ElizabethPW » inspiration

My Many Affairs, Far From Home

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:59:46 +0000

It’s true, I do have an apartment in San Francisco.

My first grown-up private space where I make all the decisions, full of white walls and serenity and only those things with which I have fallen in love.

But that is not the only place where my soul is at peace.

Where I explore my passions and push my boundaries. Where I leave pieces of my heart.

Chicago Midway is one such place.

I’m here now, sitting in the bar, writing and watching and nursing a beer.

The white noise, the energy moving through this place, is meditative and exciting and inspirational.

Everyone is a walking story.

With new babies and on honeymoons, traveling to their grandmother’s funeral or to the birthday party of their best friend from college, going on the Hawaii vacation they’ve been saving for for five years or to the first meeting with the long distance lover they found online, on their way to close the big business deal or to make that one last desperate pitch so they can meet their commission quota for the month.

I love exploring to hunt down the secret empty seats, the desperate search for electric plugs as my iPhone hits 10%, questing for the one place that might actually serve something vegetarian besides a plastic bowl of iceberg gopped with ranch dressing.

Feeling absolutely alone yet pulled into the rhythm of boarding, the herd exiting planes and flowing towards baggage claim, people moving in and out of the seats at the bar as their time comes.

Always on my way to or from my adventure.

Connecting with the closest friends I have ever had. Spreading the world about Live Your Truth. Sliding down ziplines or dancing in clubs until 4 in the morning or driving 3 hours to get a tattoo.

Long walks flowing with the walk signs, randomly exploring a city. Toes sinking into the sand along the ocean while avoiding the cold waves as they chase us, the tide coming in. Endless conversations over endless martinis, wondering if we’ll be thrown out for laughing too hard. Finding the nearest Starbucks at 7:30 am and at 11:00 pm, gossiping about the laptop screens we’re reading over shoulders. Sitting silently in an empty bistro patio, smoking and listening to the trains shake their way through the city. Walking the entire length of the Las Vegas strip in search of a Walgreens.

I can write in these places. Think. Be inspired.

Hear the truth that lies dormant when I’m moving through my ordinary life.

I need my home to be nowhere, I need my home to be everywhere, for me to feel how to be all of myself.

Where do you love to be, besides your home?

Where is your office away from the office?

Where do you go to think, to write, to feel at peace, to be yourself?

(whine) I don’t wanna write a blog post!

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:42:21 +0000

So right now I’m in the middle of designing and writing the copy for my new website, which will go up later this week. And, if left to my own devices, I would spend all of my time over the next 96 hours obsessing over it.

And not get any other work done.

But, alas, I am one of only two people working for my company, and there’s other work to get done.

So instead of actually working on that other work (including writing this post and another guest blog posts for MomEO), I did what any highly productive CEO would do.

I went and complained on twitter.

And my wonderful friend Alison Kramer (@nummiesbras) replied to my complaints in a flash of brilliance:

Finally! Inspiration!

And that leads us to the point of this blog post.

You see, I complain about two problems with writing.

The first is that I feel the need to be inspired.

To have a flash, a possession come over me that demands I write an epic diatribe full of insight and pronouncements on life or business or reality.

Obviously not a sustainable business model.

I can’t base the blog of a real business, one that needs continuous traffic and new content, off of random and unpredictable inspiration.

And, as we’ve all said before, every post does not need to be epic.

The second complaint is that I don’t have time to write.

Now this excuse is becoming more and lame. I’ve hired Ken Moorhead (@kenmoorhead) as my COO, which means that all of those back end things of my business are being handled by someone much more suited for that than I.

And seriously, some of the time I’m futzing around on social media or answering emails could be dedicated to writing.

But writing, or any creative endeavor, doesn’t just need time. It needs space.

When my mindset is in the middle of a project, when I’m stressed out about a conflict with a loved one, when the apartment is a mess … I can’t create.

I have no mental space. No spiritual space. No void created for the chaos of my mind to find a nexus, to pull together disparate pieces of information and ideas into a message. Into a truth to be spoken.

So, instead, I whine.

That’s freaking useful & productive, eh?!

Ah, but it was, wasn’t it?

I whined. And now, I am writing. About said whining.

And, that’s the nexus of this post.

Write from the now.

From how you feel, where you are, what’s going on, in this moment.

Because there is always inspiration in this moment.

That’s the only place where inspiration lives. In the now.

So if you have a blog post to write, or a video to create, and don’t feel like it, or have writer’s block, or are obsessed with your website or your house being a mess or the fight you just had with your friend or how cute your cat is … write about that.

And yeah, you may want to relate it somewhat to your business. Or what was on your writing calendar for that day.

Or not.

I invite you to let inspiration, let the moment lead you to what to create. Don’t force it inside a predetermined framework. Don’t think your way into it.

Because, the thing is, you already know.

Just get out of your own freaking way, and write.

Do You Want Every Day to be Epic?

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:15:23 +0000

Of course you do.

Join @ElizabethPW and @AllisonNazarian for the weekly twitter chat “Epic Adventures in Everyday Life” (#epicchat) on Wednesdays at 5:00 PM Pac / 8:00 PM EST

Join EPW (closer-to-the-edge girl) and ANaz (closer-to-home girl) as they explore:

How life doesn’t stop when you become a mom … it begins.
Why you need (at least) a bit of crazy and adventure in your life, even if you are not a risk-taker or adrenaline junkie.
How you don’t need to travel to India or jump out of a plane to transform your life.
How to marry the idea of crazy & fun & freedom into real, practical, day- to-day life.
Why it’s hard to bring adventure into your life in a vacuum, and how real and powerful friendships are your “key ingredient” for making life itself an adventure.
How to run your career/business, have a real life, go on adventures, and be a great mom … all at the same time … without being frozen by guilt or overwhelm.

Each week we will choose a different topic & invite special guests to share their awesometastic ideas & inspirational stories with you.

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein (aka @ElizabethPW, aka EPW) is a mom, entrepreneur, and crazy adventurer who feels more at home in airports, hotels, taxicabs, new friends’ homes or while tweeting up in bars, climbing a mountain or randomly walking around a city, than she does at the place where she keeps her stuff. She uses her travels as inspiration for her blog & videos, for coaching clients, and for creating new programs exploring how to Live Your Truth in business and life. If you want to follow her particular kind of insanity, check her on on twitter, facebook, or on her blog (EPW: of course you know about that, you’re on my blog right now. lol.).

Allison Nazarian (@AllisonNazarian) is a Mom, writer, empire-builder, author, former introvert, former control freak, future bookstore owner and current NFL junkie and Howard Stern fan who craves the comfyness, safety and familiarity of home while slowly but surely embracing the fun, flow and adventure of life on the edge. Allison writes copy, columns and blogs and teaches others how to do the same. Connect with Allison on twitter, Facebook or at AllisonNazarian.com.

Sorry, I’m Not Feeling Epic Today

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 06:33:03 +0000

I’ve been trying to write a blog post for the last 4 days.

This is not that post.

That post freaking sucked.

Okay, maybe it didn’t really *suck* … but it was definitely not epic. No matter how many times I rewrote it, how many stories I added and took away, whether or not I used the f word … that post just aspired to continuing levels of okay. (Note 1/6/10: I published it here – judge for yourself.)

And okay is no longer acceptable.

You see, in the last 2 months I’ve had the terrible success of writing a few blog posts that were ~~epic~~ pretty good.

And unlike everything else I had written before, these “pretty good” posts got the most cool thing that happens in blogging –> comments. Lots of comments, even.

Like one even got more than 100 comments. That’s Chris Brogan and Scott Stratten territory (aka “men who have book deals”).

o.m.f.g.

All of those “pretty good” posts were written from unplanned & slightly insane inspiration. Major (even shocking) life events. Burning bridges with gurus. Remembering who I am after 10 years. Big huge life altering truth telling stuff.

So what the frak do I do now?

Because I can’t be epic every day.

I mean, at some point this huge learning curve of personal development & life change will level out a bit.

And then what will I write about?

The 10 ways you know that you’re a twitter addict? A list of cool stuff I found on my google reader last week? Whether or not the new iPhone is rumored to have a flash in the camera?

I refuse to be lame.

I refuse to publish mediocrity.

Now that I’ve written posts that have changed people lives (seriously, the emails and comments I get completely freak me out), I can’t go back.

So what do I do?

Well today I’m writing a blog post about how I can’t write a blog post. Jesus, I kind of want to slap myself in the face for this crap.

And I don’t even have a freaking brilliant resolution & recommendation for you all here. No lesson for you all to bring to your own businesses & blogs. No take away.

Because I don’t know what to do.

Do I only publish posts that I believe are epic? That fully speak my truth?

I don’t want to have anything on my blog that is not my best work.

I don’t what someone new to come to my site & read my last (lame!) post and think, wow, that EPW is not as good as so-and-so said.

I don’t want to be inconsistent with my own “live your truth” brand.

But is requiring epicness completely unrealistic?

Should I regularly publish okay (lame!) posts to keep on some sort of publishing schedule, to keep my writing juices flowing, to be a “professional” blogger / writer?

What do you guys think?

A Live Your Truth Moment from Carley Knobloch

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:38:01 +0000

Carley Knobloch of Mothercraft Coaching, one of the amazing listeners to The Live Your Truth Project, captured her realizations from listening to the LYTP audios in this quick video. And what she speaks about here is really the reason I put together this project; to start bringing together like-minded people who are all in the same movement (but are worried we are the only ones).

If you have not already signed up to get the 24 free LYTP audios make sure you check them out, especially if you need a bit of inspiration & encouragement (that you are not crazy)!

The Live Your Truth Project: Behind the Launch pt 1 – Inspiration

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:01:48 +0000

On Monday August 10th I launched The Live Your Truth Project, where I interview 24 entrepreneurs who are speaking & living their truth in their businesses & life. Here I’m chronicling the “behind the launch” journey so you can also learn from what worked, what didn’t work, and what I’ll be doing differently the next go-around.

In part 1 of “Behind the Launch” I share the inspirations how I structured The Live Your Truth Project: The Wealth Spa Radio Show, Carrie Wilkerson, Scott Stratten’s BuildYourFollowing.com, Sandy Grason, and Las Vegas.