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The Swirl World

Celebrating and Elevating Black Women - mind, body, soul and spirit!


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#250| Happy Labor Day, USA!

September 7, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

shareasimageHappyLaborDay

Happy Labor Day!

Hope you’re enjoying your time off – and the last few days of summer.

 

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™.

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Filed Under: Fun & Games, Holiday Observances, Inspiration Daily 2015, Travel Tagged With: beach, day off, Labor Day, life, summer, vacation

#178| Get Some Therapy!

June 27, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

shareasimageLuluAndAndrew

“It’s hard for me to put into words why I like the beach so much. Everything about it is renewing for me, almost like therapy…Beach Therapy.”

~Amy Dykens

So, what’s your “therapy?”

For some, it’s binging on movies. For others, it’s poking around in a garden, scouring flea markets or chasing yard sales. Others enjoy curling up with the latest NYT bestseller, checking out a trendy vegan restaurant or enjoying a latte in their favorite coffee shop.

Whatever your therapy of choice, we trust you’ll have the time – no, make the time – this weekend to indulge.

I need to get some therapy; how about you?

 

Today’s featured couple, Lulu and Andrew, got engaged this week! How’s that for therapy?? Woot!

 

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 used with permission.

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Filed Under: Black Women Living Well, BW/WM, Fantastic Fans, Inspiration Daily 2015, Travel Tagged With: Amy Dykens, beach, beach therapy, therapy

#168| Artificial Inspiration

June 17, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

Depositphotos_Dubai_P

Burj Al Arab is a luxury 5-Star hotel built on an artificial island in front of Jumeirah Beach.

An “artificial” island?

Real or not, that setting of placid blue waters sparks nothing less than inspiration.

I’ll take it – how about you?

 

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™.

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Filed Under: Black Women Living Well, Goal Setting, Inspiration Daily 2015, Travel, Uncategorized Tagged With: artificial island, beach, Dubai, inspiration, island, travel

Life’s A Beach

April 9, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

shareasimageBeach99A

Eat.

Sleep.

Beach.

Repeat.

Doesn’t that sound good?

The couple featured in the photo took an anniversary trip to the Bahamas. The person in the water is one of their children.

 

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 used with permission.

 

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Filed Under: Black Women Living Well, BW/WM, Inspiration Daily 2015, Uncategorized Tagged With: anniversary, Bahamas, beach, travel, trip, wedding anniversary

#15 | Life’s A Beach!

January 15, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

shareasimageCottesloeF15

Yesterday at noon here in the United States, the temperature in Lafayette, LA was 37° Fahrenheit. (The expected high was 46° F; I don’t think we reached it).

Chicago’s noon temperature was 16°, and with the wind chill it felt like 14°. And in Fairbanks, Alaska? A frigid 10°.

And yet, across the world at Cottesloe Beach near Perth, Western Australia, it was a balmy 72° F, and surfing enthusiasts could check the surf forecast.

For them right now, life’s a beach!

Now, close your eyes, and imagine the moon over Cottesloe Beach. Isn’t it time we did some traveling?

The inspiring Rosetta Thurman of Happy Black Woman just posted a feature article entitled, “Four Steps to Creating an Online Travel Vision Board.” I strongly advise you to check it out!

Let’s set up a board so we can get up and get out – I’d love to see the moon rise in another location, wouldn’t you?

—

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.

If you’d like to share your photos, please send them to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com. We’d love to feature YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts!

 

Copyright ©2015  Michelle Matthews Calloway, ASwirlGirl™, The Swirl World™, The Swirl World Podcast™,  The Swirl World Inspiration Daily™, All rights reserved. Photo of Cottlesloe Beach Copyright ©2015 John Miecovich. Used with permission.

 

 

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Filed Under: Inspiration Daily 2015, Mondays With Mike, Special, Travel, Uncategorized Tagged With: beach, beaches, Cottesloe Beach, moon, moonlight, Perth, Rosetta Thurman, surf, surfing, travel, vision board, Western Australia

Easy, Breezy, Beautiful

May 13, 2011 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

I was working on a paper the other day and channel-surfed to find the perfect background show. You know the kind I mean: The “mindless” program you leave running in the background while you do something that really uses your brain.

[Side note: I also listen to my favorite Pandora station at the same time. What can I say? I’m a multi-tasker to the nth degree.]

I landed on America’s Next Top Model (I have no idea what season) and decided to leave it there (that’s the only way I get to “see” it). I generally look up during the last 10 minutes or so of every program to give myself a break (and to watch the elimination – of course!).

Turns out I was on one of the final episodes where the remaining contestants had to do their Cover Girl commercials. They had a couple of scenarios to work with, but the bottom line was how well they could work the scenario and say, “Easy, breezy, beautiful, Cover Girl.”   

You have to ask yourself, How hard is that??? Surprisingly, it was very hard for some.

I sat there shaking my head and chuckling, when suddenly my mind wandered and I thought about SM. (I admit that my mind wanders in his direction most of the time – but I digress).

I thought about a trip we’d taken to Hilton Head to catch some beach and some sun. He had pounded on my door one morning at what seemed like the crack of dawn, Starbucks cup in hand.


[Side note: I have to digress here. This is a man who wherever we go, always locates the nearest Starbucks because he knows how much I love an extra hot caramel macchiato. I could go on and tell you that he also knows my exact recipe, but why bore you with those details? Suffice it to say that SM is a good man, and I know I’m blessed to have him in my life. I have a funny story about SM, me, and an empty Starbucks cup, but I’ll save it for another blog. *LOL* just thinking about it!]  

The sun was coming up, and SM wanted us to watch the sunrise together. It was nippy that time of morning, but he pulled the heavy comforter off my bed and wrapped us in it as we sat on the terrace facing the beach. Needless to say, it was a beautiful and glorious sight – and tears came to my eyes as I sat, months later, remembering that very special time.

It was warm enough a few hours later for us to walk along the edge of the beach and enjoy the feel of the sun on our faces and the sand between our toes. We laughed, talked, and held hands – an easy, breezy, beautiful summer morning.

I’m getting misty-eyed again recollecting that, because It occurs to me that just as we’d think it should be easy for a wanna-be model to say “Easy, breezy, beautiful” – it isn’t – and you know what? Relationships are the same way.

As I mature and grow in my relationship, I realize that every day is not easy, breezy, and beautiful. Life happens. Too much humidity? The “hair” of your relationship gets frizzy. The pressures of life can feel like sweltering heat – and all you want to do is escape. Sand gets in your eyes, and you cry. Cry hard enough, and you melt away your make up . . . and even if you cry just a little your mascara may run and you still wind up looking like a distant cousin to a raccoon.

We suffer setbacks and seeming reversals of fortune. We get the wind knocked out of us and we have to find a way to pick ourselves up. We misunderstand and get things wrong. We get hurt; we hurt others. We get offended; we offend each other.

I look at couples like my parents and others, married for 40, 50, and even 60-plus years, and ask them the secret of their longevity. They tell me traditional wedding vows they took covered those not so easy, not so breezy, and not so beautiful days. “Better . . . worse . . . Richer . . . poorer . . . sickness . . . health,” they said. On those not so beautiful days, and during those not so beautiful times, they determined that, in spite of it all, they would dig their heels in and remember their investment of time, and emotion. They chose to love him . . . love her. They let the fierce winds blow, and they allowed the rain to pummel them, but they didn’t let go.

Sitting here now, I think back on that episode of America’s Next Top Model and I celebrate. I celebrate relationships, and above all, I celebrate love.  

I muse on life, reminisce about that wonderful summer morning, and I smile.

“An investment in the emotional bank account,” is what SM called it.

I realize that the easy, breezy, beautiful days lay the foundation for the days and times ahead, and I smile. Easy, breezy, beautiful. It’s the stuff that my dreams now are made of.

Join in the fray:

How do you define “easy, breezy, and beautiful?”

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: beach, beautiful, Black, Cover Girl, easy, interracial, interracial dating, interracial relationships, Starbucks, white

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Welcome!

I’m Michelle Matthews-Calloway, and I’m A Swirl Girl! Greetings to you from The Swirl World. We encourage Black women to expand their relationship options by dating and marrying interracially. Our overarching mission is to see Black Women live their best life. Come Swirl with us in The Swirl World™, where we celebrate Black women and the diverse men who love us!™

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