Believe.Hope.Dream.

Will you "Plant a KISS" with me?

Sunday, April 29th is Plant a Kiss Day. What is that you say? Plant a Kiss is the latest children's book creation from the wonderful Amy Krouse Rosenthal, the award-winning and New York Times Bestselling author of such books as Encylopedia of an Ordinary Life (one of my absolute favorite books of all time!) and the wonderful (and also award winning, New York Times Bestselling!) Peter H. Reynolds, who has illustrated & authored The Dot, Ish, The North Star (to name a few) as well as illustrating oodles of timeless treasures (such as many a Judy Blume book, and the Judy Moody series). 

To celebrate Amy's birthday and spread the magical message of this beautiful book, Plant a Kiss Day was imagined by the ever inspiring Sherry Richert Belul (whose Simply Celebrate site is always a burst of joyful light!).  I am honored that Sherry invited me to participate with the (amazing!) roster of writers, bloggers, artists, and Lamplighters for the Plant a Kiss Blog Hop Party.

Those of us participating in the party will individually "Plant a Kiss" on Sunday - something that will create joy, spark a connection, sprinkle some magic, infuse the day with some color, art, vibrancy for others. We will then write about our experiences on our blogs/sites. If you would like to join in with us, consider Planting your own kisses (and sharing them with us, or the world!). Bookmark the Plant a Kiss site and share experiences. Leave comments on the bloggy blogs. Many of us have donated items to giveaway, and every comment is an entry! Check out the site for a complete list of contributing Lamplighters, suggestions for planting a kiss, and a list of PRIZE items, as well as guidelines for entering the (i kid you not) utterly amazing Giveaway.

Does this little Plant a Kiss video not warm your heart and make it sing?

"What small act could you set forth to bloom on April 29" 

Plant a Kiss Blog Hop Party: SimplyCelebrate.net/Plant-a-Kiss-Day 

Namaste! 

EDIT: I mistakenly omitted Peter from the original posting! (*hangs head*). Can you believe that? He's only one of my all time favorite illustrators, and a true mentor! To make it up to him, I am planning a little post just for him! XXOO

Love Pinterest? Then you'll love these...

• piccsy
• svpply
• the fancy
• indulgy
• stumble upon
• Meebo

We live in a digital age, my darlings, and these sights are the modern day vision/inspiration boards. I still love Pinterest above all others, but these are up and comers (ok, not Stumble Upon, but only recently have they seemed a bit more like Pinterest for Bookmarking websites), and the more we can do to inspire those minds of ours, the better.

Another beautiful flower in tomorrow's postings: a very beautiful announcement for a Sunday Global Project. Stay tuned!

If you would like to connect, you can look me up by Tiffany Dyer Bird on most. I can't wait to see how you will use these sites!

Speaking of inspiring - I just recently purchased my very own copy of Desire to Inspire, which will inspire you deeply.  If we are talking about inspiration, then you really must have this in your possession. If you are an artist, a creater, a dreamer, a wanderer, a bohemian, a voice, an individual longing to make a difference through creative means, then this book is for you.

Namaste!

the do-gooder (*the loving kindness project*)

What if you forgive everyone who has ever hurt you, and everyone you've wounded forgives you too? What if you listened a little longer? What if when you wake in the morning you said "thank you"? What if you hugged for just a moment more? What if you mailed a card to say I Love You? What if you slow danced to your wedding song in the kitchen with your beloved? What if you sent a just because gift to your grandma? What if? How would the world change because of you? 

On Saturday, as Jason and I walked busy State Street in Santa Barbara, I held the intention that I wished to be of service, to share my blessings with someone, anyone, and simply asked for an open heart to recognize the opportunity when the moment arrived.

As we passed a young bohemian who played a mean blues guitar and sang like a Celtic crooner, Jason handed me money to place in his open guitar case. I did so. Thank you so much, said the fellows who were standing near the busker, a tribe of gypsy looking fellows. Well... that was easy, I thought.

A short moment later, while looking for a spot to have lunch, I noticed a young woman sitting on a bench. Or perhaps I noticed her sweet dog who rested in the shade under the bench. Perhaps I took notice of her because her curly blonde hair which was pulled into a high ponytail glistened in the sun, or perhaps she looked like someone I once knew in school. I then noticed her sign:

"Homeless. And Hungry. Please Help."

I walked up to her with five dollars in my hand - "Please take this." I said.

"Thank you so much. So much," she said.

"It is my pleasure," I said, "I am so sorry that you are going through this."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she briefly described how humiliating it felt being on that bench with her sign, how she could not believe this was her life... she was a 2nd grade teacher at one point for goodness sake.

"It will get better. I promise. I promise, promise," I said.

During our lunch, I could not stop thinking about this young woman. Her story. What happened. Or, more importantly, what magic could help her recreate her life. We walked back to her after lunch with an iced tea in hand. She was bent over, her face behind the sign now.

"For you," I said, "You must be so thirsty."

She began to cry, words of gratitude pouring from her. And then, I hugged her in the biggest, warmest, full embrace.

"Thank you for treating me like a human being. You have no idea. How people ... won't look at you, as if you don't exist, as if you're not human anymore. Thank you. You've made my day. Thank you."

"You are so welcome. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to give to you. Namaste... blessings."

As we turned to walk away, it occurred to me that perhaps I could do more. I walked back and gave her more money. As I did so, I looked at her as I held her hand ... "This is the day it all turns around. Today. I hope this money magnetizes more to you. I want you to stay hopeful. You deserve to be happy and safe."

Her name is Jaimie.

She is from Texas.

She is a second grade teacher.

Jaimie, the second grade teacher, from Texas, with a kind, pretty face, and a sweet little dog. I do so hope she finds her way, and that more folks extend loving-kindness to her. The same kind of loving-kindness we would want if that were our daughter on that bench, or if it were our very selves.

Today, let us begin a new project. Let us take a moment, each and every day, to give, to connect, to be kind, to be of service... to change the world with the Love and Kindness we share. 

Namaste.

Be in the Know: Apps & Sites that Showcase "You"

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ - the available outlets for an online presence seem rather endless.  Then there's the keeping track of where you are on the web and attempting a cohesiveness between your online identities. And don't get me started on all of the online photo sites where fragments of life are posted here and there. Fortunately, there are companies out there who have had the foresight to help us in managing our points along the Internet universe.  

Here are five sites you should know. Hop aboard their shiny web boats quickly - as they are all in relatively early stages, meaning there is still an abundance of UserNames available. Afterall, who really wants to be "username number 683" or somesuch?

1. Social Print Studio: Printstagram  ... 

I am a huge fan of the fabulous minds at Social Print Studio. WIth their first forays into the Instagram-verse (you know, that adorable photo sharing app for the iPhone, and now the Droid), Social Print created Prinstagram as a place to Print your Instagram photos. At Printstagram, you can print posters, t-shirts, tiny books, polaroid-like prints, memory boxes, mini books, & stickers. Great prices. Great Quality.

And now, Printstagram is expanding into Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter territory:

Tumblr is a free blogging platform in which most folks post images, news stories, and quotes of interest. Printstagram will arrange 98 of your Tumblr images in a clean grid and print them on high quality 20x40" Fuji Crystal Photo Paper. 

Printstagram will also print your Facebook friends list or Twitter friends in the same 20x40" high quality format. 

(*All three are temporarily on hold as Prinstagram overhauls their processing software, but should be available again very soon!*)

2. Social Print Studio: SuperEgo.Me

Again from the great minds at Social Print - SuperEgo.Me pulls the photos from your Facebook profile then uses a special algorithm to create a web gallery of images that says the most about you and your lifestyle, giving you an ego boosting snapshot of key moments in your life which you should feel fabulous about! It's still in its infant stage, but is well worth seeing your life in a new way. 

Oh... and Printstagram will soon offer 20x40" prints of your SuperEgo.Me gallery. How fun!

3. Pictarine:

Pictarine gathers all of your photos from around the web (facebook, twitter, moby, flickr, shutterfly & more - 15 of them in fact!) in one beautiful timeline web gallery for you. Backup files. Collaborate with your friends and family. And a soon to be released feature to download all of your photos! 

In their words: 

"Pictarine agregates all the photos you’ve posted on the web as one timeline that you can browse. In one place, you have a global access to all the photos you have ever taken with your digital camera or mobile. You never have to ask where a specific photo is again.

Pictarine pulls in photos your closest friends snapped, so you can see photos from the get-together that you didn’t get on camera. You can browse among your friends and favorite them to keep track of their photo updates."        

I joined recently - and love the new control and full timeline I have my life in photos. 

4. About.Me

My new favorite! If you're anything like me, you have a plethora of online accounts and might wear many hats which may be somewhat hard to keep track of - both for you, and for others. About.Me is a free service that lets you create a beautiful one-page website that’s all about you and your interests. Upload a photo, write a short bio, and add your social networks to show the world the big picture of you. 

Even better - there is a free iPhone app . With the phone app, you can use an around me feature in order to meet up with those who may be at the same conference, tradeshow, seminar, etc! 

 

The About.Me site is very user friendly, very well designed, and provides a fab jumping off point for others to explore your other online outlets.  This clever video showcases the sites useability well: http://vimeo.com/19914735

SIDENOTE: I prefer the About.Me site to the Flavor.Me site.  The interface is far cleaner with About.Me, and everything from Statistics to personalized email to unlimited listing of your other social networks and websites is included in the FREE price. In fact, there is no "other" tier, so everyone has the same beautiful splash/landing page, whereas Flavor.Me is a paid site which offers very little to lure one into purchasing a Pro package. Perhaps its one saving grace, is that there are more than 30 sites which Flavor Me can link into. Additionally, About.Me's unique visits outpaces Flavor.Me by a longshot.

This being said, if you are marketing a brand, your website, or blog, the more links on other websites you have, the higher your search rankings will be on search engines. Food for thought. 

Here's my About.Me if you care to take a peeky peek! About.Me/TiffanyBird

5.  Hi.Im

Perhaps a little redundant, but Hi.Im is the newest kid on the splash/landing page block.  Still not as awesome as the AboutMe site (again - Free for both app and site really goes along way with me) but again, if you are branding yourself, or wish to have as many locations around the interweb as you can to drive traffic to your business, pages, or websites, then it can never hurt you to have your links on yet another page. 

**

Happy Social Networking! 

XO

 

Balm for the Creative Soul

“Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance

Photo Credit: Lissy Elle, whose photographs are beautiful, imaginative, and deeply inspiring. Do visit her website to explore the world of Lissy Elle.