Superhero Life With Andrea Scher

June 18th, 2013

Superhero Photo tip: Welcome the clouds

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Superhero Summer Photo Tip #1

Right before I took the photos above, I shouted urgently to my friend, “Watch Nico! I have to get my camera!”

It had been bright and sunny all day – a gorgeous day by every measure – except that it was too bright to take a great photograph. The shadows were too harsh, too blinding. Too much middle-of-the-day sun. I regretted having lugged my big old camera all the way to the beach.

But suddenly, the sun went behind the clouds! We love the clouds! and created a perfect diffuser for the sun. The shadows softened and the light became hazy and almost yellow. I snapped like crazy and Nico hammed it up for the camera. The sun returned shortly after, but I was delighted to get some beautiful shots in that dreamy light.

This summer, pay attention to when the sun goes behind the clouds. Instead of lamenting the cold, celebrate the light! and grab your camera.

More great photogaphy lessons in Superhero Photo!

Class begins next Monday, June 24th, 2013.

No Comments | Posted in Courses, Good things, Photography

June 16th, 2013

Declaration of You Blog Tour: Intention + Giveaway!

This post is in celebration of the brand new book: The Declaration of You! by Michelle Ward and Jessica Swift. I’m so honored to have been interviewed for the book (you can see my chapter by getting + get a preview of the book here). Here are some thoughts about intention, something near and dear to my heart. May the manifesting begin!

How often do you set intentions, and how do you determine what it needs to be?

If you know anything about me, you know that I love creating Mondo Beyondo lists. These lists are all about stretching yourself into new territory. It is your list of the most outrageously wonderful things you can imagine creating for yourself. It’s where you write: Live in Sevilla, Spain for 3 months, meet Alanis Morrisette and perform in a flashmob. It’s where you capture the dreams that you didn’t know you had (and don’t know how you will achieve) but they are dreams that make you feel a bit giddy just thinking about.

I use the Mondo Beyondo list as a way to expand my sense of what’s possible. If I am stretching myself into a place beyond what’s comfortable or what I think is “possible” then I am reaching into a new place in my heart. Also, not everything on the list has to be outrageous… Mondo Beyondo dreams also look like this: Heal my marriage, experience self-love, cultivate new friendships + find my tribe.

I usually remember to do a Mondo Beyondo list on my birthday or on New Year’s Day, but it would be a great practice to do each month or each quarter. Public transportation is a great place to do Mondo Beyondo lists.

Have you experienced something happening to you that you attribute to directly setting it as an intention?

So many things! The time I met Ben Harper on a bus in San Francisco is one of my favorite manifesting stories.

Why do we feel uneasy in setting intentions?

It’s natural to feel a bit uneasy when setting intentions. It leaves us a bit vulnerable. We’ve just declared something we want -something that means a lot to us- and we don’t know if we will actually get it!

For some of us, we learned it was safer to not desire things because the pain of rejection or feeling disappointed had us feel unloved. I remember being afraid to tell my parents what I wanted for my birthday as a child because I was afraid they would forget or decide that I was asking for too much. I couldn’t bear the thought of the disappointment so I chose practical things instead. Or I’d say, “I don’t need anything. Whatever you think…”

I think it’s still a leap of faith for me to “put it out there” and declare what I want in a powerful way. There’s still that voice that shows up and says, “Fat chance, that’ll never happen” or “Who do you think you are?”

I think it’s important to WRITE THE LISTS ANYWAY.

And keep them private if they feel too vulnerable. Sometimes I make a list and put it under my bed. They are my private little deal with the Universe anyway.

What’s your personal declaration around intention?

I believe that my intentions are a powerful declaration both to myself and to the Universe. Speaking them out loud (to myself or to someone else) sets something in motion, a kind of wave of energy that I have to be ready to ride. It will usually require something of me — courage and a willingness to be vulnerable. If my intentions are aligned with my spirit however, this momentum can only take me to new places of growth, joy and fulfillment. I trust my intentions to carry me exactly where I need to go.

The Declaration of You! will be published by North Light Craft Books this summer, with readers getting all the permission they’ve craved to step passionately into their lives, discover how they and their gifts are unique and uncover what they are meant to do! This post is part of The Declaration of You’s BlogLovin’ Tour, which I’m thrilled to participate in alongside over 100 other creative bloggers. Learn more — and join us! – by clicking here.

P.S. Leave a comment about something you are currently manifesting and you could win a copy of the Declaration of You!

UPDATE: The winner of the Declaration of You is Amy (Badgroove Amy) I will email you today! Congratulations!

27 Comments | Posted in Giveaways

June 14th, 2013

Sean Hayes is really awesome.

Sean Hayes playing at the UC Botanical Garden, Berkeley, CA

Sean Hayes playing at the UC Botanical Garden, Berkeley, CA

You can hear more music from the incredible Sean Hayes here!

No Comments | Posted in Adventures, Good things, Inspiration

June 10th, 2013

Start a Foolish Project- an experiment in aliveness.

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As I lay down in yoga recently, a line from a Rumi poem came to me:

Start a huge, foolish project
like Noah.

It makes absolutely no difference
what people think of you.

It felt like a message. Nothing short of divine. I had been feeling around in the dark all year for my next e-course but coming up short. I wanted to create something that would delight + energize me. Something that would be a huge gift to my community. Something that connected all of us in a meaningful way.

My body buzzed with excitement as I realized what my next offering would be– Start a Foolish Project! And by foolish, I mean awesome. Foolish projects are those things we do simply for the delight and the joy.

They are things like creating a wish tree or hosting a Storybowl. They might be organizing a bubble flash mob in the park or a book club for people who only read self-help books. A foolish project might be buying that pink ukulele that caught your eye and learning to play it. A foolish project could be deciding to make 10,000 hats and give them away.

Foolish projects make us feel alive.

Here’s my foolish project:

I am going to gather a group of women here in Berkeley (you’re invited!), hire a choreographer and learn a cheesy dance routine. Emphasis on cheesy. Then, we’re going to flash mob it! Yes, like in those you tube videos. Doesn’t that sound like so much fun?!!!

Foolish projects appeal to my sense of play, my desire to feel alive + my love of stories. No matter what happens, you will always have the story about that time you were in a cheesy flash mob, right? Even if it was a total disaster. It really doesn’t matter.

What’s your foolish project?

Maybe you do something like my friend Maya Stein who decided to celebrate her 40th birthday by bicycling across the country dragging an old-fashioned typewriter and holding spontaneous poetry workshops.

Or maybe you are more like that woman I heard about last year that was craving community. She decided to drag her rarely used farm table to her backyard, hung some twinkly lights and extended an open invitation to her neighbors for a potluck dinner every Sunday evening at 6pm. She transformed her entire community this way.