!*
There I was, out enjoying my Joy Rebel Day… when it occured to me! I forgot to post a Hump Day Hero this week!
As a blogger and an internet radio show junkie, I meet all kinds of interesting people. You gotta just LOVVVE the internet! One woman who has caught my attention and given me some great ideas to help me with my business is Connie Ragen Green. Connie can be found just about everywhere and this month, she is creating the 