Yesterday, I finally finished a stepping stone in my path. Im so so grateful to every single person that helped me accomplish my work. People dont realize the little things they do for others sometimes impacts them in big ways. Being on the other side, and recieveing that help, motivates me to be more helpful to others on a day to day basis.

Sometimes in order to jump, you first need to fall and use that momentum to pick urself back up...to move even higher. I really beleive that.

What really got to me these past two weeks was that every single thing I wanted to do, even the simplest things such as printing something, became the most complicated task. I had to drive to 3 different towns, loose my work, get pulled over by a cop, just to print 4 items.
Literally, this is just one of soo many things I had to do that just became ridiculous.

Between my computer crashing, loosing my software, getting really sick, not sleeping, driving all over maryland, crashing peoples homes, loosing all my career work from the last 8 years.. Ive had a crazy week.
I think Ive learned more in this short time period than I have in the last 6 months.

Indivisible

Wayne Dyer is one of my favorite authors, and recently I picked up one of his older books and began skimming it...
This is an excerpt I pulled out:
"God is that which is indivisible. There's only one omnipresent presence called God. This presence is everywhere and is the force that creates and sustains life. It can never be divided or cut into pieces. There's only one power in the universe, not two. Everything in your experience as a human being appears to be in duality, however. Up exists because of its opposite, down. Light exists because of dark; right exists because of wrong. You've never seen a person with a front who doesn't have a back. Our physical world is a world of dichotomies and combinations of opposites, always divisible.
Silence, however, is one experience you can have that's indivisible. You cut silence in half, and all you get is more silence. There's only silence. Therefore silence is your one way to experience the oneness and the indivisibility of God. This is why you want to meditate. This is how you know God rather than having to settle for knowing about God.
You will find your answers in the silence. Remember: It's out of the void, the emptiness, that everything was created. When you write a musical note, the silence from which it comes is just as much a part of the note as is the sound. So it is with healing any thing or any relationship. Going into the quiet and listening will inspire you."

Gilah Press + Branding

AIGA was sponsoring an event at Gilah Press on last Wednesday to show students a demo on the letter press. I went with a few students from my school but the rest of the people there were from MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art). In the demo they showed us how they use these old machines from the 1900s to create impressions on various printed work for their clients. Its not a common way of printing but it really creates fabulous results.

Okay so I have to go off about MICA students a little bit. For those of you who dont know -they are the ones that make all the other design students in this area look bad. They take all the good jobs from the larger corportations like Cocola, National Gallery, Under Armour.. etc etc...

Anyway back to Gilah Press... they are a fairly small business in Baltimore but man do they make bucks. It costs around 500$ to get your business cards done there. However, I have to say the quality that goes into their design pieces are really high end. It really leaves an impression (literally- lol yea i know im korny)....It really goes to show the importance of branding. At one of my last internships they taught me about the realtionship of branding and business. Based on their research it takes 3-5 years for a small business to start making profit. However, if they are smart and do significant branding before the business actually opens, they are able to gain profit within the first 6 months-1 year. The results really really shocked me. There were two clients at the time we were working with (to do full branding before they launched).. and it was amazing the response they were recieving even within the first month. It really doesnt matter how great your products or services are.. if you dont communicate well and often, consistently and creativily you cant expect to have miracles. My aunt recently started a business 3 months ago and I was helping her branding (before she had her company, a president, the money, the service, anything)...however since her branding was soo strong and her "business" was so well put together, she was able to get two contracts within the first three months. Anyway thats basically my rant about branding. I get really irritated when people dont see the importance of this. To me its so obvious -- but whatever :)

Kiva

Kiva is an international organization that connects people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. This person-to-person micro-lending website, allows any individual to directly lend money to entrepreneurs in third world countries.

Each entrepreneurs is given a certain time period to return their money through the community organization that sponsors them. This money is then reprocessed in the system to be given to another individual who needs help. Kiva also allows you to create groups, in order to encourage friends and family to send money as well. The minimum amount of money one can donate is $25.

Recently, I had the opportunity to work with a group of young children who wanted to sponsor individuals on this site. These children who are inbetween the ages of 12 and under, saved up their own money and choose to be part of this process. Im so proud of them and hopefully we can expand this project with other people who are interesed.

Hasan, 41, lives in Bekaa, Lebanon with his wife and their four children. He has been breeding livestock for six years. Hasan is requesting a loan of $1000 USD from Al Majmoua in order to purchase feed for the livestock and to repay his debts.

Feild Organization Asasah, a partner of Save the Children

Gulzar Baji is a 37-year-old married lady and has resided in a city named Multan, Pakistan for the past 24 years. Her husband's name is Allah Wasaya and he has had a dairy business for the past 10 years. He sells milk in the milk shops and in the community as well. Gulzar Baji helps him by milking the buffalo. Presently he has one buffalo at home. Gulzar Baji has three kids: one son and two daughters. All of her kids are getting an education from a school which located near their house.

For more information go to Kiva.org

Electrocuted

I was talking to my friends in the library as I was unplugging my computer. Those who have macs know its difficult to pull out your charger sometimes, especially if you have the extension cord attached to the back. Well anyways my charger was in a large outlet and I was continuously tugging on it as I was talking. My lack of attention caused me to stick my ring finger right on the sockets ... and BAM! I got shocked. -_-
It was absolutely fabulous as the electricity went up to my elbow and my finger turned red. Yes, being the girl that I am I had to scream in front of everyone (just a little bit :} .

This is the second time I have gotten electrocuted in the last year. The first time it happened I was trying to pull out the plug for my hairdryer and I just fubbled.



I know I havnt been updating lately ...but I will try to get on it !

There is a certain depth of understanding you gain from experience that cannot be taught in books. While books may give you knowledge, experience brings about wisdom. Being conscious, open-minded, alert can help you absorb what you need.
Sometimes painful experiences are the ones you should be most thankful for. Appreciating your experiences for simply what they are can help you reach better understanding of life.