Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
My name is Jen Carlson and I am that girl.
I've dropped little bits and pieces here and there about my new love, i am that girl, but I haven't actually taken the time to really tell you what's made me fall so hard. It goes beyond the draw of new rain boots, an awesome dress, a cute boy or my shiny new camera. It's not a tangible object that I can hold in my hands but it is something that I hold in my heart in a way that fulfills me beyond anything else I can measure. I want to share it with every single person I talk to and I'm surprised by the fact that I haven't done that right here yet.
As we approached the new year, I had ideas on what I wanted to do with 2010 but I wasn't sure how I felt about resolutions. It seems to be the trendy thing to set lofty goals with the expectation that you'll never fulfill them and I didn't want anything to do with that. So, after spending a lot of time in self-reflection I opted to make commitments to myself instead. One of those was "I Will Be Passion" and just a few days into 2010, that fell right into my lap. A lovely woman whose blog I read on a regular basis posted about a group that she was starting up in SoCal. After poking around on the facebook page for her group, I stumbled onto iamthatgirl.com. I was hooked.
Right now you're saying to yourself, "Nice story but what is it?" I'm about to tell you. i am that girl is a Los Angeles based organization founded by Alexis Jones (of Survivor: Micronesia fame). When people ask me for my elevator pitch I tell them that we are a group of socially conscious women who want to support each other and make a difference in the world all at once. But it's so much more than that. The fact is that we're all that girl and we all need to be reminded of the fact that we're not alone in the things we go through or in our desires to make a difference that is bigger than we are. We live in a generation where so much emphasis is put on how we look, what we wear, what job we have, who we're dating and how we stack up against each other that somewhere along the way the important things got left off of the checklist of what makes a person truly beautiful. Alexis and her incredible dream team want more for this generation of women and the generations that we're going to influence. i am that girl is a women's movement that is going to rock the 21st century, change the definition of beauty and remind us all of what the important things really are.
So how did I come to be part of this? Did I pack up and move to LA in an effort to become part of something incredible? No! I didn't need to! I am happy to say that I can play a big role in this amazing thing from the comforts of my little Seattle bubble. With the recent kickoff of the that girl goes local program, women all over the country are (and still can!) starting their own local chapters of this amazing company. I am just one of a handful of presidents representing the i am that girl mission in her town.
On a weekly basis groups of amazing women gather together in coffee shops, food courts, libraries or the comfort of one of our homes to discuss the big things going on in our lives and the big things going on in the world. Every group has their own unique conversations but we all share in a weekly discussion based around readings and facilitation questions that support a pressing issue in all of our lives. These discussions reach into every corner, from racism to birth control to sexuality and beyond. Every month each chapter reaches out to their community to bring awareness to issues like sex trafficking, equal rights, education, abuse, etc. We volunteer, we make noise, we challenge the status quo and we stand up to raise our voices for those who can't do it for themselves.
If you think that beauty is more than about how you look, you think that making a difference in the world sounds like a pretty badass way to spend your time and you strongly believe that we're all a part of the same incredible team, you ought to come check out our movement and maybe even bring a friend along for the ride.
And if you don't believe me? Believe her:
Our Mission: To inspire authentic confidence in girls and women everywhere so that they can positively and significantly impact the world.
As we approached the new year, I had ideas on what I wanted to do with 2010 but I wasn't sure how I felt about resolutions. It seems to be the trendy thing to set lofty goals with the expectation that you'll never fulfill them and I didn't want anything to do with that. So, after spending a lot of time in self-reflection I opted to make commitments to myself instead. One of those was "I Will Be Passion" and just a few days into 2010, that fell right into my lap. A lovely woman whose blog I read on a regular basis posted about a group that she was starting up in SoCal. After poking around on the facebook page for her group, I stumbled onto iamthatgirl.com. I was hooked.
Right now you're saying to yourself, "Nice story but what is it?" I'm about to tell you. i am that girl is a Los Angeles based organization founded by Alexis Jones (of Survivor: Micronesia fame). When people ask me for my elevator pitch I tell them that we are a group of socially conscious women who want to support each other and make a difference in the world all at once. But it's so much more than that. The fact is that we're all that girl and we all need to be reminded of the fact that we're not alone in the things we go through or in our desires to make a difference that is bigger than we are. We live in a generation where so much emphasis is put on how we look, what we wear, what job we have, who we're dating and how we stack up against each other that somewhere along the way the important things got left off of the checklist of what makes a person truly beautiful. Alexis and her incredible dream team want more for this generation of women and the generations that we're going to influence. i am that girl is a women's movement that is going to rock the 21st century, change the definition of beauty and remind us all of what the important things really are.
So how did I come to be part of this? Did I pack up and move to LA in an effort to become part of something incredible? No! I didn't need to! I am happy to say that I can play a big role in this amazing thing from the comforts of my little Seattle bubble. With the recent kickoff of the that girl goes local program, women all over the country are (and still can!) starting their own local chapters of this amazing company. I am just one of a handful of presidents representing the i am that girl mission in her town.
On a weekly basis groups of amazing women gather together in coffee shops, food courts, libraries or the comfort of one of our homes to discuss the big things going on in our lives and the big things going on in the world. Every group has their own unique conversations but we all share in a weekly discussion based around readings and facilitation questions that support a pressing issue in all of our lives. These discussions reach into every corner, from racism to birth control to sexuality and beyond. Every month each chapter reaches out to their community to bring awareness to issues like sex trafficking, equal rights, education, abuse, etc. We volunteer, we make noise, we challenge the status quo and we stand up to raise our voices for those who can't do it for themselves.
If you think that beauty is more than about how you look, you think that making a difference in the world sounds like a pretty badass way to spend your time and you strongly believe that we're all a part of the same incredible team, you ought to come check out our movement and maybe even bring a friend along for the ride.
And if you don't believe me? Believe her:
Our Mission: To inspire authentic confidence in girls and women everywhere so that they can positively and significantly impact the world.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Limbo.
I've definitely been struggling with this thought process that I wish I was doing something more fulfilling and important to the world than just working for the corporate machine. I find myself feeling like the things that are so urgent and "important" in my day to day at work are just so trivial in the grand scheme. It makes me struggle with trying to take it seriously because I just want to change the damn world! Or at least do my small part in it. There are so many amazing people I know out there making a huge dent in their communities and I feel somewhat at a loss over it. How can I make the money I need to support me and my little girl while also fulfilling this calling in my heart to bigger and better? How do you balance that? When you find out, send me a memo.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Words, words, words.
It's just ridiculous how many books I have to read. Most of them have been accumulated over just the last month! I'm trying to pluck away at them but it's taking awhile. Mark my words, they will get done. My recent book shelf:
Reading Currently:
- My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (reading now)
Finished since January 1, 2010:
- Food Rules by Michael Pollan
- The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
Upcoming (in no particular order):
- Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
- The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
- Only Revolutions by Mark Danielewski
- I Am An Emotional Creature, The Secret Life of Girls Around The World by Eve Ensler
- The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein
- Food, Inc., a participant guide edited by Karl Weber
Reading Currently:
- My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (reading now)
Finished since January 1, 2010:
- Food Rules by Michael Pollan
- The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
Upcoming (in no particular order):
- Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
- The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
- Only Revolutions by Mark Danielewski
- I Am An Emotional Creature, The Secret Life of Girls Around The World by Eve Ensler
- The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein
- Food, Inc., a participant guide edited by Karl Weber
Monday, February 8, 2010
Tattoo consideration.
The Morton Salt Girl and I are friends. I want her on my shoulder. To do it or not to do it, that is the question...
The travel bug!
I've traveled all over the United States. With my parents and my little brother. With work. With my ex-husband. I realized I've never taken a true vacation that didn't have an obligation (family or business or favors for a friend) involved. It's always been about visiting grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends in the military or pulling off another big event in another random town. So, 2010 is the year of me. The year of finally doing things that I want to do. Of allowing a little bit of selfishness through after a life lived for everyone else. For me, that selfishness is coming in the form of travel. While we spend these last few months living with my parents and while I have that disposable income at my fingertips, I am going to make the best of it. Come August we won't have any money left over to play with. We'll have to make due with what we have. But for the next six months I am a free agent and I am going to do with that amazing things.
Heidi and I still have to work out the details of our trip to NYC but it's definitely happening. In May. We'll spend 7 days trolloping around and getting in trouble. We'll see Stomp and the Addams Family Musical. We'll hit up the Klit Klub and The National Underground. We'll be tourists with cameras and not be ashamed. We will send up our sixteenth year of friendship with this amazing trip and I cannot wait. I'm ready to have a plane ticket to make it real.
Last April when we flew to Texas and had all sorts of trouble getting home, American Airlines gave me a $100 voucher for our trouble. I wasn't sure what this voucher would parlay into but I finally bit the bullet and DID IT. I'm going to San Diego from July 16-24 and will spend all day lying on the beach, writing, taking pictures and hula hooping in the sand. I'll probably stay in Encinitas and hopefully some place right on the beach or within a short walk to it. I'm going all by myself (which I have never done before) and letting the Universe be my guide. This is huge for me. HUGE. And I cannot wait. CANNOT WAIT!!!!
Summer is going to be amazing. It's something awesome to look forward to. More big changes in my life. I can feel them coming. It's like a spark ready to ignite. I'm so in love with everything around me right now. Pinch me, I'm dreaming.
Heidi and I still have to work out the details of our trip to NYC but it's definitely happening. In May. We'll spend 7 days trolloping around and getting in trouble. We'll see Stomp and the Addams Family Musical. We'll hit up the Klit Klub and The National Underground. We'll be tourists with cameras and not be ashamed. We will send up our sixteenth year of friendship with this amazing trip and I cannot wait. I'm ready to have a plane ticket to make it real.
Last April when we flew to Texas and had all sorts of trouble getting home, American Airlines gave me a $100 voucher for our trouble. I wasn't sure what this voucher would parlay into but I finally bit the bullet and DID IT. I'm going to San Diego from July 16-24 and will spend all day lying on the beach, writing, taking pictures and hula hooping in the sand. I'll probably stay in Encinitas and hopefully some place right on the beach or within a short walk to it. I'm going all by myself (which I have never done before) and letting the Universe be my guide. This is huge for me. HUGE. And I cannot wait. CANNOT WAIT!!!!
Summer is going to be amazing. It's something awesome to look forward to. More big changes in my life. I can feel them coming. It's like a spark ready to ignite. I'm so in love with everything around me right now. Pinch me, I'm dreaming.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Constantly inspired by the fight in all of us.
I am constantly inspired by the things I keep stumbling on. Is it that suddenly there are more things or is it that suddenly I am more open to more things? With the beginning of my chapter of I Am That Girl I find myself overwhelmed with excitement and energy to share this passion with the ladies who are choosing to take this voyage with me. Tonight I found the next book to add to my to-buy list. I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World by Eve Ensler. About the book:
In this daring, provocative, and insightful book, bestselling author and internationally acclaimed playwright Eve Ensler writes fictional monologues and stories inspired by girls around the globe. Moving through a world of topics and emotions, these voices are fierce, alive, tender, complicated, imaginative, and smart. Girls today often find themselves in a struggle between remaining strong and true to themselves and conforming to society’s expectations in an attempt to please. They are taught not to be too intense, too passionate, too smart, too caring, too open. They are encouraged to shut down their instincts, their outrage, their desires and their dreams, to be polite, to obey the rules. I Am an Emotional Creature is a celebration of the authentic voice inside every girl and an inspiring call to action for girls everywhere to speak up, follow their dreams, and become the women they were always meant to be.
Among the girls Ensler creates are an American who struggles with peer pressure in a suburban high school; an anorexic blogging as she eats less and less; a Masai girl from Kenya unwilling to endure female genital mutilation; a Bulgarian sex slave, no more than fifteen, a Chinese factory worker making Barbies; an Iranian student who is tricked into a nose job; a pregnant girl trying to decide if she should keep her baby.
Through rants, poetry, questions, and facts, we come to understand the universality of girls everywhere: their resiliency, their wildness, their pain, their fears, their secrets, and their triumphs. I Am an Emotional Creature is a call, a reckoning, an education, an act of empowerment for girls, and an illumination forparents and for us all.
Who is going to read this with me?
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