• Home
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Community
  • Contact

SMARTY.

The human side of business

Archives for March 2016

Big Life

Spirit Animals.

March 29, 2016 · By Amy Swift Crosby

Red Tailed Hawk? Gray wolf? Cheetah? Consider what you need - the animal should embody it.

Several weekends ago, I was at a meditation retreat at Kripalu with one of my teachers, David Harshada Wagner. Something continued to come up for me that I couldn’t resolve. It’s not overwhelm. It’s not busy-ness. It’s not too much. It’s more like – YES – I love all this good stuff coming my way – but I also need an extra me to ENJOY it. Besides meditation, I asked, how do I gain more agility? More stamina? More bandwidth? More everything?!?!

Many of you are in the same boat…especially if you’re living an Ensemble Life (see last week’s post.)

His answer was hilarious – he even laughed out loud saying it.

“You have a capacity issue. And while there are many ways to change that, an easy one is through your spirit animal.”

After fully enjoying how very West Coast that wisdom really is, we got serious. I’ve been operating as a gazelle – a light, bounding, quick-footed animal leaping through the prairie. And that was great for my 20’s and part of my 30’s, but now I”m a mother, an author, a grown daughter, a wife. Now I need the power, strength, foresight and leadership of…a lioness. Boom.

I have a feeling you’ve traveled a similar path.

As funny as it sounds, your energetic source material – the thing you channel in your day to day essence – really informs your ability to find capacity. What’s even more interesting, is it doesn’t look that different on the outside, but on the inside, the architecture shifts and expands.

What you may need is to slow down, to do more in less time, to get smaller, to get much, much bigger. Whatever it is, an animal makes it embodied.

Thanks for not thinking I’ve gone down a mystical rabbit hole today. Once in a while the woo-woo magic is pretty practical.

Big Life

The Ensemble Life.

March 22, 2016 · By Amy Swift Crosby

With Chef Tyler Sterling living out the only menage a trois I’m into - food, design and friends. Dream home by architect Santiago Ortiz. The ensemble life can mean whatever the $%&@ you want.

I’m gonna give some love to Gwyneth Paltrow today. Hold the tomatoes please. I see a lot of love/hating about GOOP and GP’s seemingly impenetrable veil of superiority. But I view it and her differently. I actually think she’s doing a lot of things right, and I’d venture that she’s a lot more vulnerable than most people perceive.

Although we aren’t friends, what I see is someone living an ensemble life. Her interests are varied – to the point of nausea for some – but I think they are genuine. So she acts, she sings, she writes, she’s an entrepreneur, a style icon, a mother, a conscious divorcee, a tech leader, a beauty expert…a chef. Ok, it’s annoying but ONLY because most of us feel like…well, that’d be nice…easy for her…I coulda done that…big deal. And I think what she also may spark in some is a sense of under accomplishment. I know for me, when I see everything she’s able to do and impact, I feel a little like – am I living my potential? And, what else? What’s my next adventure? Side hustle? Interest? Investment?

So I’d like to say something without inviting too much negative mail – this can (kind of) be your life. I’m not saying that you too can rent this villa in Italy and the private yacht that comes with it with your Spanish speaking children and two-hours-a-day-workout-body if you just work harder, but, I feel like for a modern American woman, this TYPE of life is sort of possible – just taken down a few decimal points (basis points?!).  It’s textured, interesting, multi-dimensional, adventurous, brave. Yah she’s got a lot of advantages, but who cares? She could sit back and enjoy being wealthy and gorgeous, with a few selective acting gigs. But she stepped out, threw her hat in the ring, and if anyone can say “good for you” its people like us – doing the same thing. GP is a solid muse for being unselfconscious about her ambitions, and really looking out at the world – and having it her way. I’m betting she’s having a lotttttttta fun.

Do your thing. Express. Write. Start. Join. Lead. Follow. Innovate. Make. Be who you want to be. Have hobbies, interests, ventures. Channel Richard Branson, Tim Ferris, the barrista who also tutors math, is a classical pianist, writes a blog about art and flips houses on the side. It keeps you engaged, interesting and walking the sh$t out of whatever path you’re on.

I’d venture to say this…is the new normal.

Big Life

Tinkering.

March 15, 2016 · By Amy Swift Crosby

Here's to "productive", or "non-productive" putzing. Because it's all productive.

“I’ll be out in the garage” is a phrase often uttered by my husband on weekends. What exactly happens “in the garage”? Some days he’ll emerge having reorganized all of his bikes, surfboards, SUPS, kayaks, skateboards (shall I go on?), and other days I can’t tell if anything really happened. But I think that’s the point. It doesn’t have to.

And it’s why I believe in tinkering.

The guy gets to be alone, without an agenda, without the kids asking to play monster, or me asking about the status of the (insert chronic historical house problem here.) He gets to do no-thing, while doing some-thing, and think. But he gets to think without being charged with thinking. And he gets to use his hands and figure stuff out – work stuff out – build stuff out – without much attachment to an outcome or life-changing expectations. When else in your life do you tinker – with no strings attached? This is how problems are solved, ideas born. Garages are ideal, but there are other options, too.

I’ve solved client issues while building magazine collages with my girls. I’ve thought of short stories while washing dishes or cleaning out the spice drawer. I’ve dreamed up solutions to friends’ conundrums – personally, in business, in life – while weeding my vegetable garden. 

My grandfather used to spend hours “down at the boat.” I’d see my grandmother roll her eyes at this, as we all knew the boat hadn’t actually worked in decades. But now I get it. And respect it.

Should we consider Intentional Tinkering? Conscious tinkering? LeanInTinkering? Tinkering Forward?

Someone stop me.

Big Life

Badassery.

March 1, 2016 · By Amy Swift Crosby

Climbing Kilimanjaro (the hard route!)? Badass. Too bad I can't post my natural childbirth pictures #thebestkindofbadass. Photo credit Kurt Marcus.

When you feel like a badass, life is good. Typically you’ve nailed a project, done something heroic, completed a marathon, landed a gig – whatever. You know it when you feel it. But what if we could badassify our lives a little more? Here’s my rationale: the more you feel like the best version of yourself you can be, the more you exceed your own expectations, and the more you choose yourself when the world would have you another way. When you choose yourself, a positive domino effect ensues. In short, more good sh$t happens.

Here is what helps me channel that feeling on a day to day basis – whether I’ve done anything memorable, exceptional or newsworthy, or not:

1. Surround yourself with teams and people who make you feel like you’ve achieved something – just by being in their company. They don’t have to blow smoke up your….skirt…or do anything other than share air and space and even better, a shared passion or project with you. Just being with people you respect and admire – like a lot – brings out the badass in us.

2. Revisit moments from your life that made you feel limitless and amazing. You can see a couple of mine referenced in the photo. So many of us forget that we’ve blown our own minds!!! It’s worth a trip down memory lane to remember.

3. Disrupt your day to day conversation with people by telling them the good things you see in them. You can start off with, “You know what’s incredible about you?” and then SEE them in the way that only you see them, and tell them about it. “You give the clearest, most actionable feedback anyone could ever hope to get,” or, “You can take the most awkward moment and make it hilarious,” or, “you have the body of Jessica Alba, the intellect of Madeline Albright, the presence of Michelle Obama and the wit of Chelsea Handler.” (If you know anyone like that please introduce us.)

Here’s to being a badass, and not waiting for moments in the sun to feel it. #everydaybadass.
PS. Props to my old friend Jen Sincero who wrote a book on this subject titled, “You are a Badass.” Perhaps you’ve seen it at the airport as it is nowhewwwwge (another Jen-ism.)

Topics

  • Small Business
  • Big Life
  • Small Towns
  • Big Brands
  • Popular Posts
  • Uncategorized

About Me

photo of Amy Swift Crosby

Amy Swift Crosby is a brand strategist and copywriter who has positioned or voiced messaging across the commercial spectrum, from icons like Ford, BVLGARI, Pottery Barn, Pantene and Virgin, to boutique brands like The Wild Unknown, fitness franchise Barre3 and the rebrand of legendary metaphysical bookstore, Bodhi Tree. She has leveraged this expertise to help entrepreneurial women and small businesses owners hone their skills, mission and message, while uncovering their own “voice.” This blog explores “the human side of business,” and universal themes like uncertainty, anxiety, the tension between engagement and disconnection, personal value and most importantly, of finding - and hearing - our own voices in our everyday life.

Photo - Andrew Stiles

Subscribe

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Search

Instagram

Instagram did not return a 200.

About

SMARTY began as a thriving community in Los Angeles and Boston with weekly panel discussions and events designed to better understand the mindset and growth strategies behind successful entrepreneurs. Today, SMARTY is a weekly blog written by Amy Swift Crosby who chronicles her life as a creative, parent, entrepreneur and spiritual seeker. As an urban refugee living in a New England seaside village, she unpacks topics ranging from uncertainty and doubt to the built environment and advertising. More on Amy.

Never Miss a Post

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Latest Posts

  • Company.
  • Connected.
  • This.
  • Uncertainty.
  • Devotion.

Copyright 2021 SMARTY.