Thriving Mindfully as the Real You!
Spring 2012 001, originally uploaded by anandaleeke.
Last week I decided to practice what I learned in photographer Diane Cu’s BlissDom conference workshop on digital photography. So I carried my digital camera everywhere I went in hopes of capturing images that made me think of springtime. This photo represents the meaning of springtime. It was taken in Crystal City, Virginia.
What do you think?
What images remind you of springtime?
Some of my best BlissDom Conference moments were spent supporting and celebrating the Heart of Haiti Campaign, a partnership between Fairwinds Trading, Macy’s, and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. It was created to provide sustainable income to Haitian artisans impacted by the January 2010 earthquake. Through the partnership, the artisans create artwork that is sold as the Heart of Haiti collection in Macy’s stores. The sales from these hand-made products including quilts, metalwork, paper måché, painting and jewelry generate the sustainable income and provide trade instead of aid to the Haitian artisans.
As soon as I arrived and settled into my room at the Opryland Hotel on February 23, I tweeted the Everywhere team, Danica Kombol and Britton Edwards, to let them know I was ready to put on my Heart of Haiti Blogger Ambassador hat and support their Heart of Haiti booth in the BlissDom Handmade Marketplace. When I saw the booth, I was in complete AWE! Why? Because these ladies know how to make a conference booth attractive and fun to visit. And it’s not hard when you have the beautiful Heart of Haiti collection to work with. Danica and Britton gave me a brief update on the new items in the collection and showed me photos from the #Bloggers4Haiti trip to Haiti in January. Check out the photos below.
While I was at the Heart of Haiti booth, I met and chatted with BlissDom attendees about my experiences as a Blogger Ambassador and February 2011 trip to Haiti. Many of the attendees told me about their passion for using social media for social good and plans to support the Heart of Haiti. Those conversations reminded me how important it is to tell people about the Haitian artisans who are using their creative gifts to make their lives and country better. They also reminded me that I have got to get to Haiti in 2013!
During the BlissDom 2012 conference, I had a chance to spend time with Tawanna Smith (a/k/a @WorldTravelMom on Twitter), founder of MomsGuideToTravel.com. We talked a lot about what it means to tap into the power of fierce living from your creative heart (the topic of my February 24th conference session), writing, intentions, and setting boundaries when completing goals. She and Lucrecer Braxton, founder of Art Slam, also stopped by my BlissDom book signing and purchased a copy of my memoir, That Which Awakens Me. We had a great time discussing creativity. After I signed Tawanna’s book, she invited me to do an interview on her Spreecast video show. Now that’s Digital Sisterhood in real time!
FYI: Tawanna will be interviewing me about “Fierce Living from Your Creative Heart” (includes a discussion about my book, That Which Awakens Me) on March 12 at 8:30 pm ET. Click here to watch the live interview. If you miss it, you will be able to watch the recording.
The #BlissDom12 Conference is two days away. I AM SO EXCITED!!! It’s my first BlissDom experience! I am gonna have big fun meeting new people, seeing old blogging friends, networking with brands, hanging out at the great events, listening to the keynote speakers, and learning a lot about video and photography from some amazing speakers. I am also facilitating a workshop session on “Fierce Living from Your Creative Heart” on February 24 from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm.
PS: I will be signing copies of my novel, Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One on February 25 at 11:00 am at the Barnes & Nobles booth at BlissDom. If you are in Nashville, drop by. Click here to purchase the book on Amazon.com.
Happy Friday!
January sure has been a quick month! It’s been filled with lots of rest, play, fun, and work for me …. writing, revising, dreaming, brainstorming. I call it the Dragon Year of Fierce Living. Dragon Year comes from Chinese New Year (started on 1/23). My family celebrates it on Sunday! I am also a dragon! Yep I was born the year of the dragon and nicknamed Puf the Magic Dragon as a child.
Check out the new look of AnandaLeeke.com. Let me know what you think.
Thanks in advance. Enjoy the rest of January and have a fabulous February!
PS: Check me out on #Digitalsisterhood Wednesdays via @digitalsisterhd on Twitter in February. Each Wednesday Digital Sisterhood Network is going to have a #DSFierceLiving discussion you don’t wanna miss!
I just learned that Ignite DC posted a video my “Digital Sisterhood for DC Women Entrepreneurs” talk on Blip TV. It was given on October 20, 2011. Click on the link to watch the video. http://blip.tv/ignitedc/ananda-leeke-presents-at-ignite-d-c-8-5736296.
Here’s the link to the SlideShare presentation (it was updated with additional slides on October 24, 2011). http://www.slideshare.net/anandaleeke/digital-sisterhood-for-dc-women-entrepreneurs-9865081
What do you think about the video and presentation?
Thanks for your comments!
2011 was an intense year for me. So many great things happened. So many lessons were learned. Each person and experience made me who I am today.
As I look back on 2011, some of my greatest experiences were from my work with the Digital Sisterhood Network. Click here to listen to my audio blog that provides my top 40 Digital Sisterhood moments in 2011 (1 hour 11 minutes).
Check out some of my photos below.
1) Traveling to Haiti as the Heart of Haiti Blogger Ambassador with a group of dynamic group of digital sisters in February
Heart of Haiti Digital Sisters
Heart of Haiti Digital Sisters
Heart of Haiti Digital Sisters
Heart of Haiti Digital Sisters
Heart of Haiti Digital Sisters
Digital Sisterhood at Ignite DC #8
Digital Sisterhood at Ignite DC #8Digital Sisterhood at Ignite DC #8
Digital Sisterhood at Ignite DC #8
Blogalicious/Black Public Relations Society DC Meet Up
Digital Sisterhood at Blogalicious
5) Meeting my BlogHer roommate Lilian Chang, founder of ChineseGrandma.com at the BlogHer Conference in August
Digital Sisterhood at BlogHer
Great News! I am headed to BLISSDOM on February 23-25! I have been wanting to attend this social media conference for years! Why? Because it represents Fierce Living to the MAX!!!!! They have amazing speakers all of the time! They celebrate joie de vivre and call it BLISS (which is the meaning of Ananda in Sanskrit)! I also love the spirit and work of Alli Worthington, Barbara Jones, and the entire BLISSDOM team!
Guess what? I will be speaking about Fierce Living, my new favorite passion and 2012 life theme during BLISSDOM. The topic of my writing session is “Fierce Living from Your Creative Heart.” It will be held on February 24 from 2:30 to 4:00 pm. See the description below.
SESSION DESCRIPTION:
Calling all creative women! You know who you are Ms. Artist, Collage Maker, Crafter, Dancer, Dramatic Performer, Musician, Painter, Photographer, Poet, Sculptor, and Ms. Writer. When’s the last time you allowed yourself the space to dream, imagine, and create something that inspired a deep feeling of peace, play, and fulfillment? Wait no more. During this session, you will have an opportunity to explore your inner women (also known as archetypes or personalities) and the role they play in your creativity through mindful writing exercises and discussion. The takeaways include ways to tap into your inner women’s intuition, imagination, and nurturing energy as “fierce living” growth opportunities for 2012 and beyond.
FYI — Join #DSFierce Living Conversations on #DigitalSisterhood Wednesdays
The 2012 theme of Digital Sisterhood Network (DSN) is “Fierce Living.” As the DSN founder, I define Fierce Living as,
“the mindful practice of unplugging, understanding, and unifying who I am online and offline from the inside out so I am able to express myself fully in my healthy living journey, Digital Sisterhood book writing, art, and work as a coach, digital media producer, yoga teacher, and innerpreneur.”
My mother Theresa and Oprah Winfrey are two of my Fierce Living sheroes because they remind women we are stronger than we know.
DSN recognizes that fierce living means different things to different people. That’s why we are hosting #DSFierceLiving conversations on Facebook, Pinterest, Survey Monkey, and Twitter on #DigitalSisterhood Wednesdays in 2012.
Here are four ways you can participate.
1) LIKE Digital Sisterhood on Facebook, visit the page on #DigitalSisterhood Wednesdays, and share what you are doing to make fierce living a reality in your daily life.
2) Create a #DSFierceLiving 2012 board on Pinterest and share what fierce living looks like in your life. Cross post your Pinterest link on Digital Sisterhood Facebook page. Also, tweet the link on Twitter with the hashtag #DSFierceLiving. DSN will retweet it. Click here to check out Ananda Leeke’s #DSFierceLiving Board on Pinterest.
3) Follow @Digitalsisterhd on Twitter and participate in #DigitalSisterhood Wednesdays by tweeting your favorite digital sisters. Tweet about your acts of fierce living by using the hashtag #DSFierceLiving.
4) Participate in #DSFierceLiving 2012 Conversation on Survey Monkey by answering six easy and fun questions about your fierce living definition, sheroes, and inspirational music.
LINKS:
Happy October All!
It’s been a long time since we connected on this blog. I hope your fall season is going well. Mine has been filled with revelations like the one I had during the Blogalicious Weekend Conference on October 21-23, 2011. While I was learning, sharing, laughing, sipping on cocktails at the evening events, chatting and drinking wine in the Wine Sisterhood Sassy Suite, and enjoying digital sisterhood and brotherhood moments at Blogalicious, I realized I needed to be honest with myself about the work I have taken on as the Digital Sisterhood Network founder. I made a list of all of my obligations, goals, and upcoming activities. Looking at the list on Sunday helped me see I needed to give myself more time to finish my next book, Digital Sisterhood, a memoir. More time is several months. That means the book will be published in 2012.
It feels really good to share my revelation and plans with you all!
Thank you for your continued support and positive energy!
Blessings,
Ananda
Check out the links below to see what I have been doing.
1) My Ignite DC #8 Talk on “Digital Sisterhood for DC Women Entrepreneurs” Flickr photos and presentation (see below)
2) Photos of My Blogalicious Weekend Conference Adventures on Flickr
3) Behind the Scenes Photos from My Author Photo Shoot on Flickr
4) Video from My Author Photo Shoot on Vimeo
5) Photos from My BlogHer conference adventures on Flickr
6) Blog Posts about My BlogHer speaking gigs and experiences
a. Blogger Wellness speaking gig
c. My Pepsico Video Feature
7) Video of My Panel Participation at Blogalicious – Black Public Relations Society of DC Meet Up on Vimeo
8) Blog Post – My Panel Participation at Blogalicious – Black Public Relations Society of DC Meet Up
Happy Earth Day! Happy Good Friday!
Last weekend during Digital Sisterhood Unplugged Sunday I made a decision to step away from this blog and my @AnandaLeeke Twitter page, Facebook pages, Tumblr page, Flickr phoho-sharing site, Vimeo channel, and Cinchcast audio blog to begin the wonderful, juicy journey of completing my next book, Digital Sisterhood, a memoir. The only thing I needed to do was a pick a date. I have vacillated on the date all week. This morning I realized during my yoga, Reiki healing touch, and meditation practice that my day to step away is in fact today. That means this is the last blog post until late October (will be back in time for Blogalicious on October 21-23 in DC).
It also means I will reduce my daily and weekly social media activities that support the Digital Sisterhood Network beginning May 1. Next week I have several blogs (with videos and photos) to write and post along with several radio shows to organize for the Feminism Online Project series on Digital Sisterhood Radio. The Feminism Online Project ends on May 31. I will continue to host the Digital Sisterhood Wednesday weekly celebrations on Twitter (late April through October), post reminders about Digital Sisterhood Unplugged Sundays each month, and manage the monthly episodes of The Stroke Diva Fabulous Show hosted by lifestyle blogger Kamaria Richmond, Digital Sisterhood Network Blogger-in-Residence, on Digital Sisterhood Radio. I will spend time in May and June managing the final weeks of my Kickstarter fundraiser which ends on June 28 and hosting the June 29th DC She Writers Meet Up featuring guest poet/writer Dr. Ada Diaz, a Howard University professor. I will launch the Digital Civility and Security Initiative for a week (July 4-11) and co-host the July 6th Twitter chat on digital civility with Andrea Weckerle, CiviliNation founder. In August, I will do a few audio blogs about my BlogHer participation. In addition, I will host the September 29th DC She Writers Meet Up. WOW! That felt good to share. It’s my way of having accountability with myself and life coach Yael.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my words, sending me positive vibes and energy for my writing journey, and supporting all of my creative efforts! May you have a beautiful rest of April, May, June, July, August, September, and October!
Blessings,
Ananda
PS: Listen to my audio blog about Earth Day and a poem that celebrates green living! Enjoy!
Ananda Leeke 