This picture was taken in Asheville, NC by Tara DiPetrillo while she was feeling thankful and doing something she loves to do. I don't know why I am writing this in 3rd person. Hahaha.

7 Things You Should Do Everyday

1. BE THANKFUL – Wake up appreciating what you have and continue to appreciate your prosperity, not lack. If you are alive, you have something to be thankful for. What you focus on becomes your reality. How would you like to live today? It’s your choice. Be thankful for goodness sake!

2. NOURISH YOURSELF – Feed yourself with some healthy food and plenty of water, and happy, healthy thoughts. Feel like what your eating today isn’t super healthy or your water is not clean? Charge it with positive energy and blessings. It has been scientifically proven to change the structure of water. Taking care of your body & mind is like taking care of your car, your home, your kids…(you get the idea). You pretty much have to do it or it could be a real poopie situation. It’s really important and probably the most important!

3. SMILE…A LOT! – And meant it! Who cares about the laugh lines (they are the new sexy, didn’t you hear?), just do it! Do it for you, do it for the people you come into contacvt with. Doesn’t it feel good when someone smiles at you? Geee, the world is such a happy place when it is filled with smiles! If you can’t smile for some medical reason, do it with your eyes. They know how to smile too. Lips and eyes not working? Smile from the heart. We can feel what is not seen.

4. GIVE - Give your time. Wait, is there a such thing as time??? Give money to someone who needs it. Give someone a hug. Give your pets some lovins and a treat. Give away something you don’t want or use anymore. Give someone the right of way while driving. Give someone your seat on a bus/train. Give someone a call, directions, a pen, your number, information, the pleasure of hearing a joke, etc. There is always something to give.

5. BE RESPONSIBLE –  First and foremost be responsible for yourself. If you have a job, you should probably go to work. Don’t work? Then I guess you don’t have to go. Unemployed? Awesome! Manifest the job of your dreams! Retired? Good for you! You probably need to do the rest of these things… Clean up after yourself. Pay your bills, if they are due today. Don’t have the money to pay them? Then either trust that the money is coming your way or work on a new budget. Whatever chores you have, get them done. Don’t whine about it. If you start to whine about all the things you have to do today, please reread #1 on this list. If you are under 18 and feel you have no responsibilities, you’re wrong. You are still responsible for yourself and your actions. Yes, your parents are to some degree – lawfully or something. Parents, ask your kids how they want to show up in the world today. If it is an answer based on love, help them do that. And kids, be responsible for believing YOU CAN! (read #7)

5. DO WHAT YOU LOVE TO DO – What are some things you love to do? Do them! Not sure? Ask yourself. Making excuses not to do them? Get over it! JUST DO IT! And there is plenty to do for free. Not sure what that could be? Ask me or do what I love to do, “google it”.

6. LOVE YOURSELF & BE KIND – If you totally lovie dove yourself, keep doing it! Not sure how to love yourself? Try! Feel the love inside you. Hug and kiss yourself. Look in the mirror and say, “I love you!”. Compliment yourself. Want someone to love you? You have to love yourself first. I morphed loving yourself and being kind because I feel like they go together very well. I also like the idea of having 7 items on this list. When you are loving yourself, you are able to be kind, to yourself and the people, places and things in your reality. Feel like you can’t sometimes? Then “bite your tongue” or avoid the people/places/things you feel you can’t be kind around. Be kind or Nevermind!

7. BELIEVE – Believe in yourself. Believe in love. Believe in humankind. Believe you can fly. Believe in miracles. Believe that the missing sock in the dryer goes somewhere and doesn’t just disappear. There must be some quantum explanation. Can you believe that? Believe in magic. Believe that your kids really didn’t do it (sometimes). Believe that your parents really do care. Believe you are loved. Believe that your dreams can come true and are coming true this very moment. The power of belief is very strong. What you believe becomes your reality, your truth. Not sure what to believe? That’s ok. Believe that what you wish to believe will come to you. Believe what feels right, to you.

May you be blessed today and everyday you share your human experience on this planet. Sending out infinite love……..

Beauty From Love: “I am and I do.”

Love, Light & Laughter,

Tara

Have you ever written a love letter? Poured your heart out to someone to let them know about all the loving feelings you have for them? Tell them how amazingly beautious they are? And that they smell oh so yummy?

Have you ever received a love letter? One that made you all warm and fuzzy and smile from ear to ear? One that created a surge in your body of blissful love? One that you couldn’t help but to read over, and over, and over again?

If so, were any of them written by you and addressed to yourself?

All to often we may focus our love energy on another. That is beautiful and it is lovely to conjure up those feelings when in the presence of, or thinking about someone else. Along with all of that awesomeness, I find it extremely important to focus a lot of that mind blowing love energy on YOU! (For me, it would be with ME!) You are the ultimate source! I mean, who are you with 24/7? Who’s mind do you have to hang out with all day? Why not lavish yourself with some of that dreamy, intoxicating love? You are so worth it!!

Every once in a while I come back to this with myself. (I’d like to do it even more!) And I enjoy it very much. Here are a few ideas of things you can do…

• Write yourself a good ole fashion Love Letter. Tell yourself what you like about yourself, what you appreciate that you do for yourself, how you make yourself feel, what fabulous things you see in your future together, etc. You can write this in a journal, mail it to yourself, email it to yourself or tuck it away and pull it out on a special day to read. If you like surprises (like me), give your letter to a friend and tell them to mail it to you one day, that way you don’t know when it’s coming. Or on a summer day, hide one in your winter coat. It will feel just as good to stumble upon it, as it would forgetting about that $20 bill you left in there from last season!

• Write Love Letters on your mirrors (I recommend using a dry erase marker). You can say things like, “I LOVE YOU/ME/insert your name here!”, “I make the world more beautiful, just by being here!”, “I am beautiful/handsome.”, “I light up my life!”, “I am sexy from the hair on my head all the way down to my pinky toe!”.

• When you are away, send yourself a post card. Even if you are only in a different town.

• Write cute little notes for yourself on post its and post them around your home, in your car and even at your work space.

• Have fun with this! Make kissy marks on them. Draw hearts on them. Put some stickers on them. Spray perfume and/or aromatheraphy oils on them. Whatever floats your boat!

(When writing the letter you can address it anyway you like. Third person is fine. Use your name. Say, me. Or say, I. When I say, “I”, to me it is more powerful, as I am affirming what is being said. However, I use the other methods as well. It’s nice to see my name sometimes. :smile:)

This is perfect for anyone to do, whether you are single, dating, in a relationship or married. And do it as much as you like. Please! Self Love is probably the best and most important gift you can ever give to yourself. Why not get a lil fancy and fun with it?

It’s a valuable practice to learn to speak to yourself this way. True magic happens in these moments. You’ll find out! :wink:

Beauty From Love: “I write myself words of love, knowing they are heard, felt and nurturing my expanding heart.”

Love, Light, Laughter & Love Letters,

Tara

Greetings perfect beings! I hope you are emersed in bliss and ready to celebrate the New Year! I will be heading up to the mountains to attend a Kitan & Ecstatic Dance Ceremony hosted by Sangita Devi at the Laughing Waters Retreat Center. “The Kirtan will flow into an interactive group ceremony to create intention – and that intention will lead us into an Ecstatic Dance wave to bring in the New Year!!” Can you say powerful? Can you say loooooove?

I think a wonderful way to bring in the New Year would of coarse be to set some intentions for ourselves and pick a word/theme for the year (My word for 2011 was, Manifest). Another way would be to begin the  “Letters of Appreciation: Beauty From Love’s 365 Day Challenge”. I will be revisiting this challenge, as I have to admit, I started to slack off on it. I’m feeling very focussed right now and after organizing myself further, I feel confident and pumped about embarking on this loving  journey.

I am wishing you all unconditional, eternal love, inner guidance, prosperity and vital health for the new year. Ahhhh, you know what? I wish you any and all words that fall under the category of LOVE. That should cover it! :wink:

Beauty From Love: “All endings lead to new beginnings.”

Love, Light & Laughter,

Tara

We probably all have a list in our heads of the things we would like to be doing. Felling challenged with the time to do it all. Some of you may find these things are thoughts, you just keep putting off. You may sound like a broken record to others, of how you are going to do this and that, then find you never do. On the other hand some of you may be real on top of your game, taking action at the first brink of an idea. Where do you currently find yourself on this scale?

I’m the kind of person who wants to do A LOT! There are many things I’m very passionate about. Some of those things I’m very active in accomplishing. And some are dancing around in my head, hoping to be manifested. I’m not sure I’ll live long enough to do it all. I’d definitely like to try though! More than try, I like to DO! Sometimes, I get a little overwhelmed with ideas, only to find I have done nothing about them. For instance, I was doing a large portion of reading for about a year or so. I was very focused and very into it. Maybe too into it. I started to accumulate more and more books. I’d find myself sitting in bed with a pile of books next to me, wanting to read them all. I was so eager to feed myself with the gracious knowledge they behold. I felt like a kid all wound up in a toy store lingering on their crisp pages! I ended up reading none of them. I picked some up here and there, never really getting a momentum going with any. My attention was on all of them. I had no focus to just get started with one.  That’s where a bolt of discipline and focus would have been very helpful.

I work well with lists. With a plan. Otherwise, I tend to get very distracted with the next idea/thought. What can I say, I’m amused by so much in this world! [smile] So for any of you out there that have some ideas popping in your head, that you would actually really like to do – I’d like to offer up an idea I have, that I’m actually currently doing with a friend. I’m calling it my “Motivation Activation List“. Here is a list of steps to follow, to help you achieve all those things you have been putting off. It can also help keep you in line with a regime you may already have. Take note that in this exercise, it’s ok to start with one thing and work your way up to more. The examples I show you are to get you familiar with the process. Do whatever you are comfortable with. This is not a competition of how much you can do, rather a lesson in getting you motivated to start doing the things you enjoy and even the thing you may not enjoy now, that will benefit you later.

Step 1 – Make A List

First, figure out what it is you want to do – be it daily, weekly or even monthly. Whatever it is, write it down!

• meditate
• yoga
• bellydancing
• painting
• drumming

Step 2 – Figure Out How Often You Want to Do It

In this next step, figure out how many days, and how much time you would like to commit to the topic at hand. You can start out going a little easy on yourself, with minimal demands. Sometimes, I think that is a good route to follow, as you are setting yourself up for guaranteed success which will allow you to trust yourself. Other times, I can be a little hardcore. Which again is ok. It all depends on the frame of mind you are in at the moment. Check in with yourself to see where you are at, and devise a schedule based on that. You can always increase the amount of time you do something, once you get your flow going. The key is to feel good about your accomplishments!

• meditate – daily (2x a day for 30mins)
• yoga – 3 days a week (1hr each day)
• bellydancing – 3 days a week (1hr each day)
• painting – 1 day a week (4 hrs)
• drumming – 5 days a week (1hr each day)

Step 3 – Schedule Everything in Your Calender

Once you have gathered the amount of days and the amount of time you would like to do something, start jotting it down in a calender/planner. Make yourself accountable for these things, on specific days and times. You may end up moving your schedule around a bit. Thanks ok. Start forming some kind of itinerary though. (Remember – FOCUS!) I recommend if you have a computer, put it in an app like google calender or ical, etc. If you have a smart phone you can even receive emails and reminders while on the go, which for me, is awesome sauce! If not, using a regular paper calender or planner is fine. And if necessary, use some post it’s as reminders.

(Click on the image above for a larger view. Once sent to next screen, click on image again to enlarge  for a full screen view.)

Step 4 – Share It With A Friend!

The best thing to do is to buddy up with someone. I find that when I have to check in with another person, I’m more compelled to get the job done (so to say). It’s also nice to share your experiences with someone and be supported. I enjoy encouraging others, just as much, to be all that they aspire to be! I’m super siked for my “Motivation Activation List” Buddy!

Step 5 – Get Started & Share Progress Reports!

What are you waiting for? Get to it! The time is NOW! Once you have completed your first week, send your friend your progress from the previous week and vice versa. Check in with each other on a frequent basis. Praise one another and give friendly nudges when needed. Most of all, enjoy yourself and all the wonderful things you are doing!

May you all be blessed with accomplishment!

Beauty From Love: “I AM accomplishing my goals and it feels so good!”

Love, Light, Laughter and Lists,

Tara

The beautiful, Jennifer Espinet aka JeniViva.

(this article has been posted a day late. Note when referencing to days)

I woke up the other morning, on my birthday, with a panic in my heart. Anxiety was present. I looked out the bedroom window to greet the day, that had yet to be blessed with the light of the suns rays. I thought I would feel an instant calmness while looking out at the dark sky. I did not, and so I asked myself, “Why are you feeling like this? IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY!”. Aren’t we all supposed to be HAPPY on our birthday??? I couldn’t understand.

I looked at my phone laying on the floor next to the bed and noticed I had a long message from a friend on Skype. I figure reading it would get me in a good mood. Then I decided to look at some birthday wishes people were leaving for me on Facebook. I was sure that would lift my spirits as well, and sooth that racing heart of mine. I smiled a bit. Yet, I still had this frantic feeling pulsing through me. I proceeded to open a private message from one of my friends. He wrote…. “dont mean to #!$@ up your bday, but did you hear about jeni…?”

I was presented with one of those moments where I knew something was wrong and I didn’t know what it was yet.  I could either try to avoid it for the time being, ignore the signs and my intuition, and go on celebrating my birthday in bliss. Or I could let my curiosity get the best of me and seek out the answer. Why wait and wonder? Right? Both ideas seemed perfect at the time. Curiosity won and without having the patience to write him back and wait for a response, I instantly started to type in Jen’s (Jeni’s) name in the search box. I landed on her page and saw the stream of comments wishing her a farewell and to rest in peace. (Only a month before I was in the same predicament, learning of a dear friend who took his own life.) I couldn’t help but scream out loud, “OH NO!!! NO! NO! NO!”, wilst covering my hand over my face and breaking down in a stream of salty tears.

I sat around as if a lost premature animal, not knowing what to do with myself or what to feel. I was in shock. I probably still am. I had to get ready for a  brief meeting at work and hopped in the shower, where I began to cry again. The last place I wanted to be, was in a meeting where I had to keep my composure.  But there I was, being greeted by my dear coworkers wishing me a “happy birthday”. It was so hard to hear those words. Words the day before, I could hardly wait to hear. All I wanted to do was celebrate life…..
Was hearing this tragic news really any reason to stop?

I felt deeply saddened. Deeply confused. Our meeting was going over it’s time. The extra 15 minutes felt like years. I waiting as patiently as I could, to get out of there. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. I was holding back and holding in all these intense emotions for the past hour and 15 minutes. Trying to turn myself off and not make the meeting utterly awkward (by a possible outburst of sorrow) for anyone . Other than myself, that is. When I got to the car, I felt relieved as I allowed myself to be vulnerable and began to mourn the death of a beautiful woman, Jennifer Espinet, who I had been friends with for over 20 years.  And at the same time, I was about to dash off to celebrate my birthday at a Renaissance Festival. How do you do that too? I can’t say it was easy.

I felt like I was on a roller coaster ride, going up and down all day. I managed to have some fun. I pretended like my friend Jen was there with me. There was so much she would enjoy about the RenFest. I caught so many glimpses of her while there. I avoided answering the phone. I felt like I did not want to be seen, because I did not want to fake how I was feeling. Again, here I am protecting others from an awkward situation, or was I really protecting myself?

When I woke up the next day (yesterday) at my best friends house (thank goodness for close friends), it all came down on me like a ton of bricks. Without the limitations I placed on myself the day before, I was finally able to grieve. And grieve I did.

I realize now, that I just need to allow what shows up, to show up in it’s Divine order. I know not to supress my feelings, yet I did. And I do. I was so set on celebrating, and I’m happy I kept it in my consciousness to do so. However, my birthday is not the only day I have to celebrate life, my life and the lives around me. Everyday is. And we should all, always, celebrate it – as it is ultimately very precious and so worth the celebration. This was a day to celebrate my life as well as Jen’s. It was also a day to release the sadness as I am so happy I knew Jen. I’m so thankful for our memories and friendship. I feel so blessed.

I normally finish writing these posts in a day, yet yesterday I stopped. Now I know why. I came across something last night. Only hours before Jen’s death, she wrote something on her Facebook page, after 4 people she knew past away in tragic deaths, all in the same week! She wrote a prayer, ironically for people grieving their loss, and now it is read by those grieving the loss of her physical existence on this planet. I would like to share it with you and hope that you too can find healing….so you can make room for the CELEBRATION!

“My prayer (for those left behind)
Healing. Light like molten lava 
emerging filling in 
every crack of your despair 
and you shall be healed
and the wound will no longer ache
and the heart will somehow learn to be whole again.
The Love…This Love
never ends.”
<3
J.

Here is a song Jen turned me onto this year, after first hearing it while in France, herself. In dedication to such a beautiful, Goddess, friend, lover, healer, dancer, gypsie, potion creator, etc., Jennifer Espinet aka JeniViva.  I love you so!

(I am posting this video on a positive, promotional basis. If you would like it removed, please feel free to message me)

And may we all remember to celebrate life, our lives and the lives of others – living and past. I found the time to blast Madonna’s song, “Holiday” before getting out of the car to go enjoy the RenFest with one of my best friends. We got pumped up. It was nice. Try it sometime.

Beauty From Love: “Everyday is a celebration of life in all forms.”

With Eternal Love,

Tara