yesterday, i posted my first free printable mini-poster based on my embracing abundance post on scoutie girl.

this gave me an idea for a big – motivational – inspirational – fantastic project.

since writing that post, i’ve heard so many stories of kicking doors down, surmounting obstacles, and crashing through barriers. i’ve also heard stories of fear and doubt. well, i want to collect your stories all in one place and create a free resource for women (and dudes, too!) to read and be inspired.

so, here’s what i’m looking for:

• share your story of door kicking through words, art, or images
• post it somewhere and share your link in the comments on this post or the “kick the damn door down” post above
• if you’d like to keep your story anonymous, that’s cool too. drop me an email with your post and i’ll keep your contribution anonymous.

i will compile the stories, art, and inspiration into an ebook which will be available to anyone who needs a bit of inspiration to achieve their dreams!

here’s a behind-the-scenes glimpse at running a blog like scoutie girl.

as you can imagine, i get a lot of submissions via email. sometimes they’re confident and sassy (i kind of like those!), sometimes they’re self-deprecating (wish you all had more confidence!), and sometimes i get ones that are slightly bizarre. jena, from modish, wrote the definitive guide to approaching blogs for marketing in the creative community. it’s a great post and a great resource. however since everyone reads it… the emails start to look the same.

and there’s not a whole lot of advice i can give you on that.

but one thing that never fails is writing an awesome comment. not a “that’s great!” or “those are beautiful!” kind of comment but a comment that adds to my post. if all i do is write or curate beautiful posts, my blog is less than it could be. when you add to the conversation, when you bring something to the table that wasn’t there before, you make my blog better. a lot better.

beyond the thrill of receiving those comments, there is the thrill of discovering more about who wrote it.

for instance, this evening, i found this beautiful blog through a comment.

i twittered about her immediately and there’s a great chance she’ll get a feature on scoutie girl sometime soon. that’s results.

i keep this in mind when i comment on blogs too. and i think it works. even if i don’t get a link, i’m much more likely to get a new friend. someone who will be interested in me as a person and someone who will be there when i need a favor. that’s community building in the blogosphere.

do you comment on blogs? do your comments get lost in a crowd or treasured & clicked by the blogger?

for ideas on what to write when you just don’t know what to say, read my follow up post.

image by joanne thies

this week was a complete whirlwind on scoutie girl. at the beginning of the year, i implemented a new editorial style to guide the direction of the blog & aid in my mission to tell the stories of crafters & artists and not just show pretty stuff. each week, i select theme and weave in & out of that theme with stories, art, and opinion. the first three weeks were pretty straightforward.

then, i got brave (or stupid).

this week, i selected the theme of “success.” i asked for people’s opinions, definitions, or measurements. at first, interest in sharing was hard to come by.

then one or two… then three or four. then i asked the fabulous – successful – and oh-so-insightful scoutie girl contributors to lend their personal take on success to the week’s posts. wow.

good stuff.

and what it made me realize was how much more there is to say. and i want to be at the nexus between creative people, beautiful stuff, and innovative thought. as much as scoutie girl is the perfect place to begin exploring that nexus, i want to include more people than artists, crafters, & designers.

so i’m creating something new. because ultimately, and i can tell you this because i trust you, my goal is to write & think for a living. it pretty much always has been. except for that time, in kindgergarten, that i told a lady i wanted to be a ballerina.

this something new will be a community-focused, user-driven blogging experience. i want to challenge people to rethink what society tells them about work, life, and play. i want to provide a place to talk it out, bounce ideas from one medium to another, and then receive feedback & support in a community of open minds.

i have more thoughts on the response from this week at scoutie girl – but they’ll wait til tomorrow. i’m just too excited to tell you about indieThink – because groupthink is so last decade. have a great weekend!

{print by linocutboy}

of the state. more interesting posts coming soon.

if you’d like to read more about my trip, check out these this post and this post over at scoutie girl.