The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Day 9/90 – WordTasting Tour

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 9 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? The WordTasting Tour stop at Changing Hands featuring Colin Wright, Josh Wagner, Skye Steele, and Joshua Fields Millburn of The Minimalists!

    Two Pasty-Pale Minimalists - with Joshua Fields Millburn
    Two Pasty-Pale Minimalists – with Joshua Fields Millburn

    I became familiar with The Minimalists at the beginning of my journey with minimalism. I came away from their talk at SXSW buzzing with ideas for de-cluttering my life. I saw them again during their tour following the release of Everything That Remains, which inspired me even more. I also ripped off Ryan Nicodemus’ packing party idea when I moved to my new home.

    The WordTasting Tour was a fantastic experience to connect with other minimalists and aspiring minimalists and to meet others in the minimalist community – like Colin Wright. He moves to a new country every 4 months and lives like a local to learn new cultures and see the world from a different perspective. Each of these authors is an incredible wordsmith, and they were accompanied and complemented by Skye Steele’s music. This guy is wicked talented.

    With Skye Steele
    With Skye Steele

    I walked away from this event inspired, not only to be more dedicated to minimalism (remembering that things are just tools and focusing on the activities that add value to my life and allow me to add value to others’ lives) but also to my writing. Joshua Fields Millburn has an eloquent saying: “Love people and use things, because the opposite never works.” But I think the most profound thing I heard at this event came from a poem by Josh Wagner: “Shut your mouth and scream.” As a writer, this line spoke to me. It reminded me to quit dicking around and do what I need to do, say what I need to say.

    In case you missed it: Day 8 of the 90 Days of Awesome – I almost met The Namby Pamby!

  • Day 8/90 – I Almost Met The Namby Pamby

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 8 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I almost met The Namby Pamby!

    Yeah...I wrote this.
    Yeah…I wrote this.

    Ok, so it’s not as awesome as it would have been to actually meet him, but sometimes trying to make something happen is pretty awesome even if it doesn’t work out.

    I’ve known of The Namby Pamby since law school. He’s my favorite Cheez-It loving lawyer. Behind his alter ego, he tells the truth of what it’s like to be an associate at a big law firm (or so he claims). I can usually count on him to make me laugh.

    One of my favorite things about The Namby Pamby is I don’t know who he is. A few years ago, I asked him to write the afterword for The Legal Side of Blogging for Lawyers. I was surprised and overjoyed when he responded within minutes with an astounding “Yes.” He wrote the essay under his pseudonym that allows him to speak candidly about his experiences, except for the details he has to change to protect his identity. My agreement with him includes a provision that says in the event I learn his true identity, I’m obligated to keep it a secret.

    Just my luck The Namby Pamby had a meeting in Phoenix today. Unfortunately, he had to prep for his meeting the evening before and catch his flight home right after so we didn’t get to meet for drinks as we hoped.

    Someday we’ll be in the same city and we’ll finally get to meet face-to-face.

    In case you missed it: Day 7 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Sleeping In!

  • Day 7/90 – Sleep

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 7 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? Getting some much-needed rest!

    Rosie's my role model when it comes to the importance of naps.
    Rosie’s my role model when it comes to the importance of naps.

    Due to nightmares and evening activities, I haven’t slept well for the last few nights. When I crashed last night, I didn’t set an alarm for the morning. It was glorious.

    Of course, Rosie the basset hound had other ideas. She jumped up on my bed at 5:24am. (She can’t get all the way on my bed but she can get her front paws up there.) I shuffled outside with her for a few minutes before crawling back into bed until 7am. Usually my alarm clock goes off at 5:15, so 7am is sleeping late for me.

    Still groggy, I poured myself a cup of coffee and spent most of the morning on the couch watching Jerry Maguire. I needed a mellow half-day to recharge my batteries.

    Eventually I got my act together, took a shower, and did some chores to prep for the week ahead. I have a lot of client work and networking activities on my calendar this week. I’m especially excited for The Minimalists to come to town on Tuesday – love those guys, looking forward to reading their next book.

    Sometimes the best thing you can do is a whole lot of nothing. Today was one of those days; I needed to rest up for what’s to come this week.

    In case you missed it: Day 6 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Michael McDonald!