Fruition! - Winter 2018

Fruition!

Winter 2018

BRING YOUR IDEAS TO LIFE

The Power of ONE Word

POWERFUL

FRUITION PRACTICES

Vision Board BOOKS

Self Love Issue @c.b.bliss | 1 | Winter 2018

Contents Volume 1, Issue 1

15

25

19

DEPARTMENTS 3 4 7

Dear Readers In Focus

Loving yourself is the first step in being your best self.

Bliss Picks

Bliss-worthy, curated content especially for you.

FEATURES 12 15

19

Fruition

Five powerful tools to create the life you want.

The power of one word can change your life.

LIFE & STYLE 21 25

Who Is Warsan Shire?

The poet for people who don't think they like poetry.

The Power of YES

28 31

Create & Make Project

Vision Board Books -- new twist on vision boards.

Intimate Gatherings

An autumn-inspired brunch and the brunch lifestyle.

Party Prints

Mudcloth is a new trend with traditional roots.

Last Word

A new year's resolution.

Winter 201 8 | 2 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

Fruition! is a quarterly publication with original and thoughtfully curated content for creative minds and soulful spirits like you with a focus on bringing your ideas to life. It is published by Creative Brown Bliss

Dear Readers

W

elcome to Fruition!, an interactive online magazine devoted to the journey of bringing your ideas, dreams, goals, and passions to life. In this premiere issue, the focus is on self love, a necessary step in living your best life.

The vision for Fruition! began many years ago as a vague idea to share creative content with others. Over time,

that vision evolved as I experimented with a variety of formats. None of them felt right -- until now. I never set out to publish a digital magazine, but it's where my heart and the work took me.

I'm delighted you dropped by for a visit. I hope you'll find something that inspires you to return again.

With love and joy,

@c.b.bliss | 3 | Winter 2018

-Traci

In Focus

Self Love

PRACTICE YOUR BELIEF

T

he path to being your best self is a labor of love. Labor

- because it requires work. And love, rather self love - because it's an inside job. There are some things that can only be done for you, by you. Self love is one of those things.

"You owe yourself the love you so freely give to others."

Defined as "the belief that you are a worthy and valuable person," self love is both a belief AND a practice. Believing you deserve the best of what life has to offer is a first step, but it's not enough.

You must practice your belief by making choices and taking actions that reflect your value. When you know

your worth, you're less likely to give discounts on access to your life.

"Perhaps we should love ourselves so fiercely, that when others see us they know exactly how it's done."

Self love is more than just pampering yourself. It's about not neglecting your own needs or giving away your power and responsibility for your own happiness.

More importantly, As explained

by Banu Sekendur, "Self-love is the foundation on which we build a happy life. Without self-love, we have nowhere to put the love or abundance that comes to us."

Ready? Set. Let's practice!

Winter 201 8 | 4 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

@c.b.bliss | 5 | Winter 2018

Be Good To Yourself 16 Acts of Self Love Excerpted from www.tinybuddha.com

Not sure what it looks like to love yourself? Self-love is…

1. Choosing ourselves, even if it means upsetting others and not being popular anymore.

2. Telling what is true for us, not swallowing words that express what we truly feel, think, or want to do.

3. Giving our body the nurturing, rest, exercise, and comfort it needs to the best of our ability.

4. Accepting ourselves with the good, the bad, the ugly, the sexy, and the smelly—all of it— and appreciating ourselves as whole people.

5. Making time to do whatever we love, just to play, without worrying about wasting time.

6. Owning our inner and outer beauty and complimenting ourselves without feeling guilty, arrogant, or entitled.

7. Spending some quality, connected time with ourselves instead of always watching TV or wasting time on the Internet.

8. Using discretion when sharing our heart, self, and dreams with others.

9. Trusting the path that our soul is on and making a genuine effort to become a conscious co-creator of our destiny.

10. Allowing ourselves to dream big, without contaminating these dreams with judgments, our perceived limitations, or a lack of sense of deserving.

Source: Pinterest

11. Knowing how we’re spending our emotional, mental, financial, and physical energy, and whether these activities bring back joy, connection, nurturing, rest, and creativity to our lives.

12. Not labeling ourselves with others’ opinions of us, while having the courage to look inside to see if there might be some truth to them.

13. Learning to set boundaries that protect and nurture our relationships, with ourselves and others.

14. Allowing ourselves to make mistakes and not berating ourselves for making them.

Instead, choosing to appreciate our desire to learn and grow.

15. Refusing to seek permission or approval to be ourselves. Recognizing that we, like everyone else, deserve to take up space on this planet just as who we are right now.

16. And lastly, self-love is: loving and accepting ourselves even when we fail miserably at some of these self-love goals.

Winter 201 8 | 6 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

Bliss Picks Editor's Pick of Bliss-Worthy Content

READ + WATCH + LISTEN + ACT

@c.b.bliss | 7 | Winter 2018

Kickstart Your Practice

Give your self love practice the boost that it needs. Download the free workbook to shift your game into gear.

Queue The Music

Create a playlist of self love anthems. Fill it with songs that make you feel confident, beautiful, sexy, and powerful. Listen. Dance. Love.

Repeat.

Short on time? Head over to Spotify to listen and download the Self Love playlist.

Winter 201 8 | 8 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

Take

A Time -Out In her Feelin' Myself essay, Davis details her struggle for self love and how she learned to give herself the love that she freely gives to others.

"I began to model my love for myself after the love I had for my darling daughter. I told myself encouraging, empowering, delightful things—out loud.

I fed myself wholesome, delicious meals, regularly. I made sure I got plenty of rest and plenty of play.

When I got cranky, I took an adultsized time-out via meditation or a walk.

I allowed myself adventures and space to be reflective and creative. I honored my imagination and tried not to take myself too seriously.

If something hurt me, I said that it hurt, in real time. (And, psst, I sought help for pain that wouldn’t go away on its own.)

I rose to “Good morning, beautiful” and set to “I love you” every night. I practiced mothering myself—something one can do even if you’ve never given birth."

Read the original article at www.

EBONY.com.

@c.b.bliss | 9 | Winter 2018

Fill 'er Up

Make a Self Love Jar

1. Create a jar to hold your self love mantras. Decorate it.

2. Fill it with things you love about yourself.

3. Visit the jar often to read the contents and add new items.

Get the details: at The Militant Baker blog.

Winter 201 8 | 10 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

Love Yourself First! Friday

Phenomenal women just like you share how they are self-love in action.

"Love Yourself First! Friday is a bi-weekly series created by The Phoenix Rising Collective.

Women who fiercely demonstrate self-love in action in order to build and sustain healthy, positive self esteem share their stories." Read them HERE.

"Creativity as a radical act of self love."

The art of coming home to yourself www.ginerurchin.com

Step Into Your Greatness If you’ve been looking for a sign, this is it.

The Sacred Bombshell Handbook of Self-Love is your wake-up call to stop being just a survivor. You deserve to thrive.

Consider this a vision quest to the center of yourself. ..Abiola reclaims the word “bombshell” to mean a woman who embodies her power in mind, body and spirit, takes ownership of her life and relishes the journey." Read more at www. sacredbombshell.com @c.b.bliss | 11 | Winter 2018

Six

MORE Ways to Practice Self Love Excerpted from Happy Black Woman.

Read full blog post.

1.

Accept yourself, flaws and all.

2.

Stop arguing with God.

3.

Forgive yourself for all the mistakes you've made in the past.

4.

Let go of all the harmful thoughts you have about yourself.

5.

Be who you really are, not the person everyone wants you to be.

6.

Give yourself permission to take care of you.

Who Is W S arsan

hire?

questions for the woman i was last night how far have you walked for men who’ve never held your feet in their laps? how often have you bartered with bone, only to sell yourself short?

Read the full poem here.

When rebuffed by traditional poetry circles, the 28 year old Shire published her works on social media where she found a receptive and loyal audience.

If you've heard Beyonce's Lemonade, you've also heard Shire's poetry. It's her poems that are featured in the album as odes to modern feminism and SELF LOVE.

As her verses reached new audiences, long-time fans wondered what took the rest of us so long to catch up to what they've known all along--Shire is awesome and her creative works about self love are fiyah!

Read on to experience it for yourself.

Winter 201 8 | 12 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

Think you don't like poetry?

P

oetry comes alive when it's read aloud.

Listen as Warsan Shire reads her own words. In her own voice Warsan versus melancholy (the seven stages of being lonely) is a digital album with six tracks, Listen to all tracks on bandcamp.com.

for women who are difficult to love you are a horse running alone and he tries to tame you compares you to an impossible highway to a burning house says you are blinding him that he could never leave you forget you want anything but you you dizzy him, you are unbearable every woman before or after you is doused in your name you fill his mouth his teeth ache with memory of taste his body just a long shadow seeking yours but you are always too intense frightening in the way you want him unashamed and sacrificial he tells you that no man can live up to the one who

lives in your head and you tried to change didn't you? closed your mouth more tried to be softer prettier less volatile, less awake but even when sleeping you could feel him travelling away from you in his dreams so what did you want to do love split his head open? you can't make homes out of human beings someone should have already told you that and if he wants to leave then let him leave you are terrifying and strange and beautiful something not everyone knows how to love.

@c.b.bliss | 13 | Winter 2018

-warsan shire

Winter 201 8 | 14 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

5 Powerful Tools TO CREATE THE LIFE YOU WANT

@c.b.bliss | 15 | Winter 2018

"Creat the highest, grandest vision possible for your life because you come what you believe."

-oprah winfrey

Expect the Best

Those who expect the best in life, are the ones who most often get it.

S

et high expectations for your ideas.

Dream big! Think BHAG - Big, Hairy, Audacious, Goal.

Don't limit yourself based on current circumstances. Don’t be concerned about the process of getting from where you are to where you want to go. For now, just focus on positive thinking and creating a vision of your perfect future.

Picture the Future

The best way to predict the future is to create it. ake control of the future and shape it with a vision board or picture of what your idea will look like when it's fully realized.

T

Visualizing your idea is a key exercise in turning dreams into reality. Focus on how you want to feel, not just what you want to have.

Winter 201 8 | 16 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

All of the power I need to create a life I love is inside me.

@c.b.bliss | 17 | Winter 2018

Mind Your Thoughts

Your mind is a powerful thing. When you fill it with positive thoughts, your life will start to change.

O

nce you've got your visual, Turn your attention toward your thoughts. Are they positive? Do they motivate you to take action?

As humans, we're hard-wired to move toward the things we think about. By being careful and intentional with your thoughts, you pave the way for your dreams and passions to manifest themselves into tangible assets.

Dream + Do

The difference between who you are and who you want to be, is what you do.

And so, she decided to start living the life she imagined.

Y

our vision won't live if you don't feed it with action.

Fruition takes work, consistency, discipline, and grit. When you set goals and hustle hard, the results will come.

As your thoughts move you toward your goal, so will your sense of urgency to take action. Ride the momentum of excitement that comes with starting something new.

Take baby steps, if you must. The important thing is to take action that moves you forward.

Document the Journey

You get what you focus on, so focus on what you want. se a bullet journal or vision board book to create a vivid picture of the goal ahead of you and keep it top of mind.

U

It can also serve as a reminder of what you've already accomplished and will inspire you to keep going when you hit those inevitable bumps in the road.

Winter 201 8 | 18 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

Say

YES!

To what scares you most

S

honda Rhimes is a gifted storyteller

who brings her creative ideas to life each week in some of television's most watched, tweeted, and anticipated shows. In a nutshell, Sista Shonda has got it going on!

As the creator of Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Scandal, she broke the mold for what an award-winning television producer and screenwriter should look like. She's also an inspiring example of self love in action.

She's doing what she loves, unapologetically.

Ms. Shonda sums up her dream job as 'making stuff up for a living'. While she admits that her work is more job,

than dream; she still loves the hum that comes with being a Hollywood titan.

As Maya Angelou once said, "Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.� Sista Shonda is doing allll that. And more.

She's herself, unapologetically.

When critics express their displeasure with her storylines on social media, Rhimes responds with a succint, "Maybe this show isn't for you." No explanation. No apologies.

There's also her "no a--hole policy" in which she asserts, "I don't put up with bullsh** or nasty people. I don't have time for it." Amen, sistah! (continued)

@c.b.bliss | 19 | Winter 2018

She says Yes, unapologetically.

In her book, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person, Rhimes gives us a peek into a social experiment to conquer her fears.

She committed to saying YES, for one year, to everything that scared her.

The outcome? She learned to love her truest self. The power of one word

changed her life. It can change yours, too. Say YES! When you say yes to opportunity, yes to adventure, yes to play, yes to invitations, yes to discomfort, and even yes to 'saying no' to the things that no longer serve you--you're really saying YES to yourself.

And that is the ultimate act of self love.

The power of one word can change your life

In one of the most watched TEDTalks of 2016, Shonda Rhimes, the creative powerhouse behind TV's hottest shows, shares her journey of saying YES to everything for an entire year.

Winter 201 8 | 20 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

Vision Board

BOOK

A twist on the traditional vision board, adapted for a modern lifestyle.

@c.b.bliss | 21 | Winter 2018

Create & Make PROJECT

Vision board books offer a fun and creative way

to visually express the dreams you have for your life. More than just a collection of pretty pictures, it's a constant reminder of what you the desires of your heart.

1.

2.

FREE Download

3.

Download the Visioning Workbook to help you organize your thoughts and plan your pages.

Gather your materials to put together the book.

Cut out pictures from magazines for inspriation.

Set aside time weekly to engage with your book.

Make updates and add new pages as needed.

Winter 201 8 | 22 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

Book It!

It's better. And here's why...

It's Mobile.

Unlike the poster board-version, which is more likely to get stored out of sight (which defeats the purpose), a vision board book can be portable and sized to carry with your everyday items. Perfect for on-the-go inspiration.

It's Flexible.

As you grow and change, so will the vision you have for your future self.

Using a book with removable pages

gives you the flexibility to update your vision with ease.

It's Customizable.

You're not limited to only one type of style or layout. Take advantage of the book format to add pages for journaling your thoughts, planning your goals, and tracking your progress. Make it unique for your needs.

It takes a level of self love, of dedication and determination to live your greatest life.

-Pinterest

@c.b.bliss | 23 | Winter 2018

-kim mcmillen

Winter 201 8 | 24 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

The Brunch Life

Bringing together friends over brunch is a perfect way to celebrate a special occasion. A beautiful fall day provides an idyllic backdrop for this autumn-inspired backyard gathering. @c.b.bliss | 25 | Winter 2018

Previous page: Taking advantage of a beautiful fall day to dine al-fresco; Top (this page): A sampling of the brunch buffet menu; Left: Coffee topped with whipped cream and sugar sprinkles; Above: The coffee mugs were take-home gifts for the guests.

Winter 201 8 | 26 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

Brunch

IT’S MORE THAN A MEAL...

It's a Lifestyle!

U

p the happy factor of your next intimate gathering with mimosas Served as bottomless pitchers or by the glass, this brunch classic pair well with a variety of midday menu items.

Hostess tip: Set up a mimosa bar to offer your guests a variety of juice options such as pineapple or mango.

How did this meal between meals come to be? Chef Byron Talbott, explains the invention of brunch on his blog at byrontalbott.com.

#WeBrunchHard

What started as a joke on Twitter, the #WBH hashtag has grown into an institution of sorts, including a video by creator and comedian, Elon James White, which reinforces that Brunch ain’t no joke!

The Brunch Life

Are you about that brunch life?

Proudly proclaim it to the world. Get your tee at teesinthetrap.com. @c.b.bliss | 27 | Winter 2018

Mad About

Mud Cloth Mud cloth is a contemporary fashion trend with traditional Malian roots. Locally known as bògòlanfini, it has been used for centuries by the Bamana people to mark major life transitions.

Seems fitting to incorporate this versatile textile into your next celebration event.

Winter 201 8 | 28 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

LEARN more about mud cloth at: Smithsonian FIND more mud cloth inspired decor at: Pinterest board

GET this featured mud cloth runner for your own home at: Akwati Style

@c.b.bliss | 29 | Winter 2018

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Winter 201 8 | 30 | www.creativebrownbliss.com

Last Word

@c.b.bliss | 31 | Winter 2018

About

Creative Brown Bliss CBB is a provider of relevant content for creative thinkers, dreamers, and doers who are passionate about bringing their best ideas to life. www.creativebrownbliss.com

Winter 201 8 | 32 | www.creativebrownbliss.com