13. Frida Kahlo

I was so impressed with her passion I had to share her story. I love that 55 of her 143 paintings are self portraits. I believe that is bold and self loving in a non-narcissistic way.
Not only is she a beautiful woman to look at, I love looking at her art work. She has several self portraits where she paints what’s on her mind right in the middle of her forehead. I enjoy her artwork because every piece has message worth receiving.
I find Frida bold, complicated, loving, someone I would love have a few cups of Starbucks with.
I was prompted to add Frida to my list after reading about her husband Diego Rivera on his birthday. Google honored him with a doodle on his 125th birthday December 8, 2011.
Links to Frida:

• Frida on Amy Brown’s site
• Frida on Wikipedia
• Frida’s Musuem
• Frida on PBS
• Frida on Artcyclopedia
• Frida on Google

See more progress on: list 50 women little girls should admire instead of symbols of stupidity and weakness

William Is Not Afraid To Cry

William is not afraid to cry...

This is a repost from another blog I wrote way back on October 13, 2006.  Note that William was eight years old then.  He's 13 now.  I'm just importing stuff that never got imported when I moved to blogger.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

~Maryanne Williamson

We watched Coach Carter last weekend.  Of course I cried, but unbeknownst to me, William cried too.  
William is my 8 year old child prodigy. 


Do you know that boy took that movie into his room and watched it over and over and over?  Then he paused it on this particular speech, wrote it down word for word and proceeded to MEMORIZE it!   


He recited the speech to me tonight and I almost cried again.  Yes, my baby did that.    


Guess what else, that was out of his own inspiration and no outside influences.  Man I love that little boy! 

Inspiration For You

Keeping your Flame:

1. You have to WANT IT!  Only you can motivate yourself.
2. WAKE UP!  Are you sleeping through your life?
3. CONQUER FEAR!  Enthusiasm and fear cannot occupy the same mind.  The choice is yours.
4. SET BIG GOALS!  Inspire yourself.
5. BELIEVE!  Without belief, you won't even try.
6. ACT!  No matter how small, any action will take you closer to your goals.  Don't leave the book of your life unwritten.

Never settle, never give up.

Make your life a blaze of glory!

7. Lucille Clifton

Lucille Clifton was born in Depew, New York, on June 27, 1936. Her first book of poems, Good Times, was rated one of the best books of the year by the New York Times in 1969.

Clifton remained employed in state and federal government positions until 1971, when she became a writer in residence at Coppin State College in Baltimore, Maryland, where she completed two collections: Good News About the Earth (1972) and An Ordinary Woman (1974).

She has gone on to write several other collections of poetry, including Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 (BOA Editions, 2000), which won the National Book Award; The Terrible Stories (1995), which was nominated for the National Book Award; The Book of Light (1993); Quilting: Poems 1987-1990 (1991); Next: New Poems (1987)

Her collection Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980 (1987) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize; Two-Headed Woman (1980), also a Pulitzer Prize nominee, was the recipient of the University of Massachusetts Press Juniper Prize. She has also written Generations: A Memoir (1976) and more than sixteen books for children, written expressly for an African-American audience.

Her honors include an Emmy Award from the American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, a Lannan Literary Award, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Shelley Memorial Award, the YM-YWHA Poetry Center Discovery Award, and the 2007 Ruth Lilly Prize.

In 1999, she was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. She has served as Poet Laureate for the State of Maryland and is currently Distinguished Professor of Humanities at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

See more progress on: list 50 women little girls should admire instead of symbols of stupidity and weakness

Day 11 - Inspirational Page

Today I was suppose to spend 15 minutes writing down some of my favorite inspirational phrases.

Ok, I wrote an entire long quote.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

That is my favorite inspirational quote. I had to do it.

See more progress on: Complete my FLYlady baby steps every day for one month

Can I Borrow $25?

Can I borrow $25?

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: Daddy, may I ask you a question?'
DAD: Yes sure, what is it ? replied the man.
SON: Daddy, how much do you make an hour?'
DAD: That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing? the man said angrily.
SON: I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'
DAD: If you must know, I make $50 an hour.'
SON: Oh, the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: Daddy, may I please borrow $25?'

The father was furious, If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.'

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down , and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

'Are you asleep, son?' He asked.

'No daddy, I'm wake,' replied the boy.

'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the man. It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $25 you asked for.

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. Oh, thank you daddy!' He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

Why do you want more money if you already have some?' the father grumbled.

Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied. Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.'

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the separation for the rest of their lives.