My journey into a healthy, holistic lifestyle is wrought with inconsistencies and half starts. That’s to say, I’m probably not the most holistic person out there, though I’d like to be, and I resonate with the woo woo just a little bit more each day (woo woo is optional by the way).

It first began with my experimentation with vegetarianism while living in a monastery. The Chinese have a way of balancing nutrition by the amount of color that’s on your plate.

Then, it was 2 months at a raw foods retreat house called Bahay Kalipay. To this day, my favorite breakfast meal is still the simple raw food ‘cereal’ that we ate every day. Sliced bananas and coconut milk as the staple, mixed with avocados (in season) or papaya, honey and raw organic cacao powder (optional).

It was at the raw foods retreat that I first discovered green smoothies; a blended concoction of fruits and greens from kale, spinach or others. Being a lover of smoothies in general, and considering Jamba Juice or the local mom and pop smoothie place back on the west coast my diet staple, I took on to green smoothies naturally and loved them instantly.

The Raw Foods movement in the Philippines is a tight knit community with some dedicated followers. I am merely on the edge of it, with less raw foods to my meals but more vegetarian (+ the occasional seafood). We’ve organized on facebook groups and gather together with an annual Raw Foods Potluck. I don’t miss the chance to go, being a huge foodie, and missing the spoiled raw foods every day I treated myself with (in a good way!) at Bahay Kalipay.

I’ve been wanting a blender for months so I could finally make my own green smoothies and add a bit of raw foods back into my diet when the potluck sponsored a door prize giveaway of a Dynamex blender! Now was my chance. Like a hippy manifesting her intention, I knew that I would win the blender that night. I just had a feeling.

And I did!

The name they pulled out of the jar the first time had already left and wasn’t present to claim the prize. I excitedly held my breath for the next name.

Janet Brent!

The look of genuine surprise on my face as I excitedly jumped up and down like I’d just won the Price is Right. I couldn’t believe my silly hunch was actually right!

Vegetarianism and raw foods has been a big part of my journey and transformation in the last two years, after quitting my job and taking a year long spiritual sabbatical, it just came hand in hand. It’s no wonder that I would eventually be called towards it since I loved Popeye the Sailor Man and my spinach when I was a kid!

When I first noticed Farnoosh Brock of Prolific Living had a green juicing book, I knew I wanted to help promote it for the No Self Promo challenge. While I haven’t tried green juicing yet, Farnoosh’ book has given me the extra push and I know I’ll be trying this in the future.

Green smoothies and green juices are like “apples and oranges”. One is entry level while the other takes a little more dedication and investment. A juicer isn’t something you’d find in your every day household, unlike a blender, but I believe green juicing is worth getting into for more health and vitality. It’s another level of raw foods that I’m sure to love. And now the Juicing Guide has got me curious to try!

Preventative medicine is the best kind of medicine. I no longer eat much processed food (not living in the US has helped) and when I’m craving a dessert I’ll opt for a smoothie instead. I love to drink my calories and I’m sure green juicing will be a great added option.

You can get the Green Juicing Guide for only $9.99 on Amazon (not an affiliate link) or read more about it here.

Janet

Janet is a Professional Hobo, burgeoning entrepreneur and homeless nomad passionate about working with creative world changers and showing people how to march to their own beats.

In this parts of the world it is February 14.

Happy Valentines Day!

I spent yesterday doing the usual. Going to the mall for some air conditioner relief (really, I never thought I would ever be a mallrat, but when you live 10 minutes walking distance from a major mall, live in a concrete slab slums with no air conditioner and still don’t cook with coal, it just kind of happens). But then I also bought an erotica book (because I have this fantasy to become a popular erotica writer, under a pen name of course, but realize I’ve never actually read proper erotica) and my boyfriend and I saw The Vow which is the perfect Valentines day movie.

But this has nothing to do with this article.

Boyfriend aside, I honestly believe one of the cheapest forms of love is romantic love and that this Valentines Day business is… well, not my thing.

I’m proud of the fact that I’ve never received flowers and the rebel in me wants to stick my middle finger through Cupid’s heart.

Ouch. This chick is brutal.

Whatevs.

My point is that romantic love is often cheapened by the whole courting thing itself. “Falling in love” is just an infatuated idea of love laced with crazy hormones and pheremones. Add in the idea that current day marriage is basically a joke (and less females are choosing to get married) that would honestly be set right by allowing gay marriage because marriage, like society, has evolved.

(Not that you didn’t know my stance because I’m obviously a raunchy liberal and completely off the map when it comes to democrats and republicans, who are seriously in bed together having crazy orgies, why do you think I chose to opt-out and move out of the country as soon as Bush left? I’m monogamous, ya freaks, and I don’t regret it.)

The better way to practice love is to Love Yourself (In a World that Doesn’t Want You to). In this way, you rely less and less on external factors for assurance and validation (the media, the “perfect” boyfriend/girlfriend, the beauty magazine that tells you what you “need” to look pretty) and exude self-confidence within yourself.

Once you learn how to love yourself, relationships then become less and less something you “need” but something you choose as a conscious way to outpour the love that you already have. You don’t need to go searching for it, but it’s something that you want to share.

The love that you want to share spills over in relationships of all kinds. Being a more loving, compassionate being is a mindset shift that means loving yourself, your enemies and your neighbors. This doesn’t just mean your street, your city, your state or your barangay (village)… It’s compassion for all living things and the world. Remembering we are one.

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
~ Dalai Lama

Maybe John Lennon and the Beatles were right.

All you need is Love.

The Real Way to Show Some Love this Valentines

With love and compassion in mind, the real way to show some love this Valentines day, or any day is to start donating to a good cause and help change the world for the better. I’ve got the perfect cause to champion!

My friend and amazing woman entrepreneur, Natalie Sisson of The Suitcase Entrepreneur is taking on a major challenge and needs your help! Natalie has really encouraged me over the years and been a major inspiration in my solo blog bum entrepreneur journey ever since she commented on one of my very first posts on this blog! When I heard that she was biking across the entire African continent to raise $10,000 for WomenWin.org and help improve the lives of women and girls in Africa, I jumped at the chance to help promote the cause (hello, no self promo).

For more information and how you can get involved, go to Natalie’s snazzy looking fundraiser page for more details!

Additionally, you can also buy fashionably designed graphic tees and tanks (designed by the popular exiler Colin Wright himself) where a generous 50% will be donated to the cause!

Janet

Janet is a Professional Hobo, burgeoning entrepreneur and homeless nomad passionate about working with creative world changers and showing people how to march to their own beats.

The other day, I went into the men’s restroom, by deliberate choice.

I was tipsy. OK, maybe a little drunk. Those bottomless margaritas be damned!

The reason I did it, small bladder aside, was because the men’s and women’s restroom were good for one person only. No walk in to 2 or 3 stalls. Just toilet and sink. And since the women’s bathroom was already occupied, I thought to hell with it and snuck in to the men’s room.

Only I didn’t sneak in. There was a line of 1-2 other females.

I heard snickers. I heard them say “cah-raaaa-zy!”
I heard them say “when you gotta go, you gotta go.”

That’s right, bitches.

I broke social convention and pissed in the “mens” room.

Mommy wow! I’m a big girl now!

And a fucking bad ass.

When you think about it, the idea of separate rooms for individual bathrooms is stupid. They should be co-ed! Everyone knows that women have longer lines — every time and I’m going to make a guess and say that we generally have smaller bladders too (especially when alcohol is involved). Not to mention all the fuss powdering our faces and being obsessed by our reflections.

That adds up to a fucking long time to wait for some bitch to wash her hands or shove a tampon up her vulva (that’s a funny word — vulva). Except over here, in SE Asia, everyone uses pads. You literally have to go to the pharmacist to buy tampons.. What the fuck!?

But here’s a secret. The other reason I went into the men’s restroom is because I saw another girl do it earlier.

I gave her a puzzled look. She said something in a language I still don’t understand fluently (ONE DAY!). I imagined her saying “it’s ok. You can go here.” And so I did. That time, with no line behind me, it wasn’t a big deal. But the second time, without the frame of reference that the others in line missed that made me reason it was OK, it was deemed “crazy”.

“I might follow her! I have a really small bladder.” I overheard a poshy girl in chip-chirp voice say.

We are All Lemmings

Even the “unconventional” people. Think about it.

If we were as unconventional as we claim, there wouldn’t be a huge following and a book deal for Chris G. at the Art of Non-conformity.

People love to be lead and there are just way too many people quitting their jobs to travel or start freelancing to even mention it as an “unconventional” path. It’s simply a new model to replace an old one; a new way of thinking, and a new economy emerging, that will eventually become the norm.

(It’s also a really exciting time and I’m glad to be a part of it.)

All it takes is one person to start something. One person to prove that it’s even possible, and the rest will follow.

I love the example of the weird white guy dancing in an outdoor concert festival by himself (I’m not cool enough to know which one), and slowly amassing mobs of people.

(I love it even more that it happened in Portland.)

It’s an old (in internet terms) viral but its still one of the most fascinating looks into human social behavior in regards to how movements are formed. First you need the founding leader who’s crazy enough to break social convention, and then you need 2-3 people who are crazy enough to join before it picks up and snowballs into social acceptance.

Crazy people change the world. And crazy is exactly where I want to be!

Meet Rodrigo of The Brave Man Blog.

Rodrigo is a fun loving guy from El Salvidor who wishes to make it on his own in lifestyle business. Like many before him, after reading the Four Hour Work Week, he “woke up” and became hell bent on going after his dream to a freer life.

He is still stuck at a cubicle.

What’s interesting about Rodrigo is his location and culture. It’s a little overdone when Americans move to SE Asia and build businesses, and a lot more acceptable these days. But get an El Salvadoran to aspire towards the same path and he is the first “crazy” in his country to pursue it and leverage technology.

Rodrigo will lead the movement for people in El Salvador to eventually do the same!

His act of breaking social convention, in a culture more stuck to traditional values, makes him “crazy”! And truly brave.

Don’t listen to the naysayers and keep on keeping on! It’s good to be crazy!

Janet

Janet is a Professional Hobo, burgeoning entrepreneur and homeless nomad passionate about working with creative world changers and showing people how to march to their own beats.

This post is dedicated to the talented yogi, Nina Yau, who writes Castles in the Air with beautiful truth like The Last Post You Will Ever Need to Read (A Letter to the Soul). You can read that post, and then never read my blog again. I won’t mind. I believe Nina’s voice to be an important one, far greater than the ‘marketable’ content that I’m normally accustomed to. Her philosophical, thought provoking writing is one that I feel the blogosphere needs more of, especially in these times of transition and change. She is the inspiration for my thought, in blurbs of 140 characters or less:

In a world full of blogs pushing the boundaries of professionalism and “the new economy”, priming you for their sales funnel like hamsters on the wheel, I have to wonder if the art of philosophy is but a spec of dust. Either start making infoproducts or get off the digital space!

Posts like Making a Living By Writing Blogs by Dan Andrews of Tropical MBA reinforce this by scoping out the winners and losers of blog topics.

Don’t get me wrong. I loved that post and found the information to be valuable, especially for someone getting into the digital space to market my talents, and build my ‘brand’. There is an art and a science to this that can be beautiful and extremely rewarding. But there’s another side too.

The more one focuses on their sales funnel, and thinks of their readers as nothing but money bags, the more ones content turns to crap. I remember a time when some of my favorite blogs had much more inspiring and qualitative content than most do of late. The writing seems shallow and forced. Formulaic. Kind of a one night stand.

Don’t get me wrong. Money is good, and I want more of it. Much more. But how do I do so in the most authentic way? Where marketing doesn’t make me cringe and I don’t feel like I’m selling out.

I remember the 90s and how people would get mad when their favorite bands “sold out”. It’s the same patterns and struggles. And behind it all, I have to laugh. How amusing it is to see how money drives people and how people react. Either out of jealousy, inadequacy, or their own fears. I observe the way I react over money. How happy I am when I have it and how low energy I get when I don’t. But money is just money.

I’m all in. There is no other way but through. I’m reading business books and reconciling my love/hate for marketing. How do I let my entire core of being shine through in a way that also sustains me? This is my struggle. This is my inevitable triumph. I am getting crystal clear on my work and calling, but I have yet to get crystal clear on how it will make me money. I am worried that it isn’t marketable. But my challenge is to make it so. I just have to take the leap.

The reality is that everything can be marketable. You just have to position it in a good way.

Wherever you are, remember that your core mission and authentic work must shine through beneath the bullshit of sales funnels and marketing. You must love what you do and believe in it so much that sharing it to others only makes sense and comes naturally. Make it as effortless as possible. Do what drives you. Be who you are. Money is only a tool, an exchange of energy that we use to value that thing that we do. So do it well. Build a strong foundation, a crystal clear mission, and the rest should come eventually. It is like the chi. The energy force of all things. Block your authentic self and the material, the money, will be blocked too. The clearer you are about your core mission, value and purpose that you can contribute, and pair that with action and implementation, the more money will flow.

Dive deep into who you are. It cannot be ignored on this path. You’ll have to face your truths. And never deny it. BELIEVE in all your being that you have something important to contribute to the world. Because you do.

Something personal has haunted me for two years that I can’t let go of, and I am about to take a big leap, in efforts to answer questions and innovate solutions.

I was at an overcharged $20 film showing for The End of Poverty, which is ironic, because I’m pretty sure charging $20 to see a documentary that you can watch for free on youtube won’t end poverty, and probably just contributes to it.

The scene was upper-middle class old people, and staunch liberals that had an air of entitlement and better than. After the end of the film, a short Q and A was conducted by a popular liberal radio personality. People were outraged why more young people didn’t care about the issues and why they weren’t represented that evening, failing to realize that the $20 ticket had something to do with it.

I was outraged that they didn’t get it. Young people do care. They just do it differently. It’s not about writing to our local congressmen. It’s grittier than that. It’s raw. It’s grassroots.

The organizers of the event mentioned that most cities turned them down and wouldn’t let them show it because the topic just wasn’t “sexy enough”. Marketing speak for something that appeals to a market, something that sells.

Indeed most cities had a weak turn out, but in the heart of liberal, “weird”, Portland, Oregon, the show sold out.

Why would something like this not be “sexy enough”? Did people not care about poverty? That it exists? The comment has bothered me to this day.

How can I make poverty sexy? What does it take to get people to notice and care? How can I make a difference?

Janet

Janet is a Professional Hobo, burgeoning entrepreneur and homeless nomad passionate about working with creative world changers and showing people how to march to their own beats.

This article is dedicated to Niall of Disrupting the Rabblement who wrote about The Month of No Self-Promo: How Can I Help You Be Successful? Thanks Neill for the inspiration!

You can be more successful in two months by becoming really interested in other people’s success than you can in two years trying to get other people interested in your own success. – Keith Ferrazzi, Never Eat Alone

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. ~Albert Einstein

Value. I struggle with that. I struggle between being too much like a “personal blog”, telling my own stories, versus actually writing something that people would find valuable beyond those stories.

I’ve got a good story. But how do I weave my journey to help others on theirs? How can I help you be successful, particularly when I haven’t figured it out for myself?

I am in survivor mode. I’m a survivor. While it’s really cool that I can survive for two weeks on only $10, the not so cool part is that I am on a base level existence, often dwindling my resources and barely getting by. The easy, programmed way of thinking is to go into loops and cycles about how useless and hopeless it seems, how you are so poor, or deprived, how you’re a loser, a failure, and ultimately have nothing to offer. That’s wrong.

I’m getting myself out of these loops, and ultimately out of survivor mode, but not without some conscious effort.

I feel useless. Useless in the sense that I’m not contributing to greater things beyond my base existence. And lets face it. Scarcity is a shitty business model.

How can I be of service? How can I help you be more successful? How can we both thrive? Ultimately, my work is web design services but that could evolve as I evolve. I want something more. Something that approaches people on a holistic level.

Your Success is My Success

For the next two months, I will actively change my focus from my story and help you out on yours.

To achieve this, I am asking for your help by introducing yourself in the comments. Please feel free to do so! I’d like to know who my readers are, new or old.

What are you working on? Is there anything you’d love help in promoting?

Do you have a question that I may be able to answer? How can I help you solve a problem?

Would you love the chance to tell your story on my blog to reach new audiences? If so, email me!

My friend, Neill, is giving himself some guidelines that I’d like to adopt.

• All tweets and Facebook updates have to help promote someone else’s work.
• Reach out to at least one person every day and ask how I can help them.
• Actually follow through and help people, without any expectation of reciprocation.
• In every blog post that I write, highlight some cool shit other people are doing.

It’s easy to think that I have to help myself first, before I can help others. But what if it can be the other way around? Why not try?

This “experiment” will start TODAY and officially end two months from now, on March 15th. Of course, I hope that the lessons learned will last beyond that and into a clearer business/lifestyle model. So I can finally learn, once and for all, how to weave my stories with purpose.

My hope is that in helping others, I help myself and break my cycle of scarcity into clear abundance and thrive-ability, and have fun doing it! Will you be a part of it?

To your success!

Janet

Janet is a Professional Hobo, burgeoning entrepreneur and homeless nomad passionate about working with creative world changers and showing people how to march to their own beats.

for each of us eventually
whether we’re ready or not
someday it will come to an end
there will be no more sunrises
no minutes, hours or days
all the things you collected
whether treasured or forgotten
will pass to someone else
your wealth, fame and temporal power
will shrivel to irrelevance
it will not matter what you owned, or owed
your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies
will finally disappear
so too your hopes,
ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire
the wins and losses that once seemed so important
will fade away
it won’t matter where you came from
or on what side of the tracks you lived at the end
it won’t matter if you’re beautiful or brilliant
even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant

so what will matter?
how will the value of your days be measured?
what will matter is not what you bought, but what you built.
not what you got, but what you gave
what will matter is
not your success, but your significance
what will matter is
not what you learned, but what you taught
what will matter is every act of
integrity
compassion
courage or
sacrifice
that enriched, empowered or encouraged others
to emulate your example
what will matter is not your competence
but your character
what will matter is not how many people you knew
but how many will feel a lasting lost when you’re gone
what will matter is not your memories
but the memories that live in those who loved you
a life lived that matters is not of circumstance
but of CHOICE
- The Beautiful Truth
Watch the documentary on youtube here

I’ve been watching more and more documentaries that just reiterate what I already know, and call forth the need for focused clarity and change by simply living by example. As more and more people turn off the noise and allow themselves to see the truth that only comes within, learn to trust their intuitions, and become ‘awakened’ to the connectivity that we are all one, a massive change will happen. It has already begun. Our current modes of existence can no longer support us and must be updated to the changing times. We are experiencing a worldwide shift in consciousness; spiritually and creatively. Self-actualization breeds change.

It starts with you.

Janet

Janet is a Professional Hobo, burgeoning entrepreneur and homeless nomad passionate about working with creative world changers and showing people how to march to their own beats.

I have lived my two polarities.

It all happened so fast. A few papers here. A signature there and all of a sudden I was a new homeowner at 23. 1400 square feet. Three bedroom, two bathroom. Even energy efficient. Not bad.

It sounded good at the time, but I hated it. I realized what I knew all along: I am not a domesticate housewife. Duh.

Two years later, I was selling all my stuff before minimalism was cool, and hightailing it to Asia. I lived in a temple, and then I lived off the road, little Asian beatnik style.

And now, I live in the third world ghetto. The slums, if you must. I like to call my dwelling a “slumpad”.

At first I thought I had no choice, but now I realize it was completely my choice. The life of the road was a grungy, dirty existence that challenged my personal views of self, society and the world around me. It was also my prerequisite for living in the slums.

On the road, your emotions are tested. Somedays, you laugh for no reason, like a crazy person. Somedays, you cry for no reason, like a crazy person.

After reading Off the Map that a fellow traveler passed on to me, I fantasized about my shared punk-rock ethos that the writer had, and convinced myself that I was cooler than I actually was as I relayed my journey to theirs.

Sleeping in abandoned native huts and crashing on dingy mattresses probably full of bugs (it was too dark to check and god, I tried not to think about it) is sooooo punk-rock! Sure. I tried to attach this “hardcore” philosophy only so that I could sound more badass than I felt. Only so that I could convince myself that living in the slums wouldn’t be so bad. After all, I’ve experienced worst during my trek and I do like adventure…

Thinking back to my teenage years, when I wore my dad’s old torn-up brown hoodie, with holes on the cuffs to put my thumbs through, and safety pins on the back to display my CRASS patch (a controversial punk band from the 70s/80s); my parents hated it and told me that I looked like a person on the streets (looking like a street kid, “gutter punk” was the point right?). I wondered what they would think of me now. Living this “off the map” existence.

I’m on the verge of making enough to start to afford a better (read: western) apartment. I thought it was because I ran out of money that I was forced to live in this god awful place (and believe me, it was a hard adjustment full of culture shock and lots of crying on the floor; lots of feeling sorry for myself, too.). I thought that if there is a god, he must be playing some kind of joke on me. The girl who rejected her house and then-boyfriend now lives in a ghetto and sleeps on the floor.

Down but not out. The lessons on the road taught me the importance of perseverance and inner strength. No matter how hard that hill is burning my thighs or how sharp the gravel feels beneath my flimsy flip-flops, there is always the next bend. All you have to do is take one step at a time.

Movement. Nothing in life is permanent, even when your emotions hit you so deeply or so painfully. Just keep going. It will change.

I got through the uncomfortable bits. I am fine.

But then it dawned on me. If I hated the house, and I hate the ghetto–my two polarities–what makes me think I would be satisfied with a condo apartment? That extreme rejection I had for Western lifestyle, status-quo and buying stuff was exactly why I had gotten myself into this; from one pendulum swing to the next.

I realized that I would probably hate anywhere I live. Mostly for what it represents. Stability. Settling. Systems and societal inequities. That Bullshit keeping up with the Joneses. The only home I’d like to live in is, like an entrepreneur, one that is built. Where I call the shots and creative direction is a final touch.

I am the type of person that can’t resist the road. The call to travel. To be untethered. Free.

Most of the people in the world still live in poor conditions and rely on coal. How could I go back to my first world amenities knowing that so many people do without? I’m not that sheltered American that I used to be, even though I miss the sheltered life.

I’d rather spend money on travel destinations than monthly bills.

The ghetto feels demeaning. Walking past shit and a wall of flies. But a condo feels restrictive. I need something in between. Or something completely extravagant off of Home Living magazine, fully furnished, for my next pendulum swing.

Instead of upgrading to a new place I would ultimately feel unsatisfied in, why not change my intentions first? Save money. Don’t act impulsively. Find the right place. Take my time.

In the meantime, I’ll enjoy what I have. Instead of hating where I live, I’ll try to make it work for me. I just bought plastic bins to organize my clothes and it’s working as an excellent makeshift table for my laptop as I sit on pillows and do my thing. The slumpad also makes an excellent art studio, because it’s the perfect space to get messy in!

Respect your space. Love your space.

The change must start with your inner mindset, and not in your external surroundings.

Janet

Janet is a Professional Hobo, burgeoning entrepreneur and homeless nomad passionate about working with creative world changers and showing people how to march to their own beats.

(So I totally just typed the title in all caps but then realized that my designated font IS in all caps by default)

When @elisadoucette tweeted that OMG THERE’S AN E-CARD FOR US IN 2012 and tagged me and some other girls that grab life by the balls (and have fun doing it *wink*), I knew I had to use the image for my next blog entry.

But before I get into foreplay, lets cut to the chase.

The real reason I’m writing this is that I am ONE OF SIX finalists for the Digital Nomad Academy scholarship and you can vote for me by going to the following link and placing your comment here:

http://www.thrillingheroics.com/holiday-cheer-scholarships

Because you see, 2012 WILL BE MY BITCH. I can feel it.

Now that I have the announcement out of the way, let me expand.

AKA

My 2012 Manifestations (Screw Goals)

1. Abundance – I WILL make six figures
That sounds a little silly to me right now and out of this world, but not out of my league. Whether it happens in 2012 or 2015, I’ll get there. I’ll get there because the only way to play big is to make space for it.

2. Thrivability – Sharing the wealth
The reason I want to be a millionaire is because I want to make a big dent in the world by way of social entrepreneurship and philanthropy. I want to spend my money not on stuff, but on meaningful experiences. I will start donating to charity for every project that I close! Whether that’s $25 to Kiva or $1 at philanthroper.com. Everyone who works with me will benefit knowing that a part of their investment goes to a good cause.

3. Making Positive Social Change
What I mean is to impact the world in a positive way, not just through my services or charity, but through my social entrepreneurial efforts. I’m not sure how this looks like yet but I’m pretty sure it will have something to do with poverty/human rights + eco-consciousness: two very interrelated and near and dear issues in my heart.

4. Flying Asia and Beyond
I’d like to visit more of SE Asia, like Bali and Thailand. And I guess somewhere along the way I should probably visit Portland, Oregon since the ‘rents are getting old. Besides, I can meet some of my favorite bloggers like Dusti Arab, Tyler TervoorenEmilie Wapnick, Jonathan Mead and Ev’Yan Nasman. And maybe if I’m lucky, Chris Guillebeau (shit, I should just attend the World Domination Summit while I’m at it).

5. Attend the World Domination Summit
That’s right. I’m going to Dominate. 2012 will be down on her knees! Chris Guillebeau’s shindig makes an introvert like me want to put herself in overwhelm and do awkward things. Like handing out condoms and designing my own pocket packaging with my info on them instead of business cards (no one better steal my idea). Because world domination means spreading the love!

6. Blog with more focus. Or just blog more.
I plan to take a more directional approach to my blog, get clearer on my focus and maybe even start offering some products! Though the sound of an info product kind of just makes me shudder. I will re-launch my blog, too. And guestpost in more places.

7. Rock it at the Digital Nomad Academy
I don’t want to be a disappointment, so I am bringing my A game. Digital Nomad Academy will be excellent portfolio material and, dare I say, resume material if you’re into that. Not only can I redesign webpages, make sale pages and graphics, and blog my journey, I can also use social media and the power of my networks to promote Digital Nomad Academy, and apply online marketing to hopefully drive more students and interest into the course!

8. Build a Team
I want to build an art team, and why not? I’m scouting for creative talent whom I think could fit my client work. I’d love to be a creative director and start managing other people. This is a true test of a freelancer vs. entrepreneur.

I want to be an entrepreneur.

Janet

Janet is a Professional Hobo, burgeoning entrepreneur and homeless nomad passionate about working with creative world changers and showing people how to march to their own beats.

[ I saw this TED Talk Video that's sort of the basis, or at least the inspiration, for this entry but I can't for the life of me figure out how to embed it, so if you're really curious, you can watch it. It's about creativity... and all that jazz. Otherwise, the following blog entry will probably make sense without the video too. ]

Every mistake is an Opportunity.

Realize that now.

Whatever “mistakes” you make can be turned around to something totally different and new and better.

Reframe your mistakes in the context of positivity.

Reframing can change a negative context into something positive. Consider my favorite Zen koan about the farmer who experiences a loss when his horse disappears. People around him tell him how awful it must be and his only reply is “Maybe.” Then the horse comes back with two new horses and people say that he is lucky to have more horses for his farm. His only reply is “Maybe.” Then his son rides one of the new horses and falls off, breaking his leg. People say it’s horrible and his only reply is “Maybe.” Then, the army recruits healthy men for the war and reject the farmer’s son because of his broken leg. People say he has such luck, because he gets to stay safe at home… and so on and so forth. Maybe.

The point is, context changes everything. So in the moment of a mistake, simply change the context. Roll with it. Flow. Let it be. Move on.

This is creativity.

It’s messy.

It’s chaotic.

It’s never perfect.

It’s malleable; able to change. Thrives on change.

It’s improv.

I always seem to find crazy opportunities so effortlessly. Crazy finds crazy, I guess.

Crazy Opportunity #1

I randomly found this “dream job” and was thinking of applying. It had all the enticing apple candy. Opportunities to travel. Designer office. Alternative work environment. Unconventional approaches. Living on a tropical island. Meditation.

Then, I told my friend and he told me he works there and could totally get me in and that they were hiring designers like crazy.

Mouthwater. Enticing. Want want want.

But wait a minute. Didn’t I just quit a job, and swear I wasn’t going down that path again and that I was completely unemployable and I just need to pursue my own path because that’s the ONLY way that makes sense to me?? Not so fast.

I have come to the realization that my lesser self still lets fear hold me back, and still thinks that I need the security of a company that I can be OK with to help me “learn skills” to build my business. Because… because… I’m not ready yet!

Being Ready

Being ready means giving up those lazy days, and being disciplined enough to work on your own.

Being ready means stepping up to your responsibilities and executing your own path by making the decisions that support it.

Being ready means entering chaos. Change. And lots of uncomfortable creativity.

Being ready means bypassing fear and forging on. Making mistakes.

I’ve come to the realization that I’ve let fear stall my path, and that my coping mechanism is to stay in this limbo of Not Doing, Not Creating (or doing a half-assed job at it) and saying I’m Not Ready.

But I am ready. And it’s time to change my mindset. I’ve done enough research. Read enough e-books and blogs. And networked through the blogosphere enough that people at least know who I am. I’ve dangled my toes in the water long enough. It’s time to jump in.

Crazy Opportunity #2

So I got this private message tweet from Cody of Digital Nomad Academy giving me the heads up that he was offering a 100% SCHOLARSHIP (said in bold italicized underlined CAPS to be more obnoxious) to the program (see what I mean about the networking!? I got internet rockstars telling me about their offers before they officially announce to the public!) and thought I might be interested.

Completely flattered to get a personal heads up. And HECK YES.

(More bragging rights: I’ve been featured twice on Untemplater, the blog that Cody co-founded. One was an interview on my entrepreneur journey so far, where Sydney, the writer who took over Untemplater, called me a “Digital Nomad” and the other was a guest blog on How Buddhism Taught Me Lifestyle Design.)

And I came to the realization that dream jobs don’t exist because the only dream job is the one that YOU CREATE. I don’t need some fancy office to do it. I just need me, my laptop, and my ideas EXECUTED.

As scary as it is, forging my own path is the only way I roll. Why? Because it’s messy. It’s chaotic. And it’s uncomfortable creativity at its best. It’s improv! DIY style. This former riot grrl with punk rock ethos isn’t going to fit “company culture” and mold to anyone but me.

I had no idea when I was writing the first paragraph that this would morph into my submission for Digital Nomad Academy. And that’s how I like it. Writing, creativity, life is a flow. I don’t like formulas. I see pieces and then I see how they can fit together. That’s my philosophy on life. And that’s how I roll!

2012 Will Be My Bitch

And that is all.

Janet

Janet is a Professional Hobo, burgeoning entrepreneur and homeless nomad passionate about working with creative world changers and showing people how to march to their own beats.

I go through this. I get into waves and fits of blogging and non-blogging. It gets to a point where I almost “forget” how to blog.

I miss the daily reading of other sites and commenting when I have something good to say.

I miss the networking and getting 30+ comments.

I miss the tons of ideas filling my brain and spilling out onto the pixel page. The blogging every night. The inspiration.

I miss having an interesting story that is my life.

Or, maybe my life is interesting, but I just haven’t thought of a way to capture that? Because after awhile, life seems ordinary, no matter how “interesting” it is.

I need to find a way to capture my experiences in ways that are relevant to other people. As this year draws to an end, I’m left with a reflective.

2010: Taking the Plunge

You know how it is. Crazy kids quitting their nine to fives, taking the plunge, the “leap of faith”, and traveling to different countries becoming kick ass “soloproneurs” in the process. It’s hardly new anymore. But its just as exhilarating when its YOUR turn to take the plunge. I still remember how it felt. That rush of adrenaline. Stepping on that plane. Forging a new life. The happiness and excitement. The dose of hope and faith. That stubborn knowing that whatever un-plans I have, it WILL work out. Someway, somehow.

I traveled India for three weeks. I saw slum kids and taught them English. I saw the aliveness in their eyes. The child-like wonder and happy smiles all around, despite their poor conditions, they were so full of life. I’ll never forget that. I’ll never forget looking in their eyes and feeling my goddamn heart strings pull and think that someday, I’d like to raise a child, no matter how awkward I am around kids, and no matter how weird this realization felt. Because I was 26, my biological clock is ticking, and fuck is this really me or is it my biological clock, because this is so unlike me!! It freaked me out. But there it was. And there I was, in the midst of all these kids, wondering who the hell was this humanitarian chick.

Eat, Pray, Love

I look like a turtle

Next, I took that one way ticket to the Philippines with no plans, but a general idea that I wanted to be a “location independent entrepreneur” one of these days. Having no plans sets you up for a crazy year of new experiences, because you become open to the opportunities.

First, four months in a Zen Buddhist monastery where I shaved my head and learned how to meditate. Then, a short three week vegetarian foodie trip to Taiwan, temple hopping and attending an International Youth Buddhist Conference, being around ivy leaguers from all across the world trying to wax philosophical about Buddhism, while everything seemed like a review from what I had learned from my retreat.

It was like Eat, Pray, Love… Only I hadn’t gotten to the love part yet.

The next opportunity lead me on a 660 km trek along Palawan, a tropical island in the Philippines known for being a popular tourist destination. Lead by a Filipino martial artist, the two of us walked together, practicing our spiritual walkabout like the “road to zen” and “walking the way”. Meeting locals, learning the language, and taking interludes in mountains and private beaches… The ‘Love’ chapter had just begun. Everything about the journey of life was represented from the walk. The up and down struggles walking uphill and gravel roads in thin flip-flops that tested my determination, especially.

Deeper into my spiritual sabbatical, I spent two months at a raw foods detox retreat, living a simplistic life pumping wells for bath water, among other things.

2011: Vipassana and the Hustle

The sabbatical was topped off with another meditation retreat. A 10 day silent Vipassana meditation that was possibly one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. Lots of emotional detox. Your body actually responds by physically getting sick, while mentally, you feel like you’re going crazy.

This ‘inner work’ was the ground work from which the hustle was about to begin. Despite traveling with very little money, and less than $1,000 to my name, I made the year+ work without any income to sustain me. But money was running dry and I knew that the hustle had to begin. That “become a location independent entrepreneur” goal had to start sooner or later, and I started in the most ill prepared way.

Back to Zero

I rented the cheapest studio that I could find… which happened to be in the slums of Manila. The degradation I felt going from first world amenities to complete third world experience was a deep culture shock, but the preliminary nomadic walk was a good enough buffer. On some nights, we’d sleep in abandoned shacks, or even under the jungle canopy with just a blanket covering the dirt.

My year in sabbatical was necessary for the foundation that I needed to start a heart-based solopreneur business. All those days of meditation were preparation for the hustle. The patience and flow I had to learn. The calm and emotional control when things were tough and uncomfortable.

The first six months were tough. I learned everything backwards, without going in any sort of “right” order. I didn’t know how to network or market myself and business was bad. Did I even have enough there to call it a business? I mean, it was pathetic. And my parents helped out. A lot. And I felt like a loser. A lot.

But I kept on going.

Feast or Famine

I kept on going until I could barely afford my $50 rent. For two months straight, I couldn’t pay rent on time. And it sucked. And I realized something had to change.

In a weird series of “client meetings” turned full time position offer and an all expense paid trip back to the U.S. in tropical Florida for a business trip, I prematurely took the bait for a chance to travel and finally secure my rent again.

Premature, in the fact that at $2/hr. and 10 hour days, I quickly found that my freelance gigs were doing a whole lot better than this full time gig after all. The Famine was over and the Feast had just begun. I wanted my hours back on my terms. I quit within a month. Just enough time to get a free travel trip out of the way and a chance to see my best friend again, who happened to live exactly where they were taking me.

Which brings us back to

Now

Now in my “ordinary” existence.

Now, in this crazy, upside down life, still in the slums but looking for a more “Western” apartment, finally.

Now, forging forwards, and still going strong!

I guess my life isn’t so ordinary after all, but I need to blog more about it, and tell the story that I want to tell.

Because in the end, it’s only YOU who makes the shots in life.

And you can dream big and keep on going, too.

Janet

Janet is a Professional Hobo, burgeoning entrepreneur and homeless nomad passionate about working with creative world changers and showing people how to march to their own beats.