I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

A New Gig

I've been selected to blog for a sustainability website (!) starting in December about how to live like a European in Seattle. I just got back from Italy and Switzerland so I'm very excited to begin writing more on my ideas of how not to flee the country in search of saving the world.
Stay tuned for an update about the address and more details!

New Phase in Life

I'm about to turn 30, which is exciting in and of itself. 3 decades on this planet! 1/4 of my life has been lived already!

I currently work for a law firm on Queen Anne and I am seeing signs that it's time to transition so I thought I would take some time to talk about what I am looking for.

In the next phase of my life I make a living by doing what I love: practicing Reiki, making raw food, helping people use intentional energy in their homes, and writing for sustainable community. Those four activities are the gifts I have to offer currently and I want to make full use of them!

I work 4-6 hours a day, feel relaxed, and serve the world to the best of my ability. I am constantly learning new things to incorporate and share with others. We save money for workshops, travel, and experiences that enrich our lives and the lives of others.

I love writing about community, sustainability, and cultural creatives. Change is not only possible, it's inevitable.

Check out some of my other blogs to find out what I am up to or who I'm reading.

You Gotta Have Faith

This is a partial comment on my brother's blog found here.

"Science opens the door, and you yourself must go through it. At that threshold, at that gate, at that either-or space, you are standing on science, and the final reach above your outstretched arms is Faith."

Having faith is ultimately the most personal experience you can have. No one can have faith for you or convince your prematurely to have faith, so when one finally *feels* the Faith, that's when one knows: Oh, there you are, god. I feel intimately connected to faith and hope. It's my way of telling god that I am paying attention. If I don't acknowledge something with prayer, faith, hope, etc., then I don't see the Law of Attraction coming to help me out. So I don't have to convince anyone that god is real, because god is real to ME. I also don't have to apologize for my belief in god, claiming that it's not Judeo-Christian. It's no one's business how I got to god. I don't ram it down any throats or recklessly "leave it all up to go." We have a system all worked out, and it's successful.

I believe that it's not necessarily important to "sell" people on your (one's) ideas, but rather to buy in to your own ideas so fully that you can be counted on the roster of "Awake" and then head out to do your work, whatever it is. We don't have to have the one perfect thought. I know that when I can't share the oneness I feel, it doesn't mean it's not oneness, it just means I need to get deeper into the *feeling* and stop worrying about sharing, since I'm ALREADY sharing it (it's ONENESS for goodness sakes!).

Writing is becoming that way for me. Not everyone will love my words. Getting published is a good way to make a living, but it doesn't define authorship or the act of being a writer. I'm a writer right now.
I'm going to buy into my ideas, my writing, more fully. It's the only work I truly need to do.

To Write or Not To Write...

That WAS the question. But after 4.5 days in Port Townsend at an awesome and totally inspiriung writer's conference, it's not a question anymore. I'm a writer and it's time to write.

The conference was great for several reasons:
1) It was in Port Townsend, which is a great place. There is a nice food co-op, several lovely places to eat, and nice window shopping. Plus, there are some AMAZING homes there.

2) The conference itself was filled with really talented writers. It's nice to be in the company of people who get what you do and are also inspiring.

3) The faculty (writeitreal.com) was exceptional. Lots of different angles on how and what to write. Really helpful.

4) I had lots of alone time to myself to write to my heart's content. I loved it. I needed it. I will do it again.

Blogging

A blog about blogging, huh? Very postmodern.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying blogging for jew-ish.com. My blog is called Half-Torah and it's about my interfaith life and relationship (get it, HALF-Torah?) Anyway, it been a real pleasure writing about Jew-ish things and how my life weave in and out of Judaism or how Judaism weaves in and out of my life. It's very interesting, if I do say so myself.

I'm not writing much of anything else, but at least the blogging is keeping me interested in something.

Stay tuned though because I am going to a writing conference and hopefully going to start writing and submiting personal essays. Yay!

Writing Gigs

I've started blogging for jew-ish.com and it's been great. The theme is interfaith relationships and it's been really fun to blog every morning about different Jewish things. Sometimes they are not so Jewish and that's the whole point.
Check it out at: jew-ish.com
I also contributed to the newsletter of Raw NOW and will be the feature piece. It's called "Organized Raw-ligion"
Plus, I wrote for another raw-inspired publication/book project, so we'll see how that goes.
Wow, writing all over the place!
I'm going to go back to writing for Associated Content because I really liked it, even though the pay isn't the greatest. I get to practice my craft and it motivates me to think about other things I can write. Plus, I can write about the same topic in different ways for other publications, once I get a feel for what I want to write about. It's great.