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Journal for You!

Journaling. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Journaling for You!

Dear Sweet Blossoms!

Today, let’s talk journaling!!! And before you potentially click outta here, like journaling ain’t yo’ thang … hang tight for just a sec.

Lemme share with you some awesomeness I’ve experienced from journaling … along with the things that didn’t work for me and the why’s of that.

Because, honestly, journaling – when you do you – can be SO HELPFUL, and SO HEALTHY!

For me, my journal is what I make of it, and I make it what I need and want:

Reaffirmation
Positivity
Support
Reflection
Goal creation
Action planning
A place to think
A place get “it” out and let “it” go
Loving, gentle reminders
Bright, colorful, happiness to greet me
An opportunity to create
Wisdom I’ve gained
Information I need
Dreamboarding
Anything and everything that serves me in growing my wellness and happiness

Here are some of the actual pages from my journal:

Journaling Don’ts

Many, many, many moons ago, I used to journal – like a diary. And then my boyfriend at the time “just happened to glance over and accidentally read some it.”

Uncool, dude. Uncool.

Also, back then, I tried writing every day. Cuz that’s what you do in a diary, right? You’re faithful with your self-reporting, and you …, and NO, this did not work for me. I’d get busy and forget a day, then feel guilty. A week would go by, and I would sit down and try to remember each day and write it out.

Uh. I’m not gonna be a slave to my own good intention. That defeats the purpose.

So lessons learned of what NOT to do:

Don’t write down anything you don’t want other people “accidentally” reading, or keep your journal locked up. Personally, I still write down anything and everything I need to get out of my system. I am, thankfully, now in a relationship filled with openness and trust. I share everything with my honeybun. But what about all those other pesky people living in the world? You never know when one of them might just be snooping around your room … lol. In short, anything I feel should be just between me and the universe gets a flame ride into the heavens after I’ve given “it” the time I need to process it, learn from it, and let it go.
Don’t make your journal anything other than what serves you … what fuels you … what helps you feel well, healthy, and whatever other goodness you seek. In short, don’t journal like other people tell you to journal.

Journaling Do’s

It’s taken me time … learning what works for me, and then giving that to myself, to be able to create a journal space that nourishes and nurtures me – mind, body, soul, light, love, & spirit.

One of the things I’ve done in recent years is to go paperless. I hope to reduce my footprint and consumption. So I’ve become a digi-doodler, digi-everything. And my journal is no exception.

In fact, until the pandemic started and my health took a super nosedive into the unknown, I hadn’t been journaling for a while. But with everything going haywire (my health, and the health of the world around me), I needed a healing space … BIG TIME. A resource of positivity to guide me and lift me up especially on my dark days.

I found creating a digi-journal to be incredibly exactly what I needed. And the cool thing is, I have it downloaded into my Books on my phone, so I can have it with me whenever and wherever I need it. (Being on my phone, and being digital, I simply update it when I have things I need/want to add/process/share, and then I download the updated version … easy and saaaweeeet!)

My suggestions for what To Do when creating your journal:

Be kind to yourself
Be patient with yourself
Give yourself the space you need to be authentic, honest, open, and there for you
Journal when it serves you – when you feel called to your pages, not when an external expectation/definition would have you journal
When you need to get “it” out, write freely, without thought to grammar, punctuation, “correctness,” etc … just let it rip! Then process it. And then, the ultimate – Let it go!
When you feel the “harsh-ies” toward yourself … you know, you’re telling yourself how much you suck in whatever special way only you can bring yourself down (we all do it) … well, go ahead and write down how much you suck (btw: you don’t suck! not even a little!) … but so, write it down, and then my invitation to you … turn that negative self-talk into a positive in whatever way serves you:
- maybe you give yourself a goal with an action list to accomplish your goal
- maybe you reframe your negative thought into a positive thought
- maybe you see the words for the hurt they cause you, and find a way to love yourself more instead of taking yourself out at the kneecaps with a word/thought bat).
Let your pages heal you, guide you, inform you, light up your day … let your pages bring positivity and wellness into your life
Remember always: Progress, not perfection. (quote: Jill Stante)
Remember always: Nourish to flourish!
Remember always: What can you do to help you and your body cope and heal right now?
Be as creative or uncreative as you want … it’s your journal … it’s your toolkit of healing, love, light … or whatever you need it to be!
Remember: Your journal is your space to be what you need/want it to be.
What inspires you? Do you like to color, write, take photos, etc … how do you like to express yourself and document/witness your life?

Journaling for Reflective, Guiding Purpose!

Before we wrap up the idea of journaling, I want to share with you a specific page outta my journal I recently created.

The other day, I was feeling badly – health-wise – but I wanted to create something positive (for the goodness I could feel in the moment creating something positive, and for the positive of having created something I wanted to share with myself in my journal).

Recently, I’d been looking at scrapbook ideas for I can’t remember what reason, but I came across an image that inspired me. And I thought, I gotta PINK that up in my own doodle-delicious way!

So there I was, feeling badly, wanting to create something positive, wanting to create a journal page, and having a scrapbook inspiration page. So I created this:

Isn’t it just the PINKest, happiest scrapbook page, ever??? LOL.

Everything you see I created. I used doodles and art I’d already created. And I made some new. And I PINKed up my Life Goals list of how I want to live my life/what’s important to me.

And now, it’s in my journal! I can review it whenever I want/need to. I can get high off of the delightful PINK eye-fumes. I smile just looking at it! It serves me.

And so, I share with you an example of what even a single page in your journal can do for you!

Even in the creation of this page, I gifted myself the positive, creative, soothing activity of assembling and playing in my doodle-tastic world. I made a squee page for reflection and guidance, for healing and happiness.

The process was happy healing, and the product nourishes me so I can flourish!

A scrapbook journal page may not be your cup of tea. That’s totally cool. I’m not trying to convince you to scrapbook journal. I’m inviting you to Journal for You! You do you! I just hope my share inspires you with your own ideas of helpful possibilities!

Hugging you the biggest and loving you even more! Hope this writing brings a smile to your face and a hug to your heart … and happy new ideas for making your journal the coolest place ever!!!

Tower Garden by Juice Plus+. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

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!

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!