Blogging Challenges Archives

#300| Proud Of Every Step

October 27, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway 5 Comments

The years 2013 and 2014 were tough years for Adrienne and me.

They weren’t tough for us personally, mind you. What was tough about those years was the seemingly constant bombardment of negative press concerning Black women.

Seemingly everywhere we looked a disparaging new article, video, photo or meme referencing Black women had popped up.

These negative images were front and center on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter – every notable digital space.

Fighting Back

We decided to fight back.

If you can’t beat them, don’t join them – beat them at their own game.

We decided to be the difference for Black women that we wanted to see in the digital space.

We decided to push back against the influx of negative images concerning Black women by flooding the digital space with positive and uplifting images of Black women.

Images of real Black women.

Black women living well and enjoying their lives.

Black women in stable, committed relationships with men who love them, appreciate their beauty and who want to be with them.

Black women embracing their natural hair; loving and enjoying their unique textures and coils.

Black women setting and pursuing goals concerning entrepreneurship, academics, travel and fitness.

In other words, images of normal, everyday Black women.

Black women who were just like us.

Proud Of Every Step

We decided to publish these images every day in 2015.

Today is Day 300 of that goal, and we only have 65 left to go before we say goodbye to 2015.

So today, on Day 300, we figured now is as good a time as any to pause and take pride in every step we’ve taken toward this goal.

Despite occasionally getting off in my count, missing a day here or there and doubling up the next day, and fending off crashing computers, I’m proud to say we’ve been consistent in pursuing our goal.

And the benefits have been, well, spectacular.

Talk Back To Us

We’ll share more about our results when we do the end of the year wrap up.

For now, we’d like you to talk back to us and share your thoughts on the Daily Inspiration posts.

Soon, we’ll be sending you a survey giving you the opportunity to give us some feedback.

You don’t have to wait for the survey – feel free to hit the “Reply” button and communicate with us now.

We appreciate every reader – many of them who are non-Black. Thanks so much for your support and encouragement.

Stay tuned and keep reading, because we have so much more to come!

Join in the Fray: What are your thoughts about the Inspiration Daily feature? Talk back to us!

The Swirl World Team is committed to sharing 365 days of inspiration in 2015. Our goal is to help you stay motivated and inspired by bringing you positive, uplifting images and corresponding thoughts.

We’d love to FEATURE YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts! If you’d like to be featured, please send a nice, clear photo to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com.

Copyright ©2015 Michelle Matthews Calloway, ASwirlGirl™, The Swirl World™, The Swirl World Podcast™, The Swirl World Inspiration Daily™, Swirl Nation™, All rights reserved. Photo property of The Swirl World™.

#215| My Current Situation

August 3, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

Podcast Movement 2015 ended late Sunday afternoon around 5:30 or so.

What you see in the photo is my. current. situation.

Tired.

Tired – but happy!

I’ve been AWOL from the blog for the past few days; please know I appreciate your patience.

Right now I’m on my way back to Louisiana. I have tons of information to share with you concerning the conference – photos, videos and of course my impressions of the entire experience.

Stay tuned!

We’d love to FEATURE YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts! If you’d like to be featured, please send a nice, clear photo to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com.

#169| Too Much Fun

June 18, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

At some point during each day I head over to this site to review the post(s).

I check to see how the photos turn out, think about how I should have made them larger or smaller and review the post.

Yesterday I gasped, and then giggled when I saw what I had done:

I’d put up a Travel Thursday post – and yesterday was Wednesday.

What Had Happened Was . . . .

See, what had happened was, I was excited about sharing the photo of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai and eagerly prepared the post.

I was supposed to set that one to post for Thursday and post something else for Wednesday – well, you get the picture.

Making Mistak3s .. . .

I giggled when I saw yesterday’s post, and then laughed at myself because the snafu wasn’t the first one I’ve made since I began these daily posts.

I’ve gotten my count incorrect, and after making that mistake a few times between January and February, I went out and purchased a calendar that shows the number of the current day in the year, and how many days remain.

With that calendar in hand my mistakes became fewer – but I still made them.

In the upper right hand corner, you see that today is the 169th day of the year and we have 196 remaining days in 2015. (I also have sorority meeting tonight at 6 p.m.)

What I Learned

I’m a perfectionist at heart, yet I’m so happy I’ve reached a point in my life that I can literally LAUGH at myself when things don’t turn out . . . . Perfectly.

Instead of being ticked, I’m tickled that not only do I make certain mistakes once, I’m prone to make them two, three, four times . . . or more.

I also learned that some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

Am I advocating sloppiness? Of course not. What I do advocate is the freedom to make mistakes, accepting the fact that mistakes happen – and realizing if they do, it’s ok, because there’s always tomorrow.

There’s always tomorrow, and we can never have too much fun.

We’d love to FEATURE YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts! If you’d like to be featured, please send a nice, clear photo to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com.

#153| Create Something Amazing

June 2, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

I’m in a special Facebook group formed by Michelle Y. Talbert of the Her Power Hustle website and podcast.

With the onset of a new week, yesterday Michelle put forth this post:

“Happy Monday Sister Power Hustlers! I’ve found setting my intention to be really helpful for focusing and EDITING/saying no to things that don’t further our goals. That being said, what’s your intention for this week?

My response?

My intention is to create something amazing: A mini course.

What’s yours?

Aptly named “Sister Power Hustle,” of the Facebook group Michelle says, “This community was birthed out of my deep desire to help women entrepreneurs get the information we need to create and sustain our businesses. Through shared resources and networking we can go much further in business than we ever could alone.”

If you’re on Facebook and you’d like to join the Sister Power Hustle Facebook group, click here.

We’d love to FEATURE YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts! If you’d like to be featured, please send a nice, clear photo to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com.

Jeff Goins’ “Slow Down” Challenge – Day 5 (Final Day)

August 19, 2013 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway 1 Comment

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles – Free Digital Photos

Friday was the last day of Jeff Goins’ “Slow Down” Challenge. I finished the challenge as scheduled, but after a weekend of dinners out and attending the Delcambre Shrimp Festival (more details on that later this week) I’m just getting around to posting the final installment.

This was Friday’s Challenge:

Challenge: Say “thanks” (for everything)

Today, try saying “thank you” for everything.

Say it to your spouse who makes you wait for dinner. Say it to the cashier who moves too slow. Say it to your late lunch appointment or the call center operator who keeps putting you on hold. Say it to God for every inconvenience that causes you to grow.

Say “thank you.” Don’t just think it or tell it to yourself. Actually speak the words — and mean them.

Be grateful for the moments that slow you down, the ones that cause you to take your time. Use these opportunities to appreciate what you already have and tend to miss. As you do, see how much better life looks, and actually is, when you approach it with gratitude.

I’m happy to say this Challenge was particularly easy for me because I long ago began cultivating the habit of saying “Thank you” for just about everything. I do it so often it has become second nature – and I sometimes even feel self-conscious for saying it because some people seem so surprised when they hear those words.

I do my best to maintain “an attitude of gratitude,” although I’ll be the first to admit it isn’t always easy. Nevertheless, I make a conscious effort to push back feelings of self-pity because I don’t want to be that person:

The “Debbie Downer” who always sees the glass half empty – and tries to make everyone else see it that way, too
The person you hate to ask “How are you doing” because they’ll probably tell you – and it won’t be anything good
The Perpetual Complainer who never seems to be satisfied
The Total Ingrate

One has to simply flip on the news or check a Twitter or Facebook feed to realize things could always be worse. There are a million-and-one places we could be (dodging bullets and explosions resulting from civil unrest; on the starving end of a famine, in a country where clean – much less running – water is rare, just to name a few).

For the myriad of things that could be wrong with my life, so much of it is right. For all the things that could be better, so much of it is good.

For this, I am grateful.

And I’m happy to say, “Thank you.”

Join in the Fray: What are you grateful for? To whom do you need to say, “Thank you?”

I participated in and blogged about Jeff Goins’ “Slow Down” Challenge. Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment!

Jeff Goins’ “Slow Down” Challenge – Day 4

August 15, 2013 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway 7 Comments

Ah, interruptions.

Those pesky little things that happen to probably everyone – and of course they happen whether you want them to or not.

Today Jeff talked about interruptions, and asked us to look at them from a different perspective:

Instead of calling interruptions “pesky” (the way I just did!) look at them as opportunities for growth.

This was today’s challenge:

Challenge: Let go

When we try to control everything, when we plan every last minute of the day, we get mad when life throws a wrench into the plans. When the hotwater heater breaks. When your kid gets the flu. When your boss has an unexpected “favor” to ask.

But what if we expected these interruptions? What if we counted on them and decided ahead of time who we were going to be in these instances?

Here’s your challenge:

Decide ahead of time what you will do WHEN you get interrupted today. You don’t have to let everyone steal your time, but choose your response before it happens.
Block out some time to spend with a person who usually interrupts you. Call her just to chat; if this person is local, ask her to lunch.
When an interruption occurs, welcome it. Look for what you can learn from the experience, and don’t get annoyed. Instead, embrace this as a chance to grow.

I decided ahead of time that I was going to smile and try to be as pleasant as I could whenever an interruption came.

A by-product of that decision was being secretly amused by the knowledge that I was, in fact, welcoming interruptions and not viewing them as “pesky.”

It worked great! I had more conversations today, and I believe I laughed even more than I normally do.

“Pesky” is good!

Join in the Fray: How do you handle interruptions?

I’m blogging every day this week in Jeff Goins’ “Slow Down” Challenge. Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment!

Jeff Goins’ “Slow Down” Challenge – Day 3

August 14, 2013 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway 1 Comment

I had to chuckle when today’s email for Jeff Goins’ “Slow Down” Challenge entitled “The Myth of Multitasking.”

This was the Challenge:

Challenge: Focus

What if today you stopped trying to fit more things into smaller blocks of time and instead took your time trying to do fewer things? How much better could you do your work and how much more present to it would you be?

That’s what we’re going to do today: we’re going to try to focus. Here’s your assignment:

Pick one task you need to accomplish today; write it down.
Also, list the distractions that stand in your way.
Share your list with one person who can hold you accountable.
As you work, glance at your list and remind yourself what really matters.
Try turning off your phone or other pieces of technology. Leave it in the other room and see how much better your work is when you can focus.

I chuckled because today was an editorial deadline day – two days ago. I’d circled on my August calendar the deadlines from the July issue – and I was two days behind. Here I was thinking Thursday the 15th was my due date when my actual due date was Monday the 12th.

Oops!

Gah!

Talk about needing to focus!

Thankfully, much of my work was done and only needed fine-tuning, yet I had not even begun one of the biggest writing assignments that was due.

After I got over the initial shock, I set a tight deadline to get it everything completed.

The only way to get it done was to focus.

Jeff’s exercise pretty much fit the way I had to conduct my day if I intended to complete my tasks.

I put my shoulder to the editorial wheel and dug in.

Thankfully, despite a few interruptions here and here, I was able to get it all in.

Whew!

I’d like to think that the principle of focusing – and accompanying success – can be applied to any aspect of our lives.

Want to complete something and do it well?

Focus.

Want a new relationship – or spice up the one you have?

Focus.

Hmmmm . . . .

Join in the Fray: In what areas of your life do you need to focus?

I’m blogging every day this week in Jeff Goins’ “Slow Down” Challenge. Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment!

Jeff Goins’ “Slow Down” Challenge – Day 2

August 13, 2013 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway 2 Comments

So yesterday I mentioned blogger and author Jeff Goins over at Goins Writer issued a “Slow Down” Challenge.

This is Day 2 of the Challenge. Today’s challenge from Jeff:

Challenge: Savor

Take your time with food today. If you’re the one who cooks in your home, spend more than the minimum amount of time preparing the meal. Slowly cut and cook each ingredient, imagining what they will taste like when blended.

When you eat, chew slowly. Make each bite intentional and deliberate, counting to at least 20 before swallowing. As you do, remember to appreciate and enjoy all the flavors in the food. And above all, remember to smile between bites.

Why This Worked Especially Well For Me

Many of you know that I’ve been doing a “Vegetarian ‘Till 6:00,” which is an adaptation of Mark Bittman’s Vegan Before 6:00. I’d already been trying to make sure I slowed down to eat, taking tiny bites so I could enjoy the flavors of the increased number of fruits and vegetables I’ve been eating.

Yesterday I enjoyed a “Meatless Monday,” and today was no different when I went home for lunch. I didn’t have anything fancy; just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I’ve gotten in the habit of eating one almost every day; usually for breakfast).

I deeply inhaled the smell of the peanuts and marvelled at how sweet the jelly smelled. I cut my sandwich on the diagonal, the way I always do. I enjoyed the sensation of the peanut butter sticking to the roof of my mouth – just like I used to do when I was a kid.

I’m reading Six Days by Harlen Coben, and when I “read for lunch” I normally multitask and read while I eat. Today, however, I didn’t pick up my book until after I’d finished eating – and even then, I sat still and just enjoyed the silence for five minutes before starting to read.

Several people came across my consciousness as I sat there in the silence; some experiencing different forms of bereavement, others who anticipated new ventures; my two brothers who have birthdays this month.

I said a prayer for each of them, and asked God to meet them at the point of their need. I experienced a quiet, peaceful lunch and was ready to go back and face the remainder of my work day.

Even now, I sit in quiet contemplation as I type this. I’m savoring a piece of colby-jack cheese that I placed on a saucer of a set of dishes that my Mother gave me when I moved here.

I’ll admit it: The dishes are not even remotely my taste. Yet they make me smile every time I use them, if for no other reason than the fact that they are so like my Mother and so unlike me – and I’m good with that.

I smile, and think about my wonderful, dear Mother.

I savor not only the cheese, but the moment.

Join in the Fray: What moments are you “savoring?”

I’m blogging every day this week in Jeff Goins’ “Slow Down” Challenge. Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment!

#300| Proud Of Every Step

Fighting Back

Proud Of Every Step

Talk Back To Us

Like this:

#215| My Current Situation

Like this:

#169| Too Much Fun

What Had Happened Was . . . .

Making Mistak3s .. . .

What I Learned

Like this:

#153| Create Something Amazing

Like this:

Jeff Goins’ “Slow Down” Challenge – Day 5 (Final Day)

Like this: