If you can’t view this 2:37 video click here. If you dig it and want to see us go even deeper, click here.

When my friend, Shelley said, “how you eat tells me something about how you do everything.” *Gulp* I suddenly felt vulnerable and nervous. Dive in to this deep interview and let me know HOW you have eaten, related and loved today.

Shelley really called me out and raised my eyebrows and taste buds–even though we did this interview about a week ago–I’m STILL setting my mind on “joy” or “calm” or “slow it down” before I take in food or even when I pick up the phone. For those of us celebrating U.S. Thanksgiving, this might be a great week to practice. Oh, and for a juicy, extra special bonus, check out Shelley’s new book Tantric Tastes: Dessert For Lovers (affiliate link). Keep life funky and foxy, everyone.

Hotlights for those of you who are reading in a rush (please check out the full interview on Shelley’s blog here, we had a a lot of fun):

• Cravings are signals or tools–don’t knock them until you’ve listened to them;
• If you eat with joy in mind, you digest more effectively;
• Find out about your body’s intelligent ecology (yep, get down on some new BIG words now); and
• Put some “love ketchup” on your food! Explore your own Spiritual Condiments.

Go beyond, “you are what you eat.” Follow Shelley’s lead and put some Yippee! on your plate with those mashed potatoes. I’d love to hear your stories about how food impacts your world. Please share in the comments.

—–

Share the treats; copy and paste these tweets:

Sprinkle some Thank You on your food. @DyanaValentine & @eatrelatelove explore http://bit.ly/tbJHT4 #TantricTastes

You are HOW you eat watch @DyanaValentine & @eatrelatelove talk about food, work and love http://bit.ly/tbJHT4 #TantricTastes

Don’t just eat your pumpkin pie – make sweet love to it! @DyanaValentine & @eatrelatelove http://bit.ly/tbJHT4 #TantricTastes

What spiritual condiments r u using on Thanksgiving? @DyanaValentine & @eatrelatelove http://bit.ly/tbJHT4 #TantricTastes

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Can’t see this 9 minute long video? Click here.

I resist it when people call me a motivational speaker. I call myself an instigator and emcee. During a recent interview with the wonderful Crystal Reynolds, I spoke about why I call myself an instigator and how I get my groove on from the stage.

When you volunteer to come to a conference or one of my workshops, you arrive with your own motivation. I’m not there in the front of that room to fill your vessel; I’m there to play with that excitement that’s already percolating and bouncing around inside you and to turn it up.

I’m also totally there for me. You heard me. I get a real kick the energy that naturally springs up in a room of hundreds (and looking forward to thousands) of people. Speaking gigs allow me to polish my craft while raising the vibration of a community of people.

I’m not a motivational speaker. I’m not there to talk and rant and tell you to get off your butt and write a book or start a business or bake apple pies or whatever that thing you’re meant to do is. I’m there to instigate you to make good decisions, to teach you how to test ideas and to talk your walk.

How about you? What do you call yourself and why? Please leave your story in the comments below. Even better, go check out ALX Franzen’s incredible post Tell Us Who You Are, No, Seriously. She’s brilliant.

—–

Help your friends discover what’s in it for them – paste & post these insta-tweets:

it takes all kinds … @DyanaValentine wants to know what kind of provoker you are. http://bit.ly/tc0Teg @crystalinkdesig

:: @DyanaValentine describes herself as an instigator. how do you describe yourself? http://bit.ly/tc0Teg @crystalinkdesig

does your title really describe who you are in what you do? @DyanaValentine wants to know. http://bit.ly/tc0Teg @crystalinkdesig

Have you seen me rock the mic live? Catch me on Friday, November 11th, at the Women Today Conference in Ventura, CA.

Related posts:

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Watch this video to see my dear friend Sam Bennett and I talk about getting our best work done and out into the world.

Can’t see the 7 minute long video? Click HERE.

Her next session of the Get It Done workshop (I have taken it 3 times – it works) starts in TWO DAYS on November 3rd. RUN, don’t walk, over to her site and sign up. Yep, that’s an affiliate link, by the way.

———

Help your friends quit griping and start finishing their best projects; cut, paste & post these insta-tweets:

Procrastination is genius in disguise. Find out what else @OrgArtCo has to say to @DyanaValentine http://bit.ly/sUqBHL

What’s in your genius envelope? @DyanaValentine and @OrgArtCo want to know. http://bit.ly/sUqBHL

Are you a scaredy-cat rebel? @DyanaValentine is and she goes to @OrgArtCo for help. Watch: http://bit.ly/sUqBHL

Related posts:

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3. redefine finish. Freelance writer, blogger, and enthusiasm addict, Michelle Nickolaisen is pretty...

Every week on Finish It! Friday, I invite groovy folks to talk about finishing what they started. We keep it short & sweet. I capture their answers on video. And you get a direct sight line into their mind’s eye.

It’s the same three questions, every time:

1. Do you finish everything you start?
2. How do you get unstuck when you’re having trouble finishing?
3. What are you really, really, REALLY good at?

This week, we’ve got Kate Swoboda aka Kate Courageous of Your Courageous Life. Kate pads her time to keep from stressing out over deadlines. Most importantly she teaches us not to measure your worth based on what you finish.

Can’t see this 5 minute long video? Click here.

- – -

More of Kate’s tidbit morsels (perfectly portioned for tweeting) are:

Pad your time. If your deadline is Fri. make a personal deadline for Weds. @katecourageous @dyanavalentine http://bit.ly/​qe4Rgf

You are more than what you finish. Don’t measure your worth by what you finish. @katecourageous @dyanavalentine http://bit.ly/​qe4Rgf

When you are stuck and out of juice, just let it go. @katecourageous @dyanavalentine http://bit.ly/​qe4Rgf

Are you struggling to finish what you start? Are you a masterful finisher? Or somewhere in between? I’d love to play with you! Join me as a Finish It! Friday guest by emailing me at: info@dyanavalentine.com

Please leave your finishing struggles, tips and stories in the comments.

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3. Finish It! Friday with Bindu Wiles Every week on Finish It! Friday, I invite groovy folks...

Check out my chat with Tanya Geisler as we talk “thing finding”. Check out the full convo here.

———

Help your friends talk their walk and cut, paste & post these insta-tweets:

Do you believe yourself? @DyanaValentine thinks you should. http://bit.ly/pJMmU7

Does being good at something mean you should be doing it? @DyanaValentine doesn’t think so. http://bit.ly/pJMmU7

Your strengths do not = what you are meant to be doing says @DyanaValentine http://bit.ly/pJMmU7

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There are a lot of interesting, truly curious people in the world, but the guys at The Reflex Blue Show take curiosity and the art of the interview to a whole other level. A year ago, before the inHOWse Design and Creative Freelancers conferences, they grilled me in the bowels of the Denver Convention Center about Pitch Perfect™, how creatives can boost their business, my favorite Scrabble word and other random goodness.

Fast forward a year to another fantastic HOW Conference; I’m chatting with Donovan Beery and Nate Voss with special guest, Stefan Mumaw. Give it a listen here while I sound off on getting stuck in the pay-the-bills trap, the difference between freelancing and entrepreneuring, the new Pitch Perfect™ and otherwise try to get a word in edgewise.

Head over and subscribe to 36 Point. You’ll thank me and be glad your rabble got roused.

While we’re at it–what have you been curious about lately? Have you made any appearances we should all know about? Leave a note in the comments below.

———————————–

Help a friend keep it funky; cut/paste&post these insta-tweets:

Keep it funky, fresh and full of vinegar http://bit.ly/nXFysF with @DyanaValentine @36point @stefanmumaw #HOWlive

What’s the diff btw freelancer and entrepreneur? http://bit.ly/nXFysF by @DyanaValentine @36point @stefanmumaw #HOWlive

Feel stuck in a pay-the-bills trap? Listen up: http://bit.ly/nXFysF @DyanaValentine @36point @stefanmumaw #HOWlive

Related posts:

1. friend+stranger=money shot Some people are like Steven Wright – they deliver fantastic one-liners without...

I have been writing down my dreams for over a year. I feel as though art has returned to my life. It’s a sentimental, possessive experience. Vivid, visual, visceral dreams are a part of me I can count on. Dream time is one of the few spaces/contexts that I don’t question. I don’t judge myself or the stories that come through. Really. Ever.

I lurch out of bed to record weird videos. Several complete poems/songs/performance sermon-esque pieces have come through between 4-6 am (aka: the hours of Dyana). I got so into it that I created a site, an offering and a free call-in gathering.

One morning at 5:45, I listened to a fascinating show from Radiolab called HELP!. Thanks, Jenn Cole, for turning me on to this show and for being a guest on Finish It! Friday. The show was about folks making deals to fight addiction, finish creative works and negotiating through roadblocks. Okay, that’s an inelegant reduction of the show–trust me and listen to it. It may revolutionize the way you think about stepping into your art, trusting it when you do get in there and getting things done.

I was struck by the entire show–but the section where Elizabeth Gilbert discusses her conversations about creativity with Tom Waits rocked my world. He told her:

+ every song has a distinctive identity that it comes into the world with
+ some songs you have to sneak up on, like hunting for a rare bird
+ some come fully intact like a dream taken through a straw
+ some songs need to be bullied

Elizabeth Gilbert said that once she realized the sources of her ideas were outside of her, that meant she could negotiate with a source.

Where/how is your art?
If you love Radiolab donate here.
Click the green and get some of my art.

Photo by me. Part of the Midnight Tapestry series.

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If you can’t view this 2:37 video click here. If you dig it and want to see us go even deeper, click here.

When my friend, Shelley said, “how you eat tells me something about how you do everything.” *Gulp* I suddenly felt vulnerable and nervous. Dive in to this deep interview and let me know HOW you have eaten, related and loved today.

Shelley really called me out and raised my eyebrows and taste buds–even though we did this interview about a week ago–I’m STILL setting my mind on “joy” or “calm” or “slow it down” before I take in food or even when I pick up the phone. For those of us celebrating U.S. Thanksgiving, this might be a great week to practice. Oh, and for a juicy, extra special bonus, check out Shelley’s new book Tantric Tastes: Dessert For Lovers (affiliate link). Keep life funky and foxy, everyone.

Hotlights for those of you who are reading in a rush (please check out the full interview on Shelley’s blog here, we had a a lot of fun):

• Cravings are signals or tools–don’t knock them until you’ve listened to them;
• If you eat with joy in mind, you digest more effectively;
• Find out about your body’s intelligent ecology (yep, get down on some new BIG words now); and
• Put some “love ketchup” on your food! Explore your own Spiritual Condiments.

Go beyond, “you are what you eat.” Follow Shelley’s lead and put some Yippee! on your plate with those mashed potatoes. I’d love to hear your stories about how food impacts your world. Please share in the comments.

—–

Share the treats; copy and paste these tweets:

Sprinkle some Thank You on your food. @DyanaValentine & @eatrelatelove explore http://bit.ly/tbJHT4 #TantricTastes

You are HOW you eat watch @DyanaValentine & @eatrelatelove talk about food, work and love http://bit.ly/tbJHT4 #TantricTastes

Don’t just eat your pumpkin pie – make sweet love to it! @DyanaValentine & @eatrelatelove http://bit.ly/tbJHT4 #TantricTastes

What spiritual condiments r u using on Thanksgiving? @DyanaValentine & @eatrelatelove http://bit.ly/tbJHT4 #TantricTastes

Related posts:

1. what do you call yourself? Can’t see this 9 minute long video? Click here. I...
2. friend+stranger=money shot Some people are like Steven Wright – they deliver fantastic one-liners without...
3. do you believe yourself? Check out my chat with Tanya Geisler as we talk...