Author: Amy D Lux

Turns Out…

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Turns out I have a crush on disruptive #fintech. So I purchased my first art investment through #Masterworks.

My first investment is in Pumpkin, 1990 by Yayoi Kusama. It was very exciting to be able to play a part in uplifting a female artist, and an asian artist. White men have dominated art history and women often had to hide under a male sounding name in the creative arts or be written out entirely. As the Guardian puts it:

“One of the startling things … is the way that Kusama seemed to be written out of pop art history. There was a point in the 60s when she shared almost equal billing – and notoriety – with the likes of Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg. Part of this eclipse seems to have been by design – Kusama has long claimed that her original ideas were appropriated by the Wasp-ish men around her and passed off as their own.1

Yayoi’s personal history is fascinating and her renaissance coming full circle in her 80s is exciting to watch.

Also, Masterworks is disrupting the concept that Blue Chip Art is for the ultra wealthy alone, to be hidden in private auctions in some kind of circle jerk. Look, I’m not going to say I understand why one piece sells for $7 million and another is $25 at a coffee shop, but I do like the idea of expanded accessibility. This is essentially a crowdfunding platform that facilitates investments with fractional shares via a blockchain solution.

According to The Wall Street Journal, in 2018, artwork returned an average of 10.6% return versus a 4.38% loss in the S&P 500.2 So that’s not nothing. Now I am a FIRE gal and I love the security of #indexfunds so don’t worry I haven’t fully strayed, but putting a chunk into @masterworks.io is just another way to diversify as far as I’m concerned. Frankly I threw money away on much greater risks with no potential returns when I was young and hungry, so don’t @ me. This is interesting and I want to see where it goes.

How about you? Have you tried something new and edgy lately?

1 The Guardian
2 InvestorJunkie.com

…I HAVE THE OPPOSITE OBSESSION…

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“The physical as a symbol of the spiritual world. The people who keep old rags, old useless objects, who hoard, accumulate: are they also keepers and hoarders of old ideas, useless information, lovers of the past only, even in its form of detritus?…I have the opposite obsession. In order to change skins, evolve into new cycles, I feel one has to learn to discard. If one changes internally, one should not continue to live with the same objects. They reflect one’s mind and psyche of yesterday. I throw away what has no dynamic, living use. I keep nothing to remind me of the passage of time, deterioration, loss, shriveling.”

― Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 4: 1944-1947

Anaïs Nin

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT: DLUX TATER BOWL

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Lock me in a kitchen for a year and some interesting choices are bound to be made….

Introducing the DLUX TATER BOWL!

GIRL. Lemme just tell you. This bowl was 2 servings but I licked the damn thing clean. SUPÈRYUMZ

Vegan. Whole30. Paleo. Grain Free. Gluten Free. Dairy Free. Organic. #allthethings

9 times out of 10 I’m eating a #YAM but once in a while girlfriend needs a white ass potato, mmkay?

Bake the baby in the #instapot. If you don’t have this GET IT NOW. My #1 minimalist friendly kitchen tool.

TBH, #1 is tied between IP, Immersion Blender, + Juicer, but you get what I’m laying down, right? I’m a #minimalist; I only have 3 tools; they are all #1.

While the #tater is baking, sauté: onion, garlic, bell pepper, mushrooms, broccoli. Put big ole tater in a bowl a top with #nutritionalyeast, olive oil, salt + peppa. Then load on the sautéed veggies and top with #sauerkraut, #olives, & #avocado. Add Olive Oil Drizzle.

Yes. I said olives. OLIVES ON EVERYTHING.

Don’t challenge me. It’s dope. #saltfatacidheat

All of this from #PlanetEarth. How amazing is that?

Next, pretend you will save half for lunch tomorrow + devour every delicious morsel.

YW. 💕, DLUX

Sarah Golish, VP Digital Lighting Networks

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I’m SO excited to celebrate #WomenInLeadership with this interview with Sarah Golish, the new VP of Digital Lighting Networks. Not only does this interview cover our advanced control technologies, but also covers Acuity Brands’ enhanced approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, which is an absolutely crucial conversation to be having TODAY.


Thank you for the interview, inside.lighting!

Turning A Should Into A Must

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This was me at 6am on the first day of turning a “should” into a “must”.

It was the day after attending Tony Robbins Virtual Unleash The Power Within. I have known for some time that the key to unlocking my next level of potential was in my body. To once and for all cure the chronic illness I’ve been battling for 5 years, to get my full energy back, to literally unleash the power within.

The thing was, I was having the damndest time following through, despite knowing this was the answer, this was crucial, this was non-negotiable. I am so disciplined and structured in just about every other aspect of my life – my house is clean and organized (and delightful!), I have a succesful Real Estate side hustle, I am crushing it in my career, I have deeper, more sincere relationships than ever, my nutrition has become outstanding… but exercise – I was SO inconsistent.

Why? I always feel WAY better afterwards. My symptoms improve or vanish when I would have a regular spell of exercise. Yet, I always ended up working through lunch instead of going for a jog. At the end of the day I’d be too tired to workout and I wanted some downtime after busting my hump all day. And mornings? Fuhgettaboutit. That was when my thyroid symptoms were the worst. No matter how good my intentions, I would hit the snooze button over and over again while my brain fog and inflammation sunk me deeper into total of loss of will power for physical exertion.

So it is remarkable and I couldn’t be more thrilled that today is my 2 week anniversary of finally succeeding in this shift! Everyday at 6am I do a @kinrgy workout. I LOVE this workout. It is so much more than a workout. They guide us through the elements in dance and expression and it feels so good! Plus their guides are incredible – I LOVE Rebeka’s energy. She reminds me of myself pre-trauma, and inspires me to keep working on getting back to that effervescent part of myself. And Ulato brings big Jamaican energy and brilliantly quotes historic black leaders and poets that take this movement and connection to a whole new level that I honor so much and fuels me to keep fighting for love and equality. Christine is just pure light and makes me feel so playful, genuine, and connected. I mean, I could go on about every single one of them – I love them so much!

So what changed? I turned a should into a must. Tony Robbins and his crew gave us so many tangible tools to go deep and find our why. It was so much more than words though. Through a series of exercises (written, spoken, and physical), and alot of intentional physiological changes and upgrades, I was able to unlock blocks that I was holding in my body and in my psyche that I thought I had cleared years ago. These blocks were holding me back BIG TIME and I had NO idea.

By the end of UPW I was magically a morning person. Well, maybe it wasn’t simply magic. I found my why, I created genuine intention, and I unleashed the power within. I feel literally unstoppable! Not only do I now workout daily at 6am, I follow it with a Priming meditation, and a COLD shower to tap into the Wim Hof method. By 7am I’ve done all of this, drank a pint of lemon water, and walked the dog. My mornings have never been like this before. Not only has my morning routine benefitted, but I have much more energy all day, my brain fog has lifted, joint pain is GONE, and I’m happier than I’ve been in years. I was already pretty happy because I have deep philosophies towards that way of being, but now I have this innate joy vibrating through my body in a way that hasn’t happened since before the tragedies of 2004.

Yep, that was me at 6am on Day 1. Bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready to take on a new day, a new life!

THANK YOU Tony Robbins Joseph McClendon Kinrgy Julianne Hough Karissa Kouchis Egoscue Team Tony
Master Co

LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME

B O U N T Y

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Hello Sweet Loves of The Glorious Universe!!

I just wanted to pop in real quick with some VIBRANT GREEN ENERGY. Yesterday I got a mega grocery haul delivered from Sprouts. I just finished #UnleashThePowerWithin with Tony Robbins and am PUMPED BEYOND BELIEF. Team 23 is LIT! 🔥🔥🔥 A few of us stayed in touch and one of the new motivations that we decided with was to jump into a Whole30.

This is my 5th! Everytime I do it I feel better, and I get better. My healthy habits increase, my bad habits decrease, and I become unaddicted to the “foods” that were never serving me in the first place. #UPW wasn’t just motivating, it went into THE DEEP. Like buried psyche deep. I unlocked blocks that were concealed so deep I had no idea they were still there. I thought I had “taken care of that already”. I can’t begin to explain, I can just say, this is something everyone should do. It is genuinely life changing. ✨💕🙏🏼💕✨

SO, I decided not only would I do Whole30, I’m going to try it differently this time. For one, I’m doing it 100% ORGANIC. I haven’t done that before. 30 days of all organic is going to be magical. I’m also going to go ahead and try it vegan. WHAT?! This is a little trickier since the vegan diet relies so much on legumes and grains, but I have some good tricks up my sleeve. I’ll go into that another day.

Anyhoo, I am also in the middle of moving so even though I want to write like crazy, I am going to go unpack and try to get my shizzle together. I just wanted to say hi real quick and ask you this – what are you feeding your cells? Sluggish foods that are hard for your body to process? Foods that are known to cause cancer? Foods that are known to clog arteries? Are you eating live, bright, fresh fruits and veggies? Are you eating straight out of nature’s own package? Are you getting all your colors or is everything white and beige? Are you eating alot of pesticides? Do you know where you food comes from? Does it use prison labor to manufacture? Does it cause pollution? Is it reliant on tons of petroleum? Is it full of antibiotics and hormones forced into it? How do you feel?

I’ve been witnessing massive transformation for myself. I’ve learned how my diet directly affects my hypothyroid symptoms. On multiple occasions I have eliminated my symptoms completely, and as I become less of an emotional eater and more cognizant of the fuel I need to give me energy and help me thrive, the better I feel. I love feeling better every single day; feeling younger than I did when I was in my 20s. It’s true what they say, you are what you eat.

After unlocking my true potential at Unleash The Power Within, I now, finally, understand why I was giving in to poor choices for so long. This is the biggest gift I could ask for. I finally found my why. All the reasons I would contradict my true desires. All the reasons I would cheat myself “just this once”.

This is YOUR LIFE. Your one and only precious life in THIS BODY. What else could you do with your body if you ate healthy foods? How clear would your mind become? Would your brain fog lift? How much inflammation would leave your joints? Would it be easier to get out of your eat? Would you find yourself connecting with others more? Just wondering. Chronic fatigue lifted, pure joy in your heart, high vibrational energy that grows exponentially, daily, can you imagine? I love you so much and I want you to prosper. Eat Bountifully. AND SPREAD LOVE.

xo,
Dlux

LOVE LOVE LOVE

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Personally I have been extremely successful at being single on Valentine’s Day. 😉 Which is perfectly fine because I definitely don’t believe you need a partner to celebrate LOVE. Love is my religion and I’ll celebrate its many forms any day of the week! If you are flying solo this year, here are a few ways you can celebrate love and not feel left out of this holiday.

Self Love and Self Care are obvs at the top of this list. This is something so many of us struggle with on a regular basis, so if that’s you, give yourself permission to be all about yourself today. While baths and candles are a great way to relax and take care of yourself, they aren’t the only things you can do (but do it if you can!). I know it can be hard to find time for self when career, family, or community commitments are constantly calling our attention. Try a 5 or 10 minute guided meditation affirming your prowess. 🧘‍♂️ I often like to do meditations like this as an active / moving meditation because I am notoriously bad at sitting still, so going for a walk and having this in my earbuds while I observe the amazing world around me can be very affirming. You deserve this. ❤️
5-Minute Self Love Meditation
Empowerment Affirmations Rampage

Love some animals! Take a few minutes and just sit on the floor with your pet(s). They will love receiving affection by you and playing with you. The important thing here is to be fully present in this moment and try to remove distractions like a TV running in the background or scrolling your phone. Have a very present exchange with your pets and bask in that unconditional love. Don’t have a pet? Visit a dog park and spend some time with your neighbor’s pets. This has become a favorite weekend activity for my dog and I, and Venus loves saying hi to everyone there, whether they have their own pets or not!

Give. One of the quickest ways that I get myself out of a slump is by giving back to the community. Lately I have taken to making gift bags with a few items like lip balm, a scarf, dry shampoo, and tampons, and giving them out to homeless women I see. You can also make donations or volunteer your time to a local organization that moves you. Here are a few online resources to help you find dozens of organizations that could use your help:
Alive!
ACCP
The Good Trade

Set up a Zoom brunch or a Happy Hour with your besties from every time zone. This year I am bringing together a bunch of my gal pals for some virtual reverie and I’m excited not only to spend time with them, but to have the opportunity to introduce some of my friends from different cities who otherwise might never have had a chance to meet. There’s always a bright side if you look in that direction. ✨

You ARE love. We ARE love. Feel your own purity through the medium of love, and take time to genuinely love yourself and spread love to everyone you see today, and every day. Celebrate glorious love, and ride that vibe into the sunset. Also, eat chocolate, everyone needs some chocolate. 🍫

Black History Month

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Happy Black History Month!

This month we honor and recognize our black citizens, community members, family, and friends, though we should be celebrating black people every damn day! Black History Month originated in 1915, 50 years after the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery, via history.com.

In 1926 the event was celebrated on the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, which in turn inspired schools and communities across the nation to host local celebrations. It wasn’t until 1976 that President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month, “calling upon the public to ‘seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.’”1

2020 was a wake up call for all2. The deeply embedded systemic racism in our society can not be denied. It is violent, terrifying, archaic, and needs to end NOW. Even in the wake of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others that should be here with us today, these heinous crimes continue. Please, please, don’t go back to sleep. Please continue (or start!) to do the work of fighting racism, of building a society that can live in genuine unity. It’s not enough to say “I’m not racist”, or to think it does not affect you. You have to stand up for what’s right. People of color deserve for those of us with skin privilege to stand up and speak out against injustice.

There are countless ways to get involved. NAACP membership is only $35 / year and shares a wealth of information and actionable steps. ACLU membership is however much you want to give and funds extensive litigation, communications, and public education programs. There are local organizations with which you can become involved with for free, and following these groups on social media will keep you up to date on current events as well as opportunities where you could jump in and help.

Even if you don’t volunteer, it is vastly important for us all to continue to educate ourselves. Most importantly, if you bare witness to any inequity at school, at work, on the subway, in the store, at the park – it’s our duty to say something. We owe it to each other. Don’t let another moment pass you by where you give in to complacency. Have you ever needed help? Yes. We all have. Someone needs your help today, and all you have to do is be vocal. We can build a better world, together. I have no doubt!

Below are a few links to expand your knowledge and open your heart.
There are many more, this is just a start.

Love. Honor. Respect. Celebrate. Cherish.

29 Influential African Americans
26 Black Americans You Don’t Know But Should
Black History Milestones: Timeline
Uncomfortable Conversations With A Black Man
Silence Is Not An Option
Code Switch
Say Their Names
Say Every Name

1History.com

2Though all are welcome and encouraged to read this blog, please understand that this is written by a person with skin privilege, and therefore written from a perspective as a call to action, particularly to others with skin privilege, as I believe it is our duty to use our privileges to help others. For those that know these harsh truths and live this fight daily due to race and inequities you face regularly, I send the utmost love, respect, and empowerment. I welcome corrections and suggestions to re-align my language if I’ve misused any terms or said anything inappropriate. Thank you.

FEARLESS

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❤

I quote Jim Carrey and listen to this speech regularly. I can’t even do it justice to write about. Click the vid and see for yourself. Jim Carrey is someone who gets it. He is compounding energy super sized. (You can do it too). “The effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is.” Watch. This. Now.

❤

https://youtu.be/kKhYd1FY0Lw

“You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.” ~ Jim Carrey

THE DAILY HAPPY

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People often ask me how I stay so positive in tough times. How could I begin to abbreviate what I’ve transformed? It goes deep yo.

The truth is I’ve been through more “Big T” traumas than you can count on one hand and it’s for this exact reason that I work hard to stay positive. Without getting into too much detail I’ll say this, there were two main catapults that have landed me at this vantage point. The first was an abusive and unstable childhood, to put it lightly. Once I escaped that prison I knew resolutely what I did NOT want to be, so I had alot of incentive to follow my dreams and never give up. Just as I was getting into the groove of being a badass and owning my life, as if I hadn’t been through enough already, my rebirth into positivity was almost taken away from me again when I was assaulted a mere 3 weeks after my little brother’s suicide. As hard as it was, I knew that if I stayed down for too long it would be letting my rapist win. From that day forward I made a decision to “refuse to be a victim”. It didn’t happen overnight, but the commitment was resolute.

Refusing to be a victim has taken years of practice, of breakdowns, of therapy, of giving up, of getting back up again. At the end of the day we all need reminders; this is a choice. Your attitude is a choice. Your perspective is a choice. Yes, absolutely honor the hurt, acknowledge the pain, (denial is not healthy), but you can’t wallow. It’s too hard to climb out of that downward spiral once it gains traction. So I speak a different truth into existence. I use mantras to lift me up. And I’ll be damned, it works. So much so that I just want to shout it to the world : “heyyyyyy – it’s not easy but it works! Don’t give up!”

Print the image of this mantra out and speak a new / improved loving reality for yourself. Speak it in a meditation, in the mirror, on a walk, hiding in the bathroom at work – whatever works for you. Practice makes perfect, and it does get easier. You just gotta believe. 💫

luv, dlux

ps for a sliding scale donation of $3 – $20 I can update the graphic to be your portrait or an image of your choice. To request, use the contact page and reference “THE DAILY HAPPY”. ✨

~ Never Give Up ~

YOU, Superhero

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First order of business: You literally are a superhero. You have SO many powers to create your fate. Law of Attraction, Quantum Physics, Alchemy – whatever you want to call it, we have the power! Don’t talk yourself out of it – try it today! ✨❤️✨

Second, If you want a superhero collage with your face, I can do that for ya! Just let me know. Hang it on your mirror, on your fridge, make it part of your vision board – whatever you want to remind yourself and give yourself a little boost. YOU’RE AWESOME. Don’t let anyone make you feel any differently.

~ FIN ~

“You are stronger than you believe. You have greater powers than you know.”

—Antiope to Diana, Wonder Woman Movie

MAKE A PLAN

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Credit Score Goals

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As a goal oriented person, I always love setting New Year Resolutions, or New Year Goals, every year. I know alot of people that are adamantly against this. People say, “why bother if you’re just going to fail.” I see their point (kinda), but I have always followed the ideology of it’s not how many times you fall, it’s how many times you get back up. Fear of failure isn’t an option, but what’s more, it gives me something to work towards, as well as an opportunity to set an intention.

One of my New Year Goals for 2020 was to raise my credit score to 800. This one was tricky because I knew so much of this achievement would be out of my hands. First of all, there are 3 credit bureaus calling the shots and they don’t even agree with each other. Second, it’s a mystery to me how it even works. There is a lot of bait involved in this credit business. For example, my credit score would slowly tick up as I paid off debts and kept lower balances, but when I had a car emergency and had to take out a car loan, I was stunned to see that my credit score shot up several points after taking on this new large debt. Why? I didn’t feel I should be rewarded for that, but it’s some weird formula to encourage you to keep spending, and most people spend beyond their means when it comes to credit. Third, it took me years to get to 700 alone. I got my first credit card in college, along with the school loans, and promptly threw my score in the gutter for over a decade at just over 300 points. To say I was irresponsible with my credit is an understatement. I came from extreme poverty with a subzero financial IQ before I turned this ship around.

So, as you can see in the image, I did not achieve my goal of 800 points, BUT I did gain 89 points from the year before. In December 2019 before I made this goal I had just hit 700 even. Is this a failure? NOPE. This goal gave me mindfulness. Every month I recorded my updated score. I was encouraged because I was actively paying down debt, learning to live within a budget, and watching the score go up. I’ve been working on my budget for years but it takes a long time to master! Having this goal made me focused and vigilant to get the best results possible by persevering and course correcting as needed. I’d call this a win.

A credit score of 800 or higher is considered perfect and I was able to get so close that now I can definitely have it as an achievable goal for 2021. Even though it will take me a little longer to get there, I’m stoked to have stayed the course and to keep reaching higher.

What financial goals are you setting for yourself in 2021? Remember, it’s never too late to start anew. I re-evaluate my New Year Resolutions every quarter to make sure I’m on track and make updates if anything has shifted. It’s not written in stone, it’s your life novel to write and edit as you deem fit. You can do anything you set your mind to. I believe in you!

If you can believe it, you can achieve it.

~ Napoleon Hill

BLISS BALLS

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This batch was small for experimental purposes and made 6 balls. Multiply the following as desired!

1/2 cup peanut butter (sub nut butter for paleo)

1/8 cup Coconut Flour

1/8 cup Maple Syrup

1/8 cup Coconut Oil

1/8 cup Cacao Powder

1/4 cup Vegan Chocolate Chips.

Roll into balls and dip in Coconut Flakes.

Freeze 30 minutes.

NOSH!

REFLECTIVE, GROWTH

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Reflective, Growth

Mixed Media, 2019

The image in the center is a detail from my original conte crayon drawing and mixed media artwork called Reflective, which was a piece I created in the aftermath of losing my little brother, Brian, aka MC Logic, to suicide. I was swimming in the deep darkness during this time, trying to make sense of it, all the more shocking as I had found out at 5am on the day I landed on American soil after frolicking all over Brazil for 2 months without a care in the world. It was the last time I was truly, unequivocally free. Returning to this news was beyond devastating. Gratefully, I was surrounded by the undying love of my supportive community who kept me from drowning and helped me hold my sense of purpose to go on without him.

Both originals have already been sold, but Postcards and Prints are available in my Etsy shop, Luv Logica. You can also contact me here for direct inquiries and commissions of any work not shown on Etsy, including those shown on Utopia Dreamscape.

I’ll post the complete, original Reflective piece tomorrow so check back then!