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You were born for something great and unforgettable.
You were born to do things that would
never ever be done if you did not do them...
{This is an excerpt from The Brave Girls Club "a little birdie told me - daily truth". Click to read this entire truth or to subscribe to receive Daily Truths in your email inbox.}
xoxo
...You know SO much more than you think you know. Your inner compass will guide you. Those feelings in your gut are your deepest wisdom. Be brave and tune out all of the voices, except the voices that are speaking your truth...
{This is an excerpt from The Brave Girls Club’s Daily Truth, “a little birdie told me”. Click to read this truth or to register to receive our Daily Truths in your email.}
xoxo
There will come a time when you can't really even remember why or how you were so hurt and devastated. It will even become difficult to try to recreate the memories and the pain of the memories.
{This is an excerpt from The Brave Girls Club's Daily Truth, "a little birdie told me". Click to read this truth or to register to receive our Daily Truths in your email.}
xoxo
Ok...please please please just hear me out and read this whole post...I have a feeling it might get a little bit long, I will try hard not to make it too long....but I want you to ESPECIALLY read it if life hurts profoundly right now...or if you know someone whose life is hurting profoundly. I will go as fast as I can.
I found the above photo today when I was looking for photos of the first art journal I ever made (so I could show it to you...which I will in a minute).....the journal that started the whole journey of Brave Girls Club curriculum (before I ever knew that that's what it would someday become...before Brave Girls Club even existed anywhere but in my head and heart).....the art journal was just my own very very personal and private journey through "OUCH"....through a very hellish many-years-long period in my life that seemed like it might never end...when I broke into twenty million jagged pieces....when I lost everything I had worked for, when I lost who I thought that I was and what I thought was most valuable about me.....but when I FOUND EVERYTHING THAT MATTERED.
This is the photo that comes after the photo below. I think I was planning on blogging about a shift in thinking I had experienced...I remember taking this photo and thinking about how I can put that huge OUCH so close to the front of my face so that I can not see anything else...or so that everything else is blurred out....but that what I really needed to do, is put the OUCH down with all of the other parts of my life so that I could REALLY SEE that I needed to put it all into perspective. So I did.....my OUCHES were all over the place, everything hurt...but the thing that hurt worst was the condition of my marriage and of my husband....it was first and foremost on my mind and my heart and I could not see much beyond it...even though there was a lot more to see...a lot more ouches, but a lot more goodness, joy and miracles too......so I worked really hard to put that OUCH down to see what was behind it....
I think about how broken and unfixable I felt at that time. I think about how I wondered if I would ever laugh again, if life would ever feel happy or easy ever again.....I felt lost....really really really lost. I felt desperate and I felt like my soul was living completely outside of my body. I couldn't remember my dreams and wondered if I would ever have dreams again. I felt like a failure because I couldn't hold myself together anymore. I felt like my identity was shattered. While I was once a successful businesswoman...my husband's accident and illness and all of the things that tumbled down around it were my focus......and I failed miserably at holding my business together...that identity was gone. I used to be the happy person...the positive, optimistic & carefree dreamer...where had that girl gone? I was a depressed mess. I was jaded. I would barely leave my house. That girl was gone. I was the girl with the perfect marriage.......that all got shattered into bits. This is depressing so I will not go on........but.........I could if I had to...for pages...:)
What I want you to know is that I am soooooo happy these days. So so so happy. I feel at peace, I feel whole. I feel on track. I feel like I don't have to have any special kind of identity except ME.....I have let things go. I want to tell you how I did it. I want to tell you that the lessons that I learned, and the way I manifested it through art and journaling completely healed it all up....it took time, and lots of gut-wrenching honesty with myself....but it worked. Now that I have seen the THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of women who have taken Soul Restoration, and who have returned to Brave Girl Camp for second and third times....and now that I have seen the LIGHT back in the eyes of those women and the dramatic beautiful changes that have taken place in their lives because they did the work......I know for sure that I just need to keep begging YOU to give it a chance, too.
HAPPY ME = Miracles + lots of soulwork
I want you to know that there's another way to live. During that time, I honestly thought that I just had to learn to live inside of a yucky, hard, miserable life...that I had to learn how to function inside of misery and heartbreak....that my best years were definitely over. I know now...I KNOW NOW that this is not the case. I know that we can heal. We can be whole. We can forgive...ourselves and others. I know that we can start over. I know that sometimes being forced to start over is THE VERY BEST THING THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN TO US. I know that sometimes the only way to get to where we are meant to be, is THROUGH things we never thought we could endure...but then, we do endure it...and then we are stronger and better and wiser and more full of everything good because of it. I know that this is true for me...I know that this can be true for you. I know FOR SURE that we are all meant to use the "wings" that we have been given..I know that we are meant to fly....not to stay stuck. Sometimes the journey from caterpillar to butterfly is profoundly confusing, painful and bleak. But it is on it's way somewhere!!!! That's the thing we must always remember.....the journey to becoming....all of it is important...the caterpillar part...the climbing around super low to the ground part....the climbing up the plant part....the becoming a cocoon part...the part when we are in the dark for a very long time turned from a caterpillar into mush (this the the part that is scary, because we often do not have any idea what is happening and it feels like we are going to die any second)..and then, the part where we get to emerge as what we were always meant to become..............(I also believe that we get to go on this journey lots of times in our lifetime..so if you have been a butterfly before and you suddenly feel like a caterpillar again, take heart...you are on your way to somewhere good!)
Ok....so, I am writing this because today we are running SOUL RESTORATION PART 1 again...for the third time. We are doing this because women from all over the world are begging us to....thousands of women. Many of the women starting out in the classroom today are taking the class for their second or third times because of what it has done for them....I believe them when they tell me that it has truly been a miracle to them. I believe it because this course material is what got me through the darkest years of my life....so I took all of the things I learned in my art journals and made them into a class to take you on the same journey.
It all started with me just not knowing who I was anymore....OR WHERE THE HECK I WENT...this is the very first sentence I wrote in my journal those many years ago...
I wanted to know who I was if I wasn't a business success, or a successful artist, or a fun person, or a perfect wife. WHO WAS I...WHAT WAS I..when I couldn't be anything to anyone. Who was I at the core of me. Who was I when everything was stripped away and I was just a person. Working through those questions and their beautiful answers...through doing lots of art and journaling projects is what healed me.......I want that for you...and I know it is possible because I have seen it so many times now.
Here are the other pages in that first journal....maybe some questions that you have asked yourself...
I started asking myself some really hard questions..and then I just listened. I just got very very very quiet. I did this for years. I learned how it worked. I could hear the truth when I got very quiet...when I shut out all of the outside voices and opinions and expectations. Now...it is a fully planned-out, guided step-by-step curriculum that is fun and difficult and life-changing. It is so funny how life is. I thought I was in that cocoon, ready to die...in the dark...........I was making art in there, I had NO IDEA that I was growing wings. If you need help finding your wings....I really want you to see how this might help you. As dark as things might seem.......I promise you that there is light to be found. YOU ARE NOT LOST.....YOU ARE STILL IN THERE. YOU ARE. ....and even if you feel like you have lost all of what you are and who you are and what you thought you were and how you thought life would be......you are just right when you are just YOU. You don't have to have any other identities to have value.
I bet you are tired of carrying around a backpack full of heavy rocks and burdens from the past. I bet you are tired of feeling hurt and bruised and broken. I bet you know that it is finally time to move forward and heal...to be RESTORED to who you really are.
I bet you are done making excuses. I bet you are ready to do whatever it takes.
So...are you ready? SOUL RESTORATION 1 started today. I promise you that it could be the very best $99 you have ever spent. If you commit to doing all of the lessons, watching EVERY video and plowing through it even when it is hard or uncomfortable....it will truly be a life-changing, life-enhancing, joy-producing, PEACE-making experience for you. I have seen it happen to too many thousands of women to tell you otherwise.
ok....so....................now there's no excuse for you to not do this!!! Give up a few coffees every week, or sell a piece of art...have a yard sale! ......you are worth it....even if you thought there was no way because things are so financially bleak...there's a way. You can do this. You are worth this.
We just got back from 2 Brave Girl Camps, back to back....I talked to so many of YOU there.....I saw the light in your eyes. I saw the what the miracle of embracing the TRUTH about ourselves can do....I saw complete restoration...............
and...
on the way back from one of our mountain walks.....I saw THIS.....my husband, sitting out on the car, waiting for me to get back:
and while I was walking to him....I thought about the journey we had been on together...I thought about how long I had to WAIT.....how hard that waiting was...how much work I had to do while I was waiting. I thought about how the best things in life are not very often the easiest things, but that they are still the best. I thought about how every single one of those tears was worth the journey that I was on..........worth what I would learn...worth what I did learn.....worth what I get to do now. Worth how blissful, happy, peaceful, lovely, fun and wonderful life feels now....I want that for you.
We took this photo when I got to the car:
My friends...........if it's time....then just do it...no more excuses, ok? If it's not time, we will be here waiting whenever you are ready. I know it's scary to decide to finally heal from things that have hurt for so long......but, it is SO WORTH IT. It's time for you to show the world those beautiful wings of yours!!!
SOUL RESTORATION 1 opened today....and there is SO MUCH MORE TIME to sign up, because we are leaving the classroom open through the end of the year......and SOUL RESTORATION 2 will start up again soon too.........let's do this, girls!!
REGISTER HERE
xoxo
melody
What an AWESOME summer!!! Brave Girls Club has been busy - we just finished up Soul Restoration 2, and will be starting Soul Restoration 1 again at the end of the month.
AND in case you haven't heard, we have not ONE, but TWO Brave Girl Camps happening this month. Last week, we hosted 22 phenomenal women and this week we are enjoying the company of Mothers and Daughters of all ages at our first ever Mother/Daughter Brave Girl Camp. It has been soooo incredible to get to know these women and to see miracles happen in their lives.
Aaaaaaaand as if all of that weren't enough, we ALSO got to invite our families to come up and spend the weekend between camps with us. It was the first time any of our kids have seen where we spend 4 weeks a year. It was surreal to have our husbands and kids up there....we loved it and wanted to show you what it was like....
Seriously what an awesome weekend. Can't wait to show you more of what we've been up to this week with Brave Girl Camp...we wish each one of you could be up here with us!!!
xoxo
Melody
I am almost half-way through my social media rehab and I am loving it more than I ever thought I would. I thought it would be harder...I thought I would miss things more....I thought I would miss OUT more. What I have found is what I've been missing all along.....what I was looking for that seemed to be hiding, but really it was right in front of me. Things that are REAL, things that matter, things that will still matter in 100 years or 1,000 years, things that fill me with joy and make my soul sing deep-down happy songs.
I have a LONG blog post planned about those things, but today's not the day for it. (Soon, I promise.) Today I have a wish for you....my wish is that you will be able push away all the fakes...all the counterfeits...(and by this...I mean all of the things that you are substituting in your life for what you really need and what your heart really yearn for.....) all the artificial and fraudulent and phony (like doing the things you want to do instead of reading about other people doing those things....eating a piece of fruit instead of packaged junk food....breathing the air outside instead of staying stuck inside....letting yourself rest when you are tired instead of drinking an energy drink......taking time for the people you love instead of just thinking about it.........)..............and make room for what's real.
My wish is that you find some of the same incredible things that I've found...things that are so simple, you'll be amazed that they make you feel like you're treating yourself to something special. Things like:
Soulful, meaningful conversation.
Spending time doing something you really REALLY love to do....for the sake of really REALLY enjoying it!
Making someone laugh...really...hard.
Taking a little time to PLAY!
Spending time with people who really get you...who support you...who lift you up...and being that person for them too.
If you do it right, a treat can REALLY feel like a treat.
So there it is, dearies....there's my wish. Do something nice for yourself today. Love the girl inside you and treat her to something real and lasting today.
Love you all so much!
xoxo
Melody
It's here!!! It's finally here! And not just here, but it's starting to hit stores! I am so over-the-moon excited about this line with Demdaco. I have loved working with the people over there...they are so kind and easy to work with AND they do beautiful work. I wanted to give you a little peak at the line I designed for them. I am VERY pleased with the way it all turned out. It's one thing to see all of this art on paper....it's another to hold it in your hand.
A few months ago, I got samples of everything and I was BLOWN AWAY by how much more incredible it all looks in real life. I love that. I wish I could have you over and show you all this stuff in person, but number one: I will be at Brave Girl Camp all week...actually for 2 weeks in a row (yippee!!!) and number two: I don't have enough seating in my living room. So I have the next best thing...pictures. I hope you like it!
I go through SO many journals...so so sooooo many, and if it were up to me every girl would have not only a journal (or two or three) but a PRETTY journal!
These items have JUST become available in stores, so if your favorite gift store doesn't have it yet, there's a good chance they will. (Check out the store finder on Demdaco's website to find a store that carries it.)
xoxo
Melody
PS Thank you for all the LOVE and excitement about this new line!! To answer your questions, the line is called "A Little Bird Told Me". It's not up on Demdaco's website yet, but you can see it on their Facebook page! xoxo
It's that time again, and we can HARDLY believe it's here already. On Monday, we leave for McCall, Idaho for another Brave Girl Camp!! We are actually hosting 2 camps right in a row this time - a Brave Girl Camp and right after that, a Mother/Daughter Camp. We are soooooooooo excited...so excited that even though we had TWO camps to prepare for instead of just one, we have already finished everything (a record for us)....all the sewing, the cooking, even the packing! We are all ready to go and we can't WAIT to meet the incredible women who will be joining us for 5 days of life-changing FUN! (The more I say about it, the more excited I get - I CAN'T WAIT!!!)
It takes a LOT of people and a LOT of work to get ready for Brave Girl Camp. We are lucky to have awesome employees and awesome friends who are so willing to help us get ready. I can't show you EVERYTHING (I don't want to ruin the surprise for the sweet Brave Girls we'll spend next week with!) but here's a peek at what we've been working on...
We've gone through a LOT of fabric and logged hours and hours on our sewing machines...
Every Brave Girl needs one of these...not just a journal...a PRETTY journal.
Curriculum....all printed and tucked away in folders...waiting for the magic that's about to happen!
Can't show you what's in here...just know it's awesome... ; )
One of the best parts of making handmade treasures is seeing the names of our Brave Girls over and over...we love thinking of you as we sew and stamp and lovingly package each and every little gift...
Every girl deserves pretty flowers....only the BEST for our girls...
Mmmmm.....pretty fabric, pretty ribbons, pretty beads....
The proof - even the art room is packed up and ready to hit the road-
Now all we need are our LOVELY BRAVE GIRLS!!!!
I hope this weekend goes by FAST - can't WAIT to meet our newest Brave Girls!!! Please get here SOON!!!
xoxo
Melody
I have been a fan of Jenny Doh since I can remember. For a long time I dreamed about meeting her and knowing her was on my wish list. In February of 2010, we had the privilege of having Jenny come to our Brave Girl Camp. Spending time with her was a total treat...she is classy, she is talented, she is visionary, and she is hilarious. We had so much fun getting to know her.
Jenny came to Brave Girl Camp right when she was getting ready to launch her new, huge project - CRESCENDOh.com, which I am in LOVE with. I love all that she is doing there. I reeeeeally love what she believes and what she teaches - that Art Saves. Art saved me from so many things....through it I worked through the hardest times in my life....I dusted myself off, stood up and found my soul again. It is such a privilege to be part of Jenny's newest project...so perfectly named "Art Saves".
The book is a collection of stories like mine - stories of how Art Saves. I am one of 20 artists who participated and I am thrilled to announce that the book is available at bookstores everywhere NOW! I can't wait for you to see it and to be touched as I have by stories about the power of art...to be inspired by it.
You can find Art Saves at bookstores everywhere OR click here to find it online. I hope you love it as much as I do!!
xoxo
Melody
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