Life is not about finding yourself
Life is about Creating yourself.- Source unknown

Ah, don't you just love this quote? How often do you stop to ponder how you are creating yourself? I LOVE this idea and enjoy the reminder to stop, drop, and create!

posted by kimberly wilson @ 11:10 PM | 4 comments

bonjour! ever have shocking news after shocking news topped off with your beau getting bitten by a cocker spaniel (yes, you read it right - not a vicious, big dog but a cocker spaniel).

the past week has been full of shock from murder to DWI to firings of people my beau and i know and love. sad, shocking, and hard to shake. then the cocker spaniel comes along. ha! either way, i feel good but also mindful of how quickly life can change in an instant.

the lovely naturally nina sent me this gorgeous insight into her inspirations. i adore seeing your vision boards and appreciate you passing them along. i hope you enjoy perusing her blog as much i do. her visuals are gorgeous!

today we launched our fall creativity circle and i'm excited to go through this process with an assortment of lovely ladies. fall is a lovely time to reflect and let your creativity out to play. it's also a perfect time to curl up with a ton of pillows, good books, and pug nearby. as i was coming out of a deep sleep today, i was thinking "i would sure love to stay here all day!" it's important to remember the power of mental health days, especially curled up in a cozy bed. yum!

posted by kimberly wilson @ 8:05 PM | 3 comments

i was super-excited to meet jd (our adopted pig) and travolta (our adopted cow - you can read about him in the 6.07 veg guide on their site) at the farm sanctuary yesterday. they live out their days happily in their natural habitat roaming the pastures and rolling in mud. since most cows don't make it to full term in size, I was shocked when I saw travolta - he's HUGE! like 1000 lbs! i couldn't get too close to him due to my skittish nature (kept hiding behind beau) and travolta's lack of interest in me over the grass he was chewing, so the photo of him by the pond was the best together shot we could get! pigs apparently love to have their bellies rubbed so jd and i had some good quality belly rubbing! to adopt your own farm animal, visit here.

this whole experience was a beautiful journey into the practice of ahimsa to all and a connection to those who have beaten the odds. i always have a softspot for the underdog. thank you jd and travolta for sharing your spirits. now i want a pot belly pig! i hear they make great pets and are sooooo cute. beau says no.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 11:58 AM | 5 comments

happy hump day!

i was asked to recap my experience at last month's e-myth leadership intensive in california and i wanted to share the story for anyone interested in why i love this book. the photo they took of beau and me is very telling. it must have been one of those moments when he's like, "are you crazy? we can't do that!" ahhh, a day in the life of our relationship. he truly is one of the most patient people i've ever met.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 5:47 PM | 3 comments

delighted to be home after studying with the lovely dharma mittra all weekend. the drive home only took 8 hours which isn't horrible considering holiday travel traffic! crazy thing is that we'll have a similar drive on friday and sunday as we're heading to beau's hometown of rochester for a family corn roast! i love the drives because i'm able to write (got 2 deadlines out of the way), read (finished the updated edition of the fashion designer's survival guide and read a lot of tori amos' memoir), and look out the window at the beautiful landscape while beau drives. he enjoys driving, i enjoy riding. win-win!

when i got home, unpacked, and looked around at the dining room table covered with books, receipts, sparkly gel pens, and articles torn from magazines, i got concerned. i'm tired, need to get ready for the week, but want get organized NOW. then i recalled SARK's message that i was reminded of this weekend - make micromovements.

i don't have to organize my kitchen table, armoire, bathroom shelves, or desk in my boudoir all in one night. it's about small steps and conquering one area at a time. i know this but sometimes i just need a reminder and thought it may resonate with you, too! in her book make your creative dreams real SARK provides a few examples. say you want to write a novel - yes, this feels overwhelming. start by going to a bookstore and browsing books about writing! she describes micromovements as a very tiny action that anyone can take toward some part of her create dream and is 5 seconds to 5 minutes in length. what micromovements can you take this week?

posted by kimberly wilson @ 9:47 PM | 5 comments

• click play to hear this episode, or click here to listen to older shows!
• direct download (mp3)

Bonjour! Welcome to the 135th edition of the Hip Tranquil Chick podcast: a guide to life on and off the yoga mat.

Off the Mat: Today’s menu features the final episode of our 4-part series with Kathy Korman Frey from Hot Momma's Project on Wanting it (part one), Getting it (part two), Break in Case of Emergency (part three, last episode) and Setting up a Goals Group (part four, this week). View our shownotes at hiptranquilchick.com/blog.

Kathy Korman Frey is a life-long student of business and has interviewed an estimated 15,000 executives during her career. She is the founder of the consulting firm Vision Forward (www.VisionForward.com) and its business curriculum initiative, The Hot Mommas (TM) Project (www.HotMommas.org). Since its inception in 2001, Vision Forward has become known for its innovative business model as well as high success rate in helping businesses, nonprofits, and government organizations. Clients such as Discovery Communications, The American Association of Retired Persons, and The Department of Justice have benefited from the company’s unique approach utilizing business education techniques to bring about measurable results in their organizations. The Hot Mommas® Project - the recipient of a 2006 Coleman Foundation Case Award - chronicles the equations for success across a spectrum of highly-successful women leaders. With the backing of partners like The George Washington University's Center For Entrepreneurial Excellence, the first generation of this research will be published in 2008.

As an educator at GW, Mrs. Frey has a specialty in curriculum development. She co-developed the curriculum for the George Washington University’s 2004-2007 Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Program which won a National Excellence in Education Award, Specialty Model Program, and led to a ranking of GW’s Entrepreneurship Program in Fortune Small Business. Mrs. Frey also developed the entrepreneurship curriculum for Visa's Practical Money Skills site in partnership with the National Federation for Independent Business and its Young Entrepreneur Foundation. During the 2006-2007 year, this curriculum was taught to approximately 30,000 high school students. Currently, the curriculum is Google’s leading “business plan exercises” listing. In 2008, Mrs. Frey's cases will be published in the nation's no. 2 selling entrepreneurship textbook, Essentials of Small Business Management.

Prior to her current activities, Mrs. Frey served as the Chief Operating Officer for the National Council on the Aging Development Corporation where she worked with teams to develop, capitalize, and manage entrepreneurial ventures in the health and aging industries. Mrs. Frey led presentations with the White House, Fortune 500 corporations, and venture capitalists and was part of the planning team for www.BenefitsCheckUp.org which today delivers a 200 to 1 ROI. Mrs. Frey served as an analyst and in management at Markowitz & McNaughton, Incorporated (later acquired by Citigate) performing competitive and merger & acquisition analyses for Fortune 100 clients in order to advise the leaders of multinational corporations on a variety of strategic growth decisions. There, she founded two departments responsible for major increases in operational efficiencies and new business revenues.

Mrs. Frey received her B.A. in English from the University of Virginia and her MBA from Harvard Business School. She serves on the board of the Alzheimer's Association, National Capital Area. She lives in DC with entrepreneur husband Josh Frey, their two children, Maxwell and Delilah (Lilah), and dog Foxy.



Savvy Sources:
www.HotMommas.org
Effective Small Business Management








Soirees, Chats, Booksignings & Retreats: Join me for workshops and book signings in Lexington in October, Denver in January, Montreal in March.

In addition, we've got a weekend of tranquility and creativity at our 3rd Annual Hip Tranquil Chick retreat in a lovely farmhouse not far from NYC March 27-29, 2009 and another week at Kripalu next August 9-14, 2009.

Our next le chic teleclass chat is on Frolicking Creatively (and Mindfully) into Fall on Monday, September 15 at 9pm ET. If you can't be on the phone at that exact time, don't fret - sign up and we'll send you the mp3!

Fall online creativity circle starts September 8. Details for all special events at kimberlywilson.com. I hope we'll get to connect!

Mentoring: Interested in diving deeper into hip and tranquil topics 1:1 with moi via e-mail, phone or in-person? If so, view all the scoop here.

Chic Community: Mingle with fellow HTCs on our forums. We’re on Facebook, so please connect with the community virtually there, too! Make sure you're getting the hip tranquil times by signing up at the bottom of any page on hiptranquilchick.com. Check out our new YouTube page at youtube.com/hiptranquilchick. More fun stuff coming soon!

Leave your thoughts on hip tranquil chick by writing a review at Amazon.com!

• You don't need an iPod to listen to the podcast! Click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes!
• New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast Alley.
• Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast. You'll automatically get the latest edition as soon as it's available.
• Do you use another podcatcher? Use this link for the podcast RSS feed.

Interested in starting a podcast for yourself, your organization or your business?
Check out nineball media.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 6:35 PM | 1 comments

while writing this season's segment on leadership for tranquil space foundation's (TSF) newsletter, i decided to share a bit about my naropa university program and thought you, too, may enjoy hearing about it (see below) in case you don't subscribe to the TSF newsletter.

please save the date for our 2nd annual TSF gala on thursday, october 16 7-9pm at the josephine butler house on 15th street, nw. if you're willing to donate a product or service to the silent auction, please let moi know. also, if you are a philanthropic photographer willing to donate your time and fabulous photos to this great cause, please contact moi! amanda, the creatress of the creative dc blog, is a long-time member of our steering committe and overseeing this event in the most organized fashion. way to go, amanda!

below is a mini synopsis of authentic leadership. may we all continue to embody this notion of authenticity in all we do!
****************************

Authentic leadership embodies people who take fundamental responsibility for themselves and their lives, are completely in the present situation, and are willing to share our aspirations and dreams with others.

The authentic leadership model consists of three components: authentic presence, skillful communication, and effective action. To establish authentic presence we were encouraged to use contemplative practices such as yoga, meditation, and journal writing to develop self-knowledge and to practice being present and authentic. Thank goodness these were already part of my routine (and are part of the TranquilTeens program) as there was so much new material to learn!

Skillful communication began with the assumption that we are fully responsible for all interactions. Self-awareness of emotions is said to create an environment of care and empathy akin to emotional intelligence. Two important ways to communicate that they emphasized throughout the program was inquiry and advocacy. Inquiry is a powerful way to invite others to be collaborators. Advocacy is a way to use “I” statements to convey views to share how she perceives a situation and to share facts.

Effective action is motivated by service and focuses on using compassionate and strategic approaches to change. This final premise of the authentic leadership model is based on servant leadership where the leader seeks to serve first and lead second.

Overall, an authentic leader is motivated to serve, invites feedback and learns from it, promotes open communication, envisions new possibilities, fosters a culture of appreciations, and is committed to self-knowledge. I loved this four-month program – especially with a contemplative slant and hope that we are able to continue effecting authentic leadership through our efforts with Tranquil Space Foundation. We hope that we are helping to shape a new generation of do-gooding, creative, authentic leaders! Namaste.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 12:11 PM | 0 comments

freudian slip

Hello from a gorgeous vista in the Kripalu cafe!

The past three sessions with Dharma Mittra have been intoxicating. I adore his yoga - lots of deep crescent lunges and oodles of challenge (exhibit A: DVD cover) coupled with extreme devotion. During this morning's session I was taking notes and wrote "All poses are an offering to your extreme self." He repeated it later and said "All poses are an offering to your supreme self." I giggled. Somehow my mind heard "extreme" and I know if I would have read it later in my journal without hearing him correcting the second time, I would have been confused. But, extreme works for me, too, in a funny way. Just yesterday I was journal writing about how much I adore women who live their flair fully - like Betsey Johnson, Madonna or SARK. Sometimes our mind hears one thing but translates another. I'll surely have an internal chuckle at the beginning of my next practice when I think of offering my practice to my "extreme" self - heaps of flair and all. Namaste.

posted by kimberly wilson @ 4:22 PM | 0 comments