MelodyFreebird

LET'S GET STARTED!!!

INTRODUCING!!! THE FABULOUS COURTNEY WALSH!!!!

I'm turning the time, right here, right now to my wonderful, talented, insightful, wise, kind, huge-hearted, artist friend......to get us started on THE ARTIST'S WAY!!!

Introduction:

I’ve had this book for a long time. Since 1996, to be exact. Oh my land, that’s 10 years. I got it for an acting class in New York, but I just didn’t have time to read it.

I should’ve.

This book would’ve saved me years of agony. Wondering if what I was writing was good enough. Hoping my artwork would appeal to someone other than my mother. Praying that maybe, just maybe, I could get something right.

As if art is something to get right.

Melody asked me a few weeks ago to do this course along with her, and to post weekly on her blog – just to get people thinking about the ideas and principles in Julia Cameron’s book. And so, I went out the garage, dusted off a big bin of ‘theatre book’ that I’ve long since abandoned... and I let the thing follow me around for a few days. Before I opened it, I thought about opening it. Before I read anything, I flipped through it... wondering if this was something I wanted to do.

Then finally, one night, during the commercials of Grey’s Anatomy, I started reading. Soon, I realized, this was not a book to be read during commercials with the tv muted and one eye watching for McDreamy to reappear. This was a book to be read with care. A book worth looking twice at. The kind of book you read with a pencil or highlighter in your hand.

Take your time with the introduction. Get to know Julia Cameron. Her writing makes you feel like the luckiest girlfriend on earth, sitting down to coffee with the author and hearing the story of how this book came to be. You discover amazing tidbits like creativity can be taught.

What??? Are you serious??

Yep. And for those of you who are already creative... think of what that could mean: even more creativity... like, by the truckloads. She contends that creativity is part of our nature. It’s natural to be creative.

In addition, Ms. Cameron explains that you will learn to unblock. If I had known years ago that there was a process you could learn in order to stop that dreaded BLOCK, I would’ve been so much happier.

There are many things underlined in the intro of my book. But perhaps the most liberating is this:

            Get out of the way. Let it work through you. Accumulate pages, not judgments.

I’ve long had a sign in my office that reads: I will not judge my work until I am finished.

Now, I am going to post a sign that says, I will not judge my work at all.

There are so many people waiting to judge us. As artists. As parents. As people. Why on earth would we want to judge ourselves? Why contribute to the judge-fest? Stop it now. Do not judge your work. Let it be what it is. If you don’t like to look at it or read it, try something new next time.

I’m not saying you should never tweak or rewrite or edit – of course not – but for now, just for awhile... don’t look at your work with a critical eye. Look at it as you would the work of your child, with caution not to break that creative spirit.

We are creative beings, Cameron writes. We were born to create. God made us in HIS image... and he is, after all, the Great Creator. Allow your life to become a work of art. Allow your art to become your life. If only for a few moments a day...

One more thing: if you don’t like the idea of God or The Great Creator, do what Ms. Cameron suggests: ignore those terms and replace them with your own. Don’t let that get in the way of you learning to unlock your inner artist. You will be the only one to lose out!

Now, go back and read that introduction again. Think of the author as a friend. Savor her words. Get to know her voice. Let her teach you and guide you and speak to you as you would a trusted confidant or friend. We’re all in this together... striving to be more creative. Striving to find our place...striving to stop comparing, stop judging... striving to finally, just for fun’s sake... create.

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes..........

October 23, 2006

Goals That Matter......

Yep.

Today is totally surreal.....and someday, someday, SOMEDAY......I get to tell you where I am and what I am doing on this day. BUt, really, it doesn't matter so much where I am and what I am doing as it matters what it means....what it means about life and what it means about possibilities....what it means about JUST DOING IT....what it means about GOING FOR IT, no matter what.....

I have been working for a very long time to get to this day...I mean...years and years and years.....something that I believe in and wish for so much....a HUGE dream that I've had, one that has materialized and focused and became more and more and more clear the steeper the hill got.....and, most of it may seem insignificant to others, but to me, it's so much of what is in my heart, and all of the work that I have sacrificed so much for...and so many people have shown up from out of nowhere....and then, ONE DAY....it just sort of happened....all the work started coming together, and things just started to make sense....and here I am, on this day.

Life requires so much patience....living your dreams, shooting for things that seem impossible...it all requires so much patience....it seems like you get tested and tested and tested....like every single force out there is asking you "are you sure this is what you want?" "are you sure you believe in this enough to climb to the top of a mountain to make it happen?"..........and, I am so thankful that somewhere, somehow, I've always tried every single thing I can think of to muster up the courage to say "YES!" because yes is what I mean....but yes is also very very scary sometimes....because saying yes to life's big questions isn't just an answer, it's a commitment....you are committing to a whole different way of doing things....a whole different way of living....because when you say yes to yes....you absolutely positively have to say no to no......you have to run straight towards every NO and disintegrate it.....when you know that YES is the right answer for you, you just have to follow that, lead that, run toward that....and CONStANTLY say no to every single NO that comes along.....and, that's maybe even a harder part of it all than saying the intial YES.

There is something big right now for all of us...I KNOW that is true...I know that God plants little seeds in all of us that are custom designed to fit our particular set of talents and personality traits and circumstances.....and, nurturing that seed, watering it, growing it....WEEDING the yucky weeds that try to choke it out....it's all so important...it's important to say YES to that seed of hope and ideas and influence....the world needs EVERY single one of us to go out and do the things that we were sent here to do...and not ONE of those things is small....if you can help one other person, it is worth it....the world would be healed if we all just went out every day and helped ONE person....but, most of us have the ability to multiply that by the hundreds....and, the best and most lasting kind of happiness and joy and fulfillment in life doesn't come from "stuff" or titles or whatever....it comes from making a difference in the world...smiling at someone who is having a bad day, calling your sister to see how she's doing, encouraging your kids, writing YOURSELF a love letter.....just making things better, one thing, one person at a time......it's so easy and so important.....

and....dreaming.

DREAM.

DREAM BIG...AS BIG AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!!!!
And, in my experience, someday, when you least expect it.....if you've been very faithful to nurturing that dream....no matter what the external conditions, it will BLOSSOM....and none of us have ANY idea how beautiful that has the power to be in our lives.....

Dream Big.

Talk to you soon,

Lots of Love....
Melody

p.s. no matter how your heart is grieving...if you keep on believing.....the dreams that you wish will come true.....................................

please please please please PLEASE???

Things are CRAZZZY BUSY!!!!!

Working on a HUUUUGE project and then my life may just get back to some normalcy....BUT....first...could you help me out?

I need ANY photos that you may have of YOU or your friends using Chatterbox products....they are going into a very meaningful presentation that I am putting together about why scrapbooking has the power to change the world....it will be on our website and a few other places...

if you have any photos...would you email them to me?
[email protected]

thank you so much! Hopefully, if all works out....we'll get our first motivation from Courtney tomorrow for The Artist's Way....on my 35th B-Day!!
.....and, for anyone who doesn't know...you just need to go and get that book, The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, and then join us and follow along........

Talk to you soon!
melody

Sunday Blessings....

October 15, 2006
Counting our Blessings

I've got a chicken in the crock pot to make homemade chicken noodle soup....stuff ready to bake a cake for Mitchy's 5th birthday tomorrow....and....I'm so full of gratitude today for all of the little blessings that make up every day family life....what about you?

Ok…let’s do 3 questions! It’s been a while since we’ve done this! Please share….c’mon! Share! I know you want to!!!

1. Favorite moment last week?
2. What you’re looking forward to next week?
3. Blessing/miracle that took you by surprise last week?

Me?
Favorite moment last week?
Hearing Max and Mitch running and yelling “MOMMMMY!!!” when they saw that I was home from Memory Trends….then hug my legs and never let go….I love my life!

What I’m looking forward to next week?
Wrapping up our product development for 2007 CHA Winter….man, we have some incredible stuff coming out…I am so excited to get it rolling……so excited to be back in the designer seat with my awesome art department.
…..and, getting done with the laundry….15 loads waiting when I got home!! UGH!....and, I turn 35 on Thursday….so, I’m excited to find some sweet birthday crème brulee…..

Blessing/miracle that took me by surprise last week?
Meeting, sharing and learning from an incredible couple from Austin, TX, who own a wonderful store….they are many generations older than Marq and I…but I connected with them so much…we all had so much in common…they taught me that it’s ALWAYS worth it to go after what you believe in….especially when you can do it with your sweetheart by your side….

LOOK THIS WEEK FOR THE ARTIST’S WAY KICKOFF…AND YOUR INSTANT INTERVIEWS BOOK IN THE MAIL!!

Hope you’re doing great.
Lots of Love
Melody

....take me home...country roads....

Happy to be home, let me tell ya.

There's no place like home....
There's no place like home....
There's no place like home.....

....and, that's the truth!
Hope you're all doing great!!
Lots of Love
Melody

Here to Stay.....

Oh those rumors!… …Can I tell you again how much I love and believe in this memory making and story telling industry and all that it means…all of the lives it affects and how it does it’s magical part in making the world a better place? Can I tell you again that I feel like this is SO much a HUGE part of my personal mission in life?

Here I am at Memory Trends in Las Vegas…with my awesome team….setting up our big huge booth and making it look just right with our STUNNING and INCREDIBLE product release….one of the best, ever….and I was talking with old and new friends today…lots of them….catching-up and brainstorming and connecting…..and explaining all of the love and research and care that went into our new Life Moments kits….making it easy for ANYONE to make a beautiful and meaningful and sophisticated scrapbook about important moment in your life….and get the ENTIRE album done in less than 2 hours…….I am so excited about it…..we’ve been working on this so long with so many people in mind…including me…….

….and then…..and it wasn’t the first time today…..someone special to me said….

“there’s a rumor going around that you are getting out of the industry…stepping away from Chatterbox….moving on to other things…..”

WHAT?????

Do you know that this company and especially our mission means THE WORLD TO ME…..that we have a LONG way to go before I feel like our mission is completed…that, with the blessings and support of my family…we have sacrificed SO MUCH because I believe in the miracles that happen when people tell their stories….and, I LOVE CHATTERBOX!!!!! ….and I love this industry…and I love people who are willing to tell their stories…and I love people who want so badly to find their stories so that they can tell them……..and…..NO WAY AM I GETTING OUT OF THIS INDUSTRY!

In fact…..it’s only just beginning….there’s big big things ahead…. WE ARE JUST BEGINNING HERE…..NOW THE FUN PART STARTS!
………….and, I’m putting all that I’ve got, enthusiastically, into that mission…I am planning on being part of a STORY TELLING REVOLUTION!!! (and we’re doing our part by doing the Instant Interviews Challenge!).....so much going into it…...into that big vision…into this company….I’m bringing my kids in to be a part of it…and Marq is back to work now, too……we have big things to do, my friends…..BIG, WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL THINGS!!!

….and yes…it is HARD HARD HARD….and, I am honest about how difficult it is to go after things, to make something BIG happen that you believe in so much….that ANYTHING is possible if you believe in it enough…I am honest about sharing that journey with you…if I’m gonna ask people to go out and share their stories…and don’t leave the hard parts out…then, I gotta be willing to do the same…right!? But, it’s awesome! It’s terrific! It’s POWERFUL!!!!!.it is a huge mountain to climb….

…but I’ve only just begun! This is awesome, important stuff………

….and, we are getting closer and closer and closer to making the kind of ENORMOUS impact that I have always dreamed of making………..of helping people and encouraging people to tell their stories…of reminding people of how we are SO MUCH MORE THE SAME than we are different……

sooooooo……NO, I am not going anywhere, except to the highest mountain I can climb to yell in my loudest voice….”HEY EVERYYYYBODDDDYYYY!!!! TEEELLLLLL YOOOOUUUURRRRR STTTTTTOOOORRRRIIIIEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!!”

Good stuff, my friends….our stories have the power to heal the hurts that inflict this whole big world….they really do….keep telling your stories and keep getting others to tell theirs…then pass it on and on and on and on………

Lots of Love to you ALL…..gotta go get some sleep so we can rock the Chatterbox House AGAIN tomorrow…..great day at Memory Trends!!!

GO TELL YOUR STORIES!!!

Melody

Off I GO........................

Memory Trends, HERE I COME!

Cowboy boots....check.
Appointment list....check.
Saved-up cash for Sephora.....check.
Spray-on tan....check.
Ready to show our INCREDIBLE NEW PRODUCT RELEASES....check.
MONDAY GOAL to catch up on emails at the airport and on the plane......check.

My favorite thing? Our new corduroy albums that we are debuting......they are simply stunning and I'll be putting all of my photos in them......AND.......an incredible kit that has everything in it to make a beautiful, entire album in less than 2 hours........can't wait to show the world.....it's good stuff.....

So....off I go....yeeeeeeha! VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!

Ok....wanted to share something really cool with you....go to itunes.com (the music store) click on free podcasts....then search for Morning Stories.....it's just a bunch of people telling a story from their life....scrapbooking via podcast....I love it, and IT'S FREE!!! .....go check it out!

TALK TO YOU ALL SOON!!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSEA!!!
mel

Get Ready...IT'S ALMOST TIME!!!!

It's Almost Time!!!

When I get back from Memory Trends...you guys get to meet COURTNEY WALSH, one of the most talented writers and artists I have ever known, with a heart so big that you'll be able to feel it through the worldwide web....she is going to help us all get through THE ARTIST'S WAY while she is going through it herself...so you have a week to get the book! THere's also great workbook that you can order....I always order from bn.com....The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

AND.....here's the letter you'll be getting with your Instant Interviews book, for the 100 of you who signed up for the challenge.....

Instant Interviews/Instant Conversations
Challenge

Thank you for joining us and participating in this little experiment. Based on MY experience of trying this out, I am very excited for you because you are in for a treat!

This challenge has 3 steps. Because you signed up for this challenge, I hope you’ll follow through on it diligently…wonderful things will happen in your life when you do and I can’t wait to hear about it…

And..it’s easy and fun!!!

Using as many questions as you choose from the Instant Interviews book:

1. Write-out one of your personal stories, about a defining moment in your life.
2. Interview someone you admire about a defining moment in their life…then document the story in some way and give it back to them.
3. Take the book to some kind of gathering with people you care about (holiday dinners and parties are a perfect time to try this out!) and take turns asking each other questions from the book….come back and report about what takes place at Melody’s blog.

Can’t wait to hear all about what happens. Get as many people involved as you can! The more questions you ask, the more you are going to want to ask….

I would love it if you would come back and report about it on Friday, December 1…then we’ll keep telling about more experiences through the month of December….

Ok…ready, set, GO!!!

Make it Meaningful,
Melody

**********************************
It's going to be fun!
Get ready!
Mel

Go Get Those Peaches.....

October 7, 2006
Catching Up.....

When I was just a girl, my mom would send me down to the sheetrocked-but-not-painted room underneath the stairs where all of her canned peaches and pickles and buckets of whole wheat and year’s supply of sugar were, and she would ask me to bring up a bottle of something…and I would head down those stairs…

…and at the top of the stairs my imagination started to run wild…I would feel like someone was following me…and I would make up all of the details in my mind to the point that I was so afraid that I would RUN all the way down the stairs that seemed to stretch for a mile…and turn the corner as fast as I could, then peek back around the corner and up the stairs…huffing and puffing…to make sure that some scary thing or person was not chasing me….then, I’d catch my breath and remember that I’d forgotten what I was coming downstairs for…and I’d have to yell up the stairs…”Mom? What did I come down here for?” And she, being only a few feet away from the stairs door, in the kitchen, would peek her head around…slightly exasperated but completely expecting the question…and say…”bring up 2 bottles of pears for dinner….” And I’d head into the dark room, pull the string attached to the lightbulb, and imagine once again all of the scary things that could be behind the jars of tomatoes and extra boxes of Wheat Chex and back-up tubs of peanut butter…

….and that sort of sums things up...I fear things that do not exist, and things that do, too. I wish I didn’t have so many many fears…but, I do…and fear is painful and debilitating and energy-sucking…so you gotta find something that is bigger than it is….

“Devote today to something so daring even you can’t believe you’re doing it.”
-Oprah Winfrey

Here’s the deal…..my fears make me a little mad, but…I still keep getting up and cultivating these dreams and goals and the fire inside of the very center of me, the same fire that I was born with…that I did not put there…. that burns with so much intensity that it overpowers the fear…and it walks along-side it, and along-side me and the three of us just do the scary thing anyway…asking for God to come along too…to show us the way….and that nagging old fear suddenly stops screaming and says “oh, that wasn’t so bad….”

“The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.”
William Jennings Bryan

“Self-confidence gives you the freedom to make mistakes and cope with failure without feeling that your world has come to an end or that you are a worthless person.”
Unknown

So, I was sitting in the airport this week, alone….just sitting there, on a layover, pulled out my laptop and accidentally hit the button that shows the camera that is on my screen….and, right there, I saw a live picture of myself, talking on the phone taking care of a big scary thing…alone in this airport in Florida…where I had just flown into yesterday and where I was flying home today…where I got in a cab, alone…did my thing on TV, spent some short but heavenly time with friends, and got back in the cab to the airport…alone again. Here I was on this screen….a surreal moment…like Heaven was saying…”hey, Melody…you need to look at this….”


This same girl who used to be afraid to go down into her own family basement alone….and….there I was on that screen….and I saw what was happening….there I was….doing what needed to be done…and the sun was shining in a way that showed me that I am definitely 35 years old…or will be in a few weeks….I am getting wrinkles and my forehead is creased with the questions I am constantly asking in my head and heart…..and I looked….fearless…and exhausted….and I had a little moment with myself…did the kindest thing I could think of to do…and said “you go, girl….you keep on going…you can do this…”

“Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone's task is unique as his specific opportunity.
Victor Frankl

“The only failure a man ought to fear is failure in cleaving to the purpose he sees to be best.”
T.S. Eliot

I have learned something by watching the lives of others…and then by jumping into the pool of painful progression myself…..I have learned that when something really good and powerful, something with pure intent and truth wrapped all the way around and cream-filled with it, too…..when something that good is being diligently worked towards….there’s some kind of darkness that tries to stop it….

There really is…I really believe that…I know it from experience.

That when there’s a beautiful message to be shared…there will be opposition….when there’s powerful positive influences to be made…there will be opposition….that when people try to shake things up and make them better and remind people of the PURE way that God sees them, sees all of us…sees our journey….there will be opposition. There will be some kind of hand swiping to knock things down…there will be discouragement and fear and hardship and tests beyond perceived capacity….this I know.

“I believe one of the hardest things you can do is conquer your fears, but if you have a goal, then it's your job to open up and let it be real no matter how scary it seems.”
Tori Amos

“Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.”
Oprah Winfrey

Just when I thought things couldn’t get much harder…they did. I got beat with several proverbial baseball bats this week, run over by several trucks and dragged behind a few off-road vehicles, too….trying so hard to put the things together that I KNOW that my life is being led to…taking my family places that I know we are supposed to go…helping people that I KNOW I am supposed to help…………..connecting with people that I KNOW I need to learn from and seeking things that I KNOW I need to find……

….and…it is so hard….and, I am so tired……and the darkness is trying SO hard to put the light out….but, every day, I get up and say a prayer of thanks that I made it another day….at the same time that I am saying “oh no, here goes another day…..” ha ha ha ha….

….and, I just take it on….praying every 10 minutes to know the way.

“Too often we are scared, scared of what we might not be able to do, scared of what people might think if we tried, we let our fears stand in the way of our hopes. Why? There's really no time to be afraid. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Everything!”
Unknown

Because things are making more sense than ever….everything we’ve been through in the last few years is making sense…I am seeing it’s purpose…my family is seeing it’s purpose…..and, the plans that are being laid out before me are so much bigger than anything I ever could have designed or dreamed up and much more complicated than anything I could ever build…but they are there…just like they are there for you….we all have a purpose……we are all here for a reason….we gotta go find it and live it and hold hands with our fear and keep walking…..

“What God intended for you goes far beyond anything you can imagine.”
Oprah Winfrey

This morning I had one of the most important meetings of my life….the beginning of incredible things….I woke up this morning with the pounding headache that hadn’t gone away from yesterday…I grabbed my laptop from beside my bed…where I’d left it the night before…and the screen camera came up again…..and there I was….and I looked the way I felt and thought…I CAN NOT GO to this meeting….I am afraid…who do I think I am? WHO AM I TO GO AND THINK I CAN DO SOMETHING THIS BIG?.....and I spent another while trying really hard to talk myself out of it…………

Then…I brushed my teeth….pulled on my cowboy hat (perfect for a bad hair day)……….grabbed hands with my fear and said….”let’s go sweetheart…..”

……………..and it is true……the things that God has planned for us are so much bigger and so far beyond anything that we could ever imagine……I can not believe what happened in my life today…..I absolutely can not believe how my whole life is starting to make sense…how carefully God looks out for us….how He has such a perfectly staged plan……

….for all of us. I have proof and so do you. Let the opposition come…the bigger it is, the closer you are getting….that’s what I am noticing….the more the darkness is paying attention to you…the more it is afraid of your light……go and do it….do it anyway……

and here I am, asking again….

“Mom, what did I come down here for???” LOL…..

gotta go grab those peaches….

Lots of love to you all….I’ll be back really soon.
Melody

Off Again....

crrrraaaaazzzzyyyyy1111

I will be writing tonight from Florida....I have a marathon trip....flying all day then arriving tonight....then I do HSN tomorrow at noon Eastern time....stop by and say hello! It's the new Memory Makers Hour....then, I hop on a plane and come straight home to hang out with my hunny and my kiddos til I leave for Memory Trends on Sunday night......oh, I will be so happy when November comes! almost 3 months of NO TRAVELING!!! YAHOO!!!! ....yeh, we'll see!

Instant Interviews books are going out in the mail today!

Have a great day,
Melody