back that love up...

...a good follow-up post to the (still unfinished) v-day post...lovely words, gifted to me by my dear friend Lo (by Henry J.M. Nouwen):

Love Deeply

Do not hesitate to love and to love deeply. You might be afraid of the pain that deep love can cause. When those you love deeply reject you, leave you, or die, your heart will be broken. But that should not hold you back from loving deeply. The pain that comes from deep love makes your love ever more fruitful. It is like a plough that breaks the ground to allow the seed to take root and grow into a strong plant. Every time you experience the pain of rejection, absence, or death, you are faced with a choice. You can become bitter and decide not to love again, or you can stand straight in your pain and let the soil on which you stand become richer and more able to give life to new seeds.

The more you have loved and have allowed yourself to suffer because of your love, the more you will be able to let your heart grow wider and deeper. When your love is truly giving and receiving, those whom you love will not leave your heart even when they depart from you. They will become part of yourself and thus gradually build a community within you.

Those you have deeply loved become part of you. The longer you live, there will always be more people to be loved by you and to become part of your inner community. The wider your inner community becomes, the more easily you will recognize your own brothers and sisters in the strangers around you. Those who are alive within you will recognize those who are alive around you. The wider the community of your heart, the wider the community around you. Thus the pain of rejection, absence, and death can become fruitful. Yes, as you love deeply the ground of your heart will be broken more and more, but you will rejoice in the abundance of the fruit it will bear.

Lovin' deeply,

me

won't you be my v-a-l-e-n-t-i-M-e?!

BLOG POST DISCLAIMER: this blog post is unfinished, but I wanted to get it up before the clock struck 12:00 and v-day was done. So, if you are reading this, I apologize for the random-ness of this post and assure you it will be fixed within the day or so. :) So, thank you...come again. Happy vday, my loves!

Okay, okay already! You asked for it, so here I go...sharing the love from my wonderful Cesky Krumlov(e) Valentine's Day weekend adventure! I think this was my sixth time in Krumlov, and it certainly didn't disappoint. It just gets better and better!

It all began by sharing the TOMS love and bringing some red canvas TOMS down to Krumlov with me as a belated birthday and Valentine's Day gift for the wonderful Carolyn, owner of Krumlov House. She loved 'em and I was so excited. She even mentioned she was going to look into calling her children's school and looking into whether or not the kids could get TOMS to wear as their in-school slippers. How cool is that?! Kids...doing it for the kids. Cool. Weekend off to a good start - mission: introduce TOMS to Krumlov - check!

Although I ventured down to southern Bohemia by myself, I felt more love around me than ever...spending time with friends at Krumlov House, Antre, and more! And, the best part was, I did all of the activities Tom and I tackle when we're there together, and I really felt his presence there. It was pretty dang sweet. I had high hopes for getting some good writing in, but alas...I did not. :) It's okay the time for writing will come when I am ready to sit down and write.

Anyway, here is a visual tour (of sorts) of the weekend...I also took some vids, but am having trouble uploading those. So, more to come.

mission: dance with the locals in the 'music bar', featuring the beautiful and talented 'C'! check!

mission: watch bollywood dancers at small czech republic town bar, antre. check!

(so random)

mission: smoke shisha by myself at dobra cajovna. check!

(try to buy another teacup to replace broken one for Tom - no check. unsucessful.)

mission: drink desert dunes tea and write love letters to home. check!

mission: attempt to get reservation at krcma v satlavske (frequented by locals). check!

(actual outcome unsuccessful. worth a try.)

mission: capture moment where tourists are looking for bears in winter. check!

(uh...um...they are hibernating, people. come on.)

mission: take picture making kissing face next to really czech flower sign. czech!

oops, i mean, 'check!'. :)

mission: find a stand-in Tom to be valentime for the weekend. check!

(love at first sight! actually...he appears to be looking down my shirt?! ha.)

mission: stop by trdelnik stand and make pout-face after realizing it wasn't open. check!

mission: realize love is in the air when stumbling upon writing in the snow. check!

mission: write in the krumlov house guest book for the 6th time. check!

mission: take picture of self, pretending Tom is there (to photoshop him in later). check!

mission: make sad face and think of Tom by our normal picture-taking point. check!

mission: catch an accidental (but beautiful and apt) view of TOMS while thinking of Tom. check!

mission: introduce TOMS to krumlov house. check!

mission: kiss creepy cat bag with valentine's day present from sweet lo. check!

More to come!

(krum)Love,

Me

mosaichouse.com has come to life!!

Hey all!

Just a quick note to inform you all that the new and improved 'coming soon' version of mosaichouse.com has launched and we're super-excited for all of the crazy/fun months ahead! What an amazing opportunity I've been given, to work on this project! SO blessed and ecstatic. Take a look and stay tuned for the uber-functional (just wanted to sneak in the word 'uber' there), full-scale site to launch soon!

(click here or the image below to link directly to the super-cool site)

While you're at it, 'fan us' on facebook and then see if you can find yourself at the bottom of our website, 'where's waldo'-style! Then, leave a comment either here or on our facebook with your initial thoughts.

So, waddayathink...is it time to book a trip to Prague yet?!

Happy surfing...and then happy travels,

Megan

leden (january): alpsn' + austrialia + irish jiggin'

smiling on the hill at bad gastein, austria

learning an irish jig in dublin at the avalon house

shreddin' the piste at bad gastein, austria

Phew. January's theme should be, 'just another manic month!' With adventures in America, Austria (x2) and a brief stint in Ireland, January was a crazy amalgamation of biz- and play-related travels...featuring a long-anticipated trip to Kitzbuhel, Austria for the Hahnenkamm SG and DH. See picture below to get an idea of the atmosphere at the finish line.

60,000 fans strong. Whoa!

Stay tuned for more...

Happy Travels,

Megan

I am going to write a book...

...that's right, you heard it first here (okay, let's be honest...this isn't the first time you've heard it;))...I will write a book someday! And why?! Take a peek at Godin's wisdom below...

Why write a book?

If you've never written a non-fiction book, there are a lot of reasons why you might want to. It organizes your thoughts. It's a big project worthy of your attention.

Noted.

But once you've written a book, it's not clear that it's a useful thing to publishone. After all, it takes a year. It involves a lot of people. You need to print a lot of copies, ship them everywhere, create a lot of hoopla and hope that people actually a) hear about it, b) decide it's worth the effort to track it down and c) read it and spread it.

Wouldn't it be easier to just blog it? Or to post a PDF online and watch it spread?

Some of my books have been short... one was under a hundred pages long. It could certainly have a been a series of blog posts. And the posts might even have reached more people than the book ultimately did. If my blog posts were counted on the same metrics as bestselling books, every single one would be a New York Times bestseller. Yours too, most likely. Books don't sell that many copies.

The goal isn't always to spread an idea. Sometimes the goal is to make change happen. A book is a physical souvenir, a concrete instantiation of your ideas in a physical object, something that gives your ideas substance and allows them to travel.

Out of context, a 140 character tweet cannot change someone's life. A blog post might (I can think of a few that changed the way I think about business and even life). A movie can, but most big movies are inane entertainments designed to make a lot of money, not change people. But books?

The reason I wrote Linchpin: If you want to change people, you must create enough leverage to encourage the change to happen.

Books change lives every day. A book takes more than a few minutes to read. A book envelopes us, it is relentless in its voice and in its linearity. You start at the beginning and you either ride with the author to the end or you bail. And unlike just about any form of electronic media, you get to read the book at your own pace, absorbing it as you go.

I published a book today. My biggest and most important and most personal and most challenging book. A book that scared me.

It took me ten years to write this book. I'm hoping it changes a few people.

Thanks.

[Amazon, BN, independents, volunteer reviewers. Kindle too. I'll be posting details of a fascinating media tour in a few hours if you want to see what the book is actually about.]

And now the question for you is, if I write a book...will you buy it? And this is where it gets really telling...if I write a book, will you buy it for your friend? I guess we'll have to see. Only time will tell;).

Love, Me

happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...

Mikaela showing off her ballet skills!

...happy birthday to my lovely sister, mikaela...happy birthday to you! Here I am singing to you, while balancing your 'make art, not war' remarque TOMS (best company ever!) on my poe TOMS. Even though I haven't gotten you a gift yet, I am sending over the gift of love and positive vibes while balancing some shoes...that's good enough, right?! It's the thought that counts ;).

I can't believe my sweet, beautiful, talented sister is turning 15-years-old! NO WAY! Seriously, I can't believe this little girl (see pic above) is growing up so fast! Stop, stop STOP! ;)

Love you, Mikaela, and I wish you the best birthday a gal could possibly have!

Your big sis,

Megan

my life is measured by travels...me amo barTHelona!

Thanks to my amazing big bro for pulling me out of another blog silence with this ZHTV below about our trip to to the amazing and gorgeous Barcelona...where it's all about experimentation with the senses.

I am obviously not as far along with my new friend ('mac daddy'...that's its name:)) as he is, so it's nice for me to be able to borrow his creations and exploit them for my blog:). This vid chronicles our adventures in Barcelona. Pay special attention to the 8:30 minute mark, as the crazy/cool street performers played one of my fav tunes...'everything is gonna be alright...everything is gonna be alright...'

We meandered around the Barcelona alleys and were enveloped by the sweet sounds of another street band (see the 10:28 minute mark) with the most ethereal-sounding percussion instruments I've ever encountered. Mmm...the sounds of Barcelona bliss. A feeling that can not quite be summed up in words.

Enjoy! More to come...I promise, the Christmas '09 card is on its way. ha ha.

zhtv #28 a taste of barcelona from Zach Harrod on Vimeo.

I love how Zach frames this ZHTV up...it isn't just about our trip to Barcelona, but it's more about showing all of you the amazing sights and experiences the world has to offer beyond the borders of your own country.

Travel is truly something my brother and I are both extremely passionate about and it's a passion I vow to bring back to the States with me and pass on to as many people as I can possible touch. Interaction with different cultures, customs, languages, etc...there is truly nothing else like it. So get out there and experience something different. You may find out that life beyond your borders isn't as it once seemed.

Also, on another note - I've noticed my blog is being read in more and more countries, thanks to my trusty clustr map (check out bottom right of my page)...I can see you! Thanks for following me, guys!

Spreading the travel love,

Me

P.S. Check out my brother's 2009 in review post with some more thoughts about our bro/sis Barcelona adventure!