6th grade track and field day.
Imprinted
On my mind
In my heart
...a constant reminder
of when I gave up. When I didn't even 'try'
Petrified of the 'judgment' of everyone else not recognizing that they would never ...EVER matter. That the most painful judgments were the ones I would carry with me - my whole life.
The ones that dictated who I should be, what I should be...comparing myself to everyone else.

I wrote that letter ...because she's back. I can hear the song she sings in my head with the chorus:
You can't do this
You will fail
You don't have what it takes
You don't know what you're doing
...You aren't good enough (this last one's a repeater with strong solo vocals!)
Lovely song ain't it? I wonder if I should pull something together with a synthesizer perhaps, make it down-loadable from Itunes? Throw in a few bongos and we could do a tribal remix?

The closer I get to something so radically fearful 'for me'...
The louder this chorus plays in my head.
Because it knows...
What knows and when did this become the matrix???
The YOU that knows your greatest potential WANTS to be great.
The YOU that you have lived your whole 'trying' to be...perhaps even wanting to be...
Wants to keep you the same mediocre, inauthentic facade that never changes.

More concerned that I was overweight and a very slow runner.
Okay, I sucked.
Trumped me even TRYING...
the irony?
at some point in my 20's ...I just started to run.
It was easy.
Effortless.
Like I'd been doing it all my life.
Sometimes 10k, 3 times a week.
It fills my soul, is a passion and gives me SO much.

I don't want to live in the 'what if's' ...and seriously. WHAT IF?
Leaning INTO the thing that scared me the most ...I could have been a track star? Given myself the confidence it needed at such a critical time (cuz who doesn't need more confidence in grade school...)
There is a reason this thing, whatever it may be, however small it seems to others...
IS big.
For you.
Because there is something so magnificently beautiful on the other side...
A passion perhaps? A new love...
Something that fills you.
Changes you.
Frees you.

So in ode to the fears that are looming and knowing what I didn't know then
I've decided to change the chorus:
You CAN do this
You won't ever 'fail' ...
You have what it takes
You know what you're doing
...You ARE good enough (repeat 10 times and fade out) ...
Let those bongos play.
It's a catchy tune hey?

I believe in you...
love,
jodi xo

Labels: inspiration, journal, motivation, personal

I believe that whatever we SEE and create in our minds...we can create in real life.
How could the mind create something that wasn't possible?
You have to meet luck halfway.
Create opportunity.
how?
The more places you go, the more people you connect with...
Asking for business, giving out cards especially when it feels uncomfortable...
People always ask how I end up shooting in such amazing places.
it's networking! it's reaching out...I ASK.
Wherever I go I must know someone that knows someone there! ...and if they don't, no biggie...if they DO...amazing. Good thing I asked :)

My dream has always been to photograph people and places all over the world.
I'm living my dream.
am I lucky?
Perhaps.
And I also do a LOT of preparation.

Ever notice that when you really start thinking about someone they call? ...or you're looking at new cars, one stands out in your search and then that's all you see on the road?
It's not like there's more of those same cars on the road. They've always been there.
It's your awareness that's changed.
They're in your awareness, thus you're bringing into focus what's on the forefront of your desire.
This is pretty huge.
And critical.
In getting...
lucky.

Insert one hell of a visualization addict (that's me) and you've got the first (and maybe the most powerful tool) to getting what you want.
Visual journals. Vision boards. La la la...I may have lost some of you know with those two words and if I have...GOOD LUCK to you. It's proven that so many athletes who go over the event in their mind...again and again, win. They get what they want. They create the feeling and thus generate an experience that they're familiar with. They know it. They've seen it, they've tasted it...they've experienced it.
Again and again the mind will default to a pattern of thinking that keeps you where you are, with what you have. Same people, same places...same things.
The reality that we are here is enough to believe that everything is possible. Moving past the limits of your beliefs is VERY challenging.
If we start with something so simple. And fun!
These visions, journals and boards are the foundation of something that inspires and moves me towards my dreams.
And for me...
They work.

I spent days on the above image that is now my screen saver on my huge desktop.
From places I want to go...to things I want to have, feelings I desire...people I aspire to be like, love I want in my life, family, laughter...and yes. A million dollars. Actually if anyone can find a billion dollar image - please send it to me. Appreciated :)
I am simple.
AND I love beautiful things.
I love quality things.
I appreciate the small things.
And I love luxury.
Am I not allowed to have these things?
OF COURSE I AM.
...we are here to enjoy all of the riches and possibilities of life. It's merely a belief system that is holding any of you back.

it's all there. And maybe there's more. Perhaps I haven't included enough.
The time invested in the searching and actually putting this together generated something within my mind...
Now I see it every day. I love it. It inspires me.
The seeds have been planted.

The rest of the work as mentioned above...
Be open! try new things, meet new people. Extend yourself...
Ask for what you want.
Rejected?
ask again!

My friends will attest to the CRAZY manifestations of my life that I firmly believe are due to the fact that I'm open ...
To life.
it's opportunities...
However it won't come to you...
...you must
go to it.

Good luck! ...xo
jodi renée


I wrote the above journal in 2004 ...of what I wanted to create in my life "If I couldn't fail"...
Avid journal writing junkie...


Above pic is an example of my 'visual journal'...I just rip the crap out of magazines pulling out things that I'm drawn too, things I like...love
It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to generate a feeling.
Then I glue it in a spiral sketch book - and voila! book O inspiration.
And the crazy thing about the "my life" ad for Varenna/Poliform?
....maybe you can tie together the manifestation with the Blog post not too long ago about Shaun Ford Design crrraaaazeeee.
I honestly just loved the design, the simplicity the ad...the tag line.
Now I work with a brilliant designer who USES those products, and designs those spaces.
Lucky?

anyone know a family or couple ...a place to stay in Ireland :)

Labels: creating, inspiration, journal, life, luck, quotes, success