Happiness - marykatekopec.com

A Hint of Fall Color!
On the Bog (with Kat, Bear, & Wogs)

Fall Color. On the Bog. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

A Hint of Fall Color!

A hot summer sun blazed high in the sky, brightening the day and keeping spirits high. On the Bog, Kat, Bear, and Wogs were out for an exploration trek and enjoying the incoming fall breeze keeping them cool as they hiked on. Bear was excited for the wagon ride through the “wild”!

Our adventuring trio found Belle resting on an inviting hammock. She chirped her happiness when they stopped to say, “HI.” and admire the hint of fall color showing on the two, tall red maples hosting the hammock.

Flop, Fluff, and Squeech all played nearby and were enjoying the gentle turn of weather.

Kat (looking up at the clouds, then back to the hammock and thinking it might be nice to rest a while and watch the clouds float by): I think we should try out that hammock when Squeech is done!

Wogs (nodded, smiling at the thought): Definitely! We can explore for a bit more to give Bear a big ride, then come back.

Bear (loving this plan and looking forward to some wagon nap time after adventuring flicker-swished his tail in happiness): Mrow!

Hello Beautiful Sweet Souls!

Our world is becoming ever more challenging. I’m guessing you feel it, too. The anger, angst, frustration, and even fear. It’s been building, bubbling, and boiling.

When times get hard like this, it can get harder to cope and navigate. I know I’m finding it harder. Our usual self-care can fall short. We can feel ourselves melting under the weight of stress of negativity.

Dearest, loveliest, bright blossom, dig your roots deep. Don’t give up, and know you are loved and not alone, and you are needed! Shine your petals wide and bright into the sunlight and take in the warmth and positive energy! Let the goodness wash over you and help preserve you!

This is a time for a deeper dive into what works for us! Connect and share with your like-minded love muffins. Breathe deeply, slowly, measured and paced. Get movement into your body. Nourish and hydrate. Hug yourself. Unplug and disconnect. Rest and rejuvenate. Head outside and be present to just watch the clouds float by.

And when you need a release beyond your efforts to quiet and calm the howling winds outside … go for a run, knead some bread (maybe punch it a little, or maybe even a lot! … lol), faceplant into a pillow deep in the recesses of your closet and scream … but find a positive release that will help you get the stress out, let go, and heal.

I know it’s harder for many of us. Me, too. But harder isn’t impossible. It’s just harder, and we’re worth our effort!

Focus on what works for you! Focus on what empowers you! Focus on what makes you feel happiness in your heart and heals your soul, mind, and body!

One day, one step, one breath at a time … together with love and goodness as our guiding value … let’s watch the clouds float by and feel peace and calm and love in our hearts!

Thank you for sharing this time and being here with me in love and big hugs! Squeezing you tight!

The Power of a Smile!

The power of a smile!

Okay Beautiful Blossoms … let’s not complicate this one. A smile is POWERFUL! It is an instant pick-me-up! Even if you fake it, a smile will do good things to your body!!!

It’s chemical, people! We have Happy Hormones!

You smile; your facial muscles move; your brain gets triggered; feel good chemicals get released; and voila … instant mood lifter!!!!

So what are you waiting for?

Are you smiling right now? Why not? … You could be … !!!

You’ll note the upturned corners of my mouth … my teeth beaming … my cheeks rounded and up … it’s as though my lips are stretching to meet my ears.

You smile, you feel better! Easy peasy!

What’s not to love?

A heartfelt moment to be seriously serious.

I’m actually totally serious above, even if a bit silly. But as a blossom challenged by perimenopausal hormone shifts, fluctuating hormone turbulence, and a state of ever depleting estrogen and progesterone levels, I get these horrible, terrible, life-crashing, grief-striking bouts of sobbing tears accompanied by incomprehensible bereft feelings that clench my stomach and make eyes leak like rivers.

These moments totally suck!!!

So … for my beautiful blossom who suffer depression, anxiety (I have that, too, and I know how bad anxiety bites the biggy, too.), etc, … if you’ve got a regular case of the “sads” or “scaredy cats,” I just want you to know … I’ve tried with every PINK molecule and energy light in my body to smile in these sobbing moments, and I’m usually NOT successful.

In these acute moments, sometimes we have to give ourselves the necessary time to process the moment.

THEN, as soon as we can, we can smile to help continue our upward journey take us upward faster and happier!

And might I also just add … if you are a blossom with clinical depression and/or anxiety, please keep seeing your therapist, doing your therapy in all its many forms, and please keep healing! Smile when you can, cuz it really does help! And know we are here for you in the biggest loving, hugging way possible!!! Holding you on your journey and helping you get to the other side of your challenge!

Know that you are always welcome here! Know that I am hugging you so big! And with so much love!

I really hope my smiles, hugs, and loves, in all their forms can bring joy into your day and life, and help to brighten your spirits!

Quick Highlights Benefits of Smiling

Studies have shown the simple act of smiling is the fastest way to perk you up and brighten your day. Even if you “make yourself” smile … it still releases your brainz happy juices!
Stress reducer
Immune system booster (makes you healthier)
Pain reducer
Lowers your BP
In short … a true kindness to you!!!!
And … it’s a kindness that can be shared for free!!!!

What can you do right now to help you smile?

As you likely know, I’ve got lots of Smile Tools in my tool kit!

I doodle!
I host Create and Share Parties (more on this to come!)!
I chat with friends and loved ones!
I give gratitude for the goodness in my life!
I spend mindful moments just breathing and taking in the nature around me!
I yoga, yoga, yoga, yoga, yoga, and more yoga!
I slurp (yep, I actually slurp as necessary!) on fruit smoothies!
I watch the creatures being all creature-y in Bog-landia behind my Starry Cottage lil home!
I hug my honeybun!
I watch funny/happy/uplifting movies/videos!
I tell jokes!
I write funny stuff!
I read funny stuff!
Uh, I’ll just up and start smiling … just to be smiling!
I silly dance around in my Starry Cottage!
… just to name a few …

I encourage you to make tool kit of smile-inducers! And you can start right now by listing off 3 things you can do to smile! (Like go back up and see me smiling at you! Or check out my awesomely fun “doodle Gogh!”)

Be the smile in your day! Be the smile in someone else’s day, too!

Well, Beautiful Blossoms! I have loved spending this happy, loving time with you and creating these very special “doodle Gogh” arts for you! I hope I have brought fun, silliness, smiles, and love and big hugs into your day today!

You are so very precious!

Thank you for sharing this time with me!

Super Muah!

Art as Self-Care:
Lights Digi-Painting

Art as Self-Care. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

Art as Self-Care: Lights Digi-Painting

About a week ago, I had a really scary experience. A something that triggered my anxiety/panic-button in this COVID pandemic time. Irresponsible, disrespectful, self-righteous behaviors of others that put my improving-but-still-fragile health at risk. I never saw the danger coming. I was in a supposedly trustworthy medical environment for a very necessary yearly appointment. Yet, there I was, surrounded by unsafety.

The day it happened, I almost held up throughout. My therapy techniques held me until the night … which is when I’m most vulnerable (cuz like, I’m tired, ya know?).

Well, so, I made it through the day; then, I cried that night. The fear caught up with me. I woke up the next day almost numb. Or rather, I simply felt so depleted I was barely there. I retreated into myself to try to cope and to allow the post-experience healing process to continue. I was quiet. I felt a dark, cloudy bubble surrounding me.

It wasn’t fun.

I didn’t feel well. I felt low and vulnerable.

I didn’t want to talk with friends. I just wanted to be very, very, very quiet.

But, slowly, throughout the week, I gained ground. Bit by bit.

A few days “post-event,” I found myself sitting in front of my computer, staring at my project planner. I knew I needed to do something to get out of my shell. But as I stared at my screen, I didn’t engage.

I wasn’t ready “to work” (like blogging or story writing).

I needed something less structured. With no expectations beyond creating a healing experience for myself.

I scrolled the pages of my digi-planner until a little gem caught my eye.

I have a variety of projects: small, medium, and big, with different purposes, involving different skills sets and interests. This variety helps me stay active for almost any energy/ability/mental level. And when I run into “down” time that requires some extra self-loving and self-caring … I’ve made sure I have lots of choices to pick from.

The Little Gem That Caught My Eye

In any given moment, I create to let my heart and mind express whatever they need to express. I don’t force myself to create anything. I just let my energy flow. Sometimes I doodle. Sometimes I I write. Sometimes I digi-paint using snaps of nature as canvases. Sometimes I use an inspiration snap to guide me wherever I need to go.

That’s what happened here.

Original snap found somewhere in the interwebs universe.

Inspiration and Healing

When I saw this little image I came across somewhere in the interwebbin werld, I felt it again … the peaceful joy this image induces in me. I’m not sure why it makes me feel so calm and happy. It’s just a blurry snap of a city street and crosswalk somewhere in the world at night with lights. But I suspect it’s the colors and the lights and how the pinks pop out against the darkened teals and blues. The lights and colors remind me of Christmas lights, and Christmas lights have been one of my favorite things on earth since I was old enough to crawl under the Christmas tree and fall asleep.

So with a bit of peacful joy guiding my heart, I kept studying the snap (the colors and the feel) and digi-painted, starting with a blank white canvas and some digital watercolors. I didn’t do anything fancy. I simply “moused” color onto my digital canvas, seeking the experience of color. Of quiet. Of peaceful time to savor and feel safe in.

In case you are interested, anyone with a computer + mouse or touchscreen + pen can do what I did here (and beyond those already purchased items, you can do it for free). I used the FREE Adobe Fresco App and my mouse for the entire painting. Adobe provides an quick start-up tutorial that will have you painting in about 5 easy minutes … SERIOUSLY!

My one creative splurge for my final outcome was to add a PhotoShop Elements “Paint Daubs” filter to my image to help my lights pop a lil bit more.

You can either paint something in your heart/mind’s eye, or you can find a snap/IRL-setting of something that inspires you … and start painting!

While painting, I used a coupla different watercolor brushes (Watercolor Wash Soft + Basic Watercolor).

My goal wasn’t to recreate the image. I just wanted the colors and feeling the snap gave me to guide my color choices and placement in a manner consistent with giving my painting the happy visual punch of lights against darkness in a way that makes me feel happy.

I’d just been through an experience that darkened my days, and I know that the way back to healing is to focus on the light – and I love Pink light, especially.

This painting took me about 2 hours to complete – it was a relatively quick painting (many of my creations take much longer).

In my 2 hours, I came away from my digital canvas smiling and feeling brighter than I had the whole week. I was excited to share my creation with close friends and my honeybun (which got me outta my troubled and introvert shell).

My creation time was self-caring time that allowed me to focus on something different than the fear, the scary moment in time. My anxiety quieted. My mind calmed down and found peace. This self-caring time allowed me to rest and heal in a positive and supportive manner. It was soul-soothing delicious time well spent! It gave me strong steps to letting go and moving forward!!!

So … lemme show you what I created! As I am quite excited!!!

The first image is of my original watercolor painting, and the second one has the “splashy/flashy” filter added for a popping-of-the-lights effect.

I love both!

So now that I shared my experience, let’s talk about the health benefits of art-ing, painting, writing, crafting, … creating.

Creating is focused, mindful, and calming (it actually produces dopamine, an antidepressant). Art as self-care checks off a lot of boxes. It helps you de-stress. Add to all of these just stated, creating will help you feel happy and smile. It can get you connecting with loved ones again. It can help break through the dark haze holding you down.

And the good news is, evening creating (say, for instance, coloring) for 5 minutes a day can make a difference in your daily life … it’s excellent daily self-care!

Creating art can help improve symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, stress, and more.
You can use art therapy to process trauma and mental challenges.
Creating art helps build connections in the brain, helping to prevent memory loss. (https://www.riteaid.com/articles/the-arts-and-healthy-aging-how-does-art-affect-the-brain)
When you color or create, you help the part of your brain that makes you afraid/feel fear relax. It is a form of mindful quietness that is Self-Care AWESOMEness!
Even just 5 minutes a day can help!

Art as self-care, my beautiful blossoms and bright stars, is a happy, healthy, fun, healing way to process life’s challenges!

Love yourself with some create time!

paint
write
color
doodle
draw
crochet
knit
quilt
write a short story
journal
make a collage of snaps you collect from online or IRL
mold and shape clay
paint ceramics
build fused glass gloriousness!
create tile mosaics
… uh, this list goes on and on!

Whatever you do, enjoy it! Let it free your mind. Give yourself a much needed rest and break! Let your tensions chill da hellz out for a while! (lol). Heal. Find peace and calm. Be well again, my amazing sweet pea!

You are worthy of this time and your art-ing to self-care!

Thank you so much for sharing this growing, healing time with me!

Take a deep breath in, and know you are loved! Cuz, I loves you SO BIG!!!

Eat something nourishing today! And know I am hugging you GIGANTIC!

Living an Inspired Life
Making It Happen!

Living a Happy Life. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Living Your Inspired Life: Making It Happen!

Living an Inspired Life: Welcome! Let’s Get You Started! (Introduction all about who, why, what, when, where, and how for Living an Inspired Life and the steps to get you started envisioning yours!)

Living an Inspired Life: Time to Reflect and Imagine! (In this post, we take all the doodle-thinking pages you created in the first post, and we dig in with with reflection and imagination to see what your Inspired Life looks like!)

Okay, Beautiful Blossoms!

Let’s get you living your inspired life! Let’s make it happen!

You’re gonna want to have all your original doodle-thinking pages from our first meeting, and all of your notes and vision/dream boarding from our second meeting …

Make a List!

What is different between the “current you” and the “living your inspired life you”?

What new things do you need to grow into your life?
What old things no longer serve you and must be let go of?

Make a list! It doesn’t have to be a big list. It doesn’t have to be organized in any form (not quite yet). You just need to get all down in front of you, so you can see what you want to grow and let go of as you live your inspired life!

For me, my list is based on my values of happiness, healthiness, wellness, gratitude, kindness, love, and positude (If you’ve been reading my posts and enjoying my positudes and watching my videos, this sounds like me, right, … big hearts and big smiles to you!).

For me, I want to live a happy life. A healthy life. A life of light, love, gratitude, and goodness. I want to be light and love in this world and to help spread smiles and big hugs!

Have a beautiful, happy, supportive, loving, wonderful life with my honeybun
Create happiness, light, love, joy, positivity
Live in gratitude & wellness
Grow and nurture beautiful relationships
For my body, mind, soul, efforts, and energies, nurture, nourish, live, learn, and grow with sustainability, conservation, goodness, wellness, healthiness
Movement in my life through yoga, walking, bouncing, and outdoor adventures
Be authentic and genuine and my best possible self
See and experience the beauty of nature
Live and die painlessly
Have a positive, kind, loving impact on all those I encounter … and if possible improve the earth’s wellness through my actions and helping others in need, like seniors, homeless, and abused and neglected animals

When you make your list, let your values guide you! This is your inspired life, and only you can know what you want and need! This is personal! This is all about you and for you! So be brave! Be honest with yourself! And give yourself your best, … because you deserve your best!

You + You Living Your List = You Living Your Inspired Life!

Once you have your list, you have your ideals, growth goals, letting-go goals, … you have the foundation you need to get started living your inspired life!

Some of your list items might be easy to simply start living. Others may require planning and effort. Some of your list items are comprised of many smaller growth steps (my list is like this, as I wrote mine in overarching ideals).

So before we go any further, let’s help you create a “Living an Inspired Life Action Plan”!

You have a list – let’s organize it into a path of sorts! Mind you, this isn’t a permanent path, or inflexible path. Your life is always changing. You are always changing. You are always growing. This path is simply meant to be a vision of growing-you-forward progress in an form that feels ideal to you right now.

As you look at your list:

Is it a path of individual steps growing one forward into the next?
Is it a path of multiple steps happening at once?
Is it a combination of multiple steps and single steps?
Is there a visible logic in forward progression … to do this next ideal, you must first accomplish this ideal?
Are there “easy” and “quick” steps/ideals you can start living immediately or grow pretty quickly? (This can give empower you with an immediate boost of growth that can make you feel really good about your new path.)

Doodle-think out what your path looks and feels like? Where would you like to start? Do you need to accomplish one thing before you can do another?

Ways to Live Your Inspired Life … Envisioning, Creating, and Living Your Do-able Path!

Know that how you grow – what you tackle first, second, and next for always – is up to you what feels good and right for you … when you are ready!

I encourage you to grab your dream/vision board and have it for constant reflection and reminder as you think about your path and laying out your steps. Let your Inspired Vision guide you as you lay out your path! One step, multi-steps, or a combination as you go and grow … you live your do-able Inspired Life!

Know you (and learn you as you go):

What helps you?
What will empower you?
What do you need to grow forward?
What obstacles do you foresee, and how can you face them and overcome them?
What support do you need?

Allow yourself to grow and adapt!
Allow yourself to let go of ideals that no longer serve you!
Allow yourself to amend ideals to better meet your ever growing self!
Allow yourself to immerse yourself in the joy of living and growing in your Inspired Life Vision!

Then you can use the smaller do-able sized steps to grow your success into achieving your ideal and goal.

Here’s one of my rather large list ideals:

For my body, mind, soul, efforts, and energies, nurture, nourish, live, learn, and grow with sustainability, conservation, goodness, wellness, healthiness

I’ve broken this down into MANY, MANY, MANY smaller do-able steps. And even some of those steps have been broken down into smaller do-able steps.

For instance, the part about nourishing my healthiness, I needed to start living an anti-inflammatory life. This includes ALL KINDS OF THINGS (growths and letting go’s):

reducing stress
getting movement into my body
cutting out added sugars
cutting out gluten
getting regular, restful, rejuvenating sleep
and lots more

So let’s take a look at the cutting out gluten … I’ll blog about this someday … as it’s been quite the growth adventure … but it started with doing the obvious: stop eating wheat.

Then I had to learn more about where gluten is … it’s not just in wheat, it also in rye, for instance. And it’s hidden in so many unsuspecting places … like any food packaged in a facility that processes wheat. It turned into a spiral of “ohmigosh, wheat is everywhere!!!”

So … baby steps. I didn’t suddenly cut out gluten, and it was completely gone. It’s taken learning, growing, adapting. Finding new ways to eat. Find new recipes.

I once was a person who could justify eating cake with a glass of milk for breakfast … lol. And now, cake? Cookies? Yes, but differently. And I’ve grown into them, and I love them. But had I tried to do it all in the beginning, I would have been overwhelmed. And I would’ve hated the food.

Slow and steady. Growing. Living it!

Empower your new Inspired Life with happy accomplishments and growth!

Feel good about you and what you are living and growing into your life!

Mind you … you may not be ready in this moment to do “it” … you may need to baby step it with those smaller do-able sized steps. So you’ll have to differentiate between “willing to” and “ready to.” If you’re not willing to do it … don’t bother putting it into your path. But if you’re willing, just not ready … well, then, sweet beautiful blossom … all you have to do is figure out the smaller do-able step path to empower your successful achievement of the growth you want to live!

Living an Inspired Life is NOT a Destination … It’s Now!

If I may …

We have been programmed in life to set goals and achieve them. And that until we achieve them, the goal isn’t complete.

The problem with this thinking is that life is ongoing … it’s not a Do-It Done sort of thing. Well, sure. In the long run, one could look at it in restrospect and reflection like that.

But while we’re living it … we’re hopefully going to be here for a while … so thinking that you can’t live your inspired life until you get all your steps done is not the right kind of thinking. In that, it’s not empowering or helpful or guiding or loving or kind … or patient to think that way.

Your Life Is Happening NOW!

You are living it, breathing it, being it … right now!

Your inspired life is yours to have and create! To live and grow! To rejoice in and be free to be your bright, beautiful self!!!

I think of that quote from Allen Saunders: Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.

So …

Your List

Your Ideals

Your Path of Do-Able Steps of Growing-You’s and Letting-Go’s

It’s flexible … it grows with you, changes with you. It’s a vision of how you can activate your Inspired Life … how you can start living it.

But don’t get mired down in waiting for it to happen.

Once you begin … You ARE Living Your Inspired Life … how many ever steps at a time that work for you!

Jim Rohn has famously stated, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

If you want to empower your success, you will generally do better when the folks around you support you instead of challenging your every ideal.

Personal Share: MK’s Empowering Her Success

In cutting gluten out of my life, I have not been joined by my friends or my family. For them, it’s not something they want or need.

However, my honeybun has been all about my success! Even though, it’s not something he is seeking to do, he supports my wellness, my healthiness, and my efforts to live my inspired life.

So, he helps me watch for gluten in foods. He helps me cook/bake gluten-free foods. And when I eat gluten-free foods he enjoys, he’ll eat them, too. And when I don’t, he simply makes something different for himself, or I do. We work it as a supportive team!

My point is … your peeps … your blossoms … they don’t have to be on the same exact page as you (it can help if they are, but who really is ever on the “same exact page” [we’re all so very different]).

Your peeps don’t have to be on the same ideal page … but empowerment is improved when they are on the “supporting your success” page!

I hope all of this insight and experience helps you envision, create, and live your Inspired Life!

This is the insight and experience I use to help me and my coachees envision, create, and live our Inspired Lives!

Thank you so much for sharing this Living an Inspired Life blog mini-series time with me! Thank you so much for this opportunity to help you feel love, light, and big hugs in your life!

I am loving you with all the PINK in my heart and hugging you so big!!!

PS: If you have any questions or comments about Living Your Inspired Life, feel free to reach out to me!

PPS: If you feel this blog mini-series can help others you know, please feel free to share this post with them (all the blog post links for this series are provided in the opening paragraph for ease and convenient access.)

Living an Inspired Life
Time to Reflect and Imagine!

Living an Inspired Life! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

Time to Reflect and Imagine!!!

For those of you who missed the first post in this blog mini-series: Living an Inspired Life, click here to see the post and get more details!

I love this part! … Okay, I love all the parts, cuz they’re the steps to growth and being me … but so, this part is cool, too, because we get to really pull all the bits and pieces together to see what our life puzzle is starting to look like.

For some of you, tho, you might be thinking, … oh, gah! Reflection?!!! Like, is this meditation or something??? Lol. It’s something, but it’s not meditation.

But it could be. Feel free to find a happy spot to meditate on your Inspired Life, if you feel called. That’s awesome, too!

When I’m coaching a blossom, I help big time with this part. I take a look at all my blossom’s categorized doodle-thinkings, and I look for connections. I apply my many years of depth and breadth experience and see things maybe they can’t see, and often don’t. And we talk our way through to some exciting imagining!

But since, you and me, here in this moment, we are connected via the interwebs and my blog of love and big hugs to you … I’m going to do my best to guide you through this next step with some thoughtful insight from me, so you can do it for yourself! We’ll see how we do!

Okay, so … spread your pages out in front of you … I like to see them in the following type order: likes, dislikes, strengths, challenges, motivations, knocks me flat, & values. For me, this is a progressive insight into how my blossom sees herself. So try this, and if you like a different order, go for it!

Example of Doodle-Thinking

Next, it’s analysis and reflection time. It’s putting the pieces together. And doing it in a manner that uses your imagination to what you think your Inspired Life looks like.

Like, for the blossom who says, in my Inspired Life I see myself healthy, happy, and working at XYZ Inc. Or whatever she thinks she sees.

Like a blossom who wants to be healthy, but is stuck in the dieting trap, getting nowhere.

So, look at your doodle-thinking pages and compare away. Look for the solid and supported “truths” of you. Look for what seems wonky, and ask why?

Ask yourself what works for this idea of what you see in your Inspired Life. Ask yourself what is holding you back. Ask yourself with all that you are seeing about yourself … in line with your values … what does your Inspired Life look like in more detail?

You want to flesh out your vision. See it in color. See yourself today, and ask yourself …

Am I looking to make big changes?
Little changes?
Middle-sized changes?

What are you focusing on?

Health?
Wellness?
Happiness?
Career?
Relationships?
Family?
The whole kit and caboodle?

10 Life Must Haves + Must Do’s

OK … so there’s a next helpful step. It will help clarify or reinforce what you are thinking. Time to grab another sheet of paper and your colorful pens/pencils/markers …

Life List time!!!

And now look at your life again … here’s that reflection time, big time:

What are you looking to keep?
What are you looking to change?
What in your life (friends, work, family) is working for you?
What in your life is bringing you down?
What things can you change?
What things must you adapt to/can’t change (like a pandemic)?
What is serving you?
What is holding you back?
How does your 10 Life List things match up with what you want to keep and what you want to change?

What can you do to make the change? What actions do you need to take? (like eat nutrient dense food, get up and move around every hour, move to a new place) … I mean, these actions can be big and small and in between …

I love to dream/vision board what I’m seeing and feeling. If you like that idea, give it a try. Outta your head on paper in front of you … it’s the big trick and key. In your head is a jumble … on paper, you can’t hide. It’s right in front of you!

And next time, we’ll wrap up with growing you from here to there. Laying a path for you to travel. Determining the steps you need to take and empowering you to take them!

This is the good stuff, sweet beautiful blossom and bright star!!!

SEE YOU, THE REAL YOU AND YOUR INSPIRED LIFE!

Turtle Time!
On the Bog (with Kat, Bear, & Wogs)

On the Bog (with Kat, Bear, & Wogs). Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

Turtle Time!

With summer quickly approaching, activity On the Bog was at an all time high! And the turtles were getting in on the action!

The blue skies were mostly clear, and the sun was bright and happy. Bug and bird life fluttered, flittered, and flew all about, buzzing and chirping, humming and tweeting, and making for a most melodious delight!

Tree canopies bubbled with leafy life and gently swayed in the comfortable, warm breeze. Wildflowers burst with color. And our adventurous trio, Kat, Bear, and Wogs, out for an afternoon walk, came upon the joyful busy of the Bog.

Tabitha, the snapping turtle, had emerged from the depths of the bog covered in algae, and was nestled into the hole she’d dug, laying her many eggs! By the middle of summer, baby snappers would be scattering about!

Tomi the Taxi, a painted turtle, was happily ferrying riders from one bog spot to another. Kat, Bear, and Wogs looked on as Tomi gave Belle a free ride … Belle and Squeech were taking turns and having fun! Tomi was cheerfully playing along with his feathery friends!

Kat (excited to see turtles, thinking they are SO cute): Ohmigosh, look! Turtles!!!!

Wogs (thinking turtles are SO cool): I see them! And look, Tomi’s playing taxi ride for the day! We should go grab our picnic gear and camp out for the afternoon!

Bear (cheerfully flicker-waving his tail at all the scurrying and flurrying and enjoying their adventurous find totally agreed with Kat and Wogs): Mrow!

Hello Beautiful Light of Love and Happiness!

Thinking of you being here with me, I’m bouncing with giddy glee! You make me smile so big, and you fill my heart to overflowing! Thank you for our shared time together!!!

Remember to give yourself a big hug and lots of love today! Drink lots of water. Nibble on nutritious num nums. Get up, wiggle/dance/walk around, and give your body some movement love! And take a moment to look at something you love and just breathe and be! You got today SO GOOD!!!!

muah! xoxox!

What Exactly are POSitudes?

POSitudes. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

What Exactly Are POSitudes?

Okay. So, the other day I was having a conversation with a fellow biz chick, and she asked me, “What exactly are P. O. S. itudes?”

Instantly stunned … I thought: P. O. S. itudes? … as in Piece Of Shiz itdues?

OH.MY.GOD.

I’m still cracking up. But also freaking out.

So, well then … lemme clear this up!

POSitudes are they way every blossom who wants to live a happy, healthy life should be thinking, acting, and channeling!

Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs. POSitudes

POSitudes = POSitive + attitudes!

I’ve been spelling POSitudes with a capital POS, because once upon a time I spent considerable time being a health scientist, and in chemistry, for short, we use POS for positive and NEG for negative. So POSitude was just an obvious go to for me. However … to get swapped into “piece of shiz” by non-chemistry folk … uh … ???

Looks like we’re due for an capital letter emphasis change. So from here on out … it will just be Positude … a happy combination of positive and attitude!

Every blossom already has some Positudes built into her life, just from living, learning, and listening … but I take it a step further.

I reflect on my life, the ideas, thoughts, words, images … anything that helps me cope, heal, feel better, smile, laugh, … All The Good Things … and then I tap into my doodlebug juiciness and art things up with AWESOMELY positive, loving images + words + reminders to help, not just me, but any blossom who sees them.

My goal is to brighten my day and yours, and to guide our ways … for when we get a bit too busy to remember the little things that make a big difference!

Like remembering to take a healing breath. Like remembering to spend time doing something you love. Remembering to do the little self-care things that make a big ginormous difference.

Guiding questions to keep me on the right path
Loving thoughts to hold me tight
Positive reaffirmations to bolster me up
Purposeful actions to take me forward
Gentle, supportive reminders to keep me focused on the really good stuff in life
Big Hugs to love me so big and make me smile

Here’s some examples of my doodlebugging, juicy, loving Posituding happiness for you! I’ve put together a short compilation of a few of my Positudes (I actually have hundreds!). So, please …

Come breathe with me in this minute video book of Positudes! Give yourself a minute to just breathe and be, and enjoy this moment in Positude.

Welcome back from your minute of loving self-care and breathing!

As I was saying, Positudes are meant to help you! To love you and pick you up. Life can be crazy, hectic, overwhelming, busy, splattered with negativity, etc … and Positudes are reminders, thoughts, and ways of being and living to help you cope and counteract all of that … they help you guide your actions toward more positive and healthier living. They help you feel better and make you smile. When practiced regularly, they grow goodness and wellness into your being and living, and just all around make your life a happier place to be!

I use my Positudes daily. I have them on my phone in ebook form. I have them in video form for reflection in my yoga room. I have them on my computer. I have them sprinkled throughout my space to keep me smiling and living goodness!

One of my favorite times to reflect and meditate on my Positudes is when I’m wrapping up my daily yoga practice with my paced-breathing-legs-up-the-wall time. I breathe and watch my reflection video and reflect, meditate, and envision … it’s absolutely delightful and makes me feel so good!

If you are interested in more of my Positudes (thank you for loving them!), I am finding ways to offer them to you. You can experience them in a number of ways:

My monthly Love Letter
My blog posts (There’s a subscribe opportunity at the bottom of every blog post.)
My YouTube channel
My shop (currently ebooks, and eventually reflections videos and individual digi-prints)

The best way to let them help you is however they call to you, but what I find helpful is to read the words … and really let them sink in … enjoy the accompanying art … but feel the meaning of the Positude. Then I think about how this Positude can guide me in this moment, and even this day. I become mindful of how the Positude makes me feel.

Well, Beautiful Blossom! Thank you for being here with me! I hope this shared time has brightened your day! I hope you feel my love and big hugs! I hope you enjoy this moment we are in, and the rest of your day! I hope I’ve helped you smile big!

Muah!

Empowering You with a Simple Truth!

Until about a year ago, I’d never uttered these words before. I could’ve never imagined how powerful they could be. Then they became life changers … words of empowerment, growth, and positive, healthy, happy change!

Instead of feeling like it wouldn’t be worth it to only walk for 10 minutes, I started telling myself walking for 10 minutes was better than not walking at all.

Instead of feeling like it wouldn’t be enough to take a coupla minutes to stop and just be and breathe, I started giving myself a coupla minutes to stop and just be and breathe … and my body thanks me every time for the calm and peace I invite into my being.

Instead of telling ourselves it’s only worth it if we do “it” BIG or spend “real time” doing it … we should be telling ourselves the truth:

Walking/dancing
Yoga
Paced breathing
Eating more nutrient-dense nutritious foods
Cutting out sugar (major inflamer and health challenger)
Cutting out gluten (major inflamer and health challenger)
Giving myself de-stressing time through creativity/doodle-arting
Focusing on POSitude and affirmations
“Gratituding”
Spending time being mindful
Taking better care of my oral healthcare
Taking better care of my body
Getting more movement into my body (improving my strength and wellness)
Giving myself more self-love, self-respect, and self-care … prioritizing me and my wellness
Spending happy time with people I love and who love me
Smiling, laughing, playing
Sitting in the sun
Listening to sights and sounds of our bog (the amazing nature around us)
Growing my wellness knowledge to be able to take better care of myself and my loved ones
This list goes on and on …

I didn’t make all of these changes overnight. But by allowing myself to grow in little bits … giving myself permission to accept progress over perfection … taking it one lil step at a time … I have made a world of positive, healthy, happy difference in my life!

I feel brighter, PINKer, filled with so much love and gratitude! I see the goodness in me and what I can do.

It took time. Lil bits. Wanting change and allowing change, then growing it with gentle ease.

Not forcing myself into any one thing. Not overwhelming myself with too much, too fast … not creating inevitable failure.

By waking up each day and listening to my body, heart, mind, and soul … hearing what I need … and giving myself what I need … I’ve grown miraculously!

Take today for instance. I don’t feel well. It’s one of my hormonally challenging days. My arms, legs, & knees are weak. My body is fatigued. I feel heavy. I feel challenged. Even sitting up in my chair at my desk is more effort than usual.

Today, I need a little extra self-love and self-care. Today, I need to slow down and take it easy. I need to nourish with nutrient-dense foods. I need to get gentle movement into my body to “keep the juices flowing and uncrumple it” from feeling like gravity is winning. I need to nourish myself. Nurture my wellness. I need to give my body what it needs. Surround myself with love and positivity.

So instead of beating myself up for moving slowly and not being able to tackle my list, I’m here visiting with you, sharing goodness from my heart, and creating a blog post I’ve been meaning to write for you.

Instead of expecting myself to dig into an hour of yoga (which I love to do), I’ll get on the mat to nurture my body … I’ll listen to what it’s telling me it can do today … and that’s what I’ll do. I’ll go gentle. I’ll heal and be well. And I’ll be happy with how much ever that is, and whatever it looks like. I’ll be happy knowing I cared for my body and for myself with helpful, healing movement.

I’ll hydrate. I’ll sit by the window and enjoy the sights and sounds of the bog, even though the sun is hiding behind a thick blanket of clouds a sprinkling rain today – the birds are still chirping, the bunnies are still munching, and the plant life gets greener with every drop of hydrating rain that falls.

I’ll connect with my honeybun and get some big hugs. I’ll share some time Zooming with my Soul Circle of Beautiful Bright Women.

Today is not a day I move mountains uphill. But that is ok. Today, like every day, I know that every lil bit I do for myself is better than not doing anything at all. I’ll do what I can, how I can, when I can … and that is a beautiful thing!

I will be enriched by even the smallest of my efforts! I will feel better!

Even now, thinking of you, I am smiling! I am feeling brighter! Even with just happy thoughts of you and a smile …

Empower yourself with the simple, healing, loving, self-caring, happiness-creating, growing-you truth:

Imbue this truth with helpful, supportive wisdoms and guidance:

“Progress, not perfection.” Jill Stante
Focus on what you can do right now to help yourself, mind, body, soul, light, love, energy, and being to cope and heal!

Well, sweet, beautiful blossom, I hope this juiciness is just what you and your heart needed to hear to day! I hope you feel my love and big hugs surrounding you with so much goodness, you feel yourself brightening being here with me. And I thank you so much for sharing this time with me. I give gratitude for this opportunity to help you find and grow – to be happy and well!

My Body Is an Alien:
Why Fighting Stress Is So Important!

Stress. Inflammation. Chronic Inflammation. Autoimmune disease. Autoimmune disorder. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

My Body Is an Alien: Why fighting stress is so important!

When we’re stressed … it doesn’t matter what kind of stress … mental (ie pressures at work), emotional (ie feeling depressed), or physical (ie illness, injury) …

When we’re stressed our bodies respond by creating cortisol the primary “stress hormone.”

In our body’s “hormone making hierarchy” it will preferentially make cortisol BEFORE it will make other hormones we need … like estrogen and progesterone.

So when we are stressed, our bodies make cortisol instead of the hormones we need, which results in hormone imbalance … and hormone imbalance often results in SYMPTOMS (for a big ol’ list of possibilities, click here), many of which are unfun and uncomfortable, some of which can go unnoticed (which actually isn’t a good thing … cuz we have SYMPTOMS as our warning signs … it’s our bodies talking to us, trying to tell us things aren’t good … it’s our bodies trying to tell us we need to fix “it.”

With “it” … going back to the stress and the preferential cortisol production … but that often gets missed. We often miss the stress as the underlying cause, cuz we like live with stress all the time and “do just fine.” It must be something else. … Well, it could be.

But honestly … if we’re living under stress all the time, we are not doing “just fine.” Our bodies are yelling at us, but on we go.

Okay. So that’s the first layer. Yep … we’re gonna onion right now.

So the first layer is stress of any kind promoting cortisol production instead of our needed estrogen and progesterone. And this causes hormone imbalance, which causes unfun SYMPTOMS.

Our second layer is when we experience prolonged stress (work, relationship, self-image, improper body weight, lack of movement in our bodies, toxicity in our foods, etc, etc, etc, … life), this prolonged stress results in prolonged production of cortisol … and this ain’t good.

Prolonged production of cortisol results in chronic inflammation. And chronic inflammation leads to really uncool health challenges (aka, disease: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, the Big C, … to name a few).

Right now, in the US, 60% of Americans suffer at least one chronic inflammation disease. And 40% of those Americans suffer two or more.

25% of US women will die of cardiovascular disease.

And studies are now showing that 44% of millennials are already suffering at least one chronic disease.

There’s a rant built into the above statement for me … but I’ll leave it at the following:

Back to our onion.

Layer three is … what happens when all that stress builds up … all that chronic inflammation goes unchecked … unhealed …

Well, for about 8 – 10% of Americans, it results in something called autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease is when the body can’t tell itself (or bits of itself) from an invader and it starts attacking itself.

Some examples of autoimmune disease you may have heard of:

Celiac disease
Hashimoto thyroiditis
Multiple sclerosis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis
Inflammatory bowel disease

Okay … so here it is … the real ass kicker … 80% of the people who suffer from autoimmune disease are … you guessed it … WOMEN!!!

80%!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That, my sweet blossoms, is 100% an indicator letting us know that our hormones are playing a role. It’s our estrogen and progesterone the differentiate us from men.

Also … sucky note: once a person gets autoimmune disease, generally speaking, there is NO CURE. Only doing your best to get and keep your body calmed and coping. “Controlling the condition and symptoms” with a prioritized need to reduce inflammation and pain.

Essentially, these 2 effects of persistent stress and elevated cortisol levels … living life … don’t just reside individually in women – sweet blossoms, they generally compound one another.

Buuuuuuuuuuuut, so … you can stop autoimmune disease from happening, and you can help reverse chronic diseases … by guess what?

Dr. Amy Myers talks about autoimmune disease in great detail, with so much wellness to offer, in her book, The Autoimmune Solution. In this book she talks about the “autoimmune spectrum.”

The autoimmune spectrum is essentially a path from no imflammation > some > mild > moderate > severe > and finally, achieved autoimmunity disorder. Simply being a women, a beautiful blossom, even if you lived the cleanest, healthiest, best-est, non-toxic, zero-stress life, just being a blossom, puts you on this spectrum.

Add in all the stuff of your particular life … and well …

The bottom line … the one that leads to wellness … reduce our stress!

Sleep well
Eat organic, nutrient dense, whole foods – an anti-inflammatory diet – in all the colors of the rainbow
Drink plenty of water
Significantly reduce sugar in your diet, or eliminate it completely
Get movement into your body
Heal your gut (This one is super big and is interlaced over practically all of the other things listed here.)
Laugh and play
Spend time with people who you love and who love you
Breathe
Meditate
Color and create
Practice mindfulness
Let go and let be
Therapy
Sit in the sun

Find your groove. What works for you. The goal is to get stress down … A LOT! As if your life depends on it. Cuz, like your health does, and if your life relies on your health, then the math is simple. Stress Reduction is Vital!!!

As an additional personal note and thought … I know stress can be hard to fight. I know the lists are long, the to-do’s never ending. There are days (I’ve managed to get it down to occasional lil bursts of time … a few hours, a day here or there), … there are times when my body just buzzes with the stress of everything. I feel it in my chest. My limbs. My heart. My bones.

My groove … what works for me … I tell myself the truth. I’m stressed. This stress is hurting me. I need to love myself and take care of me, my mind, my body. … I need to calm down. Find my peace again. …

I tell myself the truth … I need this moment in time to heal and cope and get well again. Everything else can wait. Everything else has to wait.

I have people depending on me … probably you have people depending on you, too … it can be easy to say, I’ll just push through until later … I HAVE to help these people who depend on me right now … except that the pushing through until later … later never seems to come.

Honestly, sweet blossom, you can’t help others after you fall. The peeps can wait. For 1 minute. 5 minutes. … Take a day off here and there just for your rest and rejuvenation. Whatever your groove is. But find and grow your groove. So you can get your stress down.

I also acknowledge that in order to get to a place in my life I had to reevaluate my values and change how I lived. I had to reduce the stressy things on purpose. Find and grow peace into my life with active choice. Loving me. Prioritizing me.

This was and is my groove. You’ll find yours. Only you can know. But I hope in sharing mine, it might just be helpful love and encouragement, even some guiding ideas, to help you find yours.

Nourish to Flourish. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

Thank you for being here with me and sharing time! I hope you are well!

I invite you take this quick moment to smile big, hug yourself, and take a nice, big, juicy breath in … let go … and let your breath out slowly.

Big Love and Big Hugs!

Living an Inspired Life!
Welcome! Let’s get you started!

Live an Inspired Life! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

Living an Inspired Life!

Living an inspired life fulfills your heart, mind, body, and soul! You starburst with your own brightness! Your goodness gushes out of you with the mirth of authenticity! You feel real! You glow with happiness! Your unique beauty and gifts light up the world, making us a better place to be!

Living an inspired life is knowing yourself in this moment, recognizing and valuing your ideas, self-worth, hopes, and potential!

Living an inspired life is seeing that you are a Beautiful Blossom and wanting to flourish!

It’s your 90 year ticket (plus/minus a few years). You can live the life YOU want to live. Not the life other people are telling you to live. Not the life media shows you and compels you to live ( … let’s be honest, that life – the life media wants you live – it’s the life that lines the pockets of the already rich and few … but that’s a story for another day.).

So this life of yours?

What does it look like?

What does your life look like when you are being true to you? When you think about what you like, and dislike, how you feel, what your internal strengths are, what inspires you, what motivates you, what challenges you, . . . when you look at you and are honest with yourself, what do you see?

I think some people are content to live the regular life. The life that has already been lived. The life of others. The life that doesn’t require thought. The life that simply bumbles along and lets others have the control.

If that’s for you, and it makes you happy, hugging you big and loving you, too! That’s ok. For some, taking a look around and following suit – staying inside the box – is what keeps them doing just fine.

In this new blog mini-series of mine, I’m going to help you, just like I help all of my coach-ees.

It’s a step-forward process and requires thought. It requires you to look inside yourself, do some reflection, and it requires you to be brave enough to know that no matter where you are today – in case that scares you – in case you aren’t sure you like who you are right now – or if you don’t feel “perfect” … just know, that’s ok. It’s a baseline. Your baseline is just that, a baseline. The foundation. The ground from which you will grow!

And this, my sweet beautiful blossom and bright star with so much love in your heart, this is just the beginning!

So … if you’re game … get out some blank paper, colored pens, pencils, markers, crayons (whatever makes you giggle) and title up some starter pages:

My likes
My dislike
My values
My strengths
My challenges (some might call them weaknesses)
What inspires me?
What motivates me?
What knocks me flat?
My vision (when you close your eyes and look at you and your life, what do you see?)

Now, using your blank pages and your colorful pens, draw, write, doodle, depict, list, … see yourself for who you are and who you want to be!

Until our next Living an Inspired Life! post, give yourself some love. Take some time for yourself. Know you are important! Know you are loved!

Hugging you so big! Loving you ginormous!

Thank you for sharing this wonderful time with me! You, beautiful blossom and bright star with big love in your heart, are an absolute delight!