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RecyclART

January 18, 2012 by jennyheenan

I love love love finding ways to make old items useful and awesome again (who doesn’t?!). Recyclart has been one of my favorite websites for DIY and inspiration for upcycling just about anything.  Upcycling, by the way, is this nifty term we DIYers use for turning waste or ‘useless’ products into new, better materials/products with a purpose and value.  Cardboard, bike tires, coffee cans… you name it and you can upcycle it!   This site has ideas and tutorials for making interesting pieces and novel toys, as well as practical solutions for everyday issues.  I have a number of projects featured on the site that I have bookmarked and plan to get started on asap!  Here are some awesome ones..

Recycled light bulb vase…

Upcycled cinderblock planters which I am ABSOLUTELY going to attempt outside my door..

Oh the joy of setting up my new apartment and finding inspiration everywhere.  I will be sure to post my progress with these projects along the way.  You can spend all day on this site.  Enjoy!

If you have any awesome DIY sites, please share!  RAD!!

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Important Day of Remembrance and Inspiration

January 16, 2012 by jennyheenan

‎”Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.

Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.

Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”

- MLK Jr.

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Learning is sexy!

January 13, 2012 by jennyheenan

Today wraps up my first week of graduate school and I couldn’t be feeling better!   Beyond getting a Masters degree in a feild very close to my heart, what gets me the most stoked about the year ahead is learning!  Yes, I said it, LEARNING!  Learning something new, (anything!) does so much for the soul.

All too often we put ourselves on auto-pilot.  Whether it be in our jobs, our relationships and just day-to-day living.. we are not being challenged and it gets boring (yawn).  Mix it up a little bit!  I am not saying you have to go to an extreme and go back to school (kudos if you do!) but there are plenty of ways to get your learn on.  Here are some ideas that have worked for me!…

Download some podcasts and listen to them during the commute to work.  My favorites are Coffee Break Spanish (which is great listening and practice for conversational spanish) and NPR’s Radio Lab (AWESOMEEEEE!  RadioLab “believes your ears are a portal to another world”.  They tell interesting stories about various subjects and bring them all together with quirky sounds, music and dialogue to make radio-like documentaries. RAD!)

Look up your city’s website for community classes.  Many citys offer ceramic classes (yes please!), painting classes, etc.  They are generally one evening a week and you have something unique and pretty to give to someone special at the end of the  season.

Subscribe to National Geographic Magazine.  Ancient tombs, out of this world species, kooky cultural rituals… this mag taps in to it all.  I love love love it!

Thats all for today and oh yea….Happy Friday the 13th!  Sppoooookkkyyy)

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Today..

January 9, 2012 by jennyheenan

And I hope you are too!

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To Be before To Do!

January 6, 2012 by jennyheenan

My 30-day journey (I was thinking of calling it a 30-day challenge, although I think word journey is better!) for this month is adding a To-Be list to my days.  I previously wrote about the idea of trying something new for 30 days, you can read that post here.

I have to admit that my Type-A personality peeks through my otherwise Type B (..and C and Z and who knows!) personality in the mornings.  I often wake up with a mental “To-Do” list that structures my day.  What can I say, I like lists.  They give me a feeling of productivity.

The 30-day journey I am embarking on for this month is waking up and first making a To-Be list.  (I first heard of a To-Be list from a man and prolific writer I so admire, Paul Overton).  I feel like before now, I had it all backwards.  I want to wake up with a To-Be list to help me structure my attitude and perspective as each day unfolds.  How you approach your daily life and how you feel throughout your day is so much more important than the things you cross off your to-do list.  ”It is all the difference between a good day, a bad day and a mediocre day.”

So far my journey with a daily To-Be list has been more challenging than I had thought.  It is easy to get caught up in the action of the day, the plans for the future, etc.  I’ve been actively reminding myself of my 3 To-Be words of the day and trying to use them as much as I can.  My words yesterday were “Friendly, Silly and Mindful”.  I said hi to everyone I encountered throughout my day and tried to say something random to make them laugh.  It was really funny actually and made my day so much better!  My words today are “Productive, Relaxed and Grateful”.

Here’s a bucket of words to help you find your daily To-Be list:

Patient, Thankful, Healthy, Creative, Mindful, Silly, Present, Radiant, Productive, Relaxed, Positive, Generous, Courageous, Focused, Happy, Enthusiastic…

What power words can you come up with???

Posted in inspiration, rad, spread on, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Its just 30 days!

January 3, 2012 by jennyheenan

Here is some great motivation to help get the wheels churning for the New Year (its never too late to start!).  I’m lovin’ this short and sweet TEDtalk by a fella named Matt Cutts.  In this 3minute vid, Matt shares the power of a relatively simple concept… trying something new for 30 days.

The idea is simple; try something new, something you’ve always wanted to try, something you think that will bring something positive to your life… and try it, for just 30 days.  Some things may change your life but most probably won’t, and day 31 can’t come soon enough.  Either way, I think its a stellar approach to adding awesome new things to your (already awesome) life.

Immediately after watching this video my mind went in all different directions thinking “oh! I would love to take a photo everyday for 30 days… or maybe I can try being vegan again… or perhaps I’ll try to watch the sunset every night.  Needless to say, I have ideas out the wahzoo.

Whatever you choose to try first (easy or hard)… set your intention for the month of January and get started whenever you feel ready.  I have begun my 30-day challenge which I will share in a later post (isn’t the suspense killing you!?!).  I will be sure to inform you and update you about my joys, revelations, obstacles and along the way.  No matter what, please please remember:  it’s all about the journey!

Share your ideas and progress with us all!  Good Luck!

Posted in inspiration, rad, spread on | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

A Self-loving, Meditative, Do-It-Yourself’er!

December 29, 2011 by jennyheenan

*The photo above represents a HUGE achievement for me last year (my NOLS trip which I will further write about later this month) and serves as motivation for my goals moving forward.

I have a tendency to take the whole “New Years Resolutions” thing to a pretty enthusiastic and fanatic level. I find it a time to reinvent myself, to make goals and set out personal improvements… to achieve things I have always wanted to do, to create, to inspire and to discover more. Throughout the next couple weeks I will be posting ideas to help us all gain new perspective and motivation as we move forward in the New Year.

I can easily list 101 things that I want to achieve in 2012. I will spare you the long list and give you the short. The following things are a general snapshot of the type of goals I set out for myself; some are grand, some are silly, some are easy and some are challenging. Each one is made with intention and each one will bring something positive to my life. Perhaps just of my goals can provide you with inspiration for your own.

1. Receive my Masters in Education from Pepperdine University (This is a big one!!)

2. Deepen and expand my yoga and meditation practices

3. Successfully complete a really big DIY project (..I’m thinking of something to do with a garden)

4. Improve my self-love (..and therefore the love I put out in the world)

5. Further develop my totally stellar blog

If you have any wonderful thoughts you’d like to share with my readers, please be sure to comment. Now go forth.. and conquer your dreams!

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