ERIN DEHART

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.


- Pema Chodron

"What can we possibly learn from the driver who cuts us off or the rude person behind the counter or the friend who forgets your birthday? So much! What we learn is not about them but about ourselves. When we take a close look at how we respond to these people, we can discover our character defects, our habits, our automatic responses that block us from feeling peace.
"Does it do us any good to get angry at the driver who is now creeping along at twenty miles an hour in front of us?
"We might see the rude person behind the counter for only five minutes in our entire life. Is it worth carrying our upset with us for the rest of the day?
"So our birthday isn't the most important thing on our friend's mind and she forgot to send us a card. Is this worth resenting our friend and feeling disturbed when we see her?
"How important are most things that cause us pain and suffering? If we decide to change our automatic reactions, we can replace them with the question, 'What can I learn about me from this person or this situation?'
"Why not use today as a practice day to grow spiritually? Be mindful of how you feel and what you think, whom you judge and what upsets you. Open your heart to everyone you meet. Stop, breathe, and feel the peace.

No matter how well we have prepared, the moment belongs to God.


- Sheldon Kopp

"There is only so much I can control. I can give this day everything I have. I can give my utmost attention and commitment to at least five minutes today spent meditating for peace in the world. I can carry this thought, this feeling, with me and express it in all my actions to the best of my ability for the rest of the day.
"I can feel the great power of the thought that I am joining with so many others with the same intentions.
"Today I will do my very best to bring peace to my life and to the lives around me and then to accept the outcome.

This goal has actually been completed twice over thus far! Slater's 50/50 is famously known for their Burgers by Design and whoa was it awesome. So awesome in fact, that during my first visit to Slater's 50/50, I was so excited I forgot to take a photo of my insanely yummy burger. Total bummer. But let me just tell you what I got...

This goal used to say, "Go to Disneyland (Me, Danny, Alex & David), but with ticket prices increasing and money-to-spend decreasing, we decided to revise this to a simple double date. One spontaneous Sunday I convinced this pack of awesome friends to go see Hunger Games, then my sister suggested we snag some dinner beforehand and the next thing ya know it, we realized we just planned the best DZP-double-date eva!

Shout out to my sister for getting me hooked on the Hunger Games. That was the best series of non-chick-lit books I've ever read. As many of you avid-Hunger Game-readers may agree, the movie simply did not meet my expectations. *sad face* The whole movie felt rushed and underacted. I didn't feel the raw desperation that I felt so clearly throughout the books. That intense need to survive was completely lost in my opinion. I hope the rest of the movies are significantly better. I look forward to finding out.

My parents bought me this cool, animal-filled puzzle for Christmas and believe it or not I finished the entire thing in one sitting! Sadly, not only was there a missing piece... there was an extra piece! An extra, duplicate piece!

A donkey with a load of holy books is still a donkey.

- Sufi saying
"We can read about peace.
"We can write about peace.
"We can talk about peace.
"But until we take the steps to develop inner peace, we will not be peaceful. Our intention and out willingness are only the beginning of a journey towards inner peace. The next step is a commitment, followed by daily practice.
"How committed are you?

At some point during almost every romantic comedy, the female lead suddenly trips and falls, stumbling helplessly over something ridiculous like a leaf, and then some Matthew McConaughey type either whips around the corner just in the nick of time to save her or is clumsily pulled down along with her. That event predictably leads to the magical moment of their first kiss. Please. I fall ALL the time. You know who comes and gets me? The bouncer.

- Chelsea Handler, My Horizontal Life 

I was waiting to blog this so I can take an actual picture of my actual books, but someone somewhere still has my Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me. So I decided I finally needed to let you know the following:

a. Another goal dusted.

b. Chelsea Handler is hilarious. And if you haven't figured it out yet, read these books.

c. Read these books.

Thanks! That is all.

Most of you know Madalyn - one of my great friends, fellow blogger at From These Lips..., DZP-doer, 5k walker, social-media-crazed-addict - we have so much in common and are yet so different in so many other ways.

This is quite the perfect photo to say just that. Brunette vs. Blondie. Blue vs. Black. Long-small-beaded-necklace vs. Short-big-beaded-necklace. Red nails vs. Coral nails. Margarita vs. Blueberry Stoli and Tonic. Same-Diamond-Ring vs. Ever-Changing-Big-Statement-Ring. Straight vs. Curly. And that same awkward smile waiting for this picture to snap!

Happy Weekend everyone! Make it count :)

Spontaneity is probably one of the top sought after qualities people aim to be in their daily lives. The structure of having a continuous routine can make people koo-koo and therefore have this desire to break away from the monotony and just do somethin' crazay!

That, is not what I did.

I didn't set this goal because I'm too rigid and structured. While some may argue that my planning side definitely can come out more often than my spontaneous side, I am by far one of the lesser rigid members of Orange County. And with completing this goal, spontaneity kicked structure's ass!

And this is what happened...

Back story #1: Life is fucking hard. Period. Everyone knows it, and believe me! I know I'm not the only one fighting. Everyone is struggling with something. We're all fighting through bumps in the road to achieve an over-arching goal... whether it be finding that perfect career, the blissful relationship, that adorably-put-together-home, the bestest friends, the sweetest and most supportive family and the cutest pets. We're all going through life to reach that perfect plateau.

Through that bumpy road, some of those bumps are big, some of those valleys are low, and it can feel so hard and borderline unbearable.

Some days I find myself having to talk myself out of bed. Push myself to be presentable and not just a lazy mess. I'm literally giving myself a pep talk in the shower on most days, and praying so hard for positivity to push me through the day.

I can proudly say I get the job done, and by the time I'm standing in front of the barista at Starbucks, my coworkers, friends, family, puppy, I have a smile on my face. I have a pep in my attitude. I have hope for the sun to shine, because I have found a state of mind where I really am, hopeful.

If I couldn't acheive this state of mind, I would find myself holed up under the covers never to come out. Believe this.

And so, the planning side of things: I've been searching for a quote that I wanted to get tattooed that basically said, "life is hard, but keep moving forward." Something to remind me to keep my head up even at my lowest of lowest points, and serve as a visual pep talk that takes only a single look.

I would come across a few little lines here and there, but nothing ever stuck. Then one day I saw a photo of a girl's side-tattoo of this poster and I was furious! While I'm all about unique-make-it-your-own tattoos - that's what they're for anyways, right? - but this chick defamed this poster by changing the font, changing the crown, *grrrrr* oh my goodness!! *clenched-fists* I instantly thought, how could you ruin such an already perfect design??

And that's when it hit me.

Why am I searching for that perfect quote, when this crown says everything I could ever want it to say and more. Thanks to that awful tattoo, I decided, this is what I want - when I'm ready.

Back story #2: The poster. Not many people even know the history behind the Keep Calm and Carry On posters, but here's the make-a-long-story-short story... During WW2 the British gov't designed a series of morale-boosting-propaganda posters and used them across the country to motivate and uplift the people during the testing times that were to lay ahead.

Here's a quick three minute video that gives you the background, plus how it came to be commercialized:



Now, where spontaneity rules all: I had a rather tough week last week, followed by receiving some piss-poor news on Monday that completely thrusted me in one of the crappiest valleys of emotions where even a smile was just not going to happen.

The following morning I was going through some of my favorite blogs, one of which being Fuck Yeah, Tattoos! and I decided this needs to happen, today! I called my tattoo guy Todd at Ace's High in Fullerton, CA and not to my surprise he was completely booked up! Although he promised to call me if anyone cancelled and an opening would spring up, I was immediately bummed out and my spark was starting to fizzle.

I decided to, Keep Calm and Carry On with my day. I went home and started a mass amount of laundry and then *BOOM!* fate must have been on my side because one of his appointments finished extra early, and I found myself trying to decide if I was going to get this tattoo or finish drying my six loads of wet laundry (not an exaggeration). Todd gave me a window to get my shit done and get my ass in there no later than 8:30pm and I was in just under the clock. Next thing I knew, the stencil was on, needles were preped and it was done 'n' done.

I couldn't be happier.

For me, this tattoo symbolizes my daily motivation, my three-second morning pep talk, and my instantaneous reminder that no matter how hard life gets, keep my head up, Keep Calm and Carry On, because there's a light at the end of this tunnel.

A long lost friend from high school is about to embark on an incredible journey. He's turning in his corporate card for a year of giving back. He wonders if he's crazy, but I think he's braver than all of us. Here's some of his first post documenting his decision to follow his dream:

I have been working since I was 16. For years I found myself chasing after the almighty dollar. I don't consider myself materialistic, I like nice things like any normal person, I prefer Mac over PC not because of what I can do with it, but because I just happen to think it looks cooler. Given the chance I will spend money for the sake of spending money because that is what society tells us is the normal thing to do. It's the norm I've been accustomed to since I acquired my first paycheck working part-time at a Mail-Boxes Etc while attending high school.

I should have gone to college, but the money was too good. I was making more money working in the corporate world, while friends of mine going to school were studying to eventually get the job I had.

Fast forward 10 years, and I find myself a 26 year old sitting in front of a computer, pouring my feelings out on this keyboard in search of a more fulfilling path. I've had good jobs, great jobs, crappy jobs and just jobs. I've learned a lot about myself and about the world.

After all this time I've noticed that no matter how philanthropic the company you work for swears it is, you never find yourself helping out on that side of the spectrum. You're stuck on the rat-race side, the side that has you screwing the little man, not helping him. When I think back to all my years working, I realize the only times I felt true satisfaction was when I participated in the volunteer and charity events sponsored or participated in by the powerful corporations I worked for. It was this knowledge I had been struggling with for a long time.

And just two days ago I had a dream.

See, I left my current job with the idea that I would start work at yet another very succesful corporation making a decent amount of money working, traveling and working some more. And it was then I realized I didn't want to do it all over again. Start a job I would love at first because of the stability and the financial security it gave me, only to hate myself years later for not being true to myself.

So I dreamt.

As crazy as it seems I declined the position I was offered, and instead began planning to pursue an undertaking beyond crazy, in my opinion. If it's crazy to me I can only imagine what those of you reading this will think.

I post this now, not to toot my proverbial horn, nor to make an attempt at seeming self-righteous with you guys. I respect all of you and the course your lives have taken. I appreciate all of your status updates and all the witty and sarcastic comments from time to time. I share this recent update to get your input and ideas. Because, God knows, I'm going to need it.

I have decided that beginning April 22, 2012 on Earth Day, I will challenge myself to participate in a volunteer/charity event daily for a full year. I have given myself a full month to prepare so as to allow a good amount of planning ahead of time, while allowing me some flexibility of last minute invitations or ideas from those of you who will be following me along. I'm not hoping for much, but hope that at least those of you who are my friends will care to see what's going on.

I can't wait to read of all the good Alvaro is going to be doing in this world. And I've officially decided that Goal #53 on my DZP list is going to be dedicated to Alvaro's cause. While I may not be prepared to take a year off to do all the amazing things I know he will be blessed with, I absolutely want to be apart of it.

Follow him. You won't regret it, A Worthwhile Cause.

This is Yvette. She is Danny's cousin, but most of all she is my friend, my family. This year she too offered to help me cross off one of my DZP goals from my lovely list! I rambled off a few choices and voila, Color Me Mine sesh for two!
How could I not choose something symbolic of my birthday? A peacock studded cupcake to hold my jewelry. I'm so excited to use it everyday.
Thank you Yvette, for the fabulous birthday gift. I had such a good time hanging out, just us girls.

So off we went to Buena Park, CA where there is a PINK's at Knott's Berry Farm. Pretty awesome since we didn't have to hike all the way to Los Angeles for a hot dog. One thing to note, their menu is not as complete as the LA location, but you will get what you came for.

Our final order: one inferno dog, one planet hollywood dog, one chili dog, onion rings, fries and three sprites. I'm still full!

Thanks sis for helping me cross off one of my goals in honor of my 26th birthday! You're awesome!