I appear on this WPwatercooler where we talk about how to pick a non-custom premium theme:
WPwatercooler #173 – Integrating Social into WordPress
Suzette Franck appears on this episode with regulars Steve Zehngut, Se Reed, Russell Aaron, Jason Tucker, Jason Cosper, Dave Jesch, and Jon Brown to discuss several different aspects of integrating social media into your WordPress website. Among the topics talked about included Social network log on buttons for WordPress. We also discussed Facebook likes vs. WordPress likes vs. Twitter favorites, social commenting systems such as Facebook Comments and Disqus, and Mark Zuckerberg. We also mentioned using Jetpack or other plugins that allow you to share each post, as well as 3rd party services such as ShareThis and AddtoAny and more plugins that add a centralized button to the main social media accounts. For the full description of the show and links to plugins mentioned, please see the show notes on that shows’ post on WPwatercooler.
Positive Cognitive Change: You Look Fine
I dunno about you guys and gals, but there used to be a time in my life where I was not the positive person that people see me as today. Anytime I looked into any mirror, I would tell myself something negative about my appearance, or I would avoid the mirror and cameras all together. I was extremely nasty and mean; fat and ugly came up for me the most. Kids picked on me a lot at school, which helped to reinforce my negative views about myself.
Believing What You Tell Yourself
I would never say such cruel things to any person, so I don’t know why I thought that it would be acceptable for me to criticize myself so harshly for so long. I always looked for the negativity in my appearance without thinking of its cumulative effect. Once I realized what I was actually doing is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that I actually believed, I realized I could instead choose whether to focus on negative or positive attributes.
“You look fine today.”
It’s a hard habit to break, but self-love starts with saying to yourself regularly that you look fine or ok and stop telling yourself the hurtful negative things. Slowly, it will start to become a habit and you will find yourself looking for the good things that are there, instead nit-picking petty flaws that no one pays attention to except yourself. To remind yourself to say positive things, put some positive affirmations on sticky notes close to the mirrors in your home.
Positive Practice Makes Perfect
Eventually, with practice, looking for the positive side will become automatic, not only when you look in the mirror, but also when you view situations which are out of your control. I’m slowly starting to appreciate the face and body that I was given and I find myself looking for awesomeness in myself as well as other people and things on a more regular basis.
Additional Resources
WPwatercooler EP171 – Cleaning up your WordPress website
Suzette Franck appears on this episode with her fabulous pink hair:
EP171 – Cleaning up your WordPress website
An Honest Year in WordPress 2015 Review
2015 was a much slower year for me and WordPress, as my mother passed away December 2014. It was a very difficult year for me for many reasons. I’ve been re-evaluating my career and my role in the WordPress Community lately and what I want to see happen for 2016. I’ve been re-prioritizing the things that matter to me, which I have basically boiled down to: 1) Health 2) Family & Friends 3) Community, in that order.
You have absolutely nothing without your own physical and mental health, and it is something requires a lot of diligence and upkeep depending on the cards you’ve been dealt. I have found this year that you, yourself, have to care about your own health and take care of your own physical and mental well being, no one else can do it for you. You can not be there for anyone if you are not there for yourself. If you do not take care of your basic health needs, then you take a loss in every other area, and family and close ones will be hit the hardest.
This year, I also taught HTML and CSS classes to beginners on a regular basis with the Girl Develop It Los Angeles Chapter, co-founded by my best friend, Natalie MacLees. HTML and CSS are the languages which are the foundation of all web pages. I’ve been using HTML since 1995 and CSS since it was invented, so I am well-versed in both. I found teaching small classes extremely rewarding. I love the interaction and spark in a student’s eyes when they finally get it. In 2016, I will definitely be teaching as much as possible, and I may look at teaching on a more permanent basis.
In 2015, I traveled to Salt Lake City and Toronto to speak at their WordCamps, as well as a few local camps, including spending a week in Sacramento for their camp. I hate to admit, and I thought this would never happen, but I think I am officially burnt out on speaking and attending WordCamps, so 2016 will be a light year for WordPress events for me.
WordPress is an awesome tool, yes it is, but it is only a tool, just like your computer is a tool, your phone, the applications, etc. WordPress is only one part that can help you build websites. We don’t go around worshiping LAMP, cPanel, MacOS, or your FTP program, so why should we should we continually sing the praises of piece of software that allows you to create a website? Granted, WordPress is the best of the tools out there that can do this, but still, it is just a tool, like a pen.
What are your priorities? Are they inline with your focus and actions? What will you do different this year? Let me know in the comments below.