The Gift Of Going Within: A True Lightbulb Moment (Like, Literally)

Yesterday as I was starting to pack for an upcoming trip to Chicago, I found myself frantically searching through my closet for a pair of pants. And not just any pants...my favorite comfortable and cozy black fleece sweatpants. 

The beautiful thing about living in a pre-war studio apartment located downtown is the charm. The bad thing about living in a pre-war studio apartment located downtown is the lack of closet space and built in lighting. As a result, for the last two years, as the sun slowly fades across the Mesa crest, finding anything in my closet has become something liking dining at Opaque ... a sensory experience where I try and feel my way to a handbag or pair of heels hiding amongst an endless sea of accessories in the dark.

So when 2 minutes turned into 10 minutes turned into 15 minutes (all over a silly pair of sweatpants), I panicked.

Then...I got a grip.

In that moment I realized I was missing the one important fail proof sensory tool of all: my internal self.

When dealing with the most fearful and stressful of circumstances, going within seems a practical no-brainer (an almost automatic response if you will), and I find myself easily led to the answer I'm seeking with a simple prayer of intention to resolve the situation. Yet when faced with a frustratingly mundane human experiences such as trying to find a pair of sweatpants in a small dark closet, I freaked. That's why it was no small blessing that after almost half an hour of panic, I was led to remember my true self...my internal guidance system, which infinitely connects to the all-knowing Source (a.k.a God, Universe, FP, or whatever other word you use to describe that Being that's part of, yet bigger than you).

When I came to my senses, I silently asked a simple question: "God, how I can I get more light in here?"

BOOM! Answer (Almost Immediately actually...and like a big giant swap across the side of my head).

My true self said: "Well, why don't you turn on the light?"

OMG! The light?! I had forgotten about the light. You know, those cute little solitary bulbs attached to a piece of string that you see people tug on in the movies? Yeah...I forgot...this closet actually HAD one of those.

I AM NOT EXAGGERATING when I say that for almost two years, I had opened that closet door a million times...and not once had I thought about that light (let alone turned it on).

Yet there it was, right in front of me.

A lightbulb.

Amazing.

I stood there in disbelief for a minute, then pulled the darn string. HALLELUJAH!!! It was like having an entirely new closet, with clothes and shoes and handbags I'd forgotten I owned. And there they were, in plain sight...my favorite pair of black fleece sweatpants.

See, the thing I learned from this whole closet/lightbulb debaucle was that answers to our problems (no matter how big or how small) are always available. We simply have to remember to go within and actually ask. 

More importantly though? It was a reminder that our minds only perceive things we believe to be there...unless we open up to the possibility of a different point of view. My true source provided that different point of view, and I was lead to a lightbulb that literally hung from the ceiling right in front of my face for almost two years.

Living from the possibility of a different point of view is the starting place for living A Love Styled Life. It's how I've personally come to curate a completely bespoke lifestyle...one that involves styling myself in the things, people, and experiences I love, every single day.

You, too, can create your own version of a bespoke life. It simply starts with being open to the possibility that you can live life a different way.

Quiet yourself, go within, and simply ask. 

I promise, if you sit in the question with a little faith...you, too, will be led to the answer. And who knows? You just may find that your answer has been right in front of you all along.

xo - Cynthia

photo credit // lightbulb on string * women surrounded by light

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Ready to Curate a Life Even Your Dreams Will Love? 

Work with me 1:1 in my bespoke 90 Days to #ALoveStyledLife program.

The Stylist is in...click here for all the details!

Lessons From A Break up: Proof That Everything Really Is All Good

Trust me, I know...hearing the phrase Everything Happens For a Reason isn't something that's easy to hear, especially when you're in the middle of a major life crisis. And...as the Holiday Season is in full swing, hearing this phrase while dealing with long lines, busy traffic, and often overwhelming family/friend/work commitments doesn't make any of it better.

Here's the interesting thing though...Everything Happens For a Reason, as it's mostly commonly understood, is only half of the story. When you're creating a dream life and working to style yourself in love, INTENTIONS and RESOLUTIONS are the name of the game. Knowing what you desire and standing for nothing less, sets the Universe in motion to bring into your life the people, resources, circumstances, and opportunities for you to experience that desire. This is how The Law of Attraction works. But 9 times out of 10, these people, resources, circumstance and opportunities are going to look nothing like you pictured them to look. Your job is to stay open and trust that all will unfold beautifully as it's supposed to (even when everything looks like it's failing). Everything WILL Happen For A Reason if you're open to experiencing meaning out of EVERY experience in your life.

Jordan Axani is perfect the best example of this.

If you didn't read about his amazing story on People.com this morning, then let me give you a recap: Jordan and his girlfriend Elizabeth Gallagher broke up. After they had purchased tickets for an around the world vacation excursion. And the tickets were non-refundable or transferable. Determined to still experience the trip and not waste a single dollar of his investment, Jordan set out to find another woman with the exact same name to take with him, and posted an open call via a post on Reddit.

Now Here's Where Things Get Amazing. As you can imagine, yes...Jordan found another Elizabeth Gallagher to go on the trip. And they take off for New York, Milan, Prague, Paris, Bangkok and New Delhi on December 21. But the miracle, and the manifestation...proving that everything Really Is All Good...comes not from the story of finding another Elizabeth, or from the amazing opportunity Jordan still has to go on his dream adventure. No, the true miracle and manifestation from this whole breakup fiasco came from the over one thousand email replies to the Reddit posting that he received. One in particular, from an 8 year-old boy who was going blind and dreamed to see the world before his site was gone, sparked Jordan and his brother to start an organization called A Ticket Forward, which aims to elevate the quality of people's lives by facilitating the connection for individuals with people and places that matter to them most. 

By not giving up, and standing for nothing less than his dream experience of traveling the world, Jordan not only gets to do just that...but also, he gets to shape the world. And my guess is, this new venture with A Ticket Forward was the answer to a deeper dream and desire within Jordan to make a difference on a grand scale. And it all happened because of a breakup...proving in beautiful detail that Everything REALLY DOES Happen For A Reason.

Jordan's fearlessness is inspiring. But staying open to make living the life of your dreams a non-negotiable is often easier said than done. The trick? Having someone who believes in you and supports you in creating your dream life, every step of the way. That is the mission of A Love Styled Life, and my personal passion and purpose as a Love Stylist and Dream Mentor.

So in the spirit of support and mentoring at one of the craziest times of the year, I've put together a FREE class series next week titled:

"Master Your Resolutions: The Only 3 Things Required to Live Your Dream Life in 2015"

 In each hour of this amazing three part class, I'll share with you the ONLY 3 THINGS you need to start living A Love Styled Life...not tomorrow, or on January 1st with your New Year's Resolutions...but today. And don't worry, if you can't make the calls live, they'll be recorded and emailed to you after the broadcast. 

Call #1: Monday, 12/22 at 6pm

Call #2: Tuesday 12/23 @ 6pm

Call #3: Wednesday 12/24 @ 10am

So what do you have to lose? Take a lesson from Jordan...CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE CLASS, and learn the ONLY 3 THINGS required to master your resolutions and start living your dream life, today!

New Perspective: The Answer Is In Our Anticipated Memory

As you know, this week my website (and my business) launched to the public. Having worked behind the scenes for so long, seeing my passion shared with you (those I seek to serve most) has truly been a dream come true. Thank you to each and everyone of you for your support and your feedback...it is appreciated more than you know!

With all that said, I have to admit, at the end of my first day I struggled...struggled with the big giant question of WHAT NEXT? Having spent so much of my time and focus on the project of creating a strategic plan for my business (and of course, the rollout of my new website), I felt a bit lost. I knew I needed to take action on the next big phase of my work, but finding an answer to what exactly?

I was drawing a complete blank.

And to be completely honest? It freaked me out. How could I really move forward with growing my business to the next phase, when I had no idea what NEXT really looked and felt like?

 So I did what I always do in times of great ambiguity: I surrendered the answer to God and The Universe, and released the worry to faith that my question would be answered. JUST BE COOL, I kept saying...the answer will come.

And just like clockwork, the very next day it did...from perhaps the MOST UNLIKELY PERSON EVER: My teenage niece. Specifically? The way my niece's generation perceives life through their everyday (and often obsessive) interaction with Instagram.

Yes, you read that right...

INSTAGRAM!

As you'll see in this short and amazing video below, my niece's generation approaches life through the anticipated memory of each and every moment. They not only experience life from the perspective of their future self...but they are also taking action from the memory they expect their future self to experience of each moment.

And while so much can be said about this, especially as it relates to the Law of Attraction and the process of manifesting your dreams, the biggest message this generation can teach us is this:

Our decisions, actions, thoughts, visualizations, strategies, etc...ALL OF THIS SHOULD BE GUIDED BY THE FUTURE SELF WE SEE OURSELVES BECOMING. 

After watching the video, for me in that moment I knew what I needed to do (and I started to take action based on the person and entrepreneur I saw myself being 1 year from that very moment). The irony of the message? It's the same process I take you through when working to create transformational events: starting from the transformed place you visualize your clients being at the end of the event and working backwards from there.

At the end of the day, the message was a simple yet important reminder that the answer to everything we truly need is already within us. So when the ambiguity and the fear start to bubble to the surface, all we have to do is ask for the answer and JUST BE COOL, knowing with unwavering faith that the answer is only moments away from bubbling to the surface. 

Tell me, what was your biggest take away from my niece, this video, and her generation? I'd love to hear from you, so leave a message in the comments below.

Wishing you #ALoveStyledLife week! xo - Cynthia

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*image source // glitter guide tumblr  

New Perspectives: This Moment Is The Only Moment

When your coach says you're ready, you're ready. When your friends say you're ready, you're ready. When everything within your heart, mind, and soul says you're ready? Leap.

Today is the day I finally birth this beautiful vision for my life out into the world. This...A Love Styled Life...is the realization of a dream so personal that I've never been more scared to be vulnerable and take action than I am in this moment. And despite the fact that I've started other businesses and creative projects, pursued radical ideas, lept off many metaphorical mountains and valleys and cliffs...this time it's radically different.

For perhaps the first time in my life, my dreams, desires, skills, experience and passions are all converging into this beautiful thing that will make a difference and change lives. And for perhaps the first time ever, I know without a shadow of a doubt, this will change everything about my life. 

As I embark on this journey to give of my time and talent, join me here every Wednesday for inspiration, encouragement, lessons, and insight into how you, too, can create such radical shifts in your life. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for believing in me. And thank you for allowing me the gift of working with you to make your dreams come true.

xo - Cynthia

*photo credit // time is now via dariadaria.com

New Perspectives: Decision-Making In The Law Of Attraction

There are times where each and every one of us are going to be called to step forward in life. Sometimes this call comes in the forced circumstance of our human existence, but in many cases, the choice to move forward stems from the brave yearning to be more than the person you are currently allowing yourself to be. In my own world, the last four years have been a true case study in both circumstance and choice, and I've yet again come to a place where the choice to move forward and be brave is calling me forward.

But to be honest, I've never been so scared. So scared in fact, that I began to pray and ask for guidance from God and the Universe to provide the wisdom I needed to make some pretty major decisions related to commitment. And what came up (almost immediately I might add...thank you Universe!) was the answer in the form of a very genius question: WHAT WOULD THE STRONG-CONFIDENT-SUCCESSFUL-JOYOUS-YOU WHO YOU ARE SO YEARNING TO BECOME....WHAT WOULD SHE TELL YOU TO DO?

Of course! How could I have forgotten!

See, in order to become the person we desire, or to curate a life we desire, we have to make our decisions from the place we seek to be (not from the place we are)....otherwise, we just continue the hamster cycle of manifesting our current reality. And I don't know about you, but the thought of being the same person even six months from now is slightly frightening. So I asked myself, what would the strong, confident, successful, joyous woman who is not afraid of commitment say to you right now about this decision? Boom. Bliss.

TWEET THIS -->> "Choose to make decisions as if your future self were making them, and you'll never have to worry about moving forward ever again  - alovestyledlife.com"

Tell me, what decisions are you needing to make? And how would your future self respond? Let me know in the comments below!

pic |  wonderland magazine

New Perspectives: You Attract What You Have Faith In

There are so many messages out there for us when it comes to the law of attraction. And in most cases, the clearest message is that every thought you think is attracting to you an experience in your life. Some have even stepped out further to say that your beliefs are the cause, guiding your thoughts to attract things into your life. For me, as somehow who espouses a daily intention to co-create my life with source and the universe through the law of attraction, these two elements of thought and belief alone have mostly come up short. In other words, I've been able to witness to some small degree many things finding their way into my life as the result of a thought or belief. For instance, I've had thoughts that I'm sure you all have experienced...thoughts such as I haven't talked to so or so in a while, or man I'm really craving a night out with the girls...and low and behold within mere seconds or days so and so will give you a call and your best friends will organize a girls only dinner party. It happens time and time again, even with the things you don't necessarily find pleasant. I see this happen to me most often with traffic..man, I hope I don't hit that traffic on the way to visit family, or I better leave early so I don't hit that traffic...and low and behold, the traffic appears. But the intentional co-creation of big beautiful miraculous changes and dreams for my life has never seemed to work. It's felt almost like battling against a rip tide...pushing and pushing and forcing my way into the creation to no avail.

Today, however, I had the biggest ah ha I've had in years, and the reality of the words and the reaction I had from realizing how very true they were in my life was ridiculous to the point of silly. And the concept is this: You Attract What You Have Faith In. Here's the thing...we can practice appreciation for the things we have in our life, and we can ask God till we're blue in the face for that home or that love or that career or that health...but if we don't have faith that it's taken care of, and if we don't take action from a place of faith....the message we send is one of disbelief. And as we know, and I've come to practice in my life, what we believe is what we experience. So when you dis-believe, the universe brings to you the experience of disbelief. In essence, the kingpin for co-creating the life of your dreams is in fact Faith. Attraction is Faith. And if you take all cues from this place, all action and thought from this place, life can be nothing short of miraculous.

This is my new intention. To have appreciation for the beautiful things in my life, to ask for the desires and dreams of my life to appear, and then live in a place of faith by only being and doing from a place of knowing that it's already done and the details have already been handled. 

Thank you Ali Brown for this simple shift. I can't wait to see what God and I can co-create together from this place. #blessed

Co Creation: The Pivot Process In Action

Today was unbearably hot.

Simple, to the point, hot.

One of the reasons I moved to Santa Barbara was a desire of living in a slightly cooler climate than the often crippling heat of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Dreams of ocean breezes and cool fogged in mornings had me hooked from day one. But today... today (and yesterday, and the day before yesterday) became stagnant with miserable warmth, and as a result, my MOOD was teetering on the edge of stagnant and miserable. Life truly presented a real opportunity to test my desire for joy and love, as well as my level of ease in pivoting my life from one styled in angst, to one styled in love.  

Here's a bit how the process went:

First, I honored my angst. It is, afterall, a reminder that I am more than just this body and this world, but that I am a spirit being part of something much greater than myself. That, and, it was a warning sign that my thoughts and emotions and beliefs were veering off course from love. 

After a simple thank you under my breath, I turned to to my inner self and asked the simple question, what do I desire? Cold air, kind weather, cool breezes, ease in sleeping, walking breathing.

Next, I counted my blessings: 1) Wow...i'm so lucky that warm weather is all I'm dealing with right now, since so many of my friends and friends of friends are having to evacuate their homes from fires, or stay inside for fear of flash flood warnings and tornadoes. 2) I am healthy enough to find comfort from the heat by taking a walk, sitting in the cooler grass at the park, and driving my nicely air conditioned car around town to cool down. 3) I have easy access to cold water at my disposal with my nice refreshing shower, whereby I can easily cool down and get some sleep. 

Finally, I said a quick prayer. Thank you God for my life, my blessings, and the choice to experience this world how I desire. Thank you for cold air, cool breezes, and cold water. Thank you for love, and for working with me to style my life in it.

The simplicity of the pivot process is that, really...the heat doesn't necessarily instantly go away. But its power over my emotions does. And in any situation, no matter what it is, you have a choice. And for me, I choose a love styled life every time. Some days are easier than others, some pivot opportunities easier than others...but in the end, the choice is ours. And that in and of itself is a beautiful thing. 

Quoted: Get Picky About Your Thoughts

"You're picky about the car you drive. You're picky about what you wear. You're picky about what you put in your  mouth. We want you to be pickier about what you think." - Abraham via Esther Hicks

New Perspectives: The Importance Of The Dress Rehearsal In The Manifesting Process

In today's New Perspectives post, I talk a lot about that common phrase we often hear in the Law of Attraction circles...Fake It Until You Make It. This phrase has always felt a bit in-authentic to me, and has often stopped me from truly engaging with my dream. Find out how a simple shift in the language we can use, enabled my heart to better align with feeling the life we dream to live.

For the full message and beautiful reminder, listen to Danielle's audio below: