10 Year Text

"Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said today". 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 28 Assignment: 10-year Text by Tia Singh

Imagine your future self, ie, you 10 years from now. If he/she were to send you a tweet or text message, 1) what would it say and 2) how would that transform your life or change something you’re doing, thinking, believing or saying today?

Alive-est

"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. If we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 27 Assignment: Alive-est by Sam Davidson

When did you feel most alive recently? Where were you? What did you smell? What sights and sounds did you experience? Capture that moment on paper and recall that feeling. Then, when it's time to create something, read your own words to reclaim a sense of being to motivate you to complete a task at hand.

When did I feel most alive recently...

Personal Recipe

"I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady. I wish it to be sound and sweet, and not to need diet and bleeding." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Personal Recipe by Harley Schreiber

Think about the type of person you'd NEVER want to be 5 years from now. Write out your own personal recipe to prevent this from happening and commit to following it. "Thought is the seed to action."

Most Ordinary

"Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 25 Assignment: Most Ordinary by Patti Digh

We are our most potent at our most ordinary. And yet most of us discount our “ordinary” because it is, well, ordinary. Or so we believe. But my ordinary is not yours. Three things block us from putting down our clever and picking up our ordinary: false comparisons with others (I’m not as good a writer as _____), false expectations of ourselves (I should be on the NYTimes best seller list or not write at all), and false investments in a story (it’s all been written before, I shouldn’t bother). What are your false comparisons? What are your false expectations? What are your false investments in a story? List them. Each keep you from that internal knowing about which Emerson writes. Each keeps you from making your strong offer to the world. Put down your clever, and pick up your ordinary.

Intuition

"The secret of fortune is joy in our hands." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 24 Assignment: Intuition by Susan Piver

If you could picture your intuition as a person, what would he or she look like? If you sat down together for dinner, what is the first thing he or she would tell you?

Courage to Connect

"Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 23 Assignment: Courage to Connect by David Spinks

Who is one person that you’ve been dying to connect with, but just haven’t had the courage to reach out to? First, reflect on why you want to get in touch with them. Then, reach out and set up a meeting.

Wow! Honestly? I can't think of anyone. First of all, I wouldn't say I'm "dying" to connect with anyone. That would be speaking death. Now, I might say that I would really love to meet someone... but again, I'm not sure who that would be.

Enthusiasm

"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 22 Assignment: Enthusiasm by Mars Dorian

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” is a great line from Emerson. If there’s no enthusiasm in what you do, it won’t be remarkable and certainly won’t connect with people on an emotional basis. But, if you put that magic energy into all of your work, you can create something that touches people on a deeper level. How can you bring MORE enthusiasm into your work? What do you have to think or believe about your work to be totally excited about it? Answer it now.

First, I would have to say that if you aren't enthusiastic about what you're doing, you need to question whether or not you should be doing it at all.

You Know

"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, 

and you shall have the suffrage of the world." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 21 Assignment: You Know by Jen Louden

We live in a society of advice columns, experts and make-over shows. Without even knowing it, you can begin to believe someone knows better than you how to live your life. Someone might know a particular something better – like how to bake a three-layer molten coconut chocolate cake or how to build a website – but nobody else on the planet knows how to live your life better than you. (Although one or two people may think they do.) For today, trying asking yourself often, especially before you make a choice, “What do I know about this?”

My boss frequently walks into my office in the morning and asks, "What does Cheree know today?" My mood determines the response... some days it's "not much", other days it's "more than I knew yesterday"...

Speak Less

"What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 20 Assignment: Speak Less by Laura Kimball

I once received a fortune cookie that read: “Speak less of your plans, you’ll get more done.” What’s one project that you’ve been sitting on and thinking about but haven’t made progress on? What’s stopping you? What would happen if you actually went for it and did it?

This prompt seems like a bit of a contradiction. If I'm to speak less of my plans, then why would I write about them and publish them for the world to see?

I have always been a firm believer in keeping your dreams sacred. I think there is a certain amount of power that is dissipated when we speak about our dreams -- at least with just anyone. As Emerson so aptly penned, "you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it." 

Facing (and Fearing)

"Greatness appeals to the future. If I can be firm enough to-day to do right, and scorn eyes, I must have done so much right before as to defend me now. Be it how it will, do right now. Always scorn appearances, and you always may." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

[Kind of an awkward quote by Emerson... not one of my favorites.]

#Trust30 Day 19 Assignment: Facing (and Fearing) by Dan Andrews

[My initial thought was, fear again??? There must be a LOT of fearful people out there for so many of the prompts to deal with this topic.]

Trusting intuition and making decisions based on it is the most important activity of the creative artist and entrepreneur. 

Dreams

"Abide in the simple and noble regions of thy life, obey thy heart." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 18 Assignment: Dreams by Michael Rad

Write down your top three dreams. Now write down what’s holding you back from them.

Dream #1 - A simple, peaceful life
Dream #2 - A beautiful, peaceful home
Dream #3 - A business of my own

Invent the Future

"A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the luster of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 17 Assignment: Invent the Future by Cindy Gallop

My favorite quote of all time is Alan Kay: "In order to predict the future, you have to invent it." I am all about inventing the future. Decide what you want the future to be and make it happen. Because you can. Write about your future now.


I'll take that thought a bit further. Not only CAN we invent our futures, but we DO invent them whether we are conscious of doing so or not.  I firmly believe that yesterday's thoughts created today's circumstances. If I don't like the results, then I need to change my thoughts. God created us with the ability to create what we can imagine. Any image held in the mind long enough, and believed strongly enough, will become manifest in our circumstances.

I apologize for my blog taking such an extreme turn from the type of posts I had been making, but I'm enjoying the #Trust30 challenge and hope that you all find it at least somewhat entertaining. If nothing else, it gives you a glimpse of my personality and who I really am. There are 13 days left, and then "Walk By Faith" will return to its regular programming.  ;o)

Wholly Strange and New

"When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 16 Assignment: Wholly Strange and New by Bridget Pilloud

Can you remember a moment in your life when you had life in yourself and it was wholly strange and new? Can you remember the moment when you stopped walking a path of someone else, and started cutting your own?


Write about that moment. And if you haven’t experienced it yet, let the miracle play out in your mind’s eye and write about that moment in your future.

One Thing

"Do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 15 Assignment: One Thing by Colin Wright

Take a moment, step back from your concerns, and focus on one thing: You have one life to achieve everything you’ve ever wanted. Sounds simple, but when you really focus on it, let it seep into your consciousness, you realize you only have about 100 years to get every single thing you’ve ever wanted to do. No second chances. This is your only shot. Suddenly, this means you should have started yesterday. No more waiting for permission or resources to start. Today is the day you make the rest of your life happen. Write down one thing you’ve always wanted to do and how you will achieve that goal. Don’t be afraid to be very specific in how you’ll achieve it: once you start achieving, your goals will get bigger and your capability to meet them will grow.

Alternative Paths

"When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 14 Assignment: Alternative Paths by Jonathan Fields

The world buzzes about goals and visions. Focus. Create a vivid picture of exactly where you want to go. Dream big, then don’t let anything or anyone stop you. The problem, as Daniel Gilbert wrote in Stumbling Upon Happiness, is that we’re horrible at forecasting how we’ll really feel 10 or 20 years from now – once we’ve gotten what we dreamed of. Often, we get there only to say, “That’s not what I thought it would be,” and ask, “What now?” Ambition is good. Blind ambition is not. It blocks out not only distraction, but the many opportunities that might take you off course but that may also lead you in a new direction. Consistent daily action is only a virtue when bundled with a willingness to remain open to the unknown. In this exercise, look at your current quest and ask, “What alternative opportunities, interpretations and paths am I not seeing?” They’re always there, but you’ve got to choose to see them.

Sure, just when I'm thinking I've got this "FOCUS" thing down, that I really understand it, Jonathan Fields throws, me a curve ball.  Vision, goals and focus are bad things???

Surprise!

"I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, if we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 13 Assignment: Surprise by Ashley Ambirge

Think of a time when you didn’t think you were capable of doing something, but then surprised yourself.  How will you surprise yourself this week?

Fear

"These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 12 Assignment: Fear by Lachlan Cotter

I'm really struggling with yet another prompt on fear.

Frankly, I just don't see myself as being that fearful.  I already dealt with the psychological, subtle fears having to do with self-esteem.

Now Lachlan Cotter asks: Is fear holding you back from living your fullest life and being truly self expressed?

Divine Idea

"Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 11 Assignment by Fabian Kruse

Write down in which areas of your life you have to overcome these suicidal tendencies of imitation, and how you can transform them into a newborn you – one that doesn’t hide its uniqueness, but thrives on it. There is a “divine idea which each of us represents” – which is yours?

Your Personal Message

"To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 10 Assignment by Eric Handler

What is burning deep inside of you? If you could spread your personal message RIGHT NOW to 1 million people, what would you say?

Afraid to Do

“The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 9 Assignment by Mary Jaksch

Emerson says: “Always do what you are afraid to do.” What is ‘too scary’ to write about? Try doing it now.