The Evolution of this blog and what to expect in year 3.

Over the weekend, I retraced my steps in Cyberspace and was pleasantly surprise with the evolution of E.y.D. However, truth be told, this blog wasn’t initial very good. In fact, it kind of sucked. It was obvious how my writing style had developed to expose more insight. But one Key ingredient still remained missing: My true voice. It really came down to one thing: My fear of being vulnerable.  In short, the message on E.y.D was clear, but it had no personal tone.  I – was absent.

Awareness is the catalyst for change. It’s time to pull back the curtain and empty my bleeding heart by taking risks and writing with passion. I vow to broaden my quest for a more enlightened life and share it with you.  I’m stepping out of my comfort zone to experience new things, and devoting myself to practicing the message I preach.

Here is what else you can expect from E.y.D in year 3:

A Facelift:

A bright new Earthy look. A much needed change from the former dark muddled appearance. The new look is bright and consistent with my message to enlighten your day.  Here is a quick snap shot of the old Face of E.y.D What do you think? Did I take a step in the right direction?

New pages and updated directory:

I have edited my pages by adding short original summaries to communicate my message in as few words as possible. Moreover, my new service page allows authors to submit their book for a free review; and the chance for other writers to contribute guest posts. In addition, my updated Enlightened Directory is designed to make navigation fun and easy.

Monthly Newsletter:

My monthly E.y.D Newsletter will launch next month. Here is a sneak preview of what you can expect.

Original articles, monthly Book reviews, selected quote collections, and must-see-movies. In addition, I will include Cyberspace highlights featuring a bloggers, Youtube videos, and photo collections of the month.  Be one of the first 250 to sign up and get a free copy of my upcoming eBook.

My new Ebook:

My intent is to create a book that will brighten a sad day and lift a broken heart. Each chapter will start with one negative emotion and boldly attempt to give my readers the power to change a negative feeling into a positive one. For instance, my chapter on Sadness will include selected stories with happy endings, happy quotes, and my personal experiences designed to strip away sad tears and allow the sun to shine once again.   My eBook is a long way from finished, but I will have it completed very soon.

I thank you for your support during my growth and evolution phase of E.y.D. I hope you’ll take an active role in the coming year by sharing your thoughts and insights in my comment section.

Kindest Regards,

Jonathan

Follow the linkssssss…  What R U waiting for???

Daily Necessities Web 2.0

(Links and Stumbles for building a spiritual life in the Blogosphere )

Pray

Meditate

Be aware/Stay awake
Bow
Practise yoga
Feel
Chant and sing
Breathe and smile
Relax/Enjoy/Laugh/Play
Create/Envision
Let Go/Forgive Accept
Walk/Exercise/Move
Work/Serve/Contribute
Listen/Learn/Enquire
Consider/Reflect
Cultivate oneself/Enhance competencies
Cultivate contentment
Cultivate flexibility
Cultivate friendship and collaboration
Lighten up
Celebrate and appreciate
Dream
Give thanks
Evolve
Love
Share/Give/Receive
Walk softly/Live gently
Expand/Radiate/Dissolve
Simplify
Surrender/Trust
Be born anew

from Awakening The Buddha Within by Lama Surya

(Tips & pointers for building a spiritual life from scratch)

Daily Necessities Web 2.0

(Links and Stumbles for building a spiritual life in the Blogosphere )

The idea for this post was inspired by Greg Rutter‘s Definitive List of The 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet Unless You’re a Loser or Old or Something. Thanks Greg for your awesome creativity.

Looking back to my first posts on E.Y.D, I realized it took a year to find the true voice of this blog.  Now, I feel my direction is clearly defined.  What I hope to accomplish with Enlighten Your Day is a Meditative Thought Blog.  A portal on the net for anyone seeking a momentary pause to contemplate something positive, to see something brilliant, or share some insight.

To celebrate my first year anniversary, I’m sharing what I learned and loved while journeying into the Blogosphere.

Photo found here on Vi.sualize.us

I.)  First and foremost; it’s all about friends.

I have come to know a myriad of wonderful people and gained a community dedicated to sharing wisdom, laughter, and beauty. My first Cyber connection was Matt a.k.a WOlfhOund: a writer, Social Media Guru and Blogger (Homeless Tales).  Although we got off on the wrong foot, (my fault – never blog before being caffeinated!), I quickly learned the value and importance of friendships.  In the world of Blogging, you can’t be an Island and succeed, you need to build bridges.  Next came Babbages4life and TopSurf, true pioneers of the Stumble-Blog.  It was simple, we shared countless photos, lols, and : ).  Thank You.  Finally, to the many Bloggers who have shared their thoughts and wisdom with me, it has been a pleasure.  Big love goes out to Evelyn (Attraction Mind Map), Mommy Mystic (BellaOnline), 1000meditations (axel g), along with so many others for all your support.

Please share links in my comment section to one or more of your posts so that others can find your work.

Photo found here on Vi.sualize.us

II.)  Secondly, God does create a lot of controversy and a comment fight is a good thing.

My most commented post to date:  Amazing tips for living a better life.  One simple line, “God heals almost everything”, sparked a wild debate.  This debate opened my eyes to the revolving door of being both teacher and student as a Blogger.  It was inspiring to learn from people expressing themselves for reasons greater then the need to be right or win. Instead, being interested in understanding other perspectives and challenging their soul to grow.  Here are my two favourite comments readers were kind enough to share.

This first comes from the post mentioned above.  JM Response to Amazing tips:

“Wow. Reading the above postings was a special experience. It’s as though #28 ruined the day for everyone who read it. I’m agnostic or atheist or I don’t really know what, but it’s really irrelevant. I’m just blown away by the negativity that one comment can provoke in people who are logging on to a website based on “enlightenment.” My personal advice would be to “Fucking lighten up.” But perhaps more sage advice would be what a Buddhist monk once told me when I struggled with one of the teachings: “Ignore that teaching. If it is a roadblock to accepting the good parts in the other passages, then you must discard it. Maybe one day you will feel differently about it, maybe not, but don’t let it get in the way of the parts which are helpful to you.” That’s my two cents. Feel free to get angry, I won’t.”

The second comment comes from a question I asked in: Enlightening Chinese proverbs and a Question from a Quote.  “Religion answers questions. spirituality asks questions. Is one inherently better then the other?”

Photo by Photizo on Gaia

Ian Ward’s response was brilliant: “Spirituality is the journey. All religions are just sign posts. The trouble with religion is that if you only focus on the sign posts, you miss out on experiencing the journey. The good thing about spirituality is that you can pick your own path for your journey and don’t necessarily need any sign posts.”  Ian

III.)  The present moment is always best.

My most viewed post to date, 11 Enlightening movie quotes that will touch your heart, was insanely popular.  Kung Fu Panda was hot at the box office at that time, and starting with that quote seemed to me to make all the difference. The reason being, it was in the present moment; which is the secret of enlightenment.

“Quit, don’t quit, noodles, don’t noodles. You are too concerned with what was and what will be. There is a saying, “Yesterday is History, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that’s why it is called a present.” Kung Fu Panda

What can you expect from this second year of E.Y.D?  I think my Bio line on Twitter sums it up nicely:  “A Meditative Thought Blog sharing Your Daily Cup of Enlightened Zen and Artistic Beauty. Find Inspiration, Insight, Gorgeous Photos, Quotes, Meditations, and more. ”

I hope you will join me….

My New Subscription Page:  Subscribe Now!

Photo found here on Vi.sualize.us

Please share some related post or anything you desire below.  The Link Lines are Open…

Recent Realizations

Those that get it are lucky:  Funny Zen story of two monks and a lovely girl

Everybody loves the Alchemist: Inspiring passages for Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist

Photo by

A short creative Essay on Social Media.

Once considered to be the Pope of Facebook by my coworkers; I have since moved on to be king of StumbleUpon. I check my analytics, Feed and blog comments with religious zeal, while simultaneously reading prolific blogs like Zen Habits and Dosh Dosh. I give Karmic Link-Love to all those who are kind enough to share.

I Tweet, I vote, I comment and I share heart pounding reviews for everyone to see. I meditate in the vortex of cyberspace while searching for that latest pop culture phenomenon I can launch further into the stratosphere. I tremendously enjoy giving daily Cups of Enlightened Zen to thousands of readers each week. My popularity online grows bigger with each passing moment, the last time in needed an ego boost, I counted a total of 3256 friends, subscribers, followers, and fans (which made me feel better).

On a monthly basis I make deep heart-rooted connections in the Blogosphere. Even though I have 896 friends on Digg; there is something I don‘t trust about that site. I am currently trending towards Mixx being cool, Reddit a new addiction, Vi.sualize.us a hidden gem, Twitter a necessary evil, and StumbleUpon a home where everybody knows my name. Sometimes I even scribble the name WordPress and draw little hearts around it. Double Yes, I love all things Social Media. (Even Propeller – well kind of?)

 Photo by Will Lion found on Techipedia

Photo by Todd Malicoat on Stuntdubl

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Inspiring Tweets and Zen Retweets from my Twitter Contributors

Stumbleupon is thy Addiction

Photo by Aremac

I recently read a brilliant post about writing your own personal creed on Attraction Mind Map by Evelyn. The post was in response to Daphne Lim from Joyful Days who asked readers to submit their personal creed. Immediately, I felt inspired to write my own creed as a free writing exercise. Free writing is when you set a specific amount of time and don’t stop writing until its over. Just open the flood gates of your mind and let your inner thoughts and emotions flow. My creed felt wonderful to express and I enjoyed the experience tremendously. I titled my creed: I will. It embodies the direction I set forth for my heart and soul.

I will by J.M.H

I will dream and never stop dreaming…

I will give up suffering…

I will strive for love…

I will seek knowledge…

I will find happiness…

I will yield not to fear…

I will seize the day…

I will be honest when it hurts…

I will conquer what I desire to conquer…

I will nourish my soul with my dreams…

I will smell the flowers on a rainy day…

I will be purposeful in my actions…

I will reach for the grandiose…

I will know love is friendship set on fire…

I will never rest from travel…

I will roar triumphantly…

I will feed inspiration to my senses…

I will not interpret my dreams in gold and silver…

I will give genuine and sincere compliments…

I will chose love, always love…

I will laugh at myself, life and everything around me…

I will throw caution to the wind in pursuit of pleasure…

I will cherish both my friends and enemies…

I will love like I have never been hurt…

I will work like I don’t need the money…

I will know that I am somebody special capable of anything…

I will dance down the street like dingledodies…

I will not be a critic, critics are useless…

I will know not Defeat, heartbreak, and surrender; those are not in my creed…

I will not understand those definitions…

I will not wait for the ship to come it, I will swim out to it…

I will listen to my heart that is capable of carrying me through anything…

I will look through the arch way of experience into the unknown…

I will know that my failures lead to the backdoor of success…

I will know mean-spirited people cannot rain on my parade…

I will know negative people cannot infect me with their thoughts…

I will chose determination, will, and above all hope as my being…

I will know weakness, pain, and hopelessness are not in my being…

I will never quit, never give up, and never surrender…

I will live this day like it will be my last…

I will remember to be grateful; and that will be enough…

I will understand victory, and nothing else!

Photo by Kwerdeldein

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  Today was an amazing morning today for two reasons.  The first, was finding out that Enlightenyourday.com won The Blog of the Day Award after only two weeks of publication.  In the spirit of my favorite saying “Pura Vida”; celebrate good fortune, whether small or large.  It was a little omen that brougtht a big smile to my face.                                             

The very next email I checked was from Elf.   I met Elf in an internet café in Jaco, a notoriously dangerous place in Costa Rica.  Elf rushed into the internet café, and began to plead with the employee to let him use the internet to cancel his credit cards, all his money and valuables were stolen that day. 

I looked back and gave the employee a simpethetic look to say “Come on buddy, do what’s right”.  He sat down next to me and started to cancel his credit cards online, we began to chat and he told me the story.  He was at a tourist attraction watching the crocodiles, he put down his bag to take a picture;  two seconds later it was gone.  I reached into my pocket, I had twenty bucks American on me at the time, not much; but enough for a bed at the hostel and food for the day.  I handed it over and said “Here you go Man”.  His response was great, “Really, are you sure, I will pay you back, just give me your email, I promise.”  His shock to my small act of kindness was enough to know I made the right decision.  “Canadians are very friendly people who like to help others”, is all I said.  I let him know where I was staying and to come by if he needed anymore help.  Three months have passed since Costa Rica, I almost forgot about it until today’s email which reads as follows:                                                                                                                  Remember Jacó                                                                                                Hello Jonathan, how are you? Maybe you remember the confused german in Jacó, Costa Rica who’s baggage was stolen – at least all valuables, papers andmoney. That was me! The 20$ you borrowed me were very helpful for the first night. Thankyou very much again! I’m sorry that I get in touch with you so late,but the rest of my baggage was lost on the flight back to germany(when it rains, it pours) and with it your email address. Surprisingly it was found a fews days ago… Now I want you to get the money back. You told me something about PayPal? Looking forward to here from you!     Best regards,Ulf                                                                                                                       Instead of responding to his email, I am just going to send him link to this post.  So Elf, is your reading this, don’t worry about the twenty bucks, it was my pleasure.  Like I said, “Canadians are very friendly people who like to help others”.  Just pay it forward sometime to someone who needs it.  Pura Vida Amigo

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My response to Ed Varney’s poem titled Happiness