Live by the Sun, Love by the Moon

Live by the Sun, Love by the Moon

Pampering your muse--with Island Time

When you are leading a creative life, guided by your inner muse, there are times you need to pamper your muse to rejuvenate your creative spirit, and inspire your wandering soul.

Recently, I was in the Bahamas to celebrate my 52nd birthday and it was the perfect time to pampering my muse the Bahamian way. The Bahamanians know how to live by the sun and lover thy the moon. They live life to the fullest when the sun is shining. Island time is living by the sun and loving by the moon time. A sunrise means a new day is born, but there is no hurry to speed up time. The morning unfolds slowly with the sun rising slowly and daylight breaking in its own time. Breakfast in the morning is a slow affair, living by the sun means you are in no hurry because the sun comes and goes everyday. The Bahamians are not in a hurry to get things done, be somewhere, or completer a task, or finish a to do list. Life is slow and the pace is reflective and contemplative. There is always time for a greeting, a smiles, a dance, and a song.

Loving by the moon means life if for loving—a moon-rise is synonymous with a smile, a laugh, a greeting, and a shared friendship, even with strangers. The Bahamians are an extremely happy and friendly people they are always ready with a smile and a greeting as they meander around the island, eager to help and please. They tell jokes, laugh with you and make you feel welcome.

Yes, anyone who visits will tell you that island time is magical time. It is like time stands still on the island it is living by the sun and loving by the moon…it is what pampering your muse is all about.

Con un pan y cafecito,

Seguimos adelante,

Zulmara

Sugar Yourself with Sand

Sugar Yourself with Sand

Pampering your Muse with Island Time

Going to the Bahamas as a way to pamper my muse, renew my spirit, and nourish my soul has been so invigorating and inspiring. Island time is reflective time. In the Bahamas, no one beginnings the day before 10:00 am and they it by around 5:00 pm only to come out and play again around 7:00 in the evening.

The people are super friendly. The food is unique, but familiar enough to enrich the body. The tropical drinks: Mojitos, Bahama Mamas, and Miami Vice are cool, refreshing with a nice tropical twist.

Sugaring yourself with sand is a perfect way to describe a vacation in the Bahamas. You are surrounding yourself with warmth, hospitality, good food, nice weather, and sticky sand. The Sticky sand gives you the feeling that you are being enveloped in a warmth of island hospitality and island fun and charm. You feel like you are a part of something real, something bigger than life, something extraordinary, something that will pamper your muse and help you get invigorated and inspired.

Bahamian time is island time at its best!!

 Con un pan y cafecito,

 Seguimos adelante,

 Zulmara

Journaling for New Latina Renewal Challenge

Journal your way to success...the New Latina Renewal Challenge

I was sooo excited when I got the first packet from the New Latina Challenge. I was celebrating my birthday in the Bahamas when the first one was emailed to us and I quickly opened it and got excited. It reinforced so much of what I had just been doing. I loved it. I loved the idea of shedding and out with the old and in with the new. I had just hosted our annual White Elephant gift exchange and put together two sister boxes and was working on a third, so I knew I was making room for the new and shedding the old and the feeling was good.

But what really excited me was the opportunity to use my special journal. You see, I collect journals and I have many of them lying around and I look for an opportunity to use my very special journals for special occasions.

Last year, I was blessed to have been specially made, three beautiful journals by the very talented Mia…(artsbymia.com)

One was for my son and two were for me and I was waiting for a special writing opportunity to use these very beautiful journals and what better occasion than the New Latina Renewal Challenge. I chose the EMPOWER journal and I am very excited about filling it with my thoughts, and quotes, and anything notes. Thank you, New Latina for the opportunity and mil gracias to Mia for the beautiful journal that inspires me to write and fill the pages with feeling of love, challenge, renewal, and taking the next step. And mil gracias to New Latina for the inspiration!!!

If you have not found the time or the wherewithal to start your journaling to a new you, maybe you need to go SHOPPING for that very special place where you can write and feel inspired to put pen to paper!!!!

Con un pan y cafecito,
Seguimos adelante
Zulmara

The Sister Box

A caixa de irmãs/The Sister Box

Yesterday, I posted how I shedded with White Elephant Gifts...I also do a Sister Box with my sisters on a regular basis, which is a shedding, cleansing, renewal, and keeping in touch tradition all in one. This is something we started after the holidays, after saying our good-byes and missing each other. Parting is such sweet sorrow. It is always a bitter sweet parting, we love those who live far and have a hard time being away from them, but life and living get in the way of us being together regularly.


Our sister box became a way of staying in touch and sharing a part of our lives with each other. Our Sister Box Tradition helps us keep in touch during those times in between the holidays. We start by having one of us fill a box with lots of goodies. They can be new, old, for someone special, or just 'cositias' to put in the box. And we mail it to one sister with cards in it for all the other sisters. Then we go around and when each person receives the box, they take out anything that is for them, anything else they want from the box, and then they fill it with their treasures and send onto the next sister. And the box makes it way around. It is a fun way to stay connected and stay in touch--and do a cleansing where you know your treasures are being shared. We have so much fun with our caixa de irmãs, that we are always looking forward to getting the next box. It does not always work as planned and sometimes, we have a sister who hangs on to long, but in the end, we just start the fun all over again.


We have recently started including our daughters and they are having so much fun and we are teaching the cousins how to stay in touch, no matter what.


This fits in really well with cleansing and shedding...you can fill a box with the treasures you are ready to part with and send it to a few friends, family members, and others who may like to play and keep in touch.


Adds a nice tradition for shedding, so you are making way for the new on a regular basis, having a lot of fun, and keeping in touch...all with one activity!!!!

What fun and interesting ways do you have for staying in touch with your family?

Con un pan y cafecito,
Seguimos adelante,

Zulmara


New Latina Renewal Challenge

New Latina Cleanings

New Latina Cleansings

Serrendipitously, the first week of the Latina Challenge is about shedding as a way of cleansing the old to make room for the new. I have a tradition with my family that is just about this topic that we have been practicing for years.

At this time of year, it is very nice to do a cleansing. A way of taking old things out of your life to make room for the new. However, it can be hard to part with treasures and it can be hard to let go sometimes. One of my New Year’s traditions if I am hosting the dinner at at my home is to do a White Elephant Gift exchange, where I provide all the White Elephant gifts. It is a nice way to part with some items I no longer want and so much fun to see family and friends bargaining and exchanging for the items they would like to treasure for a few more years. I always make sure to add in some goodies for the kids.

So after we eat on New Year’s day, we all sit around and I pass out numbers and we just start choosing gifts, exchanging gifts and having a good time.

Other cleansings is to play Bingo and be the one who wraps and provides the gifts. Again a chance to part with the old to make way for the new, but to make sure the old goes to a good home. As an added bonus, I collect the bags used for Christmas wrappings and use them to wrap the White Elephant gifts and it is such fun. (PS, if you are not hosting a New Year’s Dinner, this makes a great party activity for any time you are hosting...a gift of treasures--for Dia de los Reyes Magos, Valentines Day, Easter...etc...anytime you have la familia over, you can cleanse...and make room for the new.

How do you let go of the old to make way for the new in your life.

Con un pan y cafecito,

Seguimos adelante,

Zulmara

New Latina Renewal Challenge, Week I

McCormick Foundation 11

I have decided to apply for the McCormick Foundation New Media Women Entrepreneurs Grant for Entrepreneurs. The Application is AWESOME because it encourages you to focus and have clarity in your life about what it is that you want to accomplish and how you are going to move your business forward. For me, the questions are spot on and the character limits, mean I have to think very carefully about what I want to write and be succinct. If you are looking for funds for a particular project, even if you do not think you are a good match for Fredrickson Grant, then fill out the application fields. This will help you gain clarity about what you want to accomplish, how you want to accomplish it, and why you are the best person for the job. The application is due on January 27, 2011. I am planning on posting my responses to the 10 questions, one a day for the next ten days. I will welcome any feedback or ideas you’d like to offer. If you want to join me on this journey, please feel share your journey. I am very excited about this. Soon, I will be looking for Latina artists, graphic designers, web-developers, and ebook developers to help me get LAUNCHED...may the journey begin.

Con un pan y cafecito, seguimos adelante,
Zulmara

11) Any additional thoughts: (1500 characters)

Latinas are up and coming in the business world. We are the Entrepreneurs to watch for in the next 20 years. We start businesses from our homes to help our families and we are motivated by deep cultural roots to be the matriarchs that hold our families together. We want to have it all and then some. We don’t want to sacrifice, make choices, or deny ourselves a fulfilling career, children, a loving extended family life, or a life of abundance.

We have seen our parents work hard to provide us with opportunities and we are big on paying back and paying forward. We want success, but we want it on our terms. We want to share, give back, pay it forward, and pay it now.  We want to ensure that what we have to offer adds value to the lives of others and we want to know that we are making a difference: a difference in the world, in our communities, and in our families. We do not want to leave anyone behind.

I offer coaching—both personal and professional—to help Latinas achieve their dreams by realizing how their Latina Roots can give them the wings they need to soar. The coaching can be one-on-one, to a group, online, or with an e-course. I love what I do and I do what I love. This allows me to connect with people no matter where I am at. I give freely of my time, advice, and products. As a matter of fact, I gave away my responses to these questions and encouraged other bloggers to apply as well. I do not believe in a zero sum game, there is enough for all of us and we come from a culture of abundance.

As I honor my cultural roots, I am motivated to develop the tools needed to help mi gente soar with the eagles. I want to be able to “ride the thermals,” as Dewitt Jones says and bring along mis comadres, mis amigas, y mis companeras.

McCormick Foundation 10

I have decided to apply for the McCormick Foundation New Media Women Entrepreneurs Grant for Entrepreneurs. The Application is AWESOME because it encourages you to focus and have clarity in your life about what it is that you want to accomplish and how you are going to move your business forward. For me, the questions are spot on and the character limits, mean I have to think very carefully about what I want to write and be succinct. If you are looking for funds for a particular project, even if you do not think you are a good match for Fredrickson Grant, then fill out the application fields. This will help you gain clarity about what you want to accomplish, how you want to accomplish it, and why you are the best person for the job. The application is due on January 27, 2011. I am planning on posting my responses to the 10 questions, one a day for the next ten days. I will welcome any feedback or ideas you’d like to offer. If you want to join me on this journey, please feel share your journey. I am very excited about this. Soon, I will be looking for Latina artists, graphic designers, web-developers, and ebook developers to help me get LAUNCHED...may the journey begin.

Con un pan y cafecito, seguimos adelante,
Zulmara

10) Why I know I can make this happen: (2500 characters)

I know I can make this happen because it has been in the making for the past 20 years. I have already tried and failed at launching a website and a blog, I have already tried and failed at selling items online, and I have already created materials that are wonderfully received by the people that have had access to them and I am ready to give more people access to my material. Overall, I am sure that I can make this happen because of the experiences I have had and what I have learned along the way. This is not my first time out. Now I know that you have to build trust, be part of a trusted network and work with others who are doing similar things. I have also learned that I need to follow my passion, ask for help, and not try to do it all on my own. I know I need to have a team behind me and I need to put my creative energies into what I am good at, which is coming up with the content and not trying to do the technology aspect on my own.

I have vision, clarity, and focus. I know what I want and I know how to go for it. In the past month, after attending the Coca-Cola Tour: Adelante, I have more than 10 times the amount of traffic on my blog site, I have been posting regularly, and I have been learning how to use the technology to my best advantage. Latinas need self-help, personal development, and professional development materials that are unique to us and our way of being and knowing. We want there to be a place for La familia in our professional lives, we want there to be a place for la cultura in our business ventures.

I possess the organizational, developmental, and executive skills to be a success. I know that my content resonates with Latinas and I am ready to reach a wider audience and make it happen para mi gente. I know that a program to help Latinas achieve their dreams, celebrate what is right with their lives, and take themselves to the next level—no matter where they are at—in their personal or professional lives, is going to be a success. I am excited about this grant because it offers me an opportunity to focus on what I know is important in reaching a wider audience...getting visible and getting my work out there. I truly believe in networking and collaboration and I am excited about all that we are able to accomplish when we put our resources together and create great content to be shared. Latinas are a force to be reckoned with and my dream is to pave the way and lay the foundation for high levels of success within la comunidad.

My passion for education and what I want to accomplish is overflowing. I love what I do and I do what I love. My curriculum is awesome and gets people involved and hooked in right away. It allows me to see what needs to be done and how to do it, the path becomes clear as I am working on the various aspects of what needs to be done. I have a lot of material, it is just a matter of organizing and putting it into a format that others can use and access. My years of training as an educator have served me well. I am truly blessed to have so many of you on this journey with me. Yes, si se puede. We are awesome.