27 Sep 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Women's Empowerment
Tags: free camera apps, iPhone 5, Retro Glamour Portraits
Middle age: When you’re sitting at home on Saturday night and
the telephone rings and you hope it isn’t for you.
Ogden Nash
I toast the iPhone 5 after Apple conveniently made my iPhone 3 email inoperable since the spring. Most days I wish all the nerds of the world would take an extended vacation so I can catch up on popular apps like Instagram and Camera Awesome.
My kids threaten to stage a rebellion, claiming that I deprive them their basic human rights of owning a laptop and cellphone–“like every other normal kid.” I threaten to send them to Ethiopia so they know what having nothing really means. Yes, I do enjoy the quiet in the house when one has the iPad, the other is on the big computer, and the third has the DVD player. I get a blank stare when I talk about the value of silence or boredom and moments of reflection. Who needs to mull over feelings, yearnings and imagination these days?
The budding lawyer among them insists this is their future: constantly occupied by electronics, restless unless hooked onto something wired or wireless. To me it eerily looks like people living in one roof but inhabiting separate worlds, rushing through meals to finish the next level of Minecraft, oblivious to blue skies and lovely weather outside when lost in another video. I sound like an old fossil missing the good old days where gatherings didn’t involve scrambling for our phones at every ping and chime. My early bird husband’s alarm clock jars me out of many sweet dreams even on weekends. There’s no escape from the teeth gritting drone of landscaper’s leaf blowers at all hours of the day. We are outnumbered by gadgets that rattle the nervous system constantly then we wonder why the rise of nervous and attention disorders? How are we to nurture our skill for commitment and sustained attention? Multi-tasking and efficiency in going through our To Do lists are all consuming. Are we in our list somewhere?
I keep my cellphone ringer off whenever possible which would make me a very lousy doctor on call. When I roll out of bed, I have to wrestle with my hand to stop it from instinctively reaching for the iPhone to check messages. It takes effort to persuade myself to begin my day by sitting quietly and listening to my inner ramblings. It is a daily struggle to remember that my most important business is to connect with my Self first.
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share how you stay in touch with the person on your end of the line.
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
Katrina Amato styled by Just Rosy
Makeup : Tomoko Miyamoto
Hair : Yulitzin Alvarez Funes
19 Sep 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Women's Empowerment
Tags: books on courage for women, Curvy Women Boudoir Portraits, Katherine Martin "Women of Courage", Riane Eisler "Sacred Pleasures"
Pain nourishes courage.
You can’t be brave if you’ve only had
wonderful things happen to you.
Mary Tyler Moore
This bubbly Goddess with her playful curves and glorious head of silver had to look herself straight in the eye to arrive at a difficult professional decision. She got me thinking about what it takes for courage to overcome fear.
“So many of the models of courage we teach boys and girls are about slaying the dragon, to kill,” author Riane Eisler wrote, “It’s a courage born out of fear, anger, and hate. But there’s this other kind of courage: the courage to risk your life, not in war, not in battle, not out of fear… but out of love and a sense of injustice that has to be challenged. It takes far more courage to challenge unust authority without violence than it takes to kill all the monsters in all the stories told to children about the meaning of bravery.”
Katherine Martin in “Women Of Courage”:
We lose much when women summarily dismiss their brave acts because they don’t measure up to a narrow definition of traditional courage. Courage is not about climbing unscaleable mountains, crossing unfordable rivers, flying to unreasonable heights. Courage is a matter of the heart, a coming home to myself as a woman. Not a woman trying to be gutsy like a man.
A life of courage is not a single strike but a series of events, an accumulation of dared moments. It is a constant stretching into places demanding an uncompromised stance. Courage is magnificent in this way. It changes us–gives us presence, makes us humble. It is being emotionally available and authentic even in the glaring light of fame, being less afraid to make mistakes, more eager to see what I’m made of, to seek out challenge and not settle for mediocrity.
Courage can be a fragile, vulnerable thing, a quiet moment. It can be a deep look into our souls, a stillness with our divinity. It can be found in the exhalation of love. In the speaking of truth. In forgiving and the making of peace.
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share an act of courage you haven’t acknowledged as such.
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
xoxox
13 Sep 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Fashion and Style, Glamour Portraits
Tags: best selling fashion book, The Editor's Eye Vogue book, Vogue 120th anniversary book
I don’t believe in fashion.
I believe in costume.
Life is too short to be same person every day.
Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door
Here’s a fashion editorial style shoot inspired by Vogue, known for arresting images that make eyes stop and hearts thrill to desires. The book commemorating its 120th anniversary, “The Editor’s Eye,” is a tribute to eight remarkable women who determined the faces that became icons of various eras and the direction of fashion’s forward movement through their reign as Vogue editors. These women have turned quirky performers like Barbra Streisand and Cher into style stars, the waifish Twiggy as a celebrity, Patti Hansen into the golden goddess next door. They created the rise of supermodels Cindy, Naomi, Linda, Christy, marrying art and imagination on glossy pages with productions resembling the scale and ambition of films in recent years.
The challenges of bringing together a variety of talents and personalities are all worth magical moments of collaboration that produce unforgettable images transcending generations.
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share your favorite iconic Vogue photo(s).
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
xoxox
05 Sep 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, NYC Nightlife
Tags: Kitty Cavalier School of Charm and Cheek, ladies' night party ideas, NYC burlesque dance classes, women's health and wellness
To love oneself is
the beginning of a lifelong romance.
Oscar Wilde
What I love about Kitty Cavalier’s NYC School of Charm and Cheek is that it uses the Art of Seduction to bring fun women together and, more importantly, to teach you the value of seducing your own delicious self! Drawing from the pain she endured from a lifetime of learning to make peace with her body, Kitty birthed classes that help every woman transform her own perception of whatever shape, age and size she’s in. Kitty writes:
All of us can use a little peek at how to use the art of seduction in our day to day life. Why? None of us has been taught how to use this as a way to add more pleasure and success to our existence. When we hear the word “seduction”, our minds instantly go to manipulation and sex. But seduction is not just something that occurs between lovers. True seduction is a way of making life itself your lover, and committing to the truest, most everlasting marriage you will ever have – the Divine as it expresses itself through you.
Kitty’s class Seduction is a Spiritual Practice resumes next week in NYC: www.KittyCavalier.com.
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share what or who has helped you love what you’ve got.
© Sharon Birke
Let’s photograph the seductress in you!
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
xoxox
30 Aug 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Creative Photography, Family Adventures, Health and Wellness
Tags: Epicurean Specialty Shops, Gourmet Cooking Supplies, Hope Springs Movie, inspiring women, Meryl Streep movie, What to see & do in Maine
Never waste any amount of time doing anything important
when there is a sunset outside that you should be sitting under!
C. Joy Bell C.
Hubby and I watched the movie “Hope Springs” after our family drive to Maine–no, not for Dr. Bernie’s couch. 😉 My mom will certainly need a big box of tissues watching Meryl Streep struggle to assert herself after years of submission to a self-absorbed and stubborn husband. Who doesn’t want to be treated like a queen and spared counting pennies? Who doesn’t want a husband who looks deeply into your eyes and listens with the heart when he holds you in his arms? Who hasn’t had to learn that we may or may not want to make things work out after we sail off with Prince Charming into the sunset?
Among the inspiring women I met in Maine are Kim and Denise, proud new owners of the most beautiful epicurean haven (http://EventideSpecialties.com) in Boothbay Harbor, ME. Their faith in the vision they nurtured for so long helped them move past the fears of “What if?” and keep moving one foot in front of the other towards making their dream come true. While holding down full time jobs elsewhere, they painted and set up the entire store themselves in happy bright green and maroon–colors that make you grin as you sample their international selection of extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars. Kim’s mom, Mimi, is a Powerful Goddess extraordinaire with her cheerful smile and curls, tirelessly helping around the store when she’s not doing the laundry for a nearby inn. These women are vital and active in defining their own success, radiating joy where they have to be. They are divine role models who show me the power of hope and living with purpose, that we can create our own happy ever after at any age.
Here are photos from our vacation. I would have loved to share rafting photos, too, but my hands were busy rowing and hanging on for dear life through Level 3/4 whitewater on the Kennebec River–a “must do” family adventure!
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to add you favorite family destinations around Maine and the East Coast.
Denise, Mimi and Kim at Eventide Epicurean Specialties in Boothbay Harbor, ME
http://eventidespecialties.com/
Even the monarchs whisper, “Follow your bliss!”
“A Buck A Shuck” Oysters on Saturday nights at
Boothbay Lobster Wharf in Boothbay Harbor, ME
I’m alive and well after eating 4 dozen in 3 days–in a month without an “r.”
After whitewater on the Kennebec River, a relatively tame day on kayaks.
“Monkey C Monkey Do” in Wiscasset, ME for family adventure trapeze obstacle course and ziplines
The view of golf greens, yachts, sky and ocean from the pool at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, ME
Sunsets that take your breath away and inspire…
… to be the light where you are!
Hurray for summer!
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
http://www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
xoxox
23 Aug 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Creative Photography, Fine Art Nude, Glamour Portraits
Tags: Getty Museum, Herb Ritts Portraits, Iconic Photos, Idea Board, Pinterest, What to See & Do in Los Angeles
The secret to creativity is
knowing how to hide your sources.
Albert Einstein
The Getty Museum ranks among the 20 Best Museums in the world, sitting very pretty atop a hill with panoramic views of the City of Angels. Catching the Herb Ritts: L.A. Style exhibit there was a definite highlight of my recent trip. I love a man who knows how to mix fun and play in drawing out the beauty in people. He and I share a love for spontaneity working with simple equipment and natural light, tasteful sensuality in strong forms, classical lines, and a woman’s back. With their graphic simplicity, Herb’s images can be read and felt instantaneously, many of them challenging conventional notions of gender or race. His iconic photographs of noted individuals in film, fashion, music, politics and society capture both social history and fantasy. As artists, our work documents time and place.
In planning a photo shoot, one of the fun things I do with my client is to create an idea board (using magazines pages, cellphone photos or Pinterest) to understand what’s beautiful and exciting to her. With her selections and themes in mind, I show her photos, paintings, sculptures, ads, etc., I find inspiring. Here are elements of Herb’s photos that I love:
I love sculpted hair, a dramatic pose, and elegant composition.
I love the sheen on skin, power form and movement, and
the clever use of high noon sun.
I love wind blown sheer fabrics.
I love abstract shapes and form.
I love creative shadow play.
I love the whimsy and humor of props. Herb used tumbleweed as tree branches…
….and a live octopus as dreadlocks.
The Herb Ritts exhibit at the Getty runs until September 2, 2012. Click on “Leave A Comment” (above left) to add your favorite sights, destinations, things to do in the City of Angels.
16 Aug 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Women Photography
Tags: Allison Schmitt, health and fitness, London Olympics 2012, Oscar Pistorius Man With No Legs, women athletes
Whenever I feel like exercise,
I lie down until the feeling passes.
Robert Hutchison
Today, I swam my first mile faster than Allison Schmitt–thanks to a lifejacket and the downstream current of the Kennebec River, Maine. One of the blessings of having three kids is that I can’t excuse myself from all family activities and had awesome fun whitewater rafting with http://www.NorthernOutdoors. Like a true Olympian, I set my eyes on the gold: if I survived this day’s epic adventure, the kids will let me have the rest of the family vacation in peace!
I am not sporty. The one thing I care to do with a pool is to strike a pretty pose or host a party. The only marathon I’d join would be sleeping. Even in watching the Olympics, game technicalities can’t distract me from the sheen of muscles, the gentle curves on impossible abs, and the colorful makeup on the women athletes’ determined eyes. As they struggled to calm their rush of adrenaline, I struggled to recall if my body was ever that lean in my teens? I was probably busy bemoaning how I didn’t have curves in the “right” places.
While the champions get all the glory and publicity, I’m interested in those who don’t get the gold. What makes these men and woman dedicate a lifetime to a chance at winning and mostly losing? What’s a life determined by the persistent ticking of the clock, the whistle, and measuring up? How do they get over losing by a millionth of a second or a single misstep after giving their all?
And for mere mortals like us who don’t have the urge to compete, or can’t stick to the persistence required by strict discipline, deprivation and diet, are we to consider ourselves less than? In judging everything by a singular standard, are we blinding ourselves to the natural variations of strength and beauty as well as ignoring the effort it takes to participate in life without accolades? Does happiness have to be derived from supremacy and other people’s opinion? Can there be only one perfect tree in the forest?
In the adulation of youth and extraordinary achievement, are we more inspired to do better or dismay at our ordinary lives? One thing I know is that Oscar Pistorius leaves me with no excuse to bitch about the size of my calves.
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share your thoughts on the Olympics.
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
http://www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
Model : Katrina Amato
Styling : Rosy Justo
Makeup : Tomoko Miyamoto
Hair : Yulitzin Alvarez Funes
xoxox
08 Aug 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Women's Empowerment
Tags: Best Books for Women, modern Cinderella, modern fairy tales
I want to know what happens
after Cinderella rides off with Prince Charming.
Melissa Joan Hart
One of the magical benefits of turning 40 (or 50 and more!) is that we fit more comfortably into the shoes of “CEO of My Life.” We recognize that rules are all made up, so why not make a few of our own? We realize there’s no time to blame, just time to face up to the consequences of our (in)actions. We claim our power to relax and reinvent ourselves in ways that suit our values, goals, and reality. And even as we live under the tyranny of “gotta have it all” and “gotta do more,” we realize we can free ourselves when we are honest with our answer to “What really makes me happy?”
At the heart of Cinderella’s story is the belief in the power of transformation, the benevolence of helping hands, the importance of work done with love and great care despite adversity or while we’re mulling through our choices. As we age, we realize that when we don’t get invited to the ball, we can host our own party. When we lose a shoe, it’s ok to walk on bare feet–and sexy does not require the highest of heels! We look at the hand holding the magic wand and find that this hand has been our own, or at least, blessed by our choices.
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to tell us what Cinderella’s story means to you today.
xoxox
Book recommendation:
From Cinderella to CEO: 10 Lessons of Fairy Tales
by Cary Broussard
© Sharon Birke
Book your glamour playdate with me today!
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
xoxox
02 Aug 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Women Photography
Tags: Argentina Peso, Evita Peron, Powerful Women
Give me a balcony in every town and
I will win their hearts.
A deposed president of Ecuador cites Eva’s success
The iconic Evita Peron has been honored in song, in film, on Broadway, and last week, on the 60th anniversary of her death, her face now graces Argentina’s 100 peso currency–the only woman to be honored in this very manly country’s banknotes.
From “Simply Irresistible” by Ellen T. White:
Pale, humorless, and uneducated, she used the only capital she had at her disposal–an uncanny ability to seem heaven sent. Some say Evita slept her way to the top, but if sex were all it took, any number of women might have taken her place. What was the magic dust she sprinkled on their eyes?
Evita’s lessons for every Goddess:
1. Take the higher road. Keep a physical, as well as psychological, upper hand. Always stand tall and establish a regal presence by throwing your shoulders back and keeping your chin up.
2. Create an air of quiet mystery. Evita had no talent for conversation, but it seems the less said, the better. Her unexpected silences made others a tad nervous and eager to please, yearning for more, curious to know what’s on her mind. Leave a lot to the imagination and set yourself apart from the reality TV crowd that’s eager to tell all.
3. Overdress for success. She charmed the masses by addressing them as “My descamisados” (shirtless ones) while maintaining a closet that was very far from empty. Even if you don’t own designer clothes or a crown, make an effort to look queenly. Always wear what makes you feel like a million–and never tell where you got it for less. 😉
4. Choose your words. Evita’s rise to power erased records of her mongrel birth. Officially sanctioned accounts of her early years began to sound like myth: “Like Venus… Eva Peron was born from the sea.” Jobless? No, my dear, I’m between opportunities. Held on drug charges a decade ago? That was a wild experiment in spiritual growth. Divorced more times that you can count? I’m passionate and tend to leap before I look. As they say, “It’s never too late–in fiction or in life–to revise.”
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to tell us what makes you feel like a million.
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
PowerfulGoddess@me.com
http://www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
Makeup by Kristen Pickrell
xoxox
26 Jul 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Fine Art Nude, Glamour Portraits
Tags: Blake, Butterfly Scarf, Chekhov, fine art nude, Talented Women, Van Gogh
The caterpillar does all the work
but the butterfly gets all the publicity.
George Carlin
Excerpt from Brenda Ueland’s “If You Want to Write”:
Who knows if you are great or talented? No one. We don’t even know what we are or what our lives are like.
Van Gogh wrote: “Who will be in figure painting what Claude Monet is in landscape? I would be heartily glad if a kind of Guy de Maupassant in painting came along to paint light heartedly the beautiful people and things here… But this painter who is to come–I can’t imagine him living in little cafes working away with false teeth as I do.”
Chekhov did not know that he was a great writer. Or to put it another way: van Gogh and Chekhov and all great people knew inwardly that they were something. They had a passionate conviction of their importance, of the life, the fire, the god in them. But they were never sure that others would necessarily see it in them, or that recognition would ever come.
This is the point: everybody in the world has the same conviction of inner importance, of fire, of the god within. The tragedy is that either they stifle their fire by not believing in it and using it, or they try to prove to the world and themselves that they have it, not inwardly and greatly, but externally and egotistically, by money or power or more publicity.
We should all feel as Blake did. He knew about his inner fire and had faith in it. He wrote and drew and painted with enthusiasm and joy what his vision and imagination showed him saying, “He knows himself greatly who never opposes his genius.” He never hindered or discouraged it or let anyone else do so. He cast out all prudence: “Prudence is a rich, ugly, old maid courted by incapacity.” As for moderation, caution, measuring, weighing, and comparing, he said, “I will not reason and compare. My business is to create!”
Work to hone your skills because it is impossible that you have no creative gift. In addition, the only way to make it live and increase it is to use it. Third, you cannot be sure that it is not a great gift.
This is what I urge all of you and myself to do: work and shine eternally.
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share your talents that have been wanting expression.
© Sharon Birke
Celebrate the butterfly that you are!
201 697 1947
http://www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
Makeup by Kristen Pickrell
xoxox
19 Jul 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Women Photography
Tags: Body Image, poetry for women, swimsuit bikinis
Someone showed me a glass of water and asked,
“Is this glass half full or half empty?”
So I drank the water. No more problem.
Alexander Jodorowsky
A wet and happy photo session with the Goddess Katrina inspired this poem I dedicate to every woman:
Like water, she is buoyed by joy
tranquil in self knowing
flowing with the current of what is.
Often told she’s but a fragile raindrop
she knows she has the wisdom of the ocean.
Stronger than a raging wave, she gushes
submerged passions and
creativity swelling from the depths of her soul.
She floats over adversity
Soaking in pain that wakes her to action.
No, no, no
her brave heart won’t sink into surrender.
Woman, like water and life itself,
seeps unstoppable through all creation.
Drink her up.
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
Model: Katrina Amato
Makeup: Tomoko Miyamoto
Hair (pre-dunk) : Yulitzin Verenice Alvarez
05 Jul 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Family Celebration, Glamour Portraits, Women Photography
Tags: Birthday blessings, birthday celebrations, funny birthday quote for women, unique personalized gift idea
Age is something that doesn’t matter,
unless you are a cheese.
Billie Burke
“Show me who’s taller!” My teen asks his little sister to mark his height standing head to head with his younger brother. He turns around dismayed to see his sister’s hand inches short of his brother’s top.
I tried to console him with a version of Hallmark greeting cards, “You know, it’s not how tall, it’s how happy…”
And his brother–the same one who never lets their sister win an argument–chimes in, ‘Then you win, Dude!”
I am blown away by the fullness of this past year! I may not have grown an inch taller –without platform heels– but I have definitely reached new heights by coming home to my native talents and strengths, woven together seamlessly in service of chronicling a woman’s many joys. I’ve been richly blessed by those who have inspired and nourished me: friends, family, clients, models, teachers, fellow creatives, and fans, people who have given generously of their time, talents, wisdom and praise. I feel full with gratitude that my art helps a woman celebrate who she is beyond her roles of mother, daughter, and wife. I most love soaking in the memory of laughter shared at photo shoots, stretching comfort zones in embracing a woman’s beauty, telling her story for posterity, and honoring her amazing body that serve so many, so well in one lifetime.
THANK YOU, All, for the gifts you are to me!
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share your blessings here.
xoxox
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
Powerful Goddess is a trademark of DoubleSmart LLC
PS Many thanks to Sumit for this sparkly 4th of July photo…
xoxox
28 Jun 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Health and Wellness
Tags: blue lingerie, inspirational poem, poetry for women
Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?
Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?
When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life–
What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?
–William Stafford, “You Reading This, Be Ready”
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
Powerful Goddess is a trademark of DoubleSmart LLC
13 Jun 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Relationships
Tags: Father's day gift ideas, fine art nude, funny quotes, humor, Rita Rudner, women in comedy
For Father’s Day, tips and quips from Rita Rudner, a favorite comedienne who (st)ages with glamour and style:
1. On gift ideas: If you buy your husband a video camera, for the first few weeks he has it, lock the door when you go to the bathroom. Most of my husband’s early films end with a scream and a flush.
2. On guilt: When a woman tries on clothing from her closet that feels tight, she will assume she has gained weight. When a man tries something from his closet that feels tight, he will assume the clothing has shrunk.
3. On memory: Men forget everything, women remember everything. That’s why men need instant replays in sports–They’ve already forgotten what happened.
4. On diets: Men who can eat anything they want and not gain weight should do it out of sight of women.
5. When you find yourself wishing he were someone else: No man is charming all of the time. Even Cary Grant is on record saying he wished he could be Cary Grant.
6. Don’t try to teach men how to do anything in public. They can learn in private. In public, they have to know.
7. Men are self-confident because they grow up identifying with superheroes. Women have bad self-images because they grow up identifying with Barbie.
8. On movie selections: Men are less sentimental than women. No man has ever seen the movie THE WAY WE WERE twice, voluntarily.
9. On planning what to do together: Most men hate to shop. That’s why the men’s department is usually on the first floor of a department store, two inches from the door.
10. Men hate to lose. I once beat my husband at tennis. I asked him, “Are we going to have sex again?” He said, “Yes, but not with each other.”
11. Don’t take clothing too seriously. I’ve never seen a man walk into a party and say “Oh, my God, get me out of here! I’m so embarrassed–There’s another man wearing a black tuxedo.”
12. Accept compliments graciously. Example: “Mitch, you look great.” Mitch: “Thanks.” On the other side: “Ruth, you look great.” Ruth: “I do? Must be the lighting.”
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to tell us what you love about your man.
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
xoxox
07 Jun 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Mind and Body
Tags: curvy women portraits, fine art nude, self acceptance
When something is bothering me,
I write a song that tells my feelings.
Loretta Lynn
In “I Know I’m In There Somewhere,” Helene G. Brenner, PhD, writes:
Feelings, while not facts, are a highly concentrated form of information with their life-affirming story to tell. There are no bad feelings–only feelings that get stuck. And there are no bad thoughts or parts of you–only parts that you have exiled and don’t listen to. No person or authority in the world can tell you what “should be” going on in your heart, nor do you have to prove, to yourself or to anyone else, that you have a “right” to feel whatever it is you’re feeling.
While American culture adulates people who project an unflaggingly positive, cheerful, “can do” spirit, mental (and physical) health doesn’t mean being happy all the time. It’s about being resilient, knowing how to heal and recover from losses and difficulties, being flexible rather than brittle. To do this, we need to allow feelings of hurt, grief, fear or rage to be listened to, not suppressed:
1. Acknowledge. Human beings are wired to run from difficult frightening or uncomfortable feelings. The running can take the form of intellectualizing, minimizing, spacing out, panicking, blowing up or going to pieces. When a feeling is bothering you, notice the sensations you feel in your body and simply sit with them.
2. Being With. Breathe deeply, step back from what you’re doing and notice what is going on inside you, without judgment. Name the feeling as accurately as possible, “I’m feeling furious right now.” Take a full minute to sit with the feeling and the sensations experienced by your body. Notice, observe and describe the elemental feelings that you didn’t know were there, “It’s a big black hole that feels unseen and unloved.” Don’t impede its flow by thinking about how you can try to change or resolve it. Just notice what else shows up.
3. Compassion. Go as close to the bone as you can in telling the exact truth about what you feel. In identifying your feelings, you free yourself to hear them out and learn about them without becoming them. When you acknowledge the truth of your feelings, the grip of the past loosens and you begin to open up to possibilities. In paying attention to what the pure feeling has to tell you, you allow an answer to present itself.
Click on “Leave a Comment” above to share what helps you deal with difficult emotions.
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife and Mother
xoxox
01 Jun 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Mind and Body
Tags: bombshell icon, fine art nude, Lawrence Schiller photography, Marilyn & Me, Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Monroe look alike
It’s not so much that I’m always late,
it’s just that everybody else is in such a hurry!
Marilyn Monroe
Goddess Gina Bonati was such a joy to play with–a woman who has witnessed life’s ups and downs yet remains mindful of her blessings and comfortable in her skin. When I tell her she reminds me of Marilyn Monroe, she admits it’s been a long time since she last heard this compliment. In her youth, she was often mistaken for the bombshell especially when she dyed her hair blonde! We laugh as she pretends to smoke her cigarette earrings.
In honor of Marilyn’s birthday, June 1st, let’s dare say “I love you, too!” to the parts of our selves that we numb, hide or kill to be pleasing to others. What we believe to be unworthy of acceptance and compassion is what needs these the most.
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) and tell us how Marilyn touched your life.
PS A new photo exhibit “Marilyn & Me” by Lawrence Schiller runs until the end of this month in NYC.
© Sharon Birke
Let’s celebrate your life today!
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
xoxox
24 May 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Europe Travel, interior design, Paris Travel
Tags: architecture, Christian Lacroix, Hotel Le Notre Dame Paris, Hotel St. James Paris, luxury hotels, Paris, Paris hotels, solo travel for women
There ain’t no surer way to find out
if you like people or hate them
than to travel with them.
Mark Twain
Solo travel is a privilege and an education. Once or twice a year, I take a “mommy’s vacation”–preferably somewhere I’ve never been before. This is one of the ways I expand my comfort zone, open my eyes to inspiration and possibilities, and feed my joy. I take time off from catering to everyone else’s needs, preferences, and opinions and pay attention to my own: when I want to wake up or sleep, where I want to go, what I want to do or not. I love traveling light with just carry on luggage and my own agenda–though “traveling light” is relative with my darling Mark III (aka, camera.)
If you’ve never traveled alone, what better destination for a first solo expedition than Paris? Like jewel boxes of delightful surprises, these are two hotels that I would be very happy to return to. Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to add to your favorite places to stay in Paris and other destinations you recommend for easy solo travel.
Hotel Le Notre Dame (1, Quai Saint-Michel 75005 Paris +33 1 43 54 20 43) is a tiny gem updated by Christian Lacroix with a view of–guess what?–the Notre Dame. Being in the center of the City of Light, there is no quiet moment if you keep your windows open, however, its interiors and view are like no other. An easy walk to the Latin Quarter, St. Germaine des Pres and the Marais, this hotel let’s you trace the Seine to reach the Louvre and the Tuilleries, too. On your walk back, stop by another jewel box with stained glass windows, the Saint Chappelle, to experience live classical music in a setting that moves me to tears. On a rainy day, you can people watch at the brasserie downstairs while enjoying the biggest escargots in town. The Saint Michel neighborhood is chockfull of restaurants and bars with a hopping nightlife for locals and tourists alike. The metro and RER B train to/from the airport are right across the street.
In the cozy lobby of Hotel Le Notre Dame…
…Grab a velvet seat for a corner “office on the road” with a view.
Be the master of the stairs (because the elevator is tiny)
Room 31 at Hotel Le Notre Dame
For a more quiet and luxe retreat, Hotel Saint James (43, Avenue Bugeaud 75116 Paris +33 1 44 05 81 81) is the only chateaux hotel in Paris. Tucked away west of the Arc de Triomphe, its water fountain welcomes you before its charming and elegant staff. The lobby of bold black and white, velvet furnishings, and vibrant wallpaper throughout the 48 distinctively decorated rooms/suites are a feast for the eyes. (Tip: Request a room facing the fountain.) And what’s not to love about their massage room with gilded mirror and chandelier? The Champs Elysee and the Eiffel are about 15 minutes on foot. A few steps outside the hotel’s gate is a metro stop I didn’t investigate, preferring to explore this city mostly walking, bathing in its renowned light.
The view from Room 306 facing the fountain.
Hotel St. James Lobby
Whimsy on the back stairs
Waiting room at the spa
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
http://www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
xoxox
17 May 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Mind and Body
Tags: book recommendation, books, health and wellness, humor, inspirational quote, Jon Kabat-zinn, self help
Never work before breakfast.
If you have to work before breakfast,
eat your breakfast first.
Josh Billings
From Jon Kabat-Zinn in “Waking Up to Our Senses”:
We go from one thing to the next all day long, virtually addicted to distracting ourselves, afraid of what might happen if we didn’t fill it up, if we stopped interrupting ourselves and just settled into now. We fill up our time and then wonder where it all went, why we feel so far from the mark, so far from our deepest aspirations, from contentment, from peace, from really being at home within ourselves and in deep connection with others.
What would it be like to settle into our own body, just lying in bed or sitting around for a few moments? You can drop in on yourself and purposely not fill the present moment with anything, especially anxieties about the future and everything you”should” be getting done, or resentment about what has already transpired and hasn’t gone exactly as you desired. You can play with seeing what it’s like to linger with such feelings and breathe with them for a tad longer than you are likely to think you can possibly stand.
Click on the “Leave a Comment” (above left) to tell us how you connect with yourself best in the mornings.
PS Thank you so much, Powerful Goddess Gina Bonati, for gracing my blog with your divine beauty!
xoxox
Sharky
© Sharon Birke
Let’s celebrate you today!
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
xoxox
10 May 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Family, Mind and Body, Women Photography
Tags: 5 generations of women, great great grandmother, Mother's Day, Portraits
There is no way to be a perfect mother,
and a million ways to be a good one.
Jill Churchill
These photos of 5 generations of mothers are mere copies of photocopies, their originals lost to the gods of posterity. In the first, I’m the screaming baby on my elegant mother’s lap and, in the second, I’m the chubby new mom showing off her firstborn to her 104 year old great grandmother. These thin slips of paper are priceless treasures, photography’s unrivaled power to bear witness to our journey of growth. I am thankful for the many women who have helped get me to where I am today with their love, example, and counterexample. It all works and it’s all good!
My grandma taught me that gratitude is the key to happiness, my myriad talents are worth exploring without apology, funny is in the irony, and today IS the special occasion for my best dishes. She taught me to be generous with praise towards myself when others can’t, to forgive and choose to put my attention on what I want more of.
My mom taught me to mind my own business and give advice only when asked, to celebrate myself instead of waiting for others to do so, to have my own money, to speak well of my husband and to be present for my kids. And if I can’t be the mother they want, that’s ok, too. One of life’s greatest gifts is that we all get the mother we need.
My aunts, my sister, my friends teach me the pleasures of love without obligation, to bring joy where I am and to welcome more of those who remind me of my fabulousness when I forget, to explore possibilities that thrill my heart, to respect other people’s choices because acceptance and breathing room feed the soul.
My daughter teaches me that no one’s ever too young to want to mother, no one’s ever too old for mothering, and no matter what else I do for my kids, I hope they see that in mothering myself they, too, are the first reliable guardians and mothers of their own happiness.
Happy Mom, Happy Wife, Happy Life!
Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share with us: How do you mother yourself well?
xoxox
Let’s celebrate what you love about your life today!
Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
www.PowerfulGoddess.com
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
xoxox
24 Apr 2012
by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC
in Culture and Arts, Europe Travel, International Travel
Tags: architecture, Art, couture, design, entertainment, fashion, nightlife, Paris, sightseeing, Yves Saint Laurent
If Chanel gave liberty to women,
Yves Saint Laurent gave them power.
Fondation Pierre Berge-Yves St. Laurent
Sunset at Le Pont Alexandre III, my favorite bridge in town
On my return trip to the City of Light., I may not change my mind about the Eiffel Tower being an eyesore, but I am open to being converted into a Francophile. Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to tell me what else to add to my list:
Le Barrio Latino in the Bastille (Metro Ledru Rollin) for four floors of dancing and dining.
Piano serenade at the Four Season George V Dine or chill with a drink at their cozy lobby bar and restaurant, admire the history of the opulent carpet and tapestries.
Crazy Horse (12 Avenue George V 75008) for burlesque in an intimate, old world setting.
Privacy with high tea at the Mariage Freres (13, Rue des Grands Augustins) on a charming, exceedingly quiet Parisian street. When you enter the door, you’re transported to another time with dark wood furniture and tea tinted yellow walls lined with their iconic black and red lacquer tea packaging–beautifully detail oriented and deserving of being voted #1 luxury tea brand by Newsweek.
Musee de Artes Decoratifs (107 rue de Rivoli 75001) because I love objects that are both functional and pretty. This museum is at the end of one arm of the Louvre, offering exceptional temporary shows and a fabulous permanent exhibit. I hear museums are free on the first Sunday of every month, at least for their permanent collections. I’m thinking of Sunday brunch at their great new outdoor cafe facing the Tuillerie gardens. too.
Fondation Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent (5 avenue Marceau 75116) houses the workshop studio of the great designer and their current exhibit “Kabuki” is dedicated to Japanese costume theatre. I’m very curious to see emblematic haute couture prototypes and YSL’s design sketches where he used masculine codes to give women security and audacity whilst accentuating their feminity.
xoxox
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