Amazon Biospheres “Snow Globe” Photo Go Viral To Close Out 2016
Amazon Biospheres Snow Globe Photo Go Viral To Close Out 2016...and open 2017!
Several weeks ago I told you about the awesome birthday surprise and the Jeff Bezos tweet of my "snow globe" photo of the Amazon Biospheres. It was fun and exciting and that tweet got a lot of attention!
1.1k likes as of last week!
A wow moment for me and I'm grateful to Jeff Bezos for sharing it and kicking off a bit of a domino effect as GeekWire picked up the photo tweet and featured it and my website. That was a surprise too!
Hey, December...I LIKE your surprises!
I reached out to the GeekWire reporter to send a thanks for featuring and the next thing I knew a follow-up interview was scheduled and there I was sitting down telling my story and talking about the Amazon Biospheres for a more detailed GeekWire feature.
A Year Older…Wiser…and My Moment With Jeff Bezos and the Amazon Biospheres
Last week was my birthday. I'm going to say that 46 feels GREAT! I have had an amazing, albeit a bit of a rollercoaster at times, year. It's definitely been a year of growth, perspective and discovery and I learn more every day.  Here's what I learned last week. After the election I felt like I needed to do something to change the course of my social media feeds. It just wasn't a fun place to hang out. So, I offered a free 30 Day Coloring Out Loud workshop to get people creating, connecting and sharing. If you follow me, you know that my workshops are full of color and creativity, but are more mindful self-discovery than art school. The workshop is going amazingly well and I'm spending a lot more time with my oil pastels and even some paints this month. This week, while coloring, I realized a pattern. I was "making something" with my art supplies and then when it felt done, I jumped in and changed it. I painted over it or I mixed the colors of my oil pastels to make something new. I was "letting go."  When it happened unconsciously several times I was in tune enough to take note and think about it.
Let Go
That was the message that came to me and I connected deeply with. Nothing is "final." You can add, change, and refocus to recreate something completely different out of what you originally started with. You can let go of an idea and let it become something else. Very powerful as we approach the end of the year and I begin to evaluate where I am and where I am going.Then it snowed. On my birthday.
Yes, it snowed. An odd segue but stay with me.
It's Sunday night, officially almost Monday morning, out here on the West coast and I'm moving along in my urban flow. Most people have turned in. The city is quiet and the rain has set in.  The streets are mirrors to the city lights that now shimmer and paint the streets outside. I'm sitting at a local pub trying to get inspired by the energy of the music and "lives happening" around me, plugged into wifi and trying to find some words and images to share on my Monday blog. Nothing is coming to me. NOTHING... I stop for a minute and take in the scene around me.  A dark downtown Seattle looms outside the windows. Area businesses are mostly closed. The ever-present construction work is on a brief hiatus until tomorrow morning when the construction sites become like bee hives again. Right now, the only remnants in view are the orange traffic cones lining the streets and sidewalks. They are the new icon of the changes happening in this city. They have become the omnipresent accessory that adorns the city like jewels.
Chism Colors
There is a somewhat "hidden jewel" park tucked away in a quiet neighborhood in Bellevue. I found it a bit by accident last Summer. I needed a quick sunset fix on Saturday, so I rushed over after spotting some awesome