Mondo Beyondo for 2010 and BEYOND-o

Have you heard about Mondo Beyondo? It’s all about dreaming big, really big, letting yourself say the big, wild, crazy dreams that are in your soul, the ones the gremlins shout the loudest at, the ones that scare the beejesus out of you because they are what you really want to pursue.

I  made a mondo beyondo list a while ago (pictured above), but I didn’t do anything with it. Because, well, it’s scary to announce your biggest, wildest dreams. But it’s not very Mondo or Beyondo if you don’t share them. If you don’t really release them out into the world. So, I finally feel ready to shout to the world, Hey world, these are my dreams. This is what I want in my life. I am going to make it happen, I’m ready! It seems like the right time to release these out into the universe. Especially since I have chosen Joy as my word of the year, and told the Universe in no uncertain terms on Dec. 31 that I intended to focus on creativity, fun and photography this year.

Here is my Mondo Beyondo list.

It reads:

I, Kelly Ann Shaw, do solemnly vow to make this come true.

Dear Universe,

I welcome your assistance and signs.

A photo show of my work in a gallery.

A successful photography business, both my portraits and my art photos

Time to really travel in Italy, Greece, Ireland, Spain

Publish a photo book of people I meet with their stories(this one surprised me a bit)

Have an awesome, life long love adventure with Brian

Publish several of my book stories

Not needing to work an office desk job because my photography and writing pays the bills

Support Brian emotionally as he grows his dreams

Run and finish a marathon

Get and stay in awesome shape

Spend time living on an island with B

Have a story published in a magazine with photos that I took

Pay off all our debt

Make enough to help my parents financially

The little details around the collage include:

Dream, hope, believe, Dream Big, reach for the stars, bloom, way to go, There are many wonderful things that will never be done if you do not do them.

Come on Universe, let’s get busy!

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Walk the misty, morning path

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Where fairies dwell

In the misty morning light

Among fields of white fluffy sproutlings

In little nooks and crannies in moss and lichen covered roots

In leaves that catch and hold onto sunshine

 

Where do you find fairies and magic?

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Dream growing, new site, portfolio pics

Photography has become such a strong passion of mine. I love it. I love sharing how I view the world. And I want to start making photography more than just a passion. I want to grow a business. Put myself out there. Take the risk because to pursue something I love so much means pursuing joy as work, and I love that.

Before the wedding, I created a craigslist ad, looking for wedding dress models and kids for portraits. In exchange for them helping me to build my portfolio, I would give them a few free prints and a few photos for free.

I had my first portfolio session yesterday with a girl who is getting married in November and wanted pictures in her wedding dress. She brought her maid of honor, and they were great to work with. Fun. Open to being silly. Not self-conscious around the camera.

I am very very happy with the photos I got, these will be great to add to my portfolio. I spent today creating a new professional photography site, and I would like to introduce you to Flying Mermaid Photography I am very, very excited about it!!

And I wanted to share some of my favorite photos from my first ever bridal session. I had so much fun on this photo shoot.

She was very sassy in a great way

I asked them if they would mind getting silly. “It’s what we do!”

I bought a parasol from this great vintage store, and she was great with playing with it.

Love the sass.

My FAVORITE from the session

Love the boots with the dress

How fun is this??

Ahh, girlfriends

Nice detail

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Announcing…

Mr. and Mrs. Flying Mermaid!!

The day was perfect and magical and filled with lots of laughter and dancing on the beach. I couldn’t be happier.

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Permission

Me, and my wonderful friend Maggie, getting ready for my bachelorette tea party.

Everyone needs permission for something.

For me, I have never been one who needs permission to be silly or kooky or kid-like. I dance in grocery stores. I conduct Christmas Eve Sarajevo in coffee shops (while holding a latte…the song came on, I had to conduct, it’s required…). I go on swings or start twirling around for no reason. I talk to trees and give them big hugs. I am quick to tell strangers I am a mermaid. If a store has a little kid door, you can bet I’m going in it. I fly in the wind all the time. I often use my super-secret James Bond sneak walk with finger guns when I am walking into random buildings. I believe I magically open automatic doors when I make a big “open sesame” gesture. I will wear fruit stickers on my face while out in public. I have to stick my tongue out at every video camera I see.

And of course…playing dress up. I am a huge fan of playing dress up. So having a tea party with boas and fancy hats and crazy glasses was the natural way for me to have a bachelorette party.

After the tea party, I kept my boa and glasses on as we wandered around a street festival. I love watching reactions to stuff like this. Some people try not to stare. Some people look and smile a little. And then there are the ones I love the most, the people who just light up and grin, and say I love what you wearing, I would love to wear something like that. I should do that!

I encourage these people as much as possible. Well, why don’t you? Of course you should! Have fun! Celebrate your inner crazy, let yourself play!

I think a lot of people need permission to be silly. As “grown ups,” people feel like they are supposed to be serious. They have a fear of, what will people think of me? They feel too self-conscious. They think, what if I look silly and people laugh at me?

My answer here is….so what? So what if people look at you? I can guarantee a lot of them are admiring your guts to do something silly. I bet more are wishing “they could do that, too.” And I can guarantee you this too…being silly isn’t going to have you wind up in jail (I’ll assume you will keep your silliness in legal limits!). Being silly and crazy and celebrating your inner five-year-old isn’t going to make it so that the bank cancels your loan or you lose your prime parking spot at work. But I bet that it will make you feel lighter. Freer. Happier. Even if it is just for a few minutes. Go on. Try it. I double dog dare you.

So, this right here is me giving you the permission you are waiting for, for whatever you need permission for. You have permission to be silly. You have permission to *gasp* not be perfect. You have permission do something you have always thought to yourself, I wish I could do that. You have permission to try something new. You have permission to not be so hard on yourself. You have permission to make time for YOU, no matter how busy you are, even if it only five minutes. You have permission, it’s ok.

Now go and do it.

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An update

An update to this post:

Candlelight for a magic spell

WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! We just got a call from our landlord, and they are sending out the deposit, plus the pet deposit, minus a $120 cleaning fee, by Monday.

This was very, very, very much appreciated!

and um….we never paid April rent and just assumed that they had kept the security deposit for that rent, but…no! (they never mentioned it, so I certainly wasn’t going to!)

It is very powerful to send out your very clear prayers to the universe, and to express gratitude for the abundance you have already received and the abundance that you will continue to receive, the abundance that already exists for you but might be taking a bit of time to show up in a real, visible way.

I have found this to be true on many occasions, and I am always surprised when it works, but it does. And Universe, THANK YOU! I am grateful for the abundance that you have provided and will continue to provide!

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Some recent magic moments

I have been encountering a lot of magic moments, little moments of serendipity and joy and fun…and oh yeah, a moment that gave me a big AHA! moment, one that put me more firmly on a path that I didn’t fully accept that I was on but now realize that I have been on this path for a while now. Considering both B and I have been feeling burnt out and on overload with everything that has been going on, and the wedding now 23 days away, I am cherishing these little magic moments.

Today, I was at Whole Foods to pick up lunch (the easiest place for me to find lunch and where I always head if I didn’t bring lunch to work with me) and they had, are you ready, vegan chocolate mousse!!! Now this might not sound like a big deal, but when you are used to never having any of the dessert options and then you finally find something that you can eat, you start babbling like a loon to the checkout girl about how happy you are to have a dessert option.

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Also while in the grocery store, I saw a mom shopping with her three young kids, one of whom was wearing a silver sparkly cape! I asked him if he was a superhero, he said yes, and when I asked what his power was, I think he said being a mascot (or masking?) and fighting. I told him I don’t normally get to meet superheroes while grocery shopping and it was very exciting for me!

******

B and I went out to Sunset Beach, NC, last weekend to see where we will be getting married (22 days tomorrow!) and where we will be staying the night before. Sunset Beach is gorgeous, and the water was warm enough to go swimming! I was a very happy mermaid. While we were strolling down the beach, my trusy camera over one shoulder, we passed a guy who looked familiar to me. “That looks just like Don, our wedding officiant,” I whispered to B. “I really think it is Don, let’s go see.”

We turn around, and go back to the gentleman sunning himself on the beach. “Excuse me, sir, are you Don Beach?” To our delight, it was him, and we got to meet his lovely wife as well, who will be our photographer. We found Don online and weren’t going to meet him until the ceremony, so I was very happy to have a serendipitous moment and meet him while strolling the beach. He had suggested Sunset Beach as the location, and I definitely have to agree that it will be the perfect location for us. 🙂

*****

And the AHA! moment? I was asked to shoot the Administrative Professionals Day luncheon that my work was throwing. I was there, shooting away, when the guest speaker started talking. She was talking about excellence in action — where do you feel excellent? What do you feel most alive doing? What do you need to be doing that you aren’t? What are your gifts that need to be expressed?

I felt like she was talking directly to me. The more she talked, the more something became crystal clear in my mind — photography. Photography is what I love doing. It is a gift and talent and passion that I was never expecting to find, and yet it is so much a part of me, and it is definitely when I feel most alive and engaged and present. And on my way back to the office, I had an image of myself as a full-time photographer, and it was a surprisingly easy image to hold onto.

Since then, I have been doing a bunch of photoshoots for work for an internal directory we are creating, and it just keep reminding me how much I have doing it. I’ve also started to take steps toward this goal. I replied to several Craig’s List ads looking for a photographer (haven’t heard back, but I figure just reaching out and saying yes, I am a photographer, was a great first step). I found out that one of my favorite photographer/bloggers will be offering consulting sessions that can be done electronically, and I wrote to see about pricing.

I started shooting on a whim, and the more I played it, the more I loved it, and gradually it became more and more of a deep love. To say and realize that I want to do this full-time, and to start taking steps toward that, is hugely exciting!

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Goddesses, unicorns and more

One of my favorite places to go on a photo safari is the Last Unicorn, a unique garden store where everything is outside, and you wander around paths where you find something incredible around every corner. There is a lot of whimsy and magic all around there.

Where did you find whimsy and magic this weekend? Did you take time to notice it in your everyday surroundings?

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Candlelight for a magic spell

I am a mermaid in need of some magic right now. And all good magic spells should start with some candle light. And this candle is exactly the right one, as it is from a company called Maison (french for house, and as it turns out, I need house magic). The scent is pomegranate and mango, and let me tell you, it is divine. And the color is this lovely, rich red. Swoon.

Why do I need house magic when I just bought a beautiful new house? I need house magic for the rental house that we left. I am on the lease through the end of April, unless they rent it out before that. And I realize I have been sabotaging my own efforts by saying and thinking things like, I feel chained to that house, I feel like my work there is never-ending, it is the move that won’t end. I just mailed in the March rent payment, and have also been saying unproductive things like I don’t think they are going to give us the security deposit back.

No more. I am changing my focus on this. And asking for magic in the process.

Dear Universe,

The rental house came to me at a time when I really needed it, when it was either find a place to live or look at moving out of North Carolina, at least temporarily. This was my first week in the state, after a disastrous first rental house experience here.

Thank you for sending me the house when you did and letting us get in the house so quickly.

For the most part, living there was a good experience. I enjoyed living there, the neighborhood was nice and quiet, it was what I needed at the time.

A lot happened while I lived there, including some major life changes. And it all led to now, to when B and I were able to find this perfect, lovely, amazing home for us and MyraWonderPup. I’ve been here a month and this already feels like home. I am so grateful to be here, and for how the move fell into place.

Now, I need you to release me from the rental house. I no longer need it. I am not chained to it, we walked away freely, to follow an amazing opportunity.We are ready to be financially free from the house. I believe the house will rent quickly now. I believe we won’t have to pay any more rent, and I believe we will get our security deposit returned to us.

Thank you for all the blessings and assistance, with the rental house when we needed it and our new home, when we were ready for it. Now I am asking for your assistance to free us from the house that we no longer need.

Love,

The Flying Mermaid.

PS, Universe, you rock in many ways, but a special thank you for the snow day you sent today, it was just what I needed!

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