On January 19, 2019, I pressed “publish” to kaylielongley.com. Cue: jumping up and down on my kitchen’s linoleum floor, countless calls between my brother and me as its server shut down, and tons of edits to my homepage… that’s still a work in progress, thank you very much. At the time of writing, it’s almost…
Author: KaylieLongley
Minimalist traveling: a week of adventure
My friend Marissa stayed at my place this week. She’s a lifelong friend, long-lost pen pal, and one kick-butt lady, teaching and serving in local government a few states’ away. A couple days later, I stayed with my friend Brooke, 125+ miles away (or, translated to Midwest language, that’s 2 hours’ distance). She’s the little…
June in Review: Decluttering and Creating
June was spectacular for achieving goals. I mainly focused on balancing minimalism with creativity. Those may seem contradictory, and I’ve explained my thoughts on these identities here. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned this month and what I’m excited to be working on in the weeks ahead. Recognize the physical change matters second to…
Stop consuming social media, start creating!
I write a lot about the positives of creative habits: They make life more productive and meaningful, and the work is just a byproduct of that time. But sometimes… you get stuck. I’m no doctor, but I understand that over-consumption of too much media is not conducive to creativity or contentment. 1. Consumption breeds comparison….
The power of environment in nurturing creativity
Today is Father’s Day. In honor of my parents, I thought I’d celebrate with a few musings on how my childhood nurtured creativity. Creative environments encourage trying. What trying looks like? Sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding. And a ton of work. I was lucky: my parents wanted my brother and me to find what made us…
Why I give space for art
What a crazy week! Last Sunday, my friend Andrea and I launched Inspiration System on Instagram. Two Saturdays in a row, I went to concerts. I’ve talked to more people about creativity in the last week than I have months. What does this mean? It means I’ve got support behind me! I may be an…
Creating an Environment for Growth with an Inspiration System
If you’ve been following the blog, you know I believe in systems: automating processes to expedite progress, stay inspired, and move forward. Writing every week helps me tangibly track my progress. I record my thoughts and include next steps to help you. But what better way to keep this creative, collaborative progress going by sharing…
Ode to the midnight gym routine
It’s 11:30pm, and I’m shredding at the gym. Meanwhile, my friends are taking shots to mourn all the missed shots that ultimately led to the Bucks downfall. How did I get here? The cues are there: I too am angry that both Milwaukee’s baseball and basketball teams did not reign supreme today. When I check…
5 Summer Systems
I have many goals for the summer, with the ultimate endgame of using my time to be outside as much as possible, doing something local with good company. When creating systems, I think of the endgame first and work backward. What that looks like? Making habits as small and automatic as possible so that I…
Book Review-Ish: How Tidying Up Reveals Progress on Other Habits
After writing about wanting to read more in May, I did! I’m not sure if it was because I wrote about it last week and this proved to be an external motivator, or if it was the feeling of having a long sought after book in my hands but… I finally buckled down and read…