With an Open Heart

Apr 5

The Experiences That Don’t Come Around Everyday Should Be Cherished

This post is a bit atypical I suppose, but I felt it was actually more relevant than not. Almost a year ago, I took a trip to Thailand with my friend Gina that was nothing short of amazing. We traveled through Bangkok, Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, Krabi, and Phanang Bay. Thailand was simply amazing in so many ways. It was a trip that I desperately NEEDED at the time. I was working far too much, juggling a course load that was far more difficult than I had ever imagined, and I was completely and totally burnt out. This trip was a great refresher; the much needed relaxation that helped me get back to reality and a hold of my life again. Read more

Mar 28

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[FEATURED POST] Happy Birthday to My Sister Jessica: The Epitome of Unconditional Love, and Living With an Open Heart.

One of the most important people in my life is my older sister Jessica. Jessica was born with Down Syndrome and today is her 28^th birthday. It’s hard to believe she is that old; she’s not even five feet tall, and still looks like a kid. She still acts like a kid actually, which is one of the wonderful things about Jessica. She is easily pleased, almost always happy, and see’s life through an endlessly positive lens. Read more

Mar 22

3 Comments

Did My Post Suck Today???

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…With an Open Heart

Thoughts on this post

This post by SweetMother is simply hilarious!! I’m sure many, MANY bloggers have felt this way after publishing a post. I know while I read this I could certainly relate. What I really appreciated however was the neurotic dialogue she had with herself. One, it was very comical. Two, it made me realize how funny my own thought process is daily and how ridiculous my self-criticism can be!!! Now that I’m more conscious of it, I’m going to try and AT LEAST make my self-talk (often critical self-talk) much more comical.
We all need to laugh at ourselves sometimes. Better yet, daily! If we laugh more, especially at ourselves, perhaps life will suddenly become less “why so serious?” and a lot more……….See photos : )

Sweet Mother

The below is a list of what happens in my brain for the next 31 minutes after I hit “publish” each and everyday. Note: I only have about 1 original thought per minute, the other thoughts within that minute are variations of the original-thesis thought for that correpsonding minute.

Min 1: “Did my post suck today? It’s been a minute and there is only one “like”. Maybe it sucked.”

Min 2: “It’s Sunday, people don’t read very many blogs on Sunday, that’s a low-views day according to my stats.”

Min 3: “Oh, wait, it’s Monday. Okay, that is also a low-views day – so is Tuesday and Wednesday and hold on…”

Min 4: “I should’ve written about my Mom. People like it when I write about my Mom or my Wifesy.”

Min 5: “I don’t think I should’ve capitalized Mom in that last minute…

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Mar 21

2 Comments

Changing Requires a Paradigm Shift. No one said it was going to be easy!

This morning I came across this post by A Thousand Shades of Gray discussing the paradigm shift we go through as humans whenever we’re in a process of personal transformation and growth.

Kurt Lewin developed the Change Theory that is today, the epitome of change models. Lewin is also regarded as the founder of Social Psychology and contributed vastly to the field. On the most basic level, Change Theory describes the process of change that occurs in humans, society, organizations, etc., as conscious and in three phases: Read more

Mar 20

6 Comments

What Are The Consequences of NOT Moving Toward The Unknown?

Even if we can’t physically see it, everything in this world is constantly changing one way or another. Everything. Some of us embrace change, and choose to move toward unfamiliar grounds, while others try desperately to hold onto familiarity, -to comfort. What is it that makes one person fearful of the unknown, and the other excited? Is it nurture? Is it biology? Although I have not sought out research on this topic, I’m willing to bet it’s a combination of both.

I recently reread a silly book I was given years ago by my cousin and came across an old fable on the topic: Read more

Mar 13

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Can You Ask For Anything More Than Sunshine??

It’s SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY in Minnesota!! It’s March and it’s 61 degrees outside. In Minnesota! Crazy, but I’m going to take it. There is nothing I like more than sunshine; how it heats up my body, how it glimmers through the sky and onto everything around me. My whole world seems better when the sun is out. I see things more clearly, and feel much more balanced. This makes Minnesota winters difficult, and I honestly despise them, but I will not complain this year. This year was wonderful!

[FEATURED POST] You Are What You Think! Think Happy to BE Happy!

Each day, roughly 60,000 thoughts will cross your mind. What are you thinking about? Are your thoughts positive or are they negative? Do you feel happy most days or sad? Of these 60,000 thoughts, it’s up to you, to make sure that 59,999 of them are not wasted on negative, self-defeating thoughts.

We’ve all heard that you are what you eat, right? But what about You are what You think? Every thought you have creates a physiological response in the body. Read more

Mar 7

The Perils of Being a Perfectionist

Almost everyone wish they could change something about themselves, or their lives at some point. It’s normal I supposed to not be completely satisfied. Some of us are perhaps more satisfied than others. But what happens when we’re only satisfied with perfection?

If I had to use one word to sum up my most prominent thought the last few weeks it would be: Perfectionism. In fact, I would say, if I had a stocker, it would be Perfectionism. It just won’t get away from me. I’ve been a self-proclaimed perfectionist for years, and frankly, I think I liked it; Perfectionism was a friend of sorts. But over the last year, I’ve become aware of just how annoying, and clinging, and rigid, and judgmental, and selfish, and cruel this friend really is. Perfectionism is a total Bitch! Read more

Mar 6

6 Comments

30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself

A few months back I came across this post on Create Your Great Life. The author, DeAnna had reblogged it from Marc and Angel Hack Life, and now I’m doing the same.

Originally, when I had hoped to start this blog closer to the New Year, and was busy scribbling down my New Year’s resolutions, I wanted to share this post as others were likely doing the same. But, life got in the way, things got delayed, and now it’s March. I’m posting it now, because as I approach finals, life is quickly getting the best of me, and I’m yearning for that New Year, New You feeling. Even though it’s not New Year’s there’s really no wrong time reflect on life, make a conscious effort to stop doing the things that makes us feel like shit, and start living the life we want. Read more

Feb 29

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[FEATURED POST] Sometimes the Biggest Risk…is Not Taking One at All.

When you think about what it takes to be strong, honest, courageous and authentic, you may or may not include vulnerable to your list. In fact, synonyms of vulnerability include: defenseless, sucker, susceptible, unsafe, weak, and in danger. Quite the contrary to anything strong and courageous!

I’m not even going to try to lie and say that now that I have my first post out there, and my biggest hurdle is behind me, that I no longer feel vulnerable. I most certainly do, -and I feel susceptible and exposed too! But that was sort of the point now wasn’t it?

As humans, we thrive through honest, vulnerable, trusting connections to others. We are born vulnerable to everything around us. If we experience love, tenderness, physical and emotional connections and safety, we grow up to be healthy, happy, functioning adults (well, most of us). Vulnerability is essential to human existence. Yet, so many of us fight it. We fight, because Read more

Feb 22

6 Comments

[FEATURED POST] What is…With an Open Heart??

What is …With an Open Heart? Well, it’s my best attempt at making a change in my life and opening myself, and my heart to the world. There are so many things I could try and say to explain this little blog, and the reason why I’m started it, but every time I try, I struggle to find the words. So let me just start by explaining my feelings leading up to this blog.

Feelings: I’m afraid of them!!

I’ve been running from them for nearly eight years. At first, this was easy, and made life a hell of a lot easier. How do you feel? Fine. Did that bother you? I couldn’t care less. I basically just shut down. I turned off my feelings and stopped caring. Read more