a year of Wooden

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I gained so much from doing my year of kindness challenge this past year, that I decided I wanted to take on a new year-long project in 2014. When I was brainstorming ideas I kept coming back to my blog’s title, Day-by-Day Masterpiece. It was inspired by one of my favorite sayings, “Make each day your masterpiece” from the late great basketball coach John Wooden. The saying is part of Coach Wooden’s 7 Point Creed, which was given to him by his father Joshua Wooden upon his graduation from high school.

My dad gave my brother and me copies of the 7 Point Creed, which we both carry around in our wallets. As I was reading over the creed an idea began to form. The more I thought about it, the more excited I became. The past couple days I have been on the edge of my seat to share this with you!

This year {and perfect timing, in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Coach Wooden’s first NCAA basketball championship title} I present to you …

a year of wooden

This year I am going to focus month-by-month on a different item from Coach Wooden’s 7 Point creed, rounding out the other months with his “two sets of three.” The goal will be to add on a new trait each month while continuing to do the items from the previous months … so that by December 2014, I’ll be doing all the items, bringing everything together to “make each day a masterpiece”! I’m going to start off with the first item on Wooden’s 7 Point Creed:

  • January: Drink deeply from good books.

This month, I’m going to focus on reading books by Wooden and about him, a new one each week. I’m kicking things off this week by rereading my dad’s wonderful new book Wooden & Me: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach & Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece.”

If you’d like to follow along with me, you can pick up a copy of Wooden & Me here or on Amazon — both print and ebooks are available!

Have a masterful week!

year of kindness challenge: wrap-up + reflections

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year of kindness button

Last week’s kindness challenge — the final challenge in this Year of Kindness — was to forgive someone. I am a fierce believer in forgiveness. When you forgive someone, you set yourself free from the cage of anger and pain and bitterness. As I mentioned before, this past year was a tough one for me at times. There was so much love and growth and laughter, but there was a lot of pain, too. The hardest part was knowing that I caused others pain, in particular two people I cared for deeply. I can’t know, and can’t control, whether they ever forgive me. But this past week, crossing the bridge from 2013 into the sparkling new year 2014, I knew I had to forgive myself.

Sometimes, real life is messy and difficult. Sometimes, being true to yourself and listening to your gut creates collateral damage. Sometimes, you are confronted with a decision and there is no pain-free choice to make. But I know in my heart that I made the right one. Sometimes, pain is necessary to avoid a much greater avalanche of pain in the future.

So this week, I finally wrote a letter of forgiveness. To myself. And I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. It was a fitting end to this year of kind acts: being kind to myself.

I learned and grew so much from this year of kindness challenge.

kindness collage

Here are my top 5 take-aways:

1. Aesop is right: “No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” This year has solidified my belief that even small acts of compassion and joy — smiles, cards, a few minutes out of your day to help someone — can make a big difference. You never know how very much your kindness might mean to someone!

2. Want to be happy? Be kind. I learned that if I’m in a sad or grumpy mood for whatever reason, the quickest way to turn my day around is to do an act of kindness for someone else.

3. Little by little, big things can happen. This time last year, the idea of doing 52 unique random acts of kindness seemed like a huge, overwhelming task. But by focusing on one act per week and integrating it into my routine, doing acts of kindness became a habit — something I soon looked forward to every week! I was also so inspired by the support and encouraging words I received from readers and fellow bloggers. Special thanks to Lauren, Lindsay, Danica, and Gayle for contributing kindness act ideas for the project!

4. Being brave and putting yourself out there is SO worth it. There were times I was nervous to do acts of kindness. Striking up conversations with strangers, buying coffee for people in line behind me, reaching outside my comfort zone … it can be scary to put yourself out there! But every single time, I was left with a huge smile on my face and gratitude in my heart.

5. Have faith. It’s a magical world we live in. Time and again, I have been blown away this past year by the wonderful connections and coincidences that have happened — and by the acts of kindness that others have done for me! Keeping track of acts of kindness has also made me more aware that we are all connected.

bday girl

As always, in love & kindness,
❤ Dallas

P.S.: Head on over to this Year of Kindness Challenge page to see all the archived posts from the entire year!

Questions of the day:

  • What is something you need to forgive yourself for?
  • What are your final thoughts & reflections on this year of kindness?

goals for the week of 1/5

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It’s the first week of goal-setting in the new year! How are your new years goals and resolutions coming along so far? Here’s a post I did this week on my writing blog with some motivation tips {that are applicable for other goals outside of writing} if you’d like to check it out!

My new year has been off to a bit of a slow start because I came down with a pretty yucky head cold. It’s forced me to slow down, savor time with my family, rest a lot, and now that I’m beginning to feel better it’s made me appreciate my good health more than ever.

weekly goals

Here’s how I did on my goals from this past week:
– write 10 pages
– donate purged clothes, books and magazines {doing this tomorrow!}
– mail thank you notes & happy new year cards
– finish reading Edible Stories and MWF seeking BFF
– phone dates with two friends

And here are my goals for this upcoming week:
– write 10 pages
– donate purged clothes, books and magazines
– complete first five chapters of copyediting project
– finish rereading The Architect of Flowers by William Lychack {a superb writer who I feel lucky enough to call my friend!}
– get together with three friends

Question of the day:

  • What are your goals for this week?

fabulous friday #6

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Hooray, it’s the first Friday of 2014! What fun things do you have on the agenda?

Here’s what I’m loving right now:

1. I love music and I love senior citizens, so a friend recommended I watch the documentary film Young at Heart about a senior citizens choir group that performs rock songs. I watched it with my brother and I can’t remember the last time I saw such an amazingly inspirational movie. I even cried, and movies hardly ever make me cry. Here’s a sneak peak: watch their beautiful rendition of the Coldplay classic “Fix You.”

young at heart

2. Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate. Pour in some Kahlua and you’ve really got it made!

starbucks cocoa

3. Sara Bareilles’ gorgeously bittersweet song “Manhattan.” I especially love the live version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05GZ6G2FZLM

4. Jon Stewart’s heartfelt send-off to John Oliver, who is getting his own show on HBO and so is leaving The Daily Show after 7 years. I got teary-eyed at the end, I’ll admit!

5. Board game night with my family. We played Sorry! and it was a close race … in the end, Greg stealthily snuck up from dead last place to a thrilling comeback victory! I, on the other hand, went from leading the pack to ending the game in fourth-and-last place. I blame my red checker piece! {At some point in childhood we lost one of the red pieces so the checker became a substitute.} Mr. Mur-dog wanted in on the fun and was sassy, as usual.

fam board game

close game

red checker piece

sassy murray

Questions of the day:

  • What are you loving right now?
  • What are your plans for this first weekend of 2014?

my goals for 2014

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Happy New Year, everyone!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Every year on January 1st, I reflect on my goals from the past year and set new goals for the new year. I organize them into subtopics because it helps me have more of a handle on the different facets of my life.

Here’s how I did on my goals for 2013:

Writing Goals
1. Write! 400 words. Every day. No excuses. {I wrote more than 146,000 words this year, but I’m still working on establishing a solid writing routine… I’ll consider this goal halfway checked}
2. Revise thesis manuscript and send to agent. {Getting there… still revising, don’t want to rush the process!}
3. Complete YA manuscript.
4. Resubmit story collection to prizes & small presses.
5. Write a new one-act play.
6. Write a full-length play. {Started, but not completed}
7. Finish Verna novella & put out as an ebook. {Didn’t get around to this one}
8. Write three blog posts a week.
9. Read three short stories a week.
10. Read 40 books by end of year.

Write On! For Literacy Goals
1. Send out a newsletter every other month. {Sent out 3 newsletters, not 6}
2. Teach a summer writing camp.
3. Teach a winter writing camp.
4. Teach a college essay writing camp.
5. Speak to 10 classes/orgs/radio shows.
6. Make Pimple an ebook.
7. Hold a Holiday Book Drive.
8. Compile writing camp ebook/online program. {Still working on this!}

Professional Goals
1. Apply to fellowships & Ph.D. programs.
2. Submit to a literary magazine every other week.
3. Submit a query for a freelance article every month. {Sent out 8, not 12}
4. Apply to at least 3 conferences/workshops.
5. Submit to Literary Awards.
6. Update & expand teaching website.
7. Put 10% of every paycheck into savings.
8. Put $1,000 into Roth IRA at end of year.

Healthy Life Goals
1. Exercise/yoga at least 3 days a week. {Started doing zumba, too!}
2. Do core work 6 days a week. {Still working on making this a habit}
3. Stretch every day. {Working on this}
4. Meditate at least 3 days a week. {Currently once a week and building up to more}
5. Continue with meal planning & healthy cooking schedule.
6. Clean apartment every weekend.
7. Chronicle weekly acts of kindness on blog.
8. Send a card/letter to Gramps every other week.
9. Call Grandma & Grandpap every other weekend. {I’m living with them now … crazy how much can change in a year!}
10. Count my blessings every night.

weekly goals

Here are my goals for 2014:

Writing Goals
1. Establish writing routine. 400 words. Every day. No excuses.
2. Revise thesis manuscript and send to agent.
3. Complete memoir manuscript.
4. Complete 200 pgs of new novel.
5. Write a new one-act play.
6. Write a full-length play.
7. Finish Verna novella & put out as an ebook.
8. Write three blog posts a week.
9. Read at least one short story a week.
10. Read at least 40 books.

Write On! For Literacy Goals
1. Send out a newsletter every other month.
2. Become an official nonprofit organization.
3. Teach a summer writing camp.
4. Teach a winter writing camp.
5. Teach a college essay/app seminar.
6. New ebook of work by young writers.
7. Compile Writing Camp ebook/program
8. Hold a Holiday Book Drive.

Professional Goals
1. Apply to fellowships & Ph.D. programs.
2. Send out 52 submissions.
3. Submit 12 freelance queries.
4. Launch tutoring business.
5. Publicity: 10 talks/blog posts/radio shows.
6. Conduct 5 writing workshops.
7. Put 10% of every paycheck into savings.
8. Put $1,000 into Roth IRA at end of year.

Healthy Life Goals
1. Exercise 3 days a week.
2. Do core work 5 days a week.
3. Stretch every day.
4. Meditate at least 3 days a week.
5. Smoothie and/or salad every day.
6. Send a card/letter to Gramps every other week.
7. Participate in She Reads Truth.
8. Complete Year of Wooden challenge.
9. Journal at least once a week.
10. Pray & count my blessings every night.

Questions of the morning:

  • What are your goals for 2014?
  • How do you organize your goals and stay motivated throughout the year?

highlights of 2013

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Happy New Year’s Eve! Whether you’re painting the town red or cuddling up with those you love and watching the ball drop on TV {I’ll be doing the latter!} I hope you give 2013 a stellar send-off tonight. Have fun and be safe!

Here are some of my highlights from the past year:

  • Attended the Key West Literary Seminar in Key West, Florida, where I spent a week learning from amazing writers, made some fabulous new friends, and met one of my literary idols — Judy Blume!

key west workshop w:judy

  • Submitted my thesis and graduated from Purdue with my M.F.A. in Fiction Writing! What made it even more special was that my parents, grandparents, and Holly traveled to West Lafayette for my thesis reading.

me and hol thesis reading

my birthday wish

cuz bride!

with writing campers at ceremony

  • I bought my first new car, a Prius C that I named Charley!

charley!

me and gma

red tour bus

  • Reconnected with my friend Dana, one of the sweetest people I know {and her adorable dog Heidi, a.k.a. Mr. Mur-dog’s girlfriend!}

dana and heidi

baby photobomb

jess's show

after the game

DSC00016

family with gramps

This year I also:
– celebrated my 10-year anniversary of climbing Mt. Whitney
– tried zumba for the first time
– began attending church regularly
– de-cluttered & simplified my possessions
– completed my Year of Kindness challenge
– celebrated the release of my dad’s new book Wooden & Me
– met up in person with my blogger friend Sarah @ The Pajama Chef and bumped into Julie @ Peanut Butter Fingers in the middle of San Francisco
– went to a hot-air balloon festival
– read 71 books
– joined Foodie Pen-Pals @ The Lean Green Bean
– got on board the smoothie train
– and tried my hand at some new craft projects and recipes!

What an incredible year it has been. Tomorrow I’ll share my goals and dreams for 2014… but for now, it’s your turn!

Questions of the day:

  • What are your highlights from 2013?
  • What new things did you try this past year?

year of kindness challenge: week 52

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And just like that, we’re into our very final week of this year of kindness challenge. What a magical journey it has been, friends! Thank you to everyone who has participated along with me, suggested ideas for acts of kindness, and sent me encouraging emails and comments on my posts.

year of kindness button

One year ago, I started this year of kindness challenge as a way of trying to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Now, looking back, I believe it made the biggest positive difference in my own life. 2013 has been a rollercoaster of a year for me, with some of the biggest challenges I’ve ever gone through, and these acts of kindness were my lifeline. The people I’ve met along the way are now invaluable friends. I’ll be sharing the top five lessons I learned in next week’s wrap-up post, but for now, I just want to say this: THANK YOU! 

kind note

This past week’s kindness challenge {inspired by Martha Richards, the Executive Director of the WomenArts Foundation} was to reach out to an artist whose work touches you and tell him or her what you love about their work. I sent cards to two of my favorite local artists and teachers, Patti Post and Rima Muna. {Click on their names to visit their websites and check out their stunning artwork!}

artist notes

with rima

My brother and I with Rima at one of her art shows, a couple years ago.

The Week 52 Kindness Challenge, as we head into this sparkling new year, is to forgive someone. You can write a letter of forgiveness; you don’t even need to send it. You can have your own ceremony of letting go: burn a slip of paper in the fire to symbolize your release of anger and hurt. The person you forgive might even be yourself.  

As always, blog about your experiences and include your links in the comments section below, or feel free to send me an email at dallaswoodburn AT gmail DOT com.

Oh, and before I wrap this up I also wanted to share this fabulous article that I came across thanks to Danica at It’s Progression: http://www.wellnesstoday.com/beauty-inspiration/8-messages-to-teach-young-women-and-girls-about-happiness

Savor these final hours of 2013, and let’s ring in 2014 with kindness!
-Dallas

P.S.: Head on over to this Year of Kindness Challenge page to see all the archived posts from the previous 51 weeks!

Questions of the day:

  • What are you doing to celebrate New Year’s?
  • What acts of kindness happened in your life this past week?

goals for the week of 12/29

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And just like that … we’re into the final days of 2013. Hard to believe!

This morning at church the sermon was all about letting go of your preconceived notions and the stories you tell yourself about what your life “should” look like or what “should” happen, and to open yourself up to all the incredible possibilities around you. We each went up to the front and released a small square of flash paper into a candle flame to symbolize something we want to let go of in this upcoming year. It was a surprisingly moving and empowering exercise. I actually got tears in my eyes when I watched my little square of paper burst into flame. I want to let go of my desire to control every aspect of my life and to be more open to the joy and excitement of the unknown — to embrace life’s adventures instead of being afraid. 

weekly goals

Here’s how I did on my goals from this past week:
– take cookies & cards to the nursing home
– finish reading The Tea Rose
– soak up time with my family and friends!
– journal/reflect on this past year
– set my goals for 2014, wooooohoooo! {post on this coming soon!}

And here are my goals for this upcoming week:
– write 10 pages
– donate purged clothes, books and magazines
– mail thank you notes & happy new year cards
– finish reading Edible Stories and MWF seeking BFF
– phone dates with two friends

Question of the day:

  • What are your goals for this week?
  • What is something you want to let go of in this new year?

fabulous friday #5

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It’s the last friday of 2013, and it’s been far too long since I’ve done a “fabulous friday” post. So here you go…

… 5 things I’m loving right now

1. Getting to spend time with my sweet family. My poor brother is sick and hasn’t had much energy, so I rented a bunch of movies and we’ve been spending lots of time laughing and talking on the couch.

movies rented

I spy a Mr. Mur-dog sleeping on the couch!

2. Speaking of laughter, I can’t get enough of the Michael Bolton Honda commercials that have been playing this holiday season! Every time one comes on I start busting up. This one might be my favorite. They always remind me of the SNL digital short that Michael Bolton did with The Lonely Island … hilarious!

3. For Christmas, Erica got me this amazingly delicious tea from Flying Bird Botanicals called “Bluebird Morning”… it’s caffeine-free but really gives me a boost of energy in the morning. I can’t get enough!

bluebird tea

4. I also can’t get enough of these dark chocolate oranges from Trader Joe’s. The little chocolate orange slices are so cute, I can never eat just one!

dark chocolate orange

5. One of my favorite bloggers, Nicole Antoinette at A Life Less Bullsh*t, put together a wonderfully motivating and helpful guide to de-cluttering your life as you head into the new year. You can download the guide and worksheets for free on her blog, because she’s just that awesome. Something I really love about Nicole is that she always gives clear, actionable steps that you can take to make a difference starting now. In her de-cluttering guide, she breaks it down into four categories: physical space, mental space, digital space and emotional space. I’ve never felt more energized to clear out the clutter in my life and set a game plan for my goals in the new year!

Questions for the evening:

  • What are you loving right now?
  • Do you have any fun plans for the weekend?

 

year of kindness challenge: week 51

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Happy Christmas Eve, everyone!

Today I brought some chocolates and cards to the local nursing home in honor of my dear friend Jewell, who passed away in 2011. I miss her every day, but especially at Christmastime. She was one of the most genuinely sweet and kindhearted people I’ve known! I’ve started a tradition of bringing holiday cards to the nursing home every year as a way of remembering her.

me and jewell

To make the cards this year, I upcycled wrapping paper scraps by cutting out holiday designs — Christmas trees, gloves, snowmen, snowflakes — and gluing them down to blank white notecards. Then I wrote holiday messages on the back, such as:

  • Hope your holiday season is filled with joy and laughter!
  • Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
  • A friend is sending you lots of love and blessings this holiday season.

candy for nursing home

upcycled cards

It made my heart happy to think of the residents smiling when they receive the holiday cards.

I finished wrapping all my presents yesterday, so I’m all set to go! The rest of my Christmas Eve was spent visiting with relatives, taking care of my poor brother who is sick, and baking! I made a pumpkin pie and funfetti cookies.

funfetti cookies

Now … on to the kindness challenge! We’re down to our final two weeks, can you believe it?

year of kindness button

Last week’s kindness challenge was to donate a toy or book to a child in need this holiday season, and/or to drop off a donation at a local animal shelter. I dropped off five boxes of new books {donated through my annual Holiday Book Drive} and three new basketballs to the local Boys & Girls Club.

The timing worked out perfectly — the manager told me she was expecting to get a large donation of children’s books from another source, but then didn’t receive nearly as many books as expected so she was left scrambling to pull together enough gifts for all the children. And the holiday party was that very afternoon! I could tell from her tone that she was feeling pretty desperate.

“I was hoping you would come,” she said as she helped me unload the books from the car. “I remember you from last year. You’re our book angel!”

I can’t put into words how joyful and fulfilled the experience made me feel. The universe is magical and things truly work out for a reason!

book drive

The Week 51 Kindness Challenge was inspired by Martha Richards, the Executive Director of the WomenArts Foundation. In a recent newsletter, she wrote: “If you are like me, you are being deluged with funding requests at this time of year. If you are able to make cash gifts to women artists and women’s organizations, I hope you will do so. Most of us {including WomenArts} are working on a shoestring, and your cash gifts will really make a difference.  But I also believe there is a currency of kindness that we can use to lift each other’s spirits whether or not we have any spare cash on hand. I have seen it over and over again at WomenArts and in other parts of my life — you can often give someone the courage to keep working or try something new just by listening to them carefully, acknowledging their hard work, and finding kind, supportive things to say.”

So this week’s kindness challenge is to reach out to an artist whose work touches you and tell him or her what you love about their work.

As always, blog about your experiences and include your links in the comments section below, or feel free to send me an email at dallaswoodburn AT gmail DOT com.

Merry Christmas!
-Dallas

P.S.: Head on over to this Year of Kindness Challenge page to see all the archived posts from the previous 50 weeks!

Questions of the day:

  • What are you doing to celebrate Christmas?
  • What acts of kindness happened in your life this past week?