Fearless Fabulous Females Ezine
Ideas, resources, and tools to help you can gain greater clarity and commitment to create a life filled with fun and fulfillment.
- Issue: Vol. 2, No. 4
- Date: February 28, 2008
In this Issue
> Feature Article:
Your Voice is Your Soul
> Teleconferences and Programs:
Launchpad Intensive Preview Call
> Fearless Recommendation:
Movies Featuring Unique Voices
Andrea Williams, Publisher Andrea@FearlessFabulousLife.com
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ISSN 1937-5026
A Note from Andrea
My husband I just came off of ten-day Master Cleanse. I’ll spare you the details, but the end result seems to be a feeling of lightness, yes, but also a desire to eat the whole kitchen in a single gulp! Seriously, I’m pleased to be theoretically “toxin free” but happy to know it will take another 46 years to get to the same state.
I have recommendations, if you ever embark on such a project:
- Take a Friday off to start, so you finish up over a second weekend. Dealing with the “real world” while in the foodless bubble poses unusual challenges.
- Avoid the supermarket as much as possible (stock up on lemons, maple syrup, sea salt, and tea ahead of time). We stopped to pick up a few household things on day 2, and were confused for cocaine addicts as we snorted fumes from the whole bean coffee grinder.
- Plan for the healthy meals you’ll eat once you come off the diet. Fantasies of cheeseburgers, ribs, hot fudge brownie sundaes, and champagne have pushed virtuous thoughts of almonds, strawberries and all things soy to the background. Hide your lunchbox... I’m coming for it.
This week’s issue is about clearing away the extra, and honing in on your true voice. What do you need to stand up and say and to whom?
I’m learning all about social networking this spring. Interested in becoming my friend? Visit my profile and chat me up!
Facebook: http://profile.to/FearlessAndrea/
LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/4/357/23b
With support and enthusiasm,
Teleconferences, Workshops, and Programs
Get Clear and Focused! Launchpad Intensive Preview Call
Sometimes I coach people for several months or a couple of years, but a select group of my clients are interested in digging in deep and fast eager to look at the whole pie to make big changes to create a more satisfying life.
I want to help you focus your strengths, engage your passions, and speak your authentic voice to manifest new possibilities in your world. I've put together a two-month coaching program that really gets it done -- strategically and efficiently, offering a bridge from fear of the unknown to a renewed sense of possibility for bright, ambitious women. Working one on one with you, I will help you articulate and execute your vision in record time. If you could create a perfect life for yourself, what would it look like?
In March and Aril, I will offer my Launchpad Intensive Coaching package to 10 individuals who are willing to be profiled at discounted pricing. Come to the preview call to learn more and get your questions answered.
Event: Launchpad Intensive Preview Call
Date & Time: Wednesday, March 5 at 12:00 noon Eastern
Duration: 30 Minutes
Phone-Number to Dial: 419-400-0203, Use Conference ID: 6471050#
You can also send me questions in advance at my Andrea@FearlessFabulousLife.com address. I'll respond to all questions during the call.
Open Call: A Business of One's Own(TM)
This spring, I will begin a six-month group coaching program for women who want to start their own businesses. From your initial idea to profits in six months or less, I intend to help 100 women follow their bliss and create an independent lifestyle for themselves before the end of 2008.
Event: A Business of One’s Own(TM) Planning Call
Date & Time: Wednesday, March 5 at 5:00pm Eastern
Duration: 60 minutes
Phone-Number to Dial:419-400-0203, Use Conference ID: 6471050#
I invite you to call in and offer ideas and pose questions. I want to be sure I build something that will best serve the women I coach.
If you can’t make the call and have ideas you’d like to pass along anyway, send them along to my Andrea@FearlessFabulousLife.com address.
Fearless Recommendation
Movies Featuring Unique Voices
With this week’s theme of using one’s unique voice, I offer three movie recommendations.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly tells the story of Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who in 1995 suffered a stroke that put him in a coma; he awakened mute and completely paralyzed and unable to speak. With the assistance of physical therapist who patiently teaches him to communicate by blinking his one moving eye, and the editorial assistant who transcribes his life experiences, Bauby is able to tell his story and voice the ideas and passions that were silenced by his accident.
Rocket Science is a quirky and memorable story about an awkward teenage stutterer, who is recruited by a smart, sassy girl to compete on the debate team. Instantly smitten, he works hard to overcome his impediment as a path to “getting the girl” and finds that his true voice rings clear when he sings.
The 2007 collections of animated and live action shorts nominated by the Academy of Motion Pictures provide a wide range of story telling in many languages with both comic and serious scripts. We caught both sets at the Red River Theatres in Concord, NH just before the award ceremony, but the collection should soon be available on Netflix.
Feature
Your Voice is Your Soul
In January 2007, Hillary Clinton announced that it was in New Hampshire she had found her voice. It was an unusual thing to say, if you think about how long she must have been planning to run for president. Even more so considering how long she has been in the public domain. But I think I recognize what she meant.
I know part of my evolution is “thinking out loud.” I test my thoughts and ideas on friends and colleagues, and as what I’ve said (or sometimes what I’ve written) lands I don’t usually change my mind but I often gain greater clarity. It is only by sharing what I feel and think that I fully show up for myself and others.
Unique Contribution
There is a subset of things that no one in the world can do or express better than you. We each have our distinct imprint and style. Watching Planet Earth, the BBC world flora and fauna series, it is impossible not to notice that each species has a speciality, an extreme feature that serves it and its ability to thrive. It also serves other animals in its environment.
I had the privilege of taking a workshop with Arthur Joseph, one of America’s leading authorities on the human voice and training. He says that we can “consciously integrate the power of life and love through the power of voice.” If you don’t believe that on the surface, think about the effect a parent can have telling a soothing story to a frightened child or the critical words an athlete on the field hears from a coach on the sidelines.
Say What You Mean
I meet so many women, who in their 40s and 50s have yet to connect with their authentic self. They are busy with careers, families, and various interests and life dribbles on, but the juice and enthusiasm they crave is just out of reach. I believe that ennui and feeling numb are the result of not tapping into our unique brilliance and finding outlets for expressing the voice of one’s soul.
Making the commitment to yourself -- carving out time and space -- to discover your deeper meaning is critical to your personal development, so that you may further refine your deepest held notions. There is profound significance in the process itself, and deeper resonance around and understanding about our purpose and contribution to be gained.
Personal Revelation
It is your responsibility to know your own voice and to make yourself heard. It may take deep investigation, facing deep-seated fears, and even psychoanalysis or therapy, but it is imperative to live a fully voiced life. The alternative is to have been silenced. And the greatest tragedy is when we silence ourselves.
The victory to own one’s voice is well worth the work to find it, when you consider all the good that can be done with it. From volunteer activities to mentoring and sharing life lessons to creating original works of art, personal expression has the capacity to change the world for the better.
Taking a Stand
Last year I decided that I would add my voice/vote/opinion to letters sent to Congressmen and Senators on different issues related to protecting animals, the environment, and the rights of humans everywhere. Every time I receive email messages from World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Save Dafur and others requesting that I add my name to a letter or petition, I do so and add a personal reflection of why these issues are important to me. And when a phone call to one of my legislators is required, I often take the two or three minutes to connect directly.
I urge you to do the same and to respond authentically to what calls to you and needs your individual contribution. There are many needs that must be addressed and quickly. I feel capable of positively influencing the many terrible situations that exist in this world and keeping more of the same from happening when I speak up. And each time I strengthen my “take action” muscle, my “voice” gets stronger.
© 2008 Andrea R. Williams
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Andrea Williams, The Make It Happen Strategist, is the creator of the Fearless, Fabulous Life Launch, a step-by-step, guided discovery and rejuvenation process to help inquisitive and creative women gain clarity about what is most important to them. If you're ready to to discover your genuine purpose and joy so you can create a life that maximizes your unique abilities, check out Andrea's coaching programs and resources now at www.FearlessFabulousLife.com, and sign up for “Fearless, Fabulous Female,” her free ezine on personal reinvention at midlife.
Fearless, Fabulous Quote
“It is important to be involved and stand up for what you believe in.”
—Ione Skye
About Andrea
Andrea Williams, The Make It Happen Strategist, works with boomers, entrepreneurs, and professionals in transition to make sense of their diverse life experiences and expertise, so they can discover their genuine purpose and joy to make new dreams real.
Andrea offers teleclasses, workshops, and other resources to help individuals and groups achieve greater self-awareness, success, and satisfaction. Learn more now at www.FearlessFabulousLife.com.
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