Beauty Heals And Gives Us Wings
I’m focusing on the BEAUTY of spending time with your family and recognizing your blessings.
(photo courtesy of Fotolia)
I have so much to be thankful for this year (and every year). I hope you all take the time to reflect upon your blessings and appreciate them all.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving!
I was JUST talking about my love of Oprah yesterday (in my Words of Wisdom post). So it should be no surprise that I’m currently listening to pretty much every episode of the SuperSoul Conversations podcast (I listen on iTunes, but it’s also available on iHeartRadio, Podbean and Podbay .
I love being able to listen to SuperSoul Sunday without having to be physically located by a television set. I also love that I can have little bits of inspiration everywhere that I go.
My current fave episodes are the ones with Phil Jackson, Iyanla Vanzant and former Vice President Joe Biden. I’ve listened to each of them more than once, as I try to glean all of the wisdom that they offered.
Do you all have any favorite podcasts? Let me know all about them in the comments below!
(photo courtesy of Everyday Power Blog)
As far as modern day women that truly inspire me, I don’t know if there is any living icon that has impacted me as much as Oprah Winfrey.
(photo courtesy of Goalcast)
A dirt poor childhood, sexual abuse, and occasional career setbacks didn’t hold her back from becoming a media monolith. I love how she parlayed her successful talk show career into a thriving media empire, including OWN (The Oprah Winfrey Network), O the Magazine, Oprah.com, lots of books and an acclaimed acting career.
(photo courtesy of Success Stories)
For those that don’t remember (or who may not have been aware), OWN was floundering during its first years on the air. But, true to Oprah’s style, she turned it around and it is now a total success, creating inspirational and entertaining programs that appeal to a wide variety of TV watchers.
(photo courtesy of Goalcast)
My favorite show on OWN (on those rare occasions when I watch TV) is Super Soul Sunday. Oprah’s interviews with thought leaders always leaves me feeling inspired, encouraged and motivated.
(photo courtesy of PaperBlog)
Oprah has turned her unique appeal into an impressive career and touching legacy. I hope you all have enjoyed these quotes as much as I enjoyed compiling them.
(photo courtesy of Scoopwhoop)
Happy Monday, friends! As you all know, yesterday marked 100 posts on Bronze Butterfly. I’m excited to have reached such an epic milestone, and even more excited that I got to share it with you all!
There’s only one question remaining:
What’s next?
I have a few things I’m mulling over as the year comes to a close. And honestly, I’m keeping an open mind and remaining flexible because I don’t know where this journey will take me. I used to have such a big list of things that I wanted to accomplish but even as I ticked things off of that list, I still had this gnawing feeling that I was unsatisfied.
Simply “accomplishing” things wasn’t enough to give me REAL satisfaction.
So I’ve got a list that I’ll share at the end of the year, but I’m confident that my happiness doesn’t depend on getting those things or having those experiences.
I create my happiness. Every day I choose it consciously.
And I’m so glad that each of you will be able to see it on this blog!
If you have some time today (or at any time this week), ask yourself, “What’s next?” And then be open to wherever you’re guided. Remember,
“You never get it done and you can’t get it wrong” (Abraham Hicks)
Can you all believe that this is the 100th post on this blog?!?! I’m blown away at how much my little corner of the web has grown, since I haven’t done any traditional marketing/advertising. Every follower I have came here either through word of mouth or chance. And if you came by, liked what you read and stayed, I sincerely thank you.
You all have seen 100 days worth of my thoughts, hopes, dreams, and discoveries.
You’ve seen some low points, some high points, and my journey over the past 3(ish) months.
When I call you all “friends” or “beloveds”, I mean it. The comments and messages I’ve gotten have been incredible. Thanks for the love and support!
What do you all think could make this a better space? I’ve been considering doing some YouTube videos but I’m a little shy (well, nervous about making a high-quality video). Maybe I’ll come up with some other way to make this space even more engaging.
In any case, thank you and I love you all. To 100+ more posts! Cheers!
(photo courtesy of WeClipArt)
Full disclosure: I’m fascinated with anything that connects me to my feminine energy. I’m so into it, I regularly cross the lines of “woo-woo”. Yes, I get a bit geeky about it.
Crystals, aromatherapy, belly dancing, multi-step beauty routines – you name it. All of it is done for the sake of fortifying my feminine energy, because I find that this world tends to deplete that energy constantly.
As part of my continual journey into the wide world of femininity, I researched waist beads. A common accessory in many African countries, waist beads are worn under the clothes to help shape the body, help women stay in touch with their femininity, and even to seduce lovers (I found all of this info here).
Uhm, I want body shaping, contact with my femininity and the magical powers of seduction. So I bought some beads.
I ordered from Yours TrueLovely on Instagram. The owner of this handcrafted jewelry company is Alexis. I didn’t find her store randomly; I actually met Alexis a little less than 30 years ago – our moms used to work together and were pregnant with us at the same time LOL! Coincidentally (or maybe not so coincidentally) she began offering waist beads right around the time that I started researching them. So I placed my order and waited patiently.
She produces such high quality pieces, and the beads were ready in no time. Here are some photos of the finished product:
My waist bead is pale pink and gold. I ordered it a little larger than my natural waist size, because I misread the measuring tape (it’s been a while since I measured myself). When I order my next waist chain, I’ll make sure it’s smaller, so I can wear it under my clothes and it will have a snug fit on my natural waist. Here’s a closeup of the jewelry:
If you want to tap into your feminine essence, I highly recommend that you contact Alexis for your own customized waist beads. You’ll love it!
I mentioned earlier this week that I’ve been experiencing some not-so-happy times. At this point, I’m thinking it’s just a little bluesy period that will pass, but even when I anticipate a short period of discomfort and sadness, I like to turn to role models who can encourage me. So this week, I want to shine the spotlight on Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis,, who experienced more heartbreak than I can fathom, but also curated a beautiful life and incredibly touching legacy.
Who more perfectly embodies courage and composure than Mrs. Kennedy Onassis? Twice widowed, an unconventional beauty, and a brainy woman during a time where women were rewarded for merely being pretty arm candy, Jackie had her share of difficulty. However, throughout it all she remained elegant, cool and focused on creating JOY at every step of her journey.
I find it inspirational that she never just “faded away”: from debutante to First Lady, to perfect business wife to editor extraordinaire, everything she did was done with excellence. I love that she found her strength through her pain and left her mark on history.
Private, poignant, and focused, Jackie is the kind of woman that we can all aspire to be, during good times and bad. I love how she focused on what really mattered and let the rest fade into the background.
She came, she saw, she WON.
(Photos courtesy of Pinterest and Town and Country Magazine)
Oh, you thought that the Preparing for 2018 series was done? Not hardly, mes amis!
Despite all of the more “serious” posts in the Preparing for 2018, I want it to be clear that preparing for the upcoming year is FUN! You should be enjoying this process. If you aren’t having fun, then it’s time to prioritize fun and indulge in it regularly. The best way to get what you want – in an enjoyable manner – is to approach it all with a sense of fun and hopefulness.
I mean, you could work hard, hate making certain moves, and eventually get to the end goal that you desire. Lots of people trudge their way to their goals, and embracing extraordinary difficulties is often praised in our culture (so much so, I’ve seen people go out of their way to make things harder for themselves!). I’ve seen the notion that the only way to have an “authentic” journey, worthy of a grand goal at the finish line, is to experience many pains and hardships, along with zero happiness as you make those critical moves.
But how much nicer is it when you punctuate your journey with joy, levity and adventure? Every day may not be a party, but we’re shooting for, at minimum, periodically pleasant. Having some fun can often give you the push you need to keep going forward with your plans.
And if your plans are constantly depressing, draining, or drudgery, it’s time for new dreams. Seriously. Sometimes what we want has changed and we don’t even know it. Or, we’ve invested so much to get to this point that we’re afraid that we’ll lose everything if we switch gears.
Only you can answer whether your investment (of time, energy, finances or other resources) is worth continued misery. For some, a short period of misery may be worth it. But sometimes, it’s better to scrap the entire plan and start over.
In any case, start prioritizing fun. Remember to do things that make you laugh, warm your heart, or give you a sense of satisfaction.
And do it TODAY. Tomorrow is promised to no one.
I’ve written very little, because I’ve had so much going on otherwise. It’s frustrating that I haven’t had enough time to do my writing, but it’s okay: I’ll do a mad dash over the next couple of days. I’m confident that I can get a solid book before November 30th.
Pray for me, y’all!
Happy Tuesday, beloveds! I’ve got another beauty review for you all.
I bought these rose gold makeup brushes back when I did my big beauty haul in August. These came from Life of a Bombshell, the company responsible for my Bronze Bombshell palette (I’ll be reviewing that soon!). My order arrived quickly and I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of the products I received.
I selected these brushes because I love anything in rose gold. The set has ten brushes and, while I didn’t get a guide naming the function for each brush, I’m comfortable outlining the brush types based on my own experiences with certain brush shapes and sizes. Here’s what I *think* these brushes are for (from left to right):
Closeup of the blush brush
But, being “pretty” doesn’t matter if the brushes don’t perform well. The real test is how well the brushes work when using them to apply makeup.
So, how did these brushes work?
I was VERY impressed with how well these brushes worked! These picked up product and applied with ease. The brushes are soft and the bristles are tightly packed, allowing for an even application. The bristles didn’t shed during product application and they didn’t absorb too much of my liquid products (a bit of a problem when using sponges and other absorbent tools).
These brushes also cleaned easily. I used baby shampoo and hand soap for cleansing. Even when the brushes were brown, black and pink from my foundation, eyeshadow and blush, I easily got the bristles back to white and pink again.
The set was $19, and I feel it was well worth the price! I plan to get another set as backup brushes. If you’re so inclined, check them out!
Bronze Butterfly 