I am unperfect.

Somewhere between deficient and flawless lays a status of simply being in the process.

How can we be perfect if we are not yet finished becoming who we are to become?

In this state, my state of TODAY, I believe we must be “un”perfect because my being is “un”done.

I have not yet arrived; I am still in the process. Should I be fully formed- of body, of mind, and of spirit, I fear I would be “im”perfect. And as embarrassed as I am every day of my failings, I should hope that these hours are not defined by inadequacies and oversights on the part of my living. I long that my everyday existence is just another step in the journey. Another day of growth and learning. One more brushstroke of my life’s work.

Tomorrow I will work towards learning more ways of the world. Tomorrow I will push my mind to acquire more knowledge. Tomorrow I will stretch and nourish and rest my body. Tomorrow I will seek to self-actualize. Tomorrow I will mentor and listen and pray and work and dream. Again. Better than today. And better yet again the next day.

No, I hope I shall never be finished developing. There is too much to learn. My body will age without (and even despite!) my intervention. My soul reads:  “work in progress”. My unperfect soul.

Bethany Miller is an explorer in life and in business. She’s an airline pilot, businesswoman, veteran and world traveler. Fascinated by global issues and the business of business, Bethany is a doctoral candidate at Université Paris-Dauphine in Paris, France, and is researching extraordinary employees in chaotic work environments.

www.GoodGlobalCitizen.com

I sometimes wish that the English language accommodated the ornate specificity of German compound words or the poetic ability of a single Japanese word to communicate a complex experience. For example, I recently learned the Japanese word tsundoku, which means the act of buying a book and leaving it unread, often piled up together with other unread books. Oh yes, I know that phenomenon well. That word resonates — it speaks to a reality in my life.

I am guilty of tsundoku, but only with the best of intentions and due to an abiding love for books. Maybe that’s why, despite my guilt, I don’t feel convicted. I purchase each book in a spirit of optimism, delighted by the opportunity to explore or escape, to read another classic. I maintain that hopefulness so completely that a cadre of unread books has followed me through various moves, even when I’ve jettisoned other unused possessions with cold-eyed discipline. There are great books in my life that I’ve been meaning to crack open for years, and more still that were gifts or recommendations.

It turns out that even the books that I haven’t read, the ones that cascade around my nightstand, have the power to make me happy. I am content to know that any day now, really, I can open one up and begin to read.

While she’s almost an official New Yorker, now that she has spent the past eight years working for a large investment bank in New York City, Jean Blosser still cherishes her Midwestern roots, growing up in Columbus, Ohio. She is an alumnus of Boston College and enjoys her whiskey neat.

I’m a recovering Resist-and-Persist Writer. It’s an affliction that strikes many creatives – this need to simultaneously satisfy and squelch our Urge to Art. Because making art is scary. It’s a tangible manifestation of our insides – our thoughts, our feelings, our deepest and darkest places. It’s making ourselves seen, making ourselves known, making ourselves open to critique and condemnation as much as to accolade and acclaim.

For years, I’d feel a burning urge to write and resistance would flare up, though in a fairly functional-looking way: I’d sign up for a writing class. I’d join a writer’s group. I’d attend a writer’s conference. All in the name of deadlines, accountability, networking, and feedback. But instead of giving life to the art inside me, I’d find myself hammering out writing exercises, reviewing other people’s work, and listening to lectures – distracting from the oh-so-vital Urge to Art.

Now when I feel an idea burning a hole in my brain, I settle the flames by giving into it. The art lives inside me, so I go there to bring it forth. I open the laptop and write. You may need to grab your instrument and play. Get behind the lens and shoot. Grab your paints and put brush to canvas. Then, once the art is made, you can seek others to help you shape it, shine it, share it with the world.

But first, the world needs you to indulge your Urge to Art.

Nicole Christie is a writer and storyteller who splits her time between Seattle and Montreal. She is also the principal and creative director of NICO, Inc. – a one-woman firm specializing in fresh, honest, engaging employee and marketing communications for Fortune 500 corporations, leading-edge creative firms, and rapidly growing new technology companies. She adores food, wine, long walks, comedy, inspiring podcasts, and traveling the world with her trumpet-player love. nicolechristie.com.

After running a popular and anonymous blog about observations on race, culture, immigration, and class. Nigerian born Ifemelu leaves America to return to her roots in Lagos. When she steps off the plane Ifemelu, the protagonist of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah, breathes the dense hot air and knows she is home.

Often when we read stories of immigration from Africa, we learn of refugees fleeing to escape war or poverty, but not in Americanah. Instead, Adichie writes about middle-class people seeking choice and status they believe they will find in America or England. Two such middle-class individuals, Ifemelu and Obinze, fall in love in Nigeria. Both hope to live in America–a land of opportunity. Though Ifemelu arrives on partial scholarship and Obinze plans to follow, the story of two young people in love takes many twists and turns as both characters strive for upward mobility and stability.

Obinze never makes it to America and instead lands briefly in England under a false name. Ifemelu travels to America and makes desperate choices in the early months as she works to survive the despair and loneliness she encounters.

Over a decade after her arrival in America, “her blog was doing well, with thousands of visitors each month, and she was earning good speaking fees, and she had a fellowship at Princeton and a relationship with Blaine….” However, it wasn’t enough; the life she longed for did not exist in America after all.

Even with sensory reminders such as jollof rice and fried plantain, Ifemelu’s successful life in America could not replace the “amorphous longings, shapeless desires, and brief imaginary glints of other lives she could be living.”

The life Ifemelu could be living is in Lagos, and if you enjoy reading this work of fiction as much as I did, you can follow more stories on Adichie’s blog The Small Redemptions of Lagos.

Renee believes we all have a story and advocates continuously for sharing & improving these stories. An educator and activist for eradicating inequities in our world, Renee believes access to quality education is a right for everyone. On the C&W blog Renee explores her creative side by offering thoughts on a variety of books from her book a week reading list.

Renee lives in Lexington, Kentucky with her husband and two sons.

Twitter: @renee_boss     Blogger:www.reneeboss.blogspot.com

It’s time to look with fresh eyes on the work we do.

Why? To gain a better insight into how the job is coming along, to know whether we’re reaching our goals, to understand whether our work is purposeful and on track. Or to, if nothing else, appreciate our performance.

The wheel is the wheel. This circular tool is necessary for a myriad of functions. It’s also the perfect representation of success:  to come full circle, to go ‘round and ‘round, to circle back, to roll downhill. The circle is used in nearly every function in everyday life. Its engineering strength is undeniable. Its beauty is steadfast. There will never be a successful reinvention of it. Hence the illustrative humor of the phrase “to reinvent the wheel”.

The artist Giotto drew the perfect circle for Pope Boniface VIII. With nothing more than a brush full of red paint, Giotto drew one curved line. This simple red O was a masterful representation of skill and precision. It causes us to rethink mastery.

How shall we look at success? Perhaps it’s not the number of achievements we accrue. Perhaps it’s not our hard-earned expertise. Success may even disguise herself as fatigue from working so hard. Or can it be less ambiguous?

Maybe, just maybe, success is a perfect circle. Simple. Birthed of our innate talents. Embodied by our natural gifts. Can it be unassuming, yet immaculate? Recognized by children and elders alike. Perhaps we should reframe how we look at success. No need to make it more complex than it is. No need to reinvent the wheel.

Bethany Miller is an explorer in life and in business. She’s an airline pilot, businesswoman, veteran and world traveler. Fascinated by global issues and the business of business, Bethany is a doctoral candidate at Université Paris-Dauphine in Paris, France, and is researching extraordinary employees in chaotic work environments.

www.GoodGlobalCitizen.com

As I develop a new meditation circle called Manifesting Miracles, the little voice in my heart keeps repeating, not everyone knows what a Miracle is. Teach them. 

The best definition comes from A Course in Miracles, a self-guided text on the very subject of miracles. It teaches that we are born into a beautiful, unbounded love, and that through living in this world, and by our perceptions of it, we learn fear. Through the practice of forgiveness, recognizing how we separate ourselves from others, and calling out our fear, we can return to love.

Every miracle is equal. Showing love to a stranger for insulting you, forgiving a past lover, or forgiving yourself for making a little everyday mistake – all of these choices are essential in our journey back to love. Each one of these instances is a miracle.

Whenever you find yourself choosing light over dark, be grateful to yourself. When you don’t make that choice, recognize it, and forgive yourself.

Above all, be on the lookout for miracles, and you will notice that they aren’t as rare as we all thought they were.

I choose to see again.

I choose the light inside of me, the light that never ends.

I choose to see this with love.

Meagan Roppo has been a student of meditation and yoga, as well as a 60-hour trained advocate for women, for the past four years. She has dedicated her time and passion to women’s crisis shelters, feminist studies, and writing on women’s issues. By founding She Enlightened in 2014, Meagan hopes to encourage and empower girls & women to bring forth their gifts, voices, and light that are undoubtedly inside of each them. Meagan currently works as Chief Operating Officer of Young Professional Women in Energy, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that works to employ more women in the energy industry.

Website: http://www.sheenlightened.com     Twitter: @SheEnlightened

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver, poet

What do you want that you already have, Megan? I’ve been mulling over this self-imposed question for weeks.

I’m in a season of reflection. As a rule, I’ve always been a reflective sort of girl, but this go-around I’m digging deeper. Asking myself tougher questions. Dusting off some old boxes of the heart and taking a peek inside so see what I had hidden away. I’m on my hands and knees, scrubbing clean the tiles of the ideals and hopes I have let diminish in beauty over time.

Its dirty work, I’m not gonna lie. And it takes seemingly for-evvvvver.

But, that question might just be revolutionizing my life.

What do I want?

• In my relationships with my kids, my husband, my friends?
• From my daily routine? My career?
• For my future?
• My goals to achieve?
• My body to look like? Feel like? Move like?
• My spiritual life to be?
• My reputation to reflect?
• My influence to impact?
• My legacy to be?

Answer them truthfully and the deepest desires of your heart emerge. In the answers is where I’ve found the most hard-hitting truth of all.  That I’m often complaining about and wishing for things that are already right here with me.  Every single day.

Of course I have ‘wants’. Plenty of them. I am human, after all. Stuff that I long for, need, hope for and strive towards that I don’t already have. And having those keeps me curious.  Because what is life if we have it all, all right now?  Give me some mystery and adventure, I say!

Right now, I desire more from life than I ever did. I’m paying closer attention to my fantasies (tsk, tsk…mind outta the gutter), because in them I’m finding the wonder and playfulness and passion of a life that is possible. I am believing in seemingly insurmountable things more than ever too. Because when I let myself dream (and believe) the impossible, there is where I find my tipping point for motivation. And that is power. Motivation keeps us going through some pretty tough stuff. Motivation is the manifestation of someone who is fully alive.

What do you want that you already have? List it. Speak it. Stop complaining and start embracing.

What do you want that you don’t have but yearn for, hope for, need to be fully alive? Chase those with fervor and tenacity. Destiny is possible but not probable. I’ll always error on the side of creating my own.

So.

What do you want?

Megan Smith is the founder of CAKE&WHISKEY. Her work and ramblings can be found here:

meganpsmith.com and homemaking101.com 

photo credit: Sarah Jane Sanders. 

I’ve always been anxious. When I was younger I was afraid of big things. What if I hated college, or people hated me? What if I ended up unemployed, got a divorce, was diagnosed with cancer? So many bad things were possible. I saw these things happening to others, and I saw them move on with their lives, but I never believed I had the moxie to be a “survivor.”

Eventually things I was afraid of happened, and I handled them. I now have more faith in my survival skills, and am no longer as afraid of major life events.

Unfortunately, anxiety must go somewhere, and I’ve developed an unusual list of fears. Things like severing a finger off while cooking and bleeding to death in my kitchen, or having my face bitten off by an angry dog, or cutting my foot off with a lawn mower, or riding in an elevator when the cable breaks. All feature in my nightmares.

Many of my fears are ridiculous, comprised of things that are so unlikely to happen that it’s laughable. But one of the more real fears I’ve developed is of flying. I’ve flown a lot, and long distances, but these days when on a plane, every noise, shudder, and bump leaves me sweaty and my breathing shallow, sure that the plane will immediately fall out of the sky.

My job requires me to travel, so I can’t just stay on the ground (as some have suggested).  Instead, I get on the plane and go. It’s become a model for how I want to deal with other fears as they arise – be afraid, but do it anyway. Don’t stop living life when life is scary. I wish I could say that the anticipation of fear is scarier than the thing I’m afraid of, but I can’t. I’m still terrified of flying, but at least I’m going somewhere.

Tanzi Merritt has made a career out of words. She spent several years working as an academic reference librarian and a community college library director, teaching students how to locate and evaluate information as well as to choose reading materials purely for pleasure. A career shift landed her in the position of sales and marketing coordinator for a technology consulting company, where she translates things written by software engineers into words that the non-developers of the world can understand. In her free time, she sits on a number of nonprofit boards, reads, knits, crafts, listens to (and sometimes makes) music, obsessively watches documentaries, buys art, and frequents lots of local restaurants and craft breweries.

Pinterest: pinterest.com/tanzimerritt     Goodreads: goodreads.com/tanzimerritt     Instagram: tanzimerritt  

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tanzidmerritt      Twitter: @tanzidawn

When it comes to entertaining, we could all learn a thing or two from the French. They produce of some of the most beautiful wines in the world, are masters of their famed cuisine, created Champagne (what would a celebration be without Champagne) and they do it all with effortless style and grace. Recently I traveled to Aix-en-Provence in the South of France where I sampled some of the most delicious wines and cheeses I have ever tasted (in one of the most beautiful settings I’d ever seen). This trip inspired me to re-think the traditional cheese and charcuterie plate I use for entertaining friends and take a cue from the French experts. So, pour yourself a glass of Rosé and enjoy this Provence inspired cheese plate perfect for entertaining all summer long.

TOOLS:

Olivewood cheese boards: I prefer to use various board sizes to keep my cheese, meats, and bread separate. Here’s a beautiful trio of olivewood boards: http://www.houzz.com/photos/13993494/Olive-Wood-Cutting-Board-Giant-rustic-cutting-boards

Small dipping bowls: Dipping bowls are great for serving snacks to accompany your cheese boards including: olives, cornichons and nuts. These bowls are the perfect size for all your little nibbles (and they’re pretty too): http://www.rosannainc.com/kitchen-tabletop/bowls/farmhouse-pantry-small-hobnail-bowls/

Jam Jars: Serve your jams, chutneys, mustards and honey in simple glass jam jars of various shapes. Use beautiful spreaders to add an elegant or rustic touch to your table. See some of my favorites here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/106897726/6-15/oz-mini-glass-jars-for-diy-wedding?ref=market

Spreaders

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/product/34695189.jsp?

http://www.bambeco.com/flatware-and-serving-utensils/bambeco-olive-wood-set-of-four-spreaders

Honey Dipper

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1920404

CHEESE:  When choosing cheese, I always aim for a variety of tastes and textures. Below are some of my favorite French cheeses that your guests are sure to love.

• Langres (Sheep)
• Roquefort (Sheep)
• Comté (Cow)
• Époisses de Bourgogne (Cow)
• Chèvre (Goat)

CHARCUTERIE: These salty French meats are the perfect compliment to any cheese plate.

• Jambon de Bayonne (French Prosciutto)
• Saucisson Sec (French Salami)

JAMS & CHUTNEYS: These Provence inspired jams, chutneys and honeys will transport your party guests right to the French countryside. Try your hand at homemade Lavender honey like this recipe from Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/315494/lavender-honey

• Lavender honey
• Apricot Jam
• Quince paste
• Sour cherry preserves
• Carmelized onion chutney
• Maille traditional Dijon mustard
• Maille whole grain mustard

FRUITS & NUTS: Fresh fruit adds a pop of color and a bright note to any table. Try choosing seasonal fruits specific to your region like the below South of France favorites.

• Fresh Figs
• Cherries
• Almonds

SAVORY SNACKS: Small nibbles are a great way to keep guests eating and conversation flowing.

• Cornichons
• Picholine Olives

BREADS: Do as the French do and always choose a fresh baguette.

• French baguette
• Grissini (pencil thin breadsticks)

Enjoy!

*Photo from Pinterest

Colleen Kennedy Cohen is an event planner and certified health coach living in New York City with her husband, Daniel, and daughter, Charley.

Colleen has been planning luxury events throughout the U.S. and Europe for major fashion houses since 2006.  She began her career as an intern at Vogue magazine before going on to manage events in-house for renowned brands such as Donna Karan, Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino and Cartier. After the birth of her daughter, Colleen launched Colleen Kennedy Events to bring her luxury brand experience to private clients

With a love for all things beautiful, coupled with an eye for design, Colleen brings a versatile and fresh approach to each project she takes

on with the hope of making every day a beautiful “event.”

Instagram: CKCohen    Pinterest: Colleen Kennedy Events     Website: www.ColleenKennedyEvents.com