Tag Archives: Faith

Monday Gratitude: Light a candle and burn the fear away! Thank you, Matt Marr!

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Host, comedian, actor, counselor and life coach, Matt Marr, is not only a good friend and neighbor to me but he is also one of my biggest daily doses of inspiration.

 

Matt Marr - a little like St.Francis. With Ebony & Ivory - his pup, Sophie Louise and my pup, Miss Ellie. The pups are BFFs but Miss Ellie can sometimes turn into Rachel McAdams from Mean Girls.

 

 

He’s one of those people who inspires you and warms your heart with just a smile and a “Hey, Sugar”. And he’s a champion of mine – and of all who know him – who believes in you and brings out the best in you. I’m so grateful to know him.

So when I was feeling a little nervous last week about some upcoming meetings, I called Matt. Rather than just giving me a few words and sending me on my way, he said he was going to come by on Saturday morning and we would have a little preparatory pow-wow. And boy, did we!

When he shared this bit of meditative wisdom, I knew I had to share it with you guys. We started with a brief meditation and we all know I don’t usually take time – or shut up long enough – to meditate. But it was the lighting of a candle – and Matt’s words – that  most helped me.

 

Light a candle, burn fear away!

 

Matt said to let all of my insecurities, fear and stress be burned away with the lighting of the candle. “This candle needs fuel to burn and we’re going to let the fuel be all of your insecurities and fears.” Every time I had a negative thought, he’d say “There it goes! Just burned away!”

After Matty left, I felt more confident, calm, self-assured and ready to take on my meetings full of promise!

Today as I did my daily morning gratitude and writing session, I lit my favorite Ruth Anaya candles. And as I did so, I said this prayer:
“With the lighting of this candle, let all of my fears, insecurities and stress be burned away.” 

Hope this helps you as much as Matty helped me!

Such a wonderful way to start a busy week!

 

xoxo,
BF

 

BF Asks: How do you reduce your stress, fears and insecurities? 

Dawn’s Diary: Dreams, Destiny and Detours

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When I moved to Los Angeles in the early 2000s, I wanted more than anything to act, write and sing. I felt like it was my destiny. My calling. My friend, Sarah, once told me that I was one of the most confident people she’d ever met when it came to knowing what I wanted to do.

Confident I was not. In fact, my acting teacher in Austin – Mona Lee – once told me that my lack of confidence was the only thing standing in the way between me and success. By 2002, insecurity and fear had set in and had me by the throat.

Me, age 23

 

I never felt like I was “enough” – pretty enough/thin enough/talented enough/cool enough/confident enough  - to do all of the things I wanted to do in this town. I let fear take control of the wheel and acting and writing got the brakes. My day job of shopping for Barbra Streisand and my band, Hawkeye, ended up taking center stage and all my other dreams kind of fell into the background. I thought I had missed my chance and that the life I was going to live was going to be very different from the life I had always imagined for myself.

Fast forward to 2013 and I am so grateful that what used to be my “dream day” is now my normal day. I love waking up to check emails & blog feedback, auditioning and being a paid, working writer. What have I learned since those first days in LA? It really is a 10 year town. And dreams can come true – even if they’re not just like how you imagined them. Now, I am so grateful for the time it took and for the bends in the road I navigated to get me to this point.

 

Hard at work or at play?

 

Creativity reigns supreme in my life. I am never bored. And I am utterly delighted and humbly grateful to get to do what I do daily while being surrounded by people I love who inspire me.

 

Never bored - Writing, Singing, Voiceovers, Acting

 

 

Friends always ask how I am able to stay so busy and yet be so positive. I have found that  the old adage is true –  “if you really love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life”. While I still have many dreams yet to come true and a long way to go, I am so grateful for the daily dreams that are being actualized every single day. And every day, new ones present themselves to me. Next up? Hosting. Who knew?
If you have dreams that have been cast aside due to work obligations, family, time management or the-ever-defeating fear, try taking small steps to reintroduce them back into your life.

Ask yourself today, “If I could live any other life right now, what would I be doing?” It doesn’t mean that you have to change your whole life, it’s just the first chapter in finding the best ways to reintroduce your passions back into your life and live the life you’ve always imagined. After all…
It is never too late to make your dream a reality. 

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.” (Steve Jobs)

 

xoxo,
BF

BF Asks: What’s holding you back from going after your dreams? 

From my Quote Book: Let there be!

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BeautyFrosting Quote of the Day is back!!
Did you miss it?

BFQOD: Let there be!

“Every time we say ‘Let there be!’ in any form, something happens.”
(Stella Terrill Mann)

 

BF Asks: “Let there be ______ today”!

 

BF QOD: Life is like a butterfly…

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BF QOD: Happiness is like a butterfly

“Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder…”

(Thoreau)

High-Low 6

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Is it just me or was this week super weird?

I feel like my routine got all out of whack simply by having a holiday right smack-dab in the middle of the week. I’m prone to “Sunday Blues” and July 4th felt like Saturday and Sunday all rolled into one. There was so much to do, yet I wanted to relax, and then there was the dull numbness that sometimes comes with a Sunday before a big week.

Still, as with every week, there were some shining moments that stood out. Here’s this week’s High-Low.

HIGHS

1) Fun summer nails!  I chose to match my nails to my BeautyFrosting business card!

Fun summer nail design: BeautyFrosting-inspired

2) Inspired by the leftover Oreo frosting and Oreo double stuff cookies, from the cupcakes I made last week, I decided to bake a Choc’o'gasm Pie: a chocolate cream pie with cookies and cream crust, fresh whipped cream and an oreo frosting trim. Perfect for July 4th festivities! It was choc’o'gasmic!

Chocogasm Pie

3) I started keeping my first Quote Book in 1989 when I was 12. Last Monday, I wrote the final quote in Quote Book #5 (4/16/08-7/2/12).
I realized how much has changed since it started. My album (Sweet Time) came out, I moved back to Los Angeles from Nashville, broke up with my boyfriend of 7 years, left my job with Barbra Streisand, started this blog, found a world of new friends and found myself again. Funny that the last quote, of this journey, came from a contestant’s father on The Bachelorette. Oh, Life and God. You guys have got quite a sense of humor, sometimes.

Quote Book #5 came to a close this week

4) Discovering new summer recipes like this one: Chicken Broccoli Parmesan Casserole. Yummylicious!

Chicken Broccoli Parmesan Casserole

5) This week, one of my all-time favorite bands, Minibar, reunited for an anniversary show to celebrate the 11-year anniversary of their album, Road Movies. A fun evening with old friends at O’Briens.

Seeing my good friends, Minibar, playing at O'Briens in Santa Monica

6) A puppy slumber party! Miss Ellie and I are having a fun girls’ weekend with our little black Schnauzer friend, Sophie, from down the street.

Puppy Slumber Party!

7) I live for family and friends. But sometimes it’s nice just to take it easy and have a little date with myself. One of my favorite indulgences of being a single gal is to take an afternoon bath on a Friday afternoon with L’Occitane Foaming Lavender bath bubbles and a glass of Pinot Grigio. A serene start to the weekend!

Benefits of being a single gal

LOWS

This past year has taught me that there are times to hold on and times to let go. It’s not always so clear to see.After a particularly challenging day on Thursday, I came home to an unexpected little visitor.

My little visitor with a lesson

This little guy was sitting on my front stoop blocking my door (see bird on ledge in pic). It just looked at me but looked like it needed my help. I approached the door and it tried to fly but didn’t seem able to do so and landed on a plant nearby. I asked my friend Jennifer, across the street, what she thought I should do. She said she would take it and nurse it back to help. But when she & her daughter, Nora, approached, the bird crawled under the door to my stairwell. We decided to let it be.

But then I thought it might be thirsty, so I got a little plastic cup and cut it down to size so that the bird could reach the water without much effort. I took it into the stairwell and set it near the birdie. It didn’t go for it. I pushed the water closer and it flew on to the ledge of a window on my stairs. I was afraid it would hurt itself and would fall from this great height with (what I thought was) its broken wing. So I got a small box and tried to capture it just so I could bring it safely to the ground. It suddenly found its wings (and bravery) and took off towards the tree where its family lived.

I don’t think things like this are accidents. I believe them to be signs. Laugh if you will. But it was a powerful message and I got it loud and clear. If a bird wants to fly, it will fly. No other person or beverage or box or amount of love, hope or will is going to make it happen.

The bird has to do it himself. It taught me that I need to let go of trying to help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. In doing so, I hope they find their wings and fly. Even if they fall first.

May we all find OUR wings and fly.

 

Have a beautiful week, beauties!

 

xoxo,

BF

BF Asks: Share with me your High-Low this week!