I am planning to read 12 books around financial independence in 2022, 1 per month, and am going to host a book club to discuss the book of the month on the 4th Friday of each month. I am in California, USA, and planning to do this from 7-8:30pm PST. If you can make it, DM me your email address and I’ll add you to the google cal invite! The books I’ve chosen are in the next image. Hope everyone is ready to claim abundance in 2022! 💸
I’m excited to be speaking at LDI again and reuniting with industry friends! Check out the summary of my session below and say hi if you’re attending!
Light Is Light…Or Is It?
Various forms of entertainment lighting, whether that be in touring, concerts, theatre, film, broadcast, or niche architainment installations, have a lot of overlap in approach, syntax, and personnel. These disciplines have enough in common to conjure the simple perception that “light is light”, and we may think all lighting can be approached from the same standpoint. However, when crossing into a traditional architectural approach, we start to see there are a lot of differences in product, protocols, language, personnel, and even the buying process. Sometimes these worlds overlap, but often they can be completely siloed with very different methods and procedures. In this session we will look at where the differences are and what to consider when approaching architectural lighting and systems design, whether pivoting into the built environment permanently, or for a bespoke integration piece.
Malala is one of my all time greatest heros. Against incredible odds she continues to stand up for girls’ rights for education, even after being shot in the face in close range by the Taliban.
The Malala Fund is working for a world where every girl can learn and lead and I am here for it! With more than 130 million girls out of school today, we’re breaking down barriers that hold girls back.
I am dedicating my Golden Gate Half Marathon & Training to raise funds for all girls to have safe and equitable access to education in their communities.
Please help me #run4edu by donating to My Malala Fund Campaign today! No donation is too small. Together we can make a better world and lead with love.
An excerpt from the poem Let Your Soul Breathe:
Create your Fate with no debate about the gate to happiness
It is not found in Gucci or Guess
And Stress is a by-product of poor decision
Malnutrition
And living by someone else’s standards
Let Your Soul Breathe
Read the full poem HERE
Can you relate? 🤪
Lately I’m not sure I can even call myself a minimalist anymore because my physical clutter has transmuted to digital declutter. 😅 I am going to schedule a weekend soon to deep clean and organize my digital space.
Getting a new computer last year gave me the illusion that my digital space was pretty clean and organized, but the truth is I have a backup hard drive that needs to be decluttered and downsized. It has been sitting around just collecting dust for too long. I have 2 backup drives but neither is close to full, so the goal is to consolidate into one and then sell the extra terabyte drive once emptied.
Alot of this mess is simply redundant pictures – you know when you take 15 of the same shot to get the perfect crop, lighting, and frame – but you never deleted the ones that were less than par? I have more than I can count. oopsie.
When it comes to internet tabs – I am so guilty of this! If I keep a tab open it is because I still need to complete an action with that page. I have a set for work, a set for personal, and a set for my side hustle. I am a very productive go-getter type so I am often juggling multiple projects, both industrious and creative varieties. At a certain point I tend to just consolidate the links into a list or calendar recurring to-do “event”, and revisit them as needed, otherwise I feel like I just lose efficiency. It has gotten a little out of hand lately so I am working on getting a hold of my tabs TODAY.
Since 2016 I made a goal to simplify my life as a New Years Resolution, which set me on the unbeknownst journey of downsizing and becoming a minimalist in the first place. That entailed closing out so many things that no longer served me that I spent a year and a half “closing shop”, and learning how complex things had really become before I even got started with the original goal of “simplifying”. 😳 I have done a great job since then of evaluating what is worth my time and attention. Still,occasionally, it comes in waves, where I need to check in on my priorities and make sure I am not giving too much time and attention to items that aren’t serving a greater purpose for my goals, health, or well being.
I am looking forward to the day when I’ve overcome the clutter waves to the point that they no longer demand attention to wrangle them back down to manageable bites. With intention and mindfulness, I know it is right around the corner. 😉
What tips and tricks do you have to keep digital clutter at bay? Let us know in the comments! ✍🏼
I am just *crushing* this month already, boyeeee!
It’s worth stopping, acknowledging, and celebrating! I am so pumped at my own success that I wanted to use this energy to share some inspo with you! Manifestation is simply the process of bringing about events and experiences through the energy you put out into the world. We all have the power to do this, it’s all about mindset. Here are 10 quotes to get you stoked to take action and manifest the life of your dreams! 🧚
2. “If you can dream it you can achieve it.” ~ Zig Ziglar
3. “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
4. “Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it.” ~ Maya Angelou
5. “Thoughts become things. If you see it in your mind, you will hold it in your hand.” ~ Bob Proctor
6. “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” ~ Albert Einstein
7. “Whether you think you can or can’t, either way, you are right.” ~ Henry Ford
8. “To accomplish great things we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but also believe.” ~ Anatole France
9. “Your life is the manifestation of your dream; it is an art, and you can change your life anytime that you’re not enjoying the dream.” ~ don Miguel Ruiz
10. “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
You have the power!!! I believe in you!
luv, dlux
The Girl on Film is me, on my birthday, at Silk City in Philly when I was young enough to not even dare go out before 10pm at the earliest. I was maybe 23 years old.
I met this cute nerdy photog that night and he snapped this instant of me, the flash blowing out my face in the dark bar. I immediately loved that it was me, but it wasn’t. Without a face I had no identity. At the height of my creative lifestyle, this was pure poetry in my mind. It made the gent even cuter.
I went to take a sip of my Yuengling lager and got bumped simultaneously by an anonymous passerby in the crowd, which so easily occured due to the tight shotgun shape of the retro diner redesigned into a nightclub. That little elbow bump thrust my arm and the bottle too quickly to my mouth, chipping my front tooth. Luckily it was so tiny it was unnoticeable, but I could feel it with my tongue, and proceeded to do so obsessively all night.
Years later I put the photo in a frame with this found metal honeycomb scrap to add an extra level of creativity. I never kissed the boy.
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
❤
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.
❤
“You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.” ~ Jim Carrey
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 ~
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
“Enchantress Embellished”
Mixed Media on Canvas, 2019
As a lighting professional and an environmentalist, I’m sad to say that my industry produces a lot of waste. 😏 To do my part, I upcycle e-waste and lamp parts into new art to divert these items from the waste stream. This is part of an ongoing series I call “The Reuse Revolution”.
The fairy in this piece is a reprint from an original painting / drawing that I created several years ago and still love to this day. She is acrylic and ink.The background is spray paint using various trash as stencils.
This original has 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 for any works not shown on Etsy.
xo, dlux
utopiadreamscape.com 