Looking back: Best of 2009
December 4, 2009 by admin
Filed under Etcetera, Inspiration U
Wait. What? It’s December? Didn’t 2009 just start?
What a year it’s been here at Women’s Magazine. Just keeping up with (more accurately: trying to) Boulder County’s women would keep even Boulder runner Ana Weir (last December’s cover gal) on her toes.
This year we’ve walked with you through spring cleaning your life — and your home. Learning to let go. Crazy women thrill-seekers. We explored — and stretched — the concepts of independence and the importance of slowing down. We hoped to remind you to be thankful for the little things. And now we’re here: another year, rocked.
Here are some of our favorite quotes from 2009:
January
“The trick to growth is not stepping out on a limb, but trusting the branch will materialize under your feet as you step into thin air.”
— Sylvia Pelcz-Larsen, Close Up
“Change your beliefs and you’ll change your thoughts. Change your thoughts and you’ll change your habits. Change your habits and your life opens to unlimited possibility.”
— Gail Lynne Goodwin, “Change: It’s an Inside Job”
February
“Start smiling at yourself inside. The way you’ve always dreamed a lover would smile at you. An inner smile that will make you feel like you felt with your first crush, or in those more ecstatic moments with art or nature or children or a husband.”
— Francine Juhasz, “Make Yourself Your Valentine”
“The difference between an average artist and a great one is being able to tell the difference between an accident and an answer.”
— Grant McMartin, “Make Your Own Luck”
“Serendipity happens to us all every day. The key to the frequency and importance is simple: Pay attention.”
— Gail Lynne Goodwin, “Be Inspired”
“Seek the balance between acknowledging moments of chance and moments of chance-to-do-something-more.”
— Kimberly Jonas, “Coincidences and Control”
March
“You cannot move forward until you release the anchors of your past. And in that, release is a great gift. It’s the first ingredient to evolution — as a woman and as a society.”
— Aimee Heckel, letter from the editor
“When you remember that you are the creator of your whole life and that nothing is ever wrong, you have an amazing advantage when it comes to creating the life of your dreams. Your life is your most magnificent work of art.”
— Sandi Zamurut, “Let Go and Love You”
“Moving forward in life is like bungee jumping — the first step is the only one that matters. We don’t have to know how to make a dream happen.”
— Gail Lynne Goodwin, “Letting Go of the ‘How’”
April
“Choose hope over fear. And if fear shows up, choose hope over fear, again.”
— Jodi Feinhor-Dennis, letter to the editor
“Boxing is a very existential sport. Just like life, it requires training. It requires discipline. It requires hard work. It requires courage. It can end at any moment.”
— Dave Gaudette, Men We Love
“Adversity can be turned to opportunity simply by adjusting our perception and attitude.”
— Gail Lynne Goodwin, “Deep Spring Cleaning”
May
“The best way to show you’re a survivor is to move your body.”
— Colleen Cannon, Women Acting Up
June
“We learn so much more from our mistakes than our successes.”
— Carol Frank, Close Up
“I tell you, the worst thing you can do is take someone for granted.”
— Karl Matz, “For the Long Haul”
July
“Defining independence by materialistic means makes you, in turn, dependent on those very means: on money, on your job, on your house — whatever it is that you use as a measuring stick for your independence, and, by extension, identity.”
— Aimee Heckel, letter from the editor
“A true independence woman lives the life of her heartfelt dreams, lives in constant gratitude and is in a constant state of giving and receiving in the beautiful world she has created.”
— Tara Page, Girl Talk
“There exists in every woman a hidden erotic creature, the center of aliveness, self-expression and sensuality.”
— Lisa Fasullo, “Don’t Kill Aphrodite”
August
“I can be connected and independent. I can be self-sufficient and yielding.”
— Dawn Beck, letter to the editor
“We heal when we rest.”
— Liz Canavan, “Simply You”
“How we move internally in how we move through life. If you know where all your bones are in space, you can carry out your intention more clearly in the world.”
— Erin Ferguson, “Don’t be a Martyr”
“You really have to love yourself before you can be in love with someone else or be in love with your career.” — Heidi Ganahl, Close Up
“Everybody needs to know their bra size and what the federal dollars go to.”
— Joellen Raderstorf, Women Acting Up
September
“When I die, the only thing that will be left of my life is how I have affected the people around me, and thus the world.”
— Hollie Hirst, Girl Talk
“Anything that is true — pure to itself — is beautiful. Everybody finds babies so beautiful. That’s because they haven’t been clouded or made cynical; they are so pure in their joy.”
— Renu Kansal, “More than a Pretty Face”
October
“True freedom is free will. The chance to mess up, or rise up, and make your own crazy, fake-blood-splattered pathway through life.”
— Aimee Heckel, letter from the editor
“That’s the thing about transformation: It asks us to take a leap of faith, with a willingness to suspend the rational mind that thinks it knows the most logical steps to our goal.”
— Kimberly Jonas, “An Invitation to Transformation”
“Believe a man has a certain dignity he must uncover in himself, and help others do the same.”
— Diane Magliolo, “Five Women Who Light the Community”
“Little kids seem to know how to do all kinds of things we grownups forget.”
— Erika Stutzman, “The Learning Curve”
“There is a tender feel to birth and death — both a powerful reminder of the beauty of life and friendship in between.”
— Priscilla Dann-Courtney, “Radiating Friendship”
November
“Over time, as we feed that part of ourselves that is satisfied with what is, we stem the erosion that comes from our co-dependent relationship with the should have’s and must do’s in our lives. Our gratitude becomes the fuel that balances and sustains us, even during the busiest and most pressing of times.”
— Kimberly Jonas, “It All Adds Up”
Thank you for including my quotes in this great article. I'm honored to be included with such great writers. I enjoyed writing for your magazine in early 2009, before I moved from Colorado to Montana. Who knows, perhaps some day I'll return to your beautiful mountains… but in the meantime, should you miss any of the inspiration, please feel free to check out our site, http://InspireMeToday.com for your FREE daily dose of inspiration.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Hugs,
Gail
http://InspireMeToday.com