Tag Archives: blog

10 Insider Tips to Start off your Day Right.

Through God all things are possible.

1) Put your best foot forward.

Regardless of how many mistakes you have made in the past today is a new day. Just by making a decision now, you can make your dreams come true by believing in yourself. Think of the adage of the train who said I think I can I think I can. Before you know it you can overcome any obstacles.

2) Overcome obstacles.

It’s all about the way you view them. There is always a good side to every story. When a door closes a window opens. What could be good? Opportunity. The world is your oyster. There are infinite possibilities. Look at your obstacles as stepping stones to your future.

3) The world is your oyster.

God gave us this wonderful life so we could live it to it’s fullest. Now is your opportunity to live life to its fullest, love and learn.

4) Make attainable goals.

Simplicity

Out with the lists of stopping smoking, losing weight and getting rid of old habits. In with the lists of positive choices. Choose a healthy lifestyle that includes rest, relaxation, good food, exercise, abundance, lots of water and happiness. Make your goals to be state driven.

That means desiring what you have.

Set yourself up to play a winning game.

5) Have state driven goals.

It’s not the money that makes us happy, it’s what that money can buy. Let’s just jump over this hurdle and stop wanting more money. Start to have happiness in the terms of joy, love and peace of mind. You have all that you need in this moment.

6) Be the change you desire in the world.

Instead of complaining about what is wrong, start finding what is right and then start acting how you want to be. Decide to avoid any self negative talk. Your mind can hear you and it might just believe what it hears.

7) Model good behavior

So your not perfect, neither am I. But I do try. I set myself out to be the best I can be. At times I don’t know what good behavior is like so I find someone who I think is doing it right and I try to do it just like them.

*8) Be sensible my dear child

Get a good night’s sleep, drink lots of water, do some exercise, eat well and hug someone.

One thing I’ve learned is to moderate behavior. Make good choices because you think they are sensible, not based on desire. Be thankful for what you have and try to want less.

9) Go green.

Go green.

Start talking about recycling and then do it. Start dividing your trash into paper, plastics, glass and organic waste and then deposit them in the appropriate bins.

10) Laugh

Sometimes laughter is the best medicine. Dedicate some time of your day to things that make you happy, like love, family and friends.

Remember, live life with passion as if it were your last and first day. Live life as you were looking through the eyes of a child. All things are possible through God.

What do you think? What would be your insider tip to having a good life? I would love it if you left me your ideas in the comment section below. Thanks!

I don’t know about you but I don’t take criticism too well. ✿◕ ‿ ◕✿

Clear your heart. Let it go.

Clear your heart. Let it go.

Hi mom!

People who read this—God bless you—know that I had to overcome a lot of fears to set up this blog. Would you like to know why?

Love God. Love others. Love yourself.

Because writing for the public is similar to public speaking. You talk to people and they can smile, judge, laugh, agree or disagree. Sometimes they throw tomatoes right at the computer screen. I don’t suggest it.

Believe in yourself. I do.

Believe in yourself. I do, believe in you.

I like to to emphasize is a learning by doing aspect. For example, if any of you have ever travelled, I bet that what you saw first hand is different than what you read in books. It’s like a thousand reflections in a mirror. Until you go and experience something first hand, they are all just stories on a page.

Writing a blog is an ongoing learning experience. Please don’t think I know what I’m doing. I’m rather new to this @$#% blgng bznss.

almost late summer colors! Cheer up lovely Julie. You are smart, talented, beautiful and have an awesome family. You are more blessed then MANY so stop sulking and snap out of it...ha! xoxo

Beautiful happy, bright, Spring. My vase is over flowing. :)

When I put up my art work last week, it was the exact same feeling. Sure, some people have no problems writing and talking and showing off their work. I do. I have enormous insecurity problems.That is EXACTLY why I feel like this blog is growing steadily. It’s because I’m so darn afraid of failing, I putting every ounce of myself into making succeed.

I am willing to take a risk and show you my work. Put DOWN that tomato. If you want to succeed in today’s market, I believe you must be willing to talk about your work.

Newbie blogger tip ~ See how you can read words when you roll over my pictures? In your html code after the word title, change the text to what you see between the quotes. It’s really cool. Don’t forget that all of your pictures click through to links YOU choose, so you should do that too. {back to reading}

I don’t see what is wrong with it. Like I told my blogger friend, it’s fat free. Unless, of course, you are eating a lot of food while writing.

I also love reading and studying and learning from other people. That’s why I spend a lot of time on other people’s blogs to see how they approach the same question as mine.

How do you, as a blogger or website owner, reach an audience, connect with them, share information, and grow as an individual?

Give and ye shall receive. No, it’s ask and ye shall receive, isn’t it?

I’m willing to try. I’m willing to learn. In the meantime, I hope this post finds you happy, lovely, lucky and in love.

♥ Your encouragement is what pushes me forward. Leave your comments below where it says *comments*.

God bless.

Julie

She’s got gumption up the wazoo!

13 things I wish I knew before I started a blog.

1. That I would be so visible in all of the world wherever there is internet. For some reason I thought I was still speaking to my immediate friends.

Have a blessed day.

Have a blessed day.

2. That people could laugh at me if they wanted. Sometimes they do but I mostly get compliments, thank goodness.

3. That everyone uses their blogs however they want in different ways to represent their own style. Some blogs have comments, some have books, some have lists, some have videos. Each person can make their blog completely personalized.

4. That the blogger community is extremely supportive. If you need help with anything there are endless forums to help you answer your questions. Or, you can post a new one. I did and got tons of quick answers.

5. That words are important. And can save lives. Take for example:

Let’s eat Grandma! versus Let’s eat, Grandma!

Believe it or not, a lot of people find my blog by typing those words into google.

6. That some people make money with their blogs,

Smile. You're beautiful.

7. That it takes more time and dedication that I thought. But like most projects the more you put into it the more you get out of it.

8. That I ♥ blogging.

9. That 97 percent of people want to write a book.

10. What’s a widget. I thought a widget was that wooden triangle piece you slip under a door to hold it open. Boy was a surprised. I have since discovered that widgets are the spice of life. You can see all my widgets on my right column. They are things like being able to see your categories, most popular posts and facebook links.

Bike today. Yes please.

11. What’s a theme? Believe it or not, you get FREE themes. Themes are the overall looks of your site and you can choose whichever one suits you, just like a jacket.

You can even change as often as you want. I like mine for now but you never know. People love new looks. And it’s free.

12. That blogging would bring me increased confidence just like overcoming a fear.

14. That you would be reading this.

and just for fun, I’ll add another one. What would you add? What’s your number 14?

14. I wish I knew what social media was and how incredibly far reaching it is. I had seriously only heard the term social media at a garage sale buying a book.  Things you should look into are twitter, facebook and now pinterest.

I’m seriously in awe of the amount of times I see people in real life who have read my latest posts.

What about you? What are your favorite widgets? Why do you blog? Why don’t you blog? What are your favorite blogs and why?

As always, thanks for visiting and commenting. Nice to see you.

  1. Write down my goal in very specific terms.
  2. Practise visualisations daily.
  3. Stay positive and have an attitude of gratitude.
  4. Tell people about my goal repeatedly and publicly.
  5. Act as if I had already achieved it.
  6. Take massive action to make it happen.

How to increase blog traffic – 10 tips and tricks from jbulie’s blog.

ㄥ❀∨モ

ㄥ❀∨モ these great gift ideas.

If you want your blog or website to succeed, just love doing it. Easy.

I’m sharing with you what I’ve been doing over here to attract visitors and increase blog traffic.

Don’t believe the guys who say they get a million visitors a day. They are like kids in a candy shop, typing in numbers. Learn from doing first hand, and ask a blogger friend.

Here are the steps you can take to make your site grow.

1. Get to know your readers. Share.

Spend a lot of time looking at your stats feature and try to understand where your readers are coming from. A lot of my readers have become friends because I hound them on facebook. Thanks guys. A lot are new, welcome. I’ve also found having a stats counter installed helps.

I’ve learned that they come from all over the world and different backgrounds and ages.

2. Participate in comments and conversations.

One of the best ways of inviting visitors to your site participate in conversations in the comment sections of blogs you like reading. Ever since I started my blog, I’ve learned a great deal in the comments section of articles.

3. Write good content.

Wishing you flowers today.

Wishing you flowers today.

My highest ranked day was when I wrote a piece about motivation. You can read it by clicking here.

4. Write from the heart.

Talk as if you were speaking to a few good friends. Write about what you care about people are going to be supportive.

5. Make it a goal.

I have also made it a goal of mine to have a lot of visitors so in my free time, I look read as many articles I can on the subject.

6. Use your real voice.

When I write, I like to picture I’m either standing infront of my peers and explaining things simply. Or, I try to imagine I’m writing my sister or mom and telling them how simple it is to make a blog grow.

7. Enjoy

You guys might have noticed how much I love to play around with my readers. I don’t think anything is more boring then being serious. I don’t take myself so seriously. In fact, I like to find aspects of life that are a little bit off, and hone in on them.

8. Add extra value, go the extra mile.

The more you give, the more you receive. It’s so easy to get great feedback ~ just give of yourself.

You are one person writing, right? Well, there are lots of people reading so the ratio is just immense. Give of yourself and you get back so much from some many people.

9. Be inspiring

You can be inspiring, funny wonderful, full of life. If you don’t believe in yourself, well then I do! You can do it.

We all have the ability to push ourselves to learn and make our lives better. You can do it. I believe in you.

10. Pay it forward.

Without my visitors, I’d just be here talking to my cat. She’s a good listener, however. To pay it forward it’s super simple. Just hit the tweet button if you have twitter, or share on facebook by clicking the link below.

Thanks for visiting. I appreciate your comments.

ㄥ❀∨モ criticism ♥

Be your own critic~there are enough people out there to be mean to you. Be nice to yourself ¸¸.·☆

A couple of things on my mind

that I’d like to share today that have to do with reading, writing, creativity and comments.

I am thankful for the positive comments and encouragement I get from people who read my blog. When I started off blogging, the idea was to share. I have written since I can remember.

In fact, I remember a time in my life where I would fill my days writing.

Everyone is a Critic

When I made the decision to share my words with the world it wasn’t based on a self satisfying idea to could help one person out there. It was more the idea that I wanted to learn how to blog. I thought of instead of writing in my journal, I’d do it online.

It’s actually a bit of a risk, if you ask me, putting yourself out on the line to be judged by your peers.

Mimi Weddell

►ㄥife is nσt abσut waiting fσr the storms to pass. it's abσut ℓearning hσw tσ dance in the rain.►

I like the idea of learning by doing.

It’s one thing to think about doing something and a whole other ball game to put yourself out there and actually do something.

—What inspired this post was seeing the amazing things that are going on in your lives. I feel each one of you reading this is successful in your own way.

I’ve seen my friends overcome numerous obstacles to achieve their goals. I’ll give you some examples. One friend overcame the death of her parents at a young age to go forth and have a beautiful big family of her own.

She figured it out. Others have dreamt of becoming writers, business people, dads, teachers, artists, musicians, you name it. They haven’t given up and they are doing it—pursuing their dreams. Doing it. Loving it.

I have a friend who is scared of making a change in her life. Her entire family is relocating to a new city with completely new people, streets, smells, schools, every little thing in her life will be new.

But she did it. She said yes to life with the insecurity that comes from the future and not knowing what it would hold. Good for her.

Life is a journey. ♥ Set yourself up to play a winning game.

Another fantastic woman is traveling the world on her own. Such courage. Others dealing with heartbreak, love, life, raising families and work. They are figuring it out.

The more people who read my blog, of course, there seems to be always someone who doesn’t like it.

That leaves the question to me of how to deal with it. I either forgive, forget, overlook, pretend they aren’t there, or accept it.

Between saying and doing is an ocean of difference.

While I was on vacation for a week and didn’t have internet access I found myself missing my online community. I have made friends with unbelievable people I wouldn’t have otherwise met. We share videos, stories, pictures of our lives, you name it. For me being so far from my family I find it a great way of knowing what they are up to.

I have also met people from all over the world. I love that. Our world truly is getting smaller. So on a spiritual path to enlightenment, I believe we are all interconnected. All of our actions effect each other.

I’m working through this confusion with the help of my friends and so thankful for them.

How do you deal with the critics? Is it better just to not share?

Thanks for visiting, commenting and a very special thank you for people who bid and have purchased my artwork. I hope it smiles at you every time you look at it.

You an also buy my art at my online stores here and here.

46 Ways to be a Better Person.

It almost always seems impossible until it's done. ♡

It almost always seems impossible until it's done.x♡o

Thank you for stopping by my blog. Here’s a quick list that will get your started on having a nicer day now. Good luck and let me know how it goes.

1. Take a deep breath now, hold it as long as you can. count to 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, release, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ~ and now another.

2. OK, two more deep breaths. Relax.

3. Concentrate on this word <<oooaahhhhmmm>> and close your eyes and take another two deep breaths, in through your nose out through your mouth.

4. Meditate. Concentrate on your third eye and just be peaceful. You can stop reading this! It’s okay!

5. Slow down. Try moving slowly.

6. Start each day as Gandhi did: Be the change you want to see.

7. Look for ways to help people.

8. Treat yourself great.

9. Be your own friend.

10. Go to the mirror and make funny faces.

11. Make yourself and/or a friend a nice cup of tea or coffee.

12. Take a long walk without music or distractions.

13. Clean. Go left to right, it works.

14. Be young in your heart.

15. Hug a tree.

16. Jump on one leg. Now the other. Do this in your mind’s eye. Or for real.

17. Spin like a child with your eyes closed. Do this in your mind’s eye. Or for real.

18. Hug someone. Even yourself.

19. Next time you see someone on facebook that’s down, get involved. Try sending links, messages.  Or, how about a phone call?

20. Believe in miracles. :) I do.

21. Be inspirational.

20. Believe in miracles. I do.

22. Listen to the next sound you hear.

23. Push yourself to be a little bit better.

24. Count to ten before reacting. {or better yet, just let it slide.}

25. Pet an animal.

26. Turn off the tv.

27. Sell something on ebay.

28. Give something away to charity.

29. Treat yourself to a day spa.

30. Take a nice long relaxing bath or shower.

31. Bake.

32. Organize your files.

33. Make a list of three things you don’t want to do and then do them.

34. Eat well. How’s a salad sound for your next meal? A big one!

35. Exercise.

36. Take a risk with love.

37. Write a message on someone’s facebook wall saying thank you for being there.

38. Enjoy this moment.

39. You can reprogram your mind to believe anything you want it to.

40. Shine the light that God has given you.

40. Shine On!

40. Shine the light that God has given you.

41. Tell someone you love them.

42. No matter what your age, dream ~ even big if you’d like.

43. Remember a moment when you were blissful. Hold on to it.

44. Accept yourself for exactly who you are.

45. Send a REAL letter in the mail.

46. Give yourself a little break.

Thanks for reading and have a great day. I believe in you. I do.

In the comment section, I’d like to know what you can hear, smell and feel in this exact moment. What is around you? I can hear  boys playing, the washing machine spinning and a distant car passing.

Twitter Facebook Faceoff ► Which one do you prefer? #ff @jbuliesblog

Hello!

I’m thinking about my friends clicking in here from all over the world. How awesome is the world wide web?

Today I’m talking about twitter and how hard it is to understand as least for someone like me.

Please tweet or pin. Thanks!

Please tweet or pin. Thanks!

I’ve had some great great comments in my facebook. Facebook rules by the way ~ twitter, well, it’s new all new to me. ~ Go facebook, go!

I got comments about how to use twitter since it’s such an enigma for me. David Letterman figured it out by getting a laptop and one of his techies to turn on his twitter page so he can update it during the show.

If David Letterman can do use twitter, certainly I can do it too, right?

Are you like me? Curious about new technology?

Keep a journal. Really. It's lovely.

Keep a journal. Really. It's lovely.

First step. I tried to google twitter tips. You know what you get? More questionable information.

Here are jbulie’s blogs, that’s me, @jbuliesblog. Please follow me on twitter.

Top ten reasons why I prefer facebook to twitter.

1) Because I can’t figure twitter out.

2) Because one of my favorite artists, Nev, has about 22,000 twitter followers, so obviously, he rules.

3) I added a ‘twitter’ expert to my friends list and tried to follow his instructions. He’s on my facebook account, check him out, 21 year old millionaire. Really. ;)

4) Need to fork out cash to automatically to add friends.

5) Nearly all articles I have read about twitter say how people don’t like twitter.

6) Celebrities are thriving on twitter. I love celebrities. I’m following them all. I can’t figure out twitter. I’m not a celebrity. Let’s do the math A + B = C No twitter followers over here, yet!

Yes. Please.

Inspired choices. Yes. Please.

7) Writer fell asleep. No number seven. Shout out to Apple and the ipad.

*8) The boy genius expert advised me to use his software to add all followers of a famous person, well, there is no add all followers button. I can’t even believe I spent time looking for it. Can I have my two minutes back?

9) Someone out there knows how it works. Now I am back to square one. I know my friends on facebook say leave it alone, but I cannot deny it is a big presence in social media.

I’m no social media expert, and in fact, I’m going back to being a mom and wife. It’s much more satisfying. Lots of hugs and kisses, and unexpected words.

Your turn. Going the extra mile here kids.

11) What is your take? Do you like twitter? Do you use twitter? Is it basically another social media network? Is it a cell phone application? The people who are bloggers with lots of twitter followers, do you think they did it by using automatic applications that tweet for them?

As always, thanks for following. I ♥ my readers. You guys are awesome. Hope your day is beautiful and filled with love.

Is your blog bloggalicious?

The wind longs to blow in your hair.

If someone is meant to be in your life, they will make sure they are. It is really that simple.

I saw a friend the other day. She asked me how I was. As a joke I said,

Haven’t you read my status update? Ba du dum.

We know we are in trouble when every real conversation we have ends with I’ll send you a link.

Are bloggers the new journalists?

Now that I’m a blogger, I approach life a little bit differently. When I go out and about I notice more details. I started to talk to people and I’ve started to listen to them as well. I’m thinking I’m just basically scouting for stories so I don’t run out of things to write about.

Lord knows it’s hard to get me to be quiet so I don’t know why I would run out of ideas. The point is it’s time for me to zip the gab smacker known as my mouth and start listening.

I’m learning this from a blogger friend of mine. The way it works is this. You offer your story and then you ask to hear their story. So, letting caution to the wind, I say, hey, why not? I’ll give it a shot.

Is your blog bloggalicious? Is your life life—alicous? Is your booty bootilicous?

Do you start every real conversation lately with I read your blog post or I saw your video on line?

Here’s a good one. When someone says they read your blog, do you sort of smile inwardly and think yeah, but did you leave a comment?

What do you think? People are reacting to me as if I were a writer. Now because I’m publishing a blog all of the sudden I’m a writer?

I’ll whip out some stories in the garage that I’ve kept for the last twenty years if you want to know that every day I’m a writer. The difference is that I’m now ready to share.

Did she just write what I think she just wrote?

Where’d I put the darn answer?

Joy. us.

Let your heart sing. Smile with your eyes.

I’m thinking Oscar buzz peeps.

I’m thinking Oprah’s on the phone spectacular.

I’m thinking out of control spectacular.

Did any of this make sense? Beuller? Beuller? Am I writing to myself again? Where’s my editor? Where’s my teacher? Anyone checking this for factual information?

Can I let this go? Will I let this go? When? Now. .•*¨`*•♫

Can I let this go? Will I let this go? When? Now. .•*¨`*•♫

If any of you are returning visitors here to my site I’ve been working hard updating it. If you are new here, well then *welcome*.

I’ve learnt a ton doing this blog about peer to peer marketing and overcoming fears. It’s actually increased my confidence as a writer. What do you think? Leave me a comment.

My friends have texted me that they find my blog and what I’m doing over here inspiring. If I had a dollar for every time.. ha ha ha.  That’s a good one.

I keep thinking about my blogger friend in Singapore who told me in a comment she thinks I’m technically gifted. It just makes me laugh.

I don’t know what happens but sometimes I am blogging and I get in a total programming zone where I have to get from point A to Z and until it’s there I don’t stop.

I’m super satisfied that I linked to five awesome charities in my right column. The one I hold dearest to me is for my high school friend Kelli, Living in Grace. I also made myself laugh in my Services tab up above. You’ll like it if you click on it. Want a link? ;)

As always hope this post finds you lovely, lucky and in love.

Julie

Facebook ~ the good, the bad and the unexpected.

I like to see you on facebook.

I like to see you on facebook.

With half a million active users and 10 billion private pictures, it’s no wonder that facebook is touching many of our lives in ways that are good and bad and unexpected. What do you think? Like it, love it or leave it?

Like

Sharing pictures of my life with friends and family.

Don’t Like
Choosing a profile picture.

Like
Reading and seeing pictures of your lives.

Don’t Like
Political threads.

Like
Unexpected laughter from funny stories.

Like

If you get far enough away you'll be on your way home

Seeing the name of an old friend after many years.

Like
Meaningful contributions.

Like
Links to cool articles, videos and songs.

Don’t Like
Mean spirited comments and insults.

Like
Status Updates.

Don’t Like
Too many status updates in a row.

Like
Chatting on line.

Don’t Like
Chatting on line when I’m trying to get out of the door.

Like
The love and support people give.

Don’t Like
To read about sad things happening in your lives.

Like
When I write a status update and people hit the ‘Like’ button.

Don’t Like
Certain sentences such as I’m just saying and bad use of punctuation, such as all caps, or lots of dots.

Like
Acronyms such as LMAO, LMFAO and lol. Parenthesis and dashes like this {hugs} and ~ instead of -.

Don’t Like
Certain applications, some invitations, and farmville.

Like
Long personal letters from friends.

Like
Seeing you smile.

Double Like
Long threads with many participants.

Like
Having a look into your lives through pictures.

Like
Facebook birthdays.

Like
Instant communication, sort of like instant gratification.

Like
Being connected to the world. Paying it forward.

Like Like
Compliments and thank yous. Love to hear thank you. :)

I’ve run out of dislikes.
How about you? Facebook ~ Like it, love it or leave it?

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to TwitterAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Yahoo BuzzAdd to Newsvine

Like This!

Andy Rooney on turning 50

Andy Rooney on Women Over 50

From Andy Rooney on CBS’s 60 Minutes:

Sometimes we discover gems of wisdom that have been right on our doorstep for, well… for a long time! CBS correspondent Andy Rooney shares his insight on what makes women over 50 so smart, sexy, and fun! Here you go:

As I grow in age, I value women over 50 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why: A woman over 50 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, ‘What are you thinking?’ She doesn’t care what you think.

If a woman over 50 doesn’t want to watch the game, she doesn’t sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it’s usually more interesting.

Women over 50 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won’t hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it’s like to be unappreciated. Women get psychic as they age.

You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 50. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 50 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest.. They’ll tell you right off if you are a jerk, if you are acting like one. You don’t ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 50 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 50, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize.

For all those men who say, ‘Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?Here’s an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage.Why? Because women realize it’s not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage.

_____________

♥ Hi. :) Hey friends, thanks for visiting. New visitors welcome. ♥

Writing you with an update from life in Italy. Be sure to check out my e~store. I just updated it with a bunch of paintings I love.

When I started this blog I truly had no idea what it would turn into. Every couple of days or so, I’d come up with another idea and then try to implement it. So far, I have to admit, so good ~ can’t complain.

Sorry to keep going back to it, but my stats and visitors are doing great. In the last months, I have written my downloadable ebook, Zero to Blog, posted two videos, hosted a give away for one of my paintings.

I have also managed to get up my e~store, my jbulie’s clothing line, my schools clothes, and a couple of other things I’m sure I’m overlooking.

Does it matter? Why do you do it?

I like to talk about what gets people motivated.

I had another opportunity to teach recently. We talked about US, I talked about Italy, I talked about the world.

Nulla si crea, nulla si distruge.

When you become a blog writer and you write to a number of people, you have to be careful what you say. I mean that in the nicest way. I just don’t want to go out and publicize the lives of people who are near and dear to me without their permission.

I try to choose safe subjects, like the weather, like being in the classroom and travel. It’s not enough though. I think we owe it to our selves to push the envelope and go a little bit further to figure out how to make this world a little bit better by our example, by our work.

Lead by doing.

In class, I opened my blog to see on an overhead projector. By the end of the lesson, the students clapped. To me, it is not uncommon to walk into a classroom and find a big message on the blackboard, Prof Angelos is the Best. Thanks guys, I love that. :) Or, I get a lot of little cards that have been designed with hearts and stars. These usually stop me in my tracks, especially if I’m lecturing. I’ll stop, read the card slowly, smile and usually change the tone of my voice very quickly.

Big scoop going down in the classroom.

We talked about the world, technology and airplanes, and how not having an airplane can change your life drastically. I decided to take a group of kids into the art room and make pictures that say We are sorry that you are far away from your home.

Everyone contributed, even three other teachers. I showed six girls how to make the flower pictures. They came out great. I’ll get a pictures up as soon as the paint dries. They are currently in the art room. When I finished my flower pictures, the girls and a couple of teachers were sitting around watching, learning and helping. When I finished, again, they clapped, incredibly so.

Now THAT floors me.

When one of my best friends in the world writes to me why don’t you come back home?, which in my case, is Los Angeles, I crumble. I think that might be the sweetest thing I could possibly hear. My home is where my family is, my mom, my dad, my sister, my brother, and all of the friends I grew up with. Right? Now my home is in Italy.

In the last fifteen years, I’ve slowly built a new home, career and family that is echos with laughter. I don’t think I could ever beat that by going backwards.

Those are my musings for a lovely day in Italy that has included sun, wind, clouds and now cold. Kids are still playing out in my garden. As always I thank my readers who email me because a friend has recommended my book and thinks I can help.

That’s why I do it.

As always, please leave your comments. I apologize if this post is a little bit non linear, but perhaps that’s how I’m feeling today.

Much love to you all.

Julie

Your turn. If you are a blog writer, how do you feel about writing about your friend’s lives? Do you think they mind? What is the last book you have read?

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Your turn. If you are a blog writer, how do you feel about writing about your friend’s lives? Do you think they mind? What is the last book you have read?

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