I am grateful for the abundance in my life that has given me the freedom to be exactly where I am meant to be. 

I am a non-corporate person and I’ve never followed the norm. 

Although I am highly educated and received a lot of education to prepare me for the traditional work world, I was also educated to be prepared for knowing how to work for myself and to get things done. 

I’ll never forget over a decade ago, I stood at a party in Charleston, SC where I was surrounded by highly successful people who were more traditional in lifestyle than myself. 

I knew I was different than them. Although we’d all grown up in the same small town, going to the same clubs and social gatherings, I had conditioned myself to BE and THINK differently. 

To them, I was a freak of nature. I was different because I didn’t follow the norm. 

I’ll never forget standing in a circle telling a few of them what I was aspiring to be. Several of them looked at me like I was crazy and one of them questioned me to the point where they were insinuating that I was crazy. All eyes rolled because I knew I wanted to teach yoga and live an alternative lifestyle. One of them said “You are going nowhere with that. You aren’t being realistic. You need a real job!” 

Internally I rolled my eyes. I looked at them straight face ‘This is what I’m aiming for. This is what I’m going to do. Nothing’s holding me back.’

12 years later and I’m still aiming for the same dreams & goals. I’m also well along the path I created and I’m much more successful than I thought I’d be. 

I am grateful that I rebelled against the notion of what everyone at the fancy cocktail party expected me to be. 

Over 20 years ago I discovered my passions and dreams. I’ve continued to follow them and the main thing is I HAVE NEVER GIVEN UP. 

I am grateful that I have never given up. I have continued to follow my dreams and even during the lowest, hardest times in my life, I’ve stuck it through. I’ve found my way. 

Even when people laughed at me and told me my dreams were unrealistic, I’ve kept on truckin’.  

I keep aspiring. I keep reaching. I keep believing. I won’t give up. 

If you are reading this. I hope the same for you. Keep aspiring. Keep reaching. Don’t give up on your dreams. 

Love,

Mary Beth

Still I RiseBy Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don’t you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I’ve got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

Happy Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere.

Change yourself and you change The World. 

“Bringing light and life to a crack of pavement in midst of a concrete jungle,” -Rachael Lanehart
So much gratitude and love for the magic that this life brings. Life is a mandala and we are all intertwined into its majestic magic.

Monday mindfulness Mandala making. This Mandala is designed to perceive a new understanding of your self . This brings new beginnings. Birth and rebirth of your ego, which is an occurrence that happens a lot during the course of one lifetime. The eye at the center of this Mandala signifies the ego, that part of you that you call “I”. And lastly, remember I AM are the 2 most powerful words you can tell yourself. #coloringmandalas #eyeiam #perception #rebirth

She painted what she felt. 

And what she felt, 

She dreamt. 

And what she dreamt,

She saw. 

-Mary Breath Bends