Julie Unplugged:

Here is the Video Permission to Ramble You've Been Waiting for, Finally Granted! #blogboost

I am not one to watch videos.

My friend, Sheila Finkelstein, had to beg me to watch a video and eventually we were on the phone and my laptop was there and she relentlessly wore me down.

I watched the video. I shrugged and said, "Yes, a video!" Tonight, though I found a video I actually watched, even though it was only a talking head video which I normally don't watch at all. They are, to me, the most annoying of all videos. Why sit there, a talking head, when you could just do a voice over? I don't want to waste my time looking at you when there is so much to do. I would rather have your voice as my background, thank you very much.

Today it was different, though, for two reasons.

The first video I watched today was of Susan Cheever - you may watch the video by clicking this link - whose book about the Concord Transcendentalists I had read (and I remembered watching the video, had loaned to a friend and still haven't gotten it back!) So here was a kindred spirit AND she was speaking about Louisa May Alcott, who has been haunting me lately.

Yes, my life has been bombarded with images from the author of Little Women and many other stories, sketches, poems and novels. Little Women, however, is the one she is noted for the most. I started reading her "Hospital Sketches" and other short stories and when I read "Transcendentalist Wild Oats" our love or rather, my love for her was pulled tight like the corsets I am sure she hated.

I then watched a couple videos with Billy Collins speaking on them. What I like the most about these videos is he rambles. Quite a bit. The former poet laureate of the United States rambles, just like I ramble.

That makes me feel great.

Just like Susan Cheever uses the same words repeatedly in the Louisa May Alcott video, these people are not perfect, they are just people. Like I am just a person. For some reason, tonight in a small home office in Bakersfield, California where the only accompaniment to my writing is the sound of my fingers on the keyboard, discovering writers I respect are more like me than different than me... grants me an abundance of peace.

Watch Billy Collins here and try not to fall in love.

Don't you want to meet him and his wife for coffee somewhere, just to amiably chat about writing for hours on end?

I know I do.

But then again, I'm rambling.

(And it is fine to ramble! Freedom!)

= = =

Interested in August's Virtual Writing Camp? Check it out and register now to reserve your seat. We begin August 8.

Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

This is post 27 of 31 in July for the Ultimate Blog Challenge ~

Posted at 07:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Randomness becomes Intention ~ Synchronicity becomes Art #CED2011 #blogboost

I don’t know if I can adequately express how much I love these little tiny works of art I have been creating. I am not making them with any great plan, beyond perhaps necklaces or pins or magnets or maybe a one-square within a larger work of art.

I have completely let the art itself guide me.

That is the entirety of my plan for now.

I am loving every minute.

Both the creative process and the “just for the heck of it” process. I will make the right “stuff” when that “stuff” presents itself.

Sometimes a writing prompt or a poem appear from the cut apart pages from a long-ago written book. These are randomness made into intention, lack of plan made into synchronistic messages. Sometimes a message will surface from the image over the words or the words under the image.

I am simply and completely loving every minute.

= = =

Interested in August's Virtual Writing Camp? Check it out and register now to reserve your seat. We begin August 8.

Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

This is post 26 of 31 in July for the Ultimate Blog Challenge ~

Posted at 06:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

How to Use a Weekly Theme (like Abondanza Outreach) in Surprising Ways #blogboost

One of my most simple strategies for personal growth is related to what many of my friends have been doing for the past few years: creating yearly themes based on a single word. I did that for a long time before it became popular but my focus was always more laser-like: I created theme months.

Now I have balanced that strategy a bit with an overarching theme for the year followed by monthly or weekly themes. It works for me on several levels.

One, it helps me to stay interested in my annual theme or word. If I don’t pull my theme off the shelf for some playful, reflective time, by February I have forgotten it.

Two, it helps me to be flexible and add a Julie-esque flavor to “Everyone else’s rules.” I am a rebel. I am whole heartedly opposed to “rules” or “do it because I said so”s.

Third, it helps me adjust accordingly so that I don’t fall into that either/or trap of “Complete focus or zero focus.” My theme stays relevant and I stay current no matter what happens to show up in the path.

I realized this morning I had yet to create my theme for this week and my mind floated over a variety of possibilities before “outreach” took away my breath and gave me back my attention. Add my yearly theme of “Abondanza” to it and voila! Just what I need for a fabulous week.

Abondanza Outreach this week also feels like a bit of abondanza inreach… like I want to feel into myself a bit, to come to know myself more deeply.

I am somewhat of an introspection queen, a deep thinking junkie of sorts, but this time of year has a tendency to focus toward outflow and other flow rather than “What is rumbling within me?”

When I juggled possibilities of focus this week I couldn’t help but look toward my August 8 Writing Camp and other projects right around the corner I thought “outreach”. I have been having such fun with networking and making new friends it felt perfect.

It is perfect, especially when balanced with its sister, inreach.

Too much of either makes for a flattened spirit of Julie and right now, thank you, we won’t be having any of that!

I even wrote a Cinquain Poem on the theme thanks to a photo prompt at Magpie Tales:

Outreach
Lift up ~ over
tumbling laughing loving
Freeform satisfaction flows through
Reach out

= = =

What did you notice in the poem?

I noticed I was writing about business and outreach, which means marketing, networking and growing my business. I noticed that in the poem I relate to outreach as “tumbling laughing and loving.”

What would happen to my business if I thought of outreach/marketing as one big abondanza fest of tumbling and laughing and loving? It puts an entirely different spin on it which says to me…

I have some copy to write… with abondanza outreach as my focus, it will definitely be… different.

= = =

Interested in August's Virtual Writing Camp? Check it out and register now to reserve your seat. We begin August 8.

Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -

© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

This is post 25 of 31 in July for the Ultimate Blog Challenge ~

Posted at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Adventure Lives Within You: Open to It Now (#blogboost UBC 24/31)

“Adventure is not outside man; it is within.”
George Eliot

Two nights ago, my friend Jennie and I went out to “Chase the sunset.” It is one of my favored activities and quite simple. Go outdoors about an hour before the sunsets and then, simply be there for the moments before during and after daylight’s final descent. One of my friends is very serious about his photography taught me sunrise and sunset are the best natural light of the day. I have learned he was oh – so – right.

That is why I also bring my camera to capture images when I chase sunset. It is my partner in this exercise, always.

Two nights ago before we went out on our adventure, the desk held me captive for longer than I may have wanted. As we left, I said, “We don’t have much sunlight left. Maybe we ought to just go to the bluffs.”

My friend balked, “The bluffs sound boring. Why don’t we go up the river?”

“We don’t have enough time,” I countered. “The light will be gone by the time we get there.”

“Ohhh…” she said. I countered with "How about San Miguel Grove, its by the river and it is super close."

She sighed and said, “I was expecting a bigger adventure.”

She didn’t know she was singing one side of my favorite songs.

“The adventure you have is as big as you can make it, whether it is right in front of you or across the world. You don’t have to go to any special place for an adventure, you don’t have to plan an adventure, you simply need to be open to the adventure and the adventure appears.”

She didn’t sound convinced.

It is not a sort of insight that requires debate. I simply know it is from a long-term practice of adventuring.

Are you intrigued by this idea of adventuring, exactly where you are?

There is no such thing as boring. Boring is an attitude as much as adventuring is. Adopt the opinion that boring doesn’t exist and it won’t, ever again.
Stay out of your head and language and dive into your senses and languageless observation. This doesn’t mean you don’t speak at all, it means your speech is guided by witness rather than storytelling about last week’s work meeting or your sister’s annoying habit of never returning your emails. Stay present to the adventure. Those conversations can come later, when you are at a ubiquitous coffee house or driving toward your next destination.
Be ultra alert to your surroundings. Keep your eyes, ears and heart open. You will notice the tiniest insect (and it may delight you) as well as a new plant, a new person, a new construction zone or a beloved friend you thought would never resurface.
Don’t close any location from your “adventure” list due to your own perceptions. I have had fantastic adventures in urban, rural and suburban settings. Remember, openness.
Catalog your adventures later in writing, conversations or printed photos.

Here are a few of my photos from the other night. I am guessing you won’t see “boring” anywhere, even though I had to take several of the photos with my phone after my camera ran out of power. The stunning photo at the top of this essay was taken with my phone. It was illustrating again the tools don't matter, the place doesn't matter: what matters is opinion and openness.

Open to the adventure that lives within and all around you right now.

= = =

Interested in August's Virtual Writing Camp? Check it out and register now to reserve your seat. We begin August 8.

Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -

© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

This is post 24 of 31 in July for the Ultimate Blog Challenge ~

Posted at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

#SOCSunday: Samuel Gets Oh-So-Social + the Soapbox Itches to Be Seen

It was a big weekend for Samuel.

First he went to a birthday party at Pump it Up. Then we got a silly inflatable dolphin toy he adores and then, to cap it off, today he is going swimming at Cameron’s.

He was so verbal at the party it was…. rather remarkable. Normally he is more subdued in this sort of situation. He keeps to himself, happily plays in tandem with the other kids but yesterday he was Mr. Conversational, Mr. Insight, Mr. “Let me entertain you”. In other words, much more like his sisters than the past versions of Samuel.

A couple things I have discovered about raising my child who happens to be on the autistic spectrum is – he has his own unique timeline. I read somewhere that kids on the spectrum tend to be, emotionally, about three years behind their peers. Even though Samuel is ridiculously bright, he has always been quite immature, following this “three years behind” maturity arc, but this Summer a shift seems to be happening.

I also revel in watching how Samuel uses the Summer months to integrate the social skills and the language skills he learned throughout the school year. He seems to be on overload during the year and in the Summer, he catches up. Fourth grade was tough but it seems to have aged him in a positive way, now. It is like a delayed reaction maturity, a slow-burn integration.

He still reserves being angry and ornery within the safety of his family.

I also noticed since our children (Samuel’s peers from Valley Achievement Center) are having more birthday parties, we parents are also getting more social with each other. I am now facebook friends with some of the other parents and am thinking more playdates are in order. The kids are requesting it, which is something else that is different.

I discovered, too, that our children are in a wide assortment of classroom types and apparently none of the local schools know how to effectively place our kids who happen to be on the spectrum. I listened and nodded and inside, I was shaking my fist and making a check list of research topics to take on with my district SELPA and others.

I know, I know… push the soapbox in when I’m done. I can’t help myself and wow, my five minutes are gone.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
Link up your post below.
Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

= = =

Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

Posted at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

How to Live a Charmed, Creative Life in 5 Easy Steps No Matter WhereYou Find Yourself

Her voice filled the room we were sharing, a most unlikely place. I was in a restroom and so was she and apparently, she didn’t realize she wasn’t alone. A rich, lusty voice reverberated on the walls that were perfect for amplification. I didn’t make a sound, conscious that if I did, the surprise concert might end.

I didn’t want that to happen. It isn’t every day I get to experience an impromptu concert.

It was the beginning of what was to be a very artfilled, engaging evening.

I listened to jazz instrumentalists, a young country & western singer who was not Anglo… this always surprises and delights me… both the music style and the diversity. I spoke to activists and advocates. I watched children climb a rock climbing wall, I stood next to a fountain. I saw some brand new baby puppies wiggling on a blanket with their Mama nearby, offering neutrients and nuzzles.

I bumped into friends by coincidence and fulfilled my strange foursquare habit by becoming mayor of yet another venue.

Then I participated in our local Story Slam and for the second month in a row, I was the winning storyteller.

I cried when my scores were shared.

All evening long I showed up, I participated, I smiled at people, I applauded and thanked everyone with whom I shared my life.

My twitter friend, Chris Zydel (a self decribed artist, painter and unrelenting oddball who lives in Oakland, California) wrote these words to me,"You are living a charmed creative life, my dear!!"

I smiled and realized my evening offered the world further proof that if I can lead a charmed, creative life in Bakersfield, it is possible anywhere. You don’t have to live in a big city, you don’t have to live where everyone else looks just like you or likes exactly the things you like, you don’t have to be another cog-in-your-town’s wheel.

What you do need is a smidge of gumption and a smattering of “I think I can’s, I think I can’s.”

Here is what works for me over and over again and will work for you, too.

Show up: decide what you would like to participate in and be where it is happening. For example - Do you like art? Go to an art show. Talk to the people there. Find what other places they are hanging out. Hang out there.
Smile at people: Make eye contact. Nod, listen, respond with favor toward them. Notice something and compliment them for what they do and who they are alone.
Applaud: with sincerity and enthusiasm. I participated in a story slam and some of the story tellers were better than others. I applauded each simply for having the guts to stand on the stage. People long to hear applause. I often say that is one of the benchmarks I have with friends. If they applaud loudly, they are in.
Express gratitude: if you invited people to go with you, thank them. If you met new people during the activity, make some sort of follow – up connection: a facebook page, an email address, a possible future shared activity.
Follow Up: After the event Thursday, I praised the organizer. I thanked my friends again, and I let people who didn’t show up know that I missed them. As an extra personal bonus, I sent a facebook friend request to someone I had met at a different event a couple weeks ago, reminding her of how we met. I figured if I was stretching out my reach, it might be fun to reach one person deeper.

Your charmed, creative life is waiting for you to reach into it, to take your step forward. I lived a long time in Bakersfield before I realized what was possible here. You don't have to wait as long as I did.

Ready? I thought so.

= = =

Interested in August's Virtual Writing Camp? Check it out and register now to reserve your seat. We begin August 8.

Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -

© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

This is post 22 of 31 in July for the Ultimate Blog Challenge ~

Posted at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Follow Love to More than Enough: Life with Samuel (Who Happens to Live on the Spectrum)

Sometimes I hesitate to share stories of mothering my child on the spectrum. My biggest strategy to share with parents or friends or teachers of people who happen to live along the spectrum is to do the best you can and follow the lead of love.

This morning Samuel’s frustration reached a peak when he scolded me, saying with intense anger, “Man, too many prompts.” It made me wonder how regularly he heard a teacher say that in his presence, more than likely talking to or about someone else.

He doesn't like to be prompted more than once, nor do I. I was busily breaking Samuel code, though, and on mornings when he is upset about something I can't see, it is best to focus and live according to the spectrum programming.

I didn’t say anything in response. I bowed my head and focused on my pen, thinking, “He has no idea how hard I try to be just the right Mommy for him. He is captured at times, at the mercy of, his own ritual.” People would argue with me to break him of ritual. I do as much as I can, but at times like this morning ~ I don’t interfere with it.

He was in a snit and his rituals comfort him, just like we prefer going to a familiar place or hanging out with our favorite people.

We sat in silence as I wrote until Samuel started giggling about something, a sound he heard, I think it was. I looked up and he was giggling while looking at me, inviting me into his giggle fest.

I wrote, "He sits and laughs. I sit and write what he is doing. I laugh because he has invited me to laugh."

This is how we find our way back to each other: mother and son, love and love.

Is there some sort of conclusion here, to this blog entry?

Is there a “moral of the story” or a “this is how you could make the rest of your life just right by following my guide” coming in the next sentence or two.

No. Not at all.

There is the line you just read, “find our way back, mother and son, love and love.”

That is more than enough.

Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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This is post 21 of 31 in July for the Ultimate Blog Challenge ~

Posted at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Least Likely Life Coach Teaches Lessons on Self-Forgiveness UBC 20/31 #blogboost

I woke up this morning feeling fear rumbling in the middle of my chest. My heart was racing just enough to tell me “I am afraid. I should be afraid, I should be worried, I should… I should… I should.”

I rolled over to look out the window at the soft morning light.

There was nothing in that light telling me to be afraid.

I got up and poured myself some ice water, some vitamins and stood, quietly, breathing in the silence as I shusssshhhhed my heart internally.

There was nothing in the coolness of the water telling me to be afraid, to be worried.

I felt my feet as I walked back to lie down for a few more moments before beginning my day.

I allowed the pillows to support my neck and head. I completely felt the sheets against my skin, the soft breeze of the fan offering up refreshment at the beginning of what will be another more than warm day.

This is what forgiveness feels like: support, cool air, hushes like a gentle mommy, tapping our back as she breathes with us reminding us everything was fine, truly, everything including us is just fine.

I am an expert at forgiving others. I tend to let go and forgive long before the other person has even thought to ask for it. Sometimes I think I forgive too easily, before I have given the true meaning of grace its due.

The one person I am the least likely to forgive is myself.

This morning, I started understanding self forgiveness on a deeper level.

My primary teacher/life coach/personal development guru for today’s integration lesson was Louisa May Alcott. Many of us only know Louisa May Alcott as the author of the classic tale, “Little Women” and she wrote and lived so much more than that.

She wrote, "We all make mistakes. It takes many experiences to shape a life. Try again." Louisa May Alcott in her short story, "Transcendentalist Wild Oats"

She knew and lived forgiveness more than a hundred years ago. Reading one short story of hers gave me more insights than any personal development book written in this century or the last has given me.

I thought I had nothing to write today.

I started with haiku:

waiting for coffee ~ book opened to page ninety ~ eye glasses on desk

Re-read an essay I wrote in January and gleaned this sentence to tweet:

“Today I will continue to give space for my heart's wisdom to trump the tyranny of the "must do now" list.”

From there I tiptoed to this quote from Miss Alcott I had carefully copied yesterday and remembered my earliest moments from today. I decided they were share-worthy.

"We all make mistakes. It takes many experiences to shape a life. Try again."

What forgiveness are you waiting to offer yourself?

(Photo of my daughter, Emma, visiting

Louisa May Alcott's home: September 2010)

Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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This is post 20 of 31 in July for the Ultimate Blog Challenge ~

Posted at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Hello, My Name is Julie and here are 50 Things About Me You Never Wanted to Know" #blogboost

My friend, Jen Louden, has this place called the Savor and Serve Cafe. I am a member of the cafe. She gave an assignment the other day that made me both nauseas and yet called me to task.

This blog post is my response.

Normally I would suggest you stop reading right here, but I actually think this exercise was helpful on several levels.

1. It made me face the positive things people have reported to me about me.

2. It made me stretch beyond what I would normally report about myself to anyone, especially so openly (and vulnerably, with comments still enabled!)

3. I think you would find some value in completing this exercise.

I am calling it

50 Ways Julie is... very good to some, impressive to others and got an occasional "O" on her report card in elementary school... "O" being OUTSTANDING.. .not the number zero.

14 of these entries were actually received from the women of VDay 2011 Community Campaign, Bakersfield. To all you women who were a part of that experience, Thank You! I hope you kept your list, too.

Willing to be a beginner, again and again and again
Makes incredibly phenomenal babies
Wonderfully (spirited)
Knows the word “embarrassment” intimately
Enjoys pulling out the soap box and unabashedly sharing from its shoulders
Caring
Feels comfortable showing her ugly, not so conventionally attractive sides
Fabulously beautiful
Writes well (ohhh, that was so difficult to write but I am told it over and over!)
Permission giver
Julieriffic
Permission Receiver
Miracle
Reflects wonder back toward people so they “get” it, too
Holy-crap talented
Willing to share real emotion
Energy
Recognizes need for time out.. .and takes them
Mentor fantabulous
Accepts help without too much cajoling
Role model
Knows words well enough to distinguish when one really annoys her
Creative
Listens to God-sounds the trees make
Fantastic
Will stop mid-conversation to say “ohhhh, do you smell that?”
Compliments others in abundance
Writer-mother
Laughs a lot!
Insightful
Laughs loudly and doesn’t often cover it up
Inspiration
Awe-inspiring
Avid quote collector
Loves to teach and be taught
Teachable and coachable
Loves sharing the spotlight
Is willing (and enjoys, on some levels) being uncomfortable
Looks good in purple
Can come up with metaphors in an instant
Is completely comfortable wearing mismatched socks
Enjoys playing with words.. and plays well with words with others
Isn’t bossy all the time but knows how to use bossyness when needed
Is recovering from her sarcastic childhood. Now uses sarcasm strategically
Fast typist!
Knows of her lack of knowledge in the classics and is working on it.
Has pretty hair, even when the gray-lo overtakes her.
Is unselfconscious (for the most part).
Has very little idea of how cool she really is… (I have heard this from numerous people, I am accepting what they say as true.)
Claps enthusiastically
Now it is time for YOU to start YOUR list. Ready? Write!

Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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This is post 19 of 31 in July for the Ultimate Blog Challenge ~ 2 more and I'll be all caught up. Until the next day!

Posted at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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