{"id":322,"date":"2016-01-13T18:08:42","date_gmt":"2016-01-13T18:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/?p=322"},"modified":"2017-01-02T19:11:25","modified_gmt":"2017-01-02T19:11:25","slug":"saying-no-to-the-default-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/?p=322","title":{"rendered":"Saying \u201cNo\u201d to the Default Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What is a &#8220;default&#8221; life? It&#8217;s when you compromise your deepest values and authentic self-expression, for something you <em>think<\/em> &nbsp;will keep you safe.<\/p>\n<p>How does it <em>feel<\/em> to live a default life? Thoreau&#8217;s description of living a life of &#8220;quiet desperation&#8221; sums it up well.<\/p>\n<p>How do you say &#8220;no&#8221; to a &#8220;status quo&#8221; life, especially when being responsible for ourselves requires that we <em>do<\/em> make compromises, that we must do things that we wouldn&#8217;t choose to if we had no responsibilities?<\/p>\n<p>First, get clear and stay clear about your deepest values. That is essential. Those values are your True North. Use them to guide you. At times, you might choose to compromise a lesser value to be true to a deeper value. But when your life feels off-track, look at where you may or may not be true to yourself, and make adjustments.<\/p>\n<p>Second, find a way to do what you love every week. If expressing your creativity is one of your values, honor it. Carve out at least a couple hours. Paint. Write. Fly. Take photos. Make collages. Write music. Sing. Play. Get inspired. Share your gifts with your friends.<\/p>\n<p>Creative expression really is an act of defiance against living a status quo life. It keeps imagination and possibility alive!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-321 size-full\"\n    src=\"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016-01-13_01.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Creativity is an act of defiance. - Twyla Tharp\" width=\"625\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016-01-13_01.jpg 625w, https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016-01-13_01-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016-01-13_01-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016-01-13_01-272x182.jpg 272w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a &#8220;default&#8221; life? It&#8217;s when you compromise your deepest values and authentic self-expression, for something you think &nbsp;will keep you safe. How does it feel to live a default life? Thoreau&#8217;s description of living a life of &#8220;quiet desperation&#8221; sums it up well. How do you say &#8220;no&#8221; to a &#8220;status quo&#8221; life, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creativity","category-values"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=322"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":331,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322\/revisions\/331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}