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What I Can’t (and Won’t) Live Without …
Just like I mentioned in last week’s blog post; What Virtually Untangled Can’t live Without – and for those who know me quite well — I’m a keener when it comes to productivity and organization — putting my “secret sauce” of design and creativity aside for a brief moment … And all that talk about my entrepreneurial lifestyle and growth got me to thinking more about what things I personally can’t (and won’t) live without. So, I thought it would be quite fun to open the shades, let the sunshine in and shed a bit more light about me as a person, behind the virtual container of the internet …! 
My job as a designer and an artist is to research everything (Yes, literally everything!) then look hard and close at many seemingly unrelated items to figure out a way to make them connect. Whether this connection is by look or feel or purely for functionality purposes. But, over the last handful of years (pre-Virtually Untangled) I found myself holding some hard truths in front of me. Truths that I never knew how to tackle or make a change in my mindset. Truths like:
- Being a designer is my whole life, but I am tired of being overworked and undervalued at my day job.
- Follow my true passion and break away from the 9-5 gig … scary and seemingly impossible.
- My day job is making my life and those around me miserable … feeling exhausted and unmotivated.
During these truthful challenges one major thing has always been stuck with me; “Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be and embrace who you are”, stated by author, Brene Brown.
From those few words BLOOMED my true self …!
During the day I “untangle” my clients and during the night I “untangle” myself. I used to be embarrassed by how much of an organized individual I am but one day I realized that was stupid because that’s just me! I am true deep-down organizational nerd. And now proud of it!
(Yes, that means I even use Asana and coloured post-it notes and lists to organize my day-to-day outside the virtual office. I literally cannot live a disorganized life. It’s not in my being.)
Alongside my nerdy organizational-self, I also can’t go one single minute without doing something creative. Whether it be working on my artwork (life-sized Medussa in the works right now), having that daily mindfulness journaling break to keep myself a lot and in-check, listening to my humungous music collection in Spotify, taking a well-deserved breather with a good book (I am so not an e-reader kinda gal … I love the smell of a new book – turning each and every page) and or feeling kinda lazy with some binge-worthy TV shows. (Even watching TV is organized through this cool app I absolutely cannot live without …!)
To me, combining all of my life’s favourite (and can’t live without) things, including organization and creativity, is truly where the magic happens!
Do you ever listen to a song and remember exactly what life was like when you first heard it?
When I was growing up, our household was always filled with music. Not country, however. If that was ever played on our ghetto blasters (yes, I am dating myself a teensy bit, lol) they were immediately turned off or taken away. Our household was one of classic rock. Everything from Alice Cooper to Pink Floyd, from Queen to Nazareth, from Heart and Ozzy Osborne. I’m short-listing those of course as it was basically every classic rock hairband you could possibly imagine.
Being a young girl, I was happy to bop around to Alice Cooper’s great hit “School’s Out for Summer” but even more happy when Heart was playing as it had a stronger sense of female influence. An all female band in which I looked up to as successful artists. I feel this is where my creativity began …
Music and mood are inherently linked. Surprised? Probably not.
Music has truly been my life, my inspiration and what drives my motivation to keep pursuing my passions both in business and behind the virtual curtain.
If we pause life for just one short moment, we can all think back to some moment (or moments) in our life of hearing that perfect song for that specific moment in time. That feeling that made us move with our emotions. Which is proof that we can then use this music to create a specific motivational mindset.
Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.
~ Plato
So, are you also a music buff or buff-et?
Do the songs you’re listening to, right now, make you feel like the glass is half empty or half full?
Are you feeling energized or down in the dumps?
What state of mind do you want or need to be in right now to accomplish those tasks on your to-do list?
We want music to help motivate us and put us in that ‘just right’ frame of mind. With that being said, check out one of my older blog posts; “Stop and Smell the Guns N’ Roses Motivational Playlist” for some added daily inspiration.
And lastly … If you don’t find me blaring the tunes without or without my Skullcandy headphones on, I’m reading … Online blogs, forums, podcast transcriptions, magazines and even my dang news feeds of my what feels like millions social profiles. But toss that virtual world aside … And I swear I’m a librarian at heart! (Or perhaps was in another lifetime – if you believe in that kind of thing!)
Filling our noggin with the power of words can only bring about positive effects on our lives. Not only will you increase your knowledge, you will also strengthen you mind by constantly keeping things fresh!
For instance, I wanted to start the year off with a powerful, mindfulness 
BANG! so, earlier this year I started with … Jen Sincero’s Book; You Are a Badass.
And now I’m super digging Mark Mason and reading both of his books …
Want to know what’s next on my 2020 reading list?
Feel free to join me on Goodreads and look at my bookshelves to find out what I’ve read, what I’m reading (cus I’m always reading, LOL!), what’s next on my list, and maybe even step it up a notch by joining me (any many millions of others) in the 2020 reading challenge. Just because we’re halfway through the year doesn’t mean you can’t join in on the fun!
With that being said, do you have some good books of blogs you like to share?
Feel free to drop them into the comments as I would love to hear your latest and greatest … I am always looking for something new to keep my mind fresh on all angles!
The biggest thing you can do to overcome your fear of outsourcing is to change your mindset toward it and try it!
~ Drew Duboff from Start Scaling Successfully
Now that you know a bit more about me outside the box … I wanted to leave you with just one more small, yet very inspiring thing …
Brené Brown is one of my hugest author-related inspirations. And so is Chris Jarvis … Not too long ago they got together to talk about unlocking creativity in Brené Brown’s way of “Daring Greatly (yes, just like her amazing book). And since I’m sharing with you all about me and my life and it’s all about living a life of creativity … Please take a few minutes to give this video a watch and let the inspiration eat you up …
Vulnerability is never easy, and it feels horrible, but there's no evidence that it's anything but courage. ~ Brene Brown
———-
Not ready to leave this post? Looking for more inspiration?
As you also know, I’m all about sharing the ![💙]()
with resources, freebies and things I enjoy and find helpful …
So, here are a handful of blogs I religiously (#NoJoke) indulge in …
(In case you looking to up your virtual reading game!)
Andrea Owen (blog and podcast)
Tim Denning (on Medium)
(Just to name a few, LOL!)
It has been said that, “courage is contagious and that every time we choose courage, we make everyone around us a little better and the world a little braver”. I truly believe that and now know that we must all learn to cope with our vulnerabilities and have a willingness to be “all in” or we are never going to get to where we want to be, or we will never be truly happy. Life will just pass right on by.
Now it’s your turn … Are you ready to be courageous and live your best life?
What are the things you just can’t (and won’t) live without?
Tell us your story in the comments.
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Crystal Kordalchuk
Crystal is an artist, a writer, an organizer, a dreamer, a doer, and down-right proud of it NERD!.
Struck with a love for #AllThings creative at a very young age, Crystal dreamed of a life fueled by her passion for creating and bringing the stories and images in her mind into reality.
As she worked toward her dreams, she earned a diploma as a Computer Applications Specialist then another in Graphic Design and from there began to develop her extensive background in multimedia and the arts. She began her worked in the magazine industry as a layout designer and had a succession of design jobs thereafter. It was her role as a graphic/web designer that gave her the first real glimpse of her future. Soon she began a side job as a freelance designer while keeping one foot in the corporate world. A spark was lit! She turned her freelance gig into a full-time business combining design work with her other passion: creating organization from virtual chaos.
Crystal is one of the most organized individuals on the planet. She is by all means a Zen master of her crafts. She excels at helping others become “untangled” and provides her clients with tools to run their businesses smoothly while she takes care of the details behind the scenes. Thus Virtually Untangled was born. A successful business where her work as a top notch creative in graphic and web — with a twist of virtual assistant — married into one amazing place where clients can come with their virtual messes and become magically untangled. Crystal can always make sense of even the most unorganized chaos and offers a virtual detox of order and peace, so her clients can get busy doing the work that they love the most.
