Holstee

/tagged/passion/page/2
About a year ago to the day, I saw the Manifesto for the first time while searching for a new direction to take myself. My life had been taking dramatic turns very quickly; I was about to graduate, my relationships were evolving as I was quickly getting older, but I was not feeling like I was really “growing up.” I was browsing through a list of entrepreneurs, trying to narrow down the five that I would beg to let me work for them. And then, I saw the Manifesto. I must have read it ten times in a row. I knew from that moment on, regardless of where life took me, the words on the Manifesto would always have an impact on my life. Later that same night, I had a date scheduled, my first with this particular girl. As I sipped my margarita, I remembered the words on the Manifesto, and decided to be myself: open, naive, and to put all my awkwardness right on the table. “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I want to change the world. Do something crazy. I just applied for these programs. I’m either going to Cali or NYC. I have to get out of here and take a risk on something.” “That’s awesome! I think you should explore outside of the Midwest.” She replied. “I want to teach Earth and Space Science…and shave my head.” Our Mexican meal turned into hours of talking about life, death, fears and passions. I credit a large portion of our conversation on the Manifesto. It pushed me away from typical ice breaker questions and down a path of intellectual exploration, which led to genuine interest, insight and sparked amazing conversation. “If you don’t like something, change it.” How true. I’m in NYC. She’s bald and beautiful. And life is short. - Cody Beck

About a year ago to the day, I saw the Manifesto for the first time while searching for a new direction to take myself. My life had been taking dramatic turns very quickly; I was about to graduate, my relationships were evolving as I was quickly getting older, but I was not feeling like I was really “growing up.”

I was browsing through a list of entrepreneurs, trying to narrow down the five that I would beg to let me work for them. And then, I saw the Manifesto. I must have read it ten times in a row. I knew from that moment on, regardless of where life took me, the words on the Manifesto would always have an impact on my life.

Later that same night, I had a date scheduled, my first with this particular girl. As I sipped my margarita, I remembered the words on the Manifesto, and decided to be myself: open, naive, and to put all my awkwardness right on the table.

“I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I want to change the world. Do something crazy. I just applied for these programs. I’m either going to Cali or NYC. I have to get out of here and take a risk on something.”

“That’s awesome! I think you should explore outside of the Midwest.” She replied. “I want to teach Earth and Space Science…and shave my head.”

Our Mexican meal turned into hours of talking about life, death, fears and passions. I credit a large portion of our conversation on the Manifesto. It pushed me away from typical ice breaker questions and down a path of intellectual exploration, which led to genuine interest, insight and sparked amazing conversation.

“If you don’t like something, change it.” How true.

I’m in NYC. She’s bald and beautiful. And life is short.

- Cody Beck

2 weeks ago  3 notes View high resolution

After a few years working for a large mining company, I found myself repeatedly looking at the computer screen, and asking myself: “Why am I doing this?” It had no meaning, had no real conetion, there was an inconsistency within the enterprise system, and I tried to resist for longer, I resigned, and fortunately I came to see life through different eyes, more maturely.I moved to Sao Paulo, and started working with my father, and come the time that everything changed. Strong and profound changes, so there’s no coming back, I always say, “knowing the truth, I can not stay in ‘convenience,’ I must be part of the solution, not the problem.”I realized that I sold organic products, and like me, producers should consume and promote this chain. I’ve engaged in Sao Paulo group, which discusses and puts into practice requests from farmers along the organs responsible government. A year after many meetings, and we made a change of a organics law, thanks to the joint efforts of farmers, traders and consumers of organics in São Paulo.Promoting the sale of products that replace pesticides in our farm, and in 2010 I discover that I am “social entrepreneur,” another radical change in my perception of identity and community. Inside The Hub, I found people who are like me, do a radically better world. Before, I felt alone because hardly among my friends people had engaged in transformation.Last year, climbed nearly 50% in our revenue, coming in 425 thousand reais, employ 14 people, all with their labor rights guaranteed. We are proud of our employees.After a few years, “sold my life,” everything that I “had” turned into money, or was happy to be in the house of some friends, and my brother, even my car was stolen, and since then, the bike is my best friend & transport.I spent so much time in hard traffic, so today I’ve decided to travel by bike, feeling life with another rhythm and path.On the way, the expedition Ciclocultura will be planting permaculture knowledge, and exchanges ancestors wisdom mixed with modern technologies. We intend to lead workshops, such as bicycles that generate energy for locations without electricity, as well as bioconstrution and gardens, root seeds exchange and fostering fair trade economy.A year is the expectation on the farm until we hit the Amazon, were my farm is located, on the Pará state.Living the dream really, believe in the heart, go fearlessly, answers reside within each one.As our trip is collaborative, we ask please to share it! ALso you can send suggestions for routes, receive us into your homes, towns!   Grateful!   - Romina Lindemann

After a few years working for a large mining company, I found myself repeatedly looking at the computer screen, and asking myself: “Why am I doing this?” It had no meaning, had no real conetion, there was an inconsistency within the enterprise system, and I tried to resist for longer, I resigned, and fortunately I came to see life through different eyes, more maturely.

I moved to Sao Paulo, and started working with my father, and come the time that everything changed. Strong and profound changes, so there’s no coming back, I always say, “knowing the truth, I can not stay in ‘convenience,’ I must be part of the solution, not the problem.”

I realized that I sold organic products, and like me, producers should consume and promote this chain. I’ve engaged in Sao Paulo group, which discusses and puts into practice requests from farmers along the organs responsible government. A year after many meetings, and we made a change of a organics law, thanks to the joint efforts of farmers, traders and consumers of organics in São Paulo.

Promoting the sale of products that replace pesticides in our farm, and in 2010 I discover that I am “social entrepreneur,” another radical change in my perception of identity and community. Inside The Hub, I found people who are like me, do a radically better world. Before, I felt alone because hardly among my friends people had engaged in transformation.

Last year, climbed nearly 50% in our revenue, coming in 425 thousand reais, employ 14 people, all with their labor rights guaranteed. We are proud of our employees.

After a few years, “sold my life,” everything that I “had” turned into money, or was happy to be in the house of some friends, and my brother, even my car was stolen, and since then, the bike is my best friend & transport.

I spent so much time in hard traffic, so today I’ve decided to travel by bike, feeling life with another rhythm and path.

On the way, the expedition Ciclocultura will be planting permaculture knowledge, and exchanges ancestors wisdom mixed with modern technologies. We intend to lead workshops, such as bicycles that generate energy for locations without electricity, as well as bioconstrution and gardens, root seeds exchange and fostering fair trade economy.

A year is the expectation on the farm until we hit the Amazon, were my farm is located, on the Pará state.

Living the dream really, believe in the heart, go fearlessly, answers reside within each one.

As our trip is collaborative, we ask please to share it! ALso you can send suggestions for routes, receive us into your homes, towns!
 
Grateful!
 
- Romina Lindemann

4 weeks ago  View high resolution

Since first stumbling on to the Manifesto, my life has been an altered course. At the end of 2011, I stopped taking clients, cleared my plate of things that divided my time or stressed me out, dropped the guilt and caught up on everything unfinished, and I stopped saying someday. Someday is now. 2012 became my Year of the Phoenix and I spent the year dusting off projects and journals full of ideas that I’d never had the time to act on. There were so many wonders, a cross between Christmas morning and Pandora’s box. From that moment, I decided to make each day about doing more of what I love, being present right now, and spending more time creating (art, memories, time) with those I love. At the end of 2012, I spontaneously decided we were going to Europe. I had no idea how, but I knew that we would go if we were meant to, so I put it out there. Two weeks later a door opened. I am launching a magazine, my art group is going nonprofit, and we now have tickets to spend three weeks with some of our dearest friends - we will be spending three weeks in Portugal, Germany, and Sweden. We will also be spending a few days doing the most magical things (like riding the Sultan’s Elephant) in Spain and France for my magazine. Getting rid of all that “stuff” and saying no was incredibly freeing. I am doing things for me now, which makes me a happier person for my family, and my family and I are doing more as a result. We are savoring every bite of our lives and we are changed. Thank you. Someday is now. - Ana Maria Selvaggio

Since first stumbling on to the Manifesto, my life has been an altered course.

At the end of 2011, I stopped taking clients, cleared my plate of things that divided my time or stressed me out, dropped the guilt and caught up on everything unfinished, and I stopped saying someday.

Someday is now.

2012 became my Year of the Phoenix and I spent the year dusting off projects and journals full of ideas that I’d never had the time to act on. There were so many wonders, a cross between Christmas morning and Pandora’s box. From that moment, I decided to make each day about doing more of what I love, being present right now, and spending more time creating (art, memories, time) with those I love.

At the end of 2012, I spontaneously decided we were going to Europe. I had no idea how, but I knew that we would go if we were meant to, so I put it out there. Two weeks later a door opened. I am launching a magazine, my art group is going nonprofit, and we now have tickets to spend three weeks with some of our dearest friends - we will be spending three weeks in Portugal, Germany, and Sweden. We will also be spending a few days doing the most magical things (like riding the Sultan’s Elephant) in Spain and France for my magazine.

Getting rid of all that “stuff” and saying no was incredibly freeing. I am doing things for me now, which makes me a happier person for my family, and my family and I are doing more as a result. We are savoring every bite of our lives and we are changed. Thank you.

Someday is now.

- Ana Maria Selvaggio

1 month ago 

To me, the Holstee Manifesto has two significant meanings. It reminds me to live every day to the fullest, to do what I love and keep the people close to my heart that deserve it. I’ve always had the feeling life is too short to be wasted with doing something that does not make you happy. I am certainly not perfect, but I am so blessed that life, so far, has given me good things and valuable lessons to learn. The Manifesto also speaks to me in relationship with the bond with my parents. Especially my mother, who is a person full of inhibitions, full of self-loathing and doubt, and in her 50+ years she has not overcome this and started to love herself the way she is. She, of course, is not perfect either, but she deserves more love of herself. I think most people are beautiful, as long as their souls are. She is a person with so much experience and wisdom of life - and therefore, a beautiful soul, but to her, all that matters is weight and wrinkles. To have a loved one utter sentences like “I wish I was anorexic for just a little while, just until I‘m thin” just hurts you and you can see how that self-hate makes herself and everyone around her miserable. My dad is a more practical man, but he is caught in a profession which on the one hand he absolutely loves, and which used to be his dream job, but on the other hand brings so much problems as the constellation of people having to work together is just awful. To me, my parents were clearly my role models. I have studied (still am, for a PhD) a very long time to be able to get into a profession that will make me happy for a long time, but which, hopefully, will also give me the freedom to leave a place that doesn’t suit me anymore. My parents have taught me how to chase your dreams, but also, how to NOT attempt it. I wish I could show them some of what I have learned not to do based on their examples. The Holstee Manifesto, to me, sums it up. Live your life with passion and share it with others. I would add: “Dance like nobody is watching.” Plus, as a little extra, this year I have met the man who has the potential to be on my side for the rest of my life and who will support all the great challenges and gifts this life gives and enjoy them together with me. And Im only 26. Incredible :) Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts. I hope you have a hopeful and happy story yourself, too. - Nathalie

To me, the Holstee Manifesto has two significant meanings. It reminds me to live every day to the fullest, to do what I love and keep the people close to my heart that deserve it. I’ve always had the feeling life is too short to be wasted with doing something that does not make you happy. I am certainly not perfect, but I am so blessed that life, so far, has given me good things and valuable lessons to learn.

The Manifesto also speaks to me in relationship with the bond with my parents. Especially my mother, who is a person full of inhibitions, full of self-loathing and doubt, and in her 50+ years she has not overcome this and started to love herself the way she is. She, of course, is not perfect either, but she deserves more love of herself. I think most people are beautiful, as long as their souls are. She is a person with so much experience and wisdom of life - and therefore, a beautiful soul, but to her, all that matters is weight and wrinkles. To have a loved one utter sentences like “I wish I was anorexic for just a little while, just until I‘m thin” just hurts you and you can see how that self-hate makes herself and everyone around her miserable. My dad is a more practical man, but he is caught in a profession which on the one hand he absolutely loves, and which used to be his dream job, but on the other hand brings so much problems as the constellation of people having to work together is just awful.

To me, my parents were clearly my role models. I have studied (still am, for a PhD) a very long time to be able to get into a profession that will make me happy for a long time, but which, hopefully, will also give me the freedom to leave a place that doesn’t suit me anymore. My parents have taught me how to chase your dreams, but also, how to NOT attempt it. I wish I could show them some of what I have learned not to do based on their examples. The Holstee Manifesto, to me, sums it up. Live your life with passion and share it with others. I would add: “Dance like nobody is watching.” Plus, as a little extra, this year I have met the man who has the potential to be on my side for the rest of my life and who will support all the great challenges and gifts this life gives and enjoy them together with me. And Im only 26. Incredible :)

Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts. I hope you have a hopeful and happy story yourself, too.

- Nathalie

2 months ago 

I’ve discovered this Manifesto last year, being in New York and walking trough the streets. On the brick wall, looking at me as if saying, “You, what you try to make, understand, your friends, around you is all there,” then I’ve started sharing it. Working as 1st Assistant director in cinema makes some part that text more revelant than others. Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something change it. Getting lost will help your find yourself. This is basic in working in that kind of industry. Yourself is so invested in a project, in a idea, in following someone’s creative progress and making it happen, that you cannot do that just as a cool job. YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH YOUR PASSION, and being passionate is living. I think you can’t find yourself happy if you don’t follow your instinct and your true nature. Mine is doing films, helping directors make their imagination become life. Even more, working with that type of person, those who crave what they’re doing, is completely amazing. So, those and more reasons that would be too long to explain are why I’ve totally agree with what says that Manifesto. I trully love it. (Sorry for the potential mistakes around that text, sometimes writing is not as easy as talking. But, it’s written with humility and truth!) - Catherine Kirouac

I’ve discovered this Manifesto last year, being in New York and walking trough the streets. On the brick wall, looking at me as if saying, “You, what you try to make, understand, your friends, around you is all there,” then I’ve started sharing it.

Working as 1st Assistant director in cinema makes some part that text more revelant than others. Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something change it. Getting lost will help your find yourself. This is basic in working in that kind of industry. Yourself is so invested in a project, in a idea, in following someone’s creative progress and making it happen, that you cannot do that just as a cool job. YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH YOUR PASSION, and being passionate is living. I think you can’t find yourself happy if you don’t follow your instinct and your true nature. Mine is doing films, helping directors make their imagination become life. Even more, working with that type of person, those who crave what they’re doing, is completely amazing.

So, those and more reasons that would be too long to explain are why I’ve totally agree with what says that Manifesto. I trully love it. (Sorry for the potential mistakes around that text, sometimes writing is not as easy as talking. But, it’s written with humility and truth!)

- Catherine Kirouac

3 months ago  1 note

This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often We each have a life and have to worry about this. We are our own masters, and as such, we must learn to live. This means knowing how to forgive, how to recognize their own mistakes about it and learn from them. If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love Life is wonderful and my opinion is that it’s wonderful to share it with someone. There is nothing better than finding true love. Find a person who is on your side for all. That besides being your partner is your friend. Supports you in everything you do. They will try to get a smile most of all. Forgive me, but this is wonderful. The big mistake that some people (including myself) is trying to find love. Love is not looking. Love comes, you find. And as you said the Manifesto, he will be waiting. When you stop looking for it, you will find it. Life is simple  Life is more simple than you think. Simplicity is the best it can be. Do not forget that we are all people equally. Let’s be white, black, tall, short, thin or fat,… we are all people. Life goes beyond having who has more money than another, who triumphs over the other, who has more possessions. Life is the best there is, and sometimes we lose time trying to understand it when it’s as simple as that. So, just live it. Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people, we are united in our differences. Some opportunities only come once, seize them. So go out and start creating Life gives us opportunities every minute, every second … Many people regret things they have not done in some time, but if you did not, it was for something … You should never regret something that once did not want to do. We must aprobechar every opportunity that gives us life, because there are many who will not return. Never repeat the feeling of the first kiss, the first time you fall in love,… If you have a dream, chase. Do not stand idly by because you will not get anything by surprise if you stay at home locked. Sal, make, dare. Realise your dreams. Meet world. Meet new people. Be unique. Do what you want without you influence people’s opinion. It’s your life, not that of others. Therefore, take it to the maximum. - Daniel Millán (@justmillan)

This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often

We each have a life and have to worry about this. We are our own masters, and as such, we must learn to live. This means knowing how to forgive, how to recognize their own mistakes about it and learn from them.

If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love

Life is wonderful and my opinion is that it’s wonderful to share it with someone. There is nothing better than finding true love. Find a person who is on your side for all. That besides being your partner is your friend. Supports you in everything you do. They will try to get a smile most of all. Forgive me, but this is wonderful. The big mistake that some people (including myself) is trying to find love. Love is not looking. Love comes, you find. And as you said the Manifesto, he will be waiting. When you stop looking for it, you will find it.

Life is simple 

Life is more simple than you think. Simplicity is the best it can be. Do not forget that we are all people equally. Let’s be white, black, tall, short, thin or fat,… we are all people. Life goes beyond having who has more money than another, who triumphs over the other, who has more possessions. Life is the best there is, and sometimes we lose time trying to understand it when it’s as simple as that. So, just live it.
Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people, we are united in our differences. Some opportunities only come once, seize them. So go out and start creating
Life gives us opportunities every minute, every second … Many people regret things they have not done in some time, but if you did not, it was for something … You should never regret something that once did not want to do. We must aprobechar every opportunity that gives us life, because there are many who will not return. Never repeat the feeling of the first kiss, the first time you fall in love,… If you have a dream, chase. Do not stand idly by because you will not get anything by surprise if you stay at home locked. Sal, make, dare. Realise your dreams. Meet world. Meet new people. Be unique. Do what you want without you influence people’s opinion. It’s your life, not that of others. Therefore, take it to the maximum.
- Daniel Millán (@justmillan)

3 months ago  1 note

“Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something, change it.” The words of the Manifesto have somehow been able to tap into exactly what I have been struggling with/looking for/striving to find in my life. Since I happened upon the Manifesto via a late-night scroll through Facebook in efforts to avoid making progress on my thesis, my life has been altered. Each person I introduce the Manifesto to, I feel a little strange saying “This poster changed my life,” but then I don’t mind because it really has. The Manifesto has allowed me to view life in a way where everything makes sense; everything is simple.  The Manifesto appeared in my life in the midst of completing several graduate school applications to social work programs, writing and rewriting my thesis on alternative approaches to therapy, searching for past employers and professors who might take time out of their lives to recommend me to these graduate schools, and at the same time, imagining the possibilities if I didn’t pursue graduate school and moved to Europe to become a baker or a street performer instead. Since reading the first lines of the Manifesto, I’ve spent my days and nights trying to discover what it is I love to do, so that I can do it often. This has inevitably led to increasingly more pumpkin spice lattes, involvement in creating a production with my school theatre arts program, impromptu shopping trips with my fifteen-year-old sister who has significantly more money to spend on new trends than I, forcing myself to get out of bed in the morning to do more yoga, and squeezing in time to have dinner with friends throughout the week despite how long a day of work might feel. In my search to find out “what I love to do so I can do it often” and therefore pursue that for the rest of my life, I’ve realized I love the joy of being a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur, the beautiful days I continually wake up to, and the ability to share these things with the people around me. Whether I end up getting accepted into graduate school or moving to Switzerland to live my life as a barista, I intend to live each day as it comes and not focus on the unpredictability of the future. I’ll live every moment doing things that I love and making sure to always love what I do, because if I die tomorrow, I want to die knowing I’ve lived each day the best way that I could and filled my life with beautiful moments.Thank you, Manifesto makers, for inspiring my life daily and encouraging me to appreciate every moment I’m alive.

“Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something, change it.”

The words of the Manifesto have somehow been able to tap into exactly what I have been struggling with/looking for/striving to find in my life.

Since I happened upon the Manifesto via a late-night scroll through Facebook in efforts to avoid making progress on my thesis, my life has been altered. Each person I introduce the Manifesto to, I feel a little strange saying “This poster changed my life,” but then I don’t mind because it really has. The Manifesto has allowed me to view life in a way where everything makes sense; everything is simple. 

The Manifesto appeared in my life in the midst of completing several graduate school applications to social work programs, writing and rewriting my thesis on alternative approaches to therapy, searching for past employers and professors who might take time out of their lives to recommend me to these graduate schools, and at the same time, imagining the possibilities if I didn’t pursue graduate school and moved to Europe to become a baker or a street performer instead.

Since reading the first lines of the Manifesto, I’ve spent my days and nights trying to discover what it is I love to do, so that I can do it often. This has inevitably led to increasingly more pumpkin spice lattes, involvement in creating a production with my school theatre arts program, impromptu shopping trips with my fifteen-year-old sister who has significantly more money to spend on new trends than I, forcing myself to get out of bed in the morning to do more yoga, and squeezing in time to have dinner with friends throughout the week despite how long a day of work might feel. In my search to find out “what I love to do so I can do it often” and therefore pursue that for the rest of my life, I’ve realized I love the joy of being a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur, the beautiful days I continually wake up to, and the ability to share these things with the people around me.

Whether I end up getting accepted into graduate school or moving to Switzerland to live my life as a barista, I intend to live each day as it comes and not focus on the unpredictability of the future. I’ll live every moment doing things that I love and making sure to always love what I do, because if I die tomorrow, I want to die knowing I’ve lived each day the best way that I could and filled my life with beautiful moments.

Thank you, Manifesto makers, for inspiring my life daily and encouraging me to appreciate every moment I’m alive.

3 months ago  1 note View high resolution

After the perfect dharma of a job, and a knee surgery gone awry … I became lost. Lost as to who I was without that definition of myself by what I do … a quantifier, a boundary, a box. It was only when I surrendered to being lost that I began to find myself, to understand self-compassion & self-recognition. To find your lost places, and glory there - that is Life. - Susie Bertie

After the perfect dharma of a job, and a knee surgery gone awry … I became lost. Lost as to who I was without that definition of myself by what I do … a quantifier, a boundary, a box. It was only when I surrendered to being lost that I began to find myself, to understand self-compassion & self-recognition. To find your lost places, and glory there - that is Life.

- Susie Bertie

4 months ago  1 note

My story is similar to others posted here, and that in itself is inspiring - that there are so many people deciding for themselves to make a difference in their own lives.   The lines in the Manifesto that relate most to where I am right now are: “Do What You Love and Do It Often” and “If You Don’t Like Your Job, Quit”.  Well, in my case, after over twenty-five years working in the corporate world, I did quit: with nothing except a commitment to embrace doing what I love, which in my case is writing. Now, I wouldn’t advise anyone without a financial safety net to do this on a whim, especially in today’s economy, so I gave myself a small cushion to get it right, and I’m diving in with both feet.  I just created my own website: www.sallyeastwood.com and it’s live! I’m ready to take on new challenges and enjoy the life I create for myself. Oh, and I will finish my novel. :-) - Sally Eastwood http://www.sallyeastwood.com

My story is similar to others posted here, and that in itself is inspiring - that there are so many people deciding for themselves to make a difference in their own lives.  

The lines in the Manifesto that relate most to where I am right now are: “Do What You Love and Do It Often” and “If You Don’t Like Your Job, Quit”.  Well, in my case, after over twenty-five years working in the corporate world, I did quit: with nothing except a commitment to embrace doing what I love, which in my case is writing.

Now, I wouldn’t advise anyone without a financial safety net to do this on a whim, especially in today’s economy, so I gave myself a small cushion to get it right, and I’m diving in with both feet.  I just created my own website: www.sallyeastwood.com and it’s live! I’m ready to take on new challenges and enjoy the life I create for myself.

Oh, and I will finish my novel. :-)

- Sally Eastwood

http://www.sallyeastwood.com

4 months ago  View high resolution

I bought the manifesto for my girlfriend. We’re just relocating across the country (the UK) and she’s leaving what’s been her home for the last 29 years. She’s a bit scared but keeps saying it’s an adventure. I bought the manifesto to reminder her of that, and if things become difficult that we can change them. - Mark Jones

I bought the manifesto for my girlfriend. We’re just relocating across the country (the UK) and she’s leaving what’s been her home for the last 29 years. She’s a bit scared but keeps saying it’s an adventure. I bought the manifesto to reminder her of that, and if things become difficult that we can change them.

- Mark Jones

4 months ago  1 note View high resolution

I’m a 35 year old single mother and interior designer living in Long Beach, NY, a tiny vibrant beach community just 25 miles outside of Manhattan where I resided for 15 years. I left the East Village neighborhood I called home since my college days to raise my son in a safer, more mellow environment, where the public schools thrive on community involvement and neighbors just stop by without calling…..not to mention the beautiful beach just a block from our house that feeds our souls year-round.  It was a challenging but fresh start that I’m proud to have made for him and myself 3+ years ago. We finally felt “home.” But just a month or so ago, Sandy hit and our little one-story shack in the West End of Long Beach filled with 4’ of bay and sewer water, destroying many of our physical possessions and rendering us homeless. In the following days as I picked through the remains, I was reminded that we still had all that really mattered: each other along with the fervent will to rebuild and restore our lives. As a passionate environmentalist, I was also reminded of the power of mother nature, the chilling impact recent generations have had on the planet, and how important it is to continue to be conscious of this every single day.  So when I saw that an eco-friendly version of the Holstee Manifesto had been released, it was the first purchase I made for our home, even though we are still several weeks away from being able to return to it, and despite the fact that we have no beds and very little furniture yet.  Its message was so poignant to me and so aligned with my core values that I knew it had to be the first thing to go back up on our new walls. I even plan on crafting a frame for it from Sandy wood scraps. It will be a permanent commemoration of this turning point in our lives, keeping the blessed reminders this act of nature brought always fresh in our minds, and an homage to my own strength and vitality and that of my beautiful community here.  My son’s elementary school was also wiped out and its reopening date is still pending…..next March, April, May….who knows? I plan on buying a print for their main office whenever that time comes (maybe just the pared down “Live Your Dream” message); his school is the backbone of our community here and probably one of our lives’ biggest losses at this point. The Holstee Manifesto encapsulates many of the messages the school imprints on our children on a weekly basis and it, or a part of it, will be right at home on its walls.   My personal favorite line is “Getting lost will help you find yourself.” Sandy forced much loss and nothing will ever be the same, however I’m more rooted in my authentic self than ever before.  Sandy helped show me what matters most, who my real friends are, why I hold certain beliefs and what beliefs needed to be questions, how strong we all have the capacity to be, and that much needed to be purged to leave behind more love and faith than I ever imagined.  Self found, indeed.  The attached photo is of me and my 7 year old son Ryder just 2 days before the hurricane approached, celebrating my 35th birthday together at my favorite restaurant, blissfully unaware of the journey we’d soon be embarking on.  - Amanda Moore

I’m a 35 year old single mother and interior designer living in Long Beach, NY, a tiny vibrant beach community just 25 miles outside of Manhattan where I resided for 15 years. I left the East Village neighborhood I called home since my college days to raise my son in a safer, more mellow environment, where the public schools thrive on community involvement and neighbors just stop by without calling…..not to mention the beautiful beach just a block from our house that feeds our souls year-round.  It was a challenging but fresh start that I’m proud to have made for him and myself 3+ years ago. We finally felt “home.”

But just a month or so ago, Sandy hit and our little one-story shack in the West End of Long Beach filled with 4’ of bay and sewer water, destroying many of our physical possessions and rendering us homeless. In the following days as I picked through the remains, I was reminded that we still had all that really mattered: each other along with the fervent will to rebuild and restore our lives. As a passionate environmentalist, I was also reminded of the power of mother nature, the chilling impact recent generations have had on the planet, and how important it is to continue to be conscious of this every single day.  So when I saw that an eco-friendly version of the Holstee Manifesto had been released, it was the first purchase I made for our home, even though we are still several weeks away from being able to return to it, and despite the fact that we have no beds and very little furniture yet.  Its message was so poignant to me and so aligned with my core values that I knew it had to be the first thing to go back up on our new walls. I even plan on crafting a frame for it from Sandy wood scraps. It will be a permanent commemoration of this turning point in our lives, keeping the blessed reminders this act of nature brought always fresh in our minds, and an homage to my own strength and vitality and that of my beautiful community here. 
My son’s elementary school was also wiped out and its reopening date is still pending…..next March, April, May….who knows? I plan on buying a print for their main office whenever that time comes (maybe just the pared down “Live Your Dream” message); his school is the backbone of our community here and probably one of our lives’ biggest losses at this point. The Holstee Manifesto encapsulates many of the messages the school imprints on our children on a weekly basis and it, or a part of it, will be right at home on its walls.  
My personal favorite line is “Getting lost will help you find yourself.” Sandy forced much loss and nothing will ever be the same, however I’m more rooted in my authentic self than ever before.  Sandy helped show me what matters most, who my real friends are, why I hold certain beliefs and what beliefs needed to be questions, how strong we all have the capacity to be, and that much needed to be purged to leave behind more love and faith than I ever imagined.  Self found, indeed. 
The attached photo is of me and my 7 year old son Ryder just 2 days before the hurricane approached, celebrating my 35th birthday together at my favorite restaurant, blissfully unaware of the journey we’d soon be embarking on. 
- Amanda Moore

5 months ago  2 notes View high resolution

The special line for me was about love. I have been in a relationship and have been wondering why it doesnt feel like true love. Something major was missing and it was because in order to make the relationship work, I had stopped doing all the things I loved. I stopped traveling, I stopped doing my artwork, I was working in a job… not a career! A job that I didn’t like or have any passion for. And it dawned on me when reading that line that I wont find true love unless I start doing the things I love, and then that person will be there that fits in with what makes me the special individual person I am.  I have since rediscovered passion in my life and I feel like the world is my oyster! - Kim

The special line for me was about love. I have been in a relationship and have been wondering why it doesnt feel like true love. Something major was missing and it was because in order to make the relationship work, I had stopped doing all the things I loved. I stopped traveling, I stopped doing my artwork, I was working in a job… not a career! A job that I didn’t like or have any passion for. And it dawned on me when reading that line that I wont find true love unless I start doing the things I love, and then that person will be there that fits in with what makes me the special individual person I am. 

I have since rediscovered passion in my life and I feel like the world is my oyster!

- Kim

6 months ago 

My attention was drawn to everything the Manifesto says. I have learnd everything in my 25 years of life the hard way. And I notice what that do on my heart, my soul, my thoughts. To read these words gives me comfort, joy, silence, happiness, that there will be a satisfaction of life in the future for everyone who wants it. Lots of love to you guys in holstee, from Norway. - Maria-Sibel Krogh

My attention was drawn to everything the Manifesto says. I have learnd everything in my 25 years of life the hard way. And I notice what that do on my heart, my soul, my thoughts. To read these words gives me comfort, joy, silence, happiness, that there will be a satisfaction of life in the future for everyone who wants it.

Lots of love to you guys in holstee, from Norway.

- Maria-Sibel Krogh

6 months ago  View high resolution

A friend shared the Holstee poster with me in 2010. At the time I was a few years out of grad school and happy to have employment to simply get my ‘adult life’ started. Funny how ‘adult life’ quickly began to feel like I was living in a giant ‘rinse-lather-repeat’ cycle. So much of the same every day, just to get by and pay bills and live a lifestyle barely within my means. I was in my mid-twenties, feeling the onset of a quarter-life crisis and questioning if I had made the right choices. I would continue to grapple with these questions for at least another year, working for various employers and trying to be happy working to make everyone’s dreams - with the exception of my own - come true. Fast forward to 2012: I had enough of putting myself second. What about that made me happy?I pulled out the Holstee Manifesto. Line by line, I wrote it out on paper and began brainstorming ideas for living it. An actionable plan. A few samples included: “Stop over analyzing, life is simple.” - I made a promise to myself to live more in the moment instead of wishing for a future I wasn’t working toward. An analyst by trade and training, I’m slowly learning to shut off the excess and noisy thoughts that come with over-analyzing. “When you eat, appreciate every last bite.” - Cook more, eat out less. Create relationships with people who grow or sell you your food. Go to the farmers market more often. Buy local. Eat slowly and at a table. “Ask the next person you see what their passion is, and share your inspiring dream with them.” - Create a networking group for young women who may be feeling the same way I did (I launched it in May of 2012 and it’s going strong!). Make this the first question you ask strangers when you meet them. “…so go out and start creating.” Stop denying your talents and start reveling in them. Pretending that working with data and spreadsheets is fine when you would rather help launch wellness-based businesses and create designs that inspire health is not okay. Own up and live in what you love. A job can be fun and filled with passion. I love the Holstee Manifesto for pushing me to look beyond just being and get into truly living a life on my terms. It has its bumps and I expect to work hard as I grow this business and live out my true purpose, but I also expect to be more fulfilled and find smooth-sailing in time. You don’t ever have to wait to start over. Once you make the decision to live on your terms and for your happiness, you begin living the manifesto of your life. - Erin Haslag, writer & designer  WELL in L.A.

A friend shared the Holstee poster with me in 2010. At the time I was a few years out of grad school and happy to have employment to simply get my ‘adult life’ started. Funny how ‘adult life’ quickly began to feel like I was living in a giant ‘rinse-lather-repeat’ cycle. So much of the same every day, just to get by and pay bills and live a lifestyle barely within my means. I was in my mid-twenties, feeling the onset of a quarter-life crisis and questioning if I had made the right choices. I would continue to grapple with these questions for at least another year, working for various employers and trying to be happy working to make everyone’s dreams - with the exception of my own - come true. Fast forward to 2012: I had enough of putting myself second. What about that made me happy?

I pulled out the Holstee Manifesto. Line by line, I wrote it out on paper and began brainstorming ideas for living it. An actionable plan. A few samples included:

  • “Stop over analyzing, life is simple.” - I made a promise to myself to live more in the moment instead of wishing for a future I wasn’t working toward. An analyst by trade and training, I’m slowly learning to shut off the excess and noisy thoughts that come with over-analyzing.
  • “When you eat, appreciate every last bite.” - Cook more, eat out less. Create relationships with people who grow or sell you your food. Go to the farmers market more often. Buy local. Eat slowly and at a table.
  • “Ask the next person you see what their passion is, and share your inspiring dream with them.” - Create a networking group for young women who may be feeling the same way I did (I launched it in May of 2012 and it’s going strong!). Make this the first question you ask strangers when you meet them.
  • “…so go out and start creating.” Stop denying your talents and start reveling in them. Pretending that working with data and spreadsheets is fine when you would rather help launch wellness-based businesses and create designs that inspire health is not okay. Own up and live in what you love. A job can be fun and filled with passion.

I love the Holstee Manifesto for pushing me to look beyond just being and get into truly living a life on my terms. It has its bumps and I expect to work hard as I grow this business and live out my true purpose, but I also expect to be more fulfilled and find smooth-sailing in time. You don’t ever have to wait to start over. Once you make the decision to live on your terms and for your happiness, you begin living the manifesto of your life.

- Erin Haslag, writer & designer 

WELL in L.A.

7 months ago  1 note

This is my boyfriend Stan. I got the Manifesto for him. He’s starting his own business as a musician and composer and can sometimes use a little encouragement. I hope he will hang the Manifesto in his workspace and feel invigorated and stimulated by it and make more beautiful music. - Sara Theunynck twitter.com/sajuma

This is my boyfriend Stan. I got the Manifesto for him. He’s starting his own business as a musician and composer and can sometimes use a little encouragement. I hope he will hang the Manifesto in his workspace and feel invigorated and stimulated by it and make more beautiful music.

- Sara Theunynck

twitter.com/sajuma

8 months ago  View high resolution

About a year ago to the day, I saw the Manifesto for the first time while searching for a new direction to take myself. My life had been taking dramatic turns very quickly; I was about to graduate, my relationships were evolving as I was quickly getting older, but I was not feeling like I was really “growing up.” I was browsing through a list of entrepreneurs, trying to narrow down the five that I would beg to let me work for them. And then, I saw the Manifesto. I must have read it ten times in a row. I knew from that moment on, regardless of where life took me, the words on the Manifesto would always have an impact on my life. Later that same night, I had a date scheduled, my first with this particular girl. As I sipped my margarita, I remembered the words on the Manifesto, and decided to be myself: open, naive, and to put all my awkwardness right on the table. “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I want to change the world. Do something crazy. I just applied for these programs. I’m either going to Cali or NYC. I have to get out of here and take a risk on something.” “That’s awesome! I think you should explore outside of the Midwest.” She replied. “I want to teach Earth and Space Science…and shave my head.” Our Mexican meal turned into hours of talking about life, death, fears and passions. I credit a large portion of our conversation on the Manifesto. It pushed me away from typical ice breaker questions and down a path of intellectual exploration, which led to genuine interest, insight and sparked amazing conversation. “If you don’t like something, change it.” How true. I’m in NYC. She’s bald and beautiful. And life is short. - Cody Beck

About a year ago to the day, I saw the Manifesto for the first time while searching for a new direction to take myself. My life had been taking dramatic turns very quickly; I was about to graduate, my relationships were evolving as I was quickly getting older, but I was not feeling like I was really “growing up.”

I was browsing through a list of entrepreneurs, trying to narrow down the five that I would beg to let me work for them. And then, I saw the Manifesto. I must have read it ten times in a row. I knew from that moment on, regardless of where life took me, the words on the Manifesto would always have an impact on my life.

Later that same night, I had a date scheduled, my first with this particular girl. As I sipped my margarita, I remembered the words on the Manifesto, and decided to be myself: open, naive, and to put all my awkwardness right on the table.

“I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I want to change the world. Do something crazy. I just applied for these programs. I’m either going to Cali or NYC. I have to get out of here and take a risk on something.”

“That’s awesome! I think you should explore outside of the Midwest.” She replied. “I want to teach Earth and Space Science…and shave my head.”

Our Mexican meal turned into hours of talking about life, death, fears and passions. I credit a large portion of our conversation on the Manifesto. It pushed me away from typical ice breaker questions and down a path of intellectual exploration, which led to genuine interest, insight and sparked amazing conversation.

“If you don’t like something, change it.” How true.

I’m in NYC. She’s bald and beautiful. And life is short.

- Cody Beck

After a few years working for a large mining company, I found myself repeatedly looking at the computer screen, and asking myself: “Why am I doing this?” It had no meaning, had no real conetion, there was an inconsistency within the enterprise system, and I tried to resist for longer, I resigned, and fortunately I came to see life through different eyes, more maturely.I moved to Sao Paulo, and started working with my father, and come the time that everything changed. Strong and profound changes, so there’s no coming back, I always say, “knowing the truth, I can not stay in ‘convenience,’ I must be part of the solution, not the problem.”I realized that I sold organic products, and like me, producers should consume and promote this chain. I’ve engaged in Sao Paulo group, which discusses and puts into practice requests from farmers along the organs responsible government. A year after many meetings, and we made a change of a organics law, thanks to the joint efforts of farmers, traders and consumers of organics in São Paulo.Promoting the sale of products that replace pesticides in our farm, and in 2010 I discover that I am “social entrepreneur,” another radical change in my perception of identity and community. Inside The Hub, I found people who are like me, do a radically better world. Before, I felt alone because hardly among my friends people had engaged in transformation.Last year, climbed nearly 50% in our revenue, coming in 425 thousand reais, employ 14 people, all with their labor rights guaranteed. We are proud of our employees.After a few years, “sold my life,” everything that I “had” turned into money, or was happy to be in the house of some friends, and my brother, even my car was stolen, and since then, the bike is my best friend & transport.I spent so much time in hard traffic, so today I’ve decided to travel by bike, feeling life with another rhythm and path.On the way, the expedition Ciclocultura will be planting permaculture knowledge, and exchanges ancestors wisdom mixed with modern technologies. We intend to lead workshops, such as bicycles that generate energy for locations without electricity, as well as bioconstrution and gardens, root seeds exchange and fostering fair trade economy.A year is the expectation on the farm until we hit the Amazon, were my farm is located, on the Pará state.Living the dream really, believe in the heart, go fearlessly, answers reside within each one.As our trip is collaborative, we ask please to share it! ALso you can send suggestions for routes, receive us into your homes, towns!   Grateful!   - Romina Lindemann

After a few years working for a large mining company, I found myself repeatedly looking at the computer screen, and asking myself: “Why am I doing this?” It had no meaning, had no real conetion, there was an inconsistency within the enterprise system, and I tried to resist for longer, I resigned, and fortunately I came to see life through different eyes, more maturely.

I moved to Sao Paulo, and started working with my father, and come the time that everything changed. Strong and profound changes, so there’s no coming back, I always say, “knowing the truth, I can not stay in ‘convenience,’ I must be part of the solution, not the problem.”

I realized that I sold organic products, and like me, producers should consume and promote this chain. I’ve engaged in Sao Paulo group, which discusses and puts into practice requests from farmers along the organs responsible government. A year after many meetings, and we made a change of a organics law, thanks to the joint efforts of farmers, traders and consumers of organics in São Paulo.

Promoting the sale of products that replace pesticides in our farm, and in 2010 I discover that I am “social entrepreneur,” another radical change in my perception of identity and community. Inside The Hub, I found people who are like me, do a radically better world. Before, I felt alone because hardly among my friends people had engaged in transformation.

Last year, climbed nearly 50% in our revenue, coming in 425 thousand reais, employ 14 people, all with their labor rights guaranteed. We are proud of our employees.

After a few years, “sold my life,” everything that I “had” turned into money, or was happy to be in the house of some friends, and my brother, even my car was stolen, and since then, the bike is my best friend & transport.

I spent so much time in hard traffic, so today I’ve decided to travel by bike, feeling life with another rhythm and path.

On the way, the expedition Ciclocultura will be planting permaculture knowledge, and exchanges ancestors wisdom mixed with modern technologies. We intend to lead workshops, such as bicycles that generate energy for locations without electricity, as well as bioconstrution and gardens, root seeds exchange and fostering fair trade economy.

A year is the expectation on the farm until we hit the Amazon, were my farm is located, on the Pará state.

Living the dream really, believe in the heart, go fearlessly, answers reside within each one.

As our trip is collaborative, we ask please to share it! ALso you can send suggestions for routes, receive us into your homes, towns!
 
Grateful!
 
- Romina Lindemann

Since first stumbling on to the Manifesto, my life has been an altered course. At the end of 2011, I stopped taking clients, cleared my plate of things that divided my time or stressed me out, dropped the guilt and caught up on everything unfinished, and I stopped saying someday. Someday is now. 2012 became my Year of the Phoenix and I spent the year dusting off projects and journals full of ideas that I’d never had the time to act on. There were so many wonders, a cross between Christmas morning and Pandora’s box. From that moment, I decided to make each day about doing more of what I love, being present right now, and spending more time creating (art, memories, time) with those I love. At the end of 2012, I spontaneously decided we were going to Europe. I had no idea how, but I knew that we would go if we were meant to, so I put it out there. Two weeks later a door opened. I am launching a magazine, my art group is going nonprofit, and we now have tickets to spend three weeks with some of our dearest friends - we will be spending three weeks in Portugal, Germany, and Sweden. We will also be spending a few days doing the most magical things (like riding the Sultan’s Elephant) in Spain and France for my magazine. Getting rid of all that “stuff” and saying no was incredibly freeing. I am doing things for me now, which makes me a happier person for my family, and my family and I are doing more as a result. We are savoring every bite of our lives and we are changed. Thank you. Someday is now. - Ana Maria Selvaggio

Since first stumbling on to the Manifesto, my life has been an altered course.

At the end of 2011, I stopped taking clients, cleared my plate of things that divided my time or stressed me out, dropped the guilt and caught up on everything unfinished, and I stopped saying someday.

Someday is now.

2012 became my Year of the Phoenix and I spent the year dusting off projects and journals full of ideas that I’d never had the time to act on. There were so many wonders, a cross between Christmas morning and Pandora’s box. From that moment, I decided to make each day about doing more of what I love, being present right now, and spending more time creating (art, memories, time) with those I love.

At the end of 2012, I spontaneously decided we were going to Europe. I had no idea how, but I knew that we would go if we were meant to, so I put it out there. Two weeks later a door opened. I am launching a magazine, my art group is going nonprofit, and we now have tickets to spend three weeks with some of our dearest friends - we will be spending three weeks in Portugal, Germany, and Sweden. We will also be spending a few days doing the most magical things (like riding the Sultan’s Elephant) in Spain and France for my magazine.

Getting rid of all that “stuff” and saying no was incredibly freeing. I am doing things for me now, which makes me a happier person for my family, and my family and I are doing more as a result. We are savoring every bite of our lives and we are changed. Thank you.

Someday is now.

- Ana Maria Selvaggio

To me, the Holstee Manifesto has two significant meanings. It reminds me to live every day to the fullest, to do what I love and keep the people close to my heart that deserve it. I’ve always had the feeling life is too short to be wasted with doing something that does not make you happy. I am certainly not perfect, but I am so blessed that life, so far, has given me good things and valuable lessons to learn. The Manifesto also speaks to me in relationship with the bond with my parents. Especially my mother, who is a person full of inhibitions, full of self-loathing and doubt, and in her 50+ years she has not overcome this and started to love herself the way she is. She, of course, is not perfect either, but she deserves more love of herself. I think most people are beautiful, as long as their souls are. She is a person with so much experience and wisdom of life - and therefore, a beautiful soul, but to her, all that matters is weight and wrinkles. To have a loved one utter sentences like “I wish I was anorexic for just a little while, just until I‘m thin” just hurts you and you can see how that self-hate makes herself and everyone around her miserable. My dad is a more practical man, but he is caught in a profession which on the one hand he absolutely loves, and which used to be his dream job, but on the other hand brings so much problems as the constellation of people having to work together is just awful. To me, my parents were clearly my role models. I have studied (still am, for a PhD) a very long time to be able to get into a profession that will make me happy for a long time, but which, hopefully, will also give me the freedom to leave a place that doesn’t suit me anymore. My parents have taught me how to chase your dreams, but also, how to NOT attempt it. I wish I could show them some of what I have learned not to do based on their examples. The Holstee Manifesto, to me, sums it up. Live your life with passion and share it with others. I would add: “Dance like nobody is watching.” Plus, as a little extra, this year I have met the man who has the potential to be on my side for the rest of my life and who will support all the great challenges and gifts this life gives and enjoy them together with me. And Im only 26. Incredible :) Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts. I hope you have a hopeful and happy story yourself, too. - Nathalie

To me, the Holstee Manifesto has two significant meanings. It reminds me to live every day to the fullest, to do what I love and keep the people close to my heart that deserve it. I’ve always had the feeling life is too short to be wasted with doing something that does not make you happy. I am certainly not perfect, but I am so blessed that life, so far, has given me good things and valuable lessons to learn.

The Manifesto also speaks to me in relationship with the bond with my parents. Especially my mother, who is a person full of inhibitions, full of self-loathing and doubt, and in her 50+ years she has not overcome this and started to love herself the way she is. She, of course, is not perfect either, but she deserves more love of herself. I think most people are beautiful, as long as their souls are. She is a person with so much experience and wisdom of life - and therefore, a beautiful soul, but to her, all that matters is weight and wrinkles. To have a loved one utter sentences like “I wish I was anorexic for just a little while, just until I‘m thin” just hurts you and you can see how that self-hate makes herself and everyone around her miserable. My dad is a more practical man, but he is caught in a profession which on the one hand he absolutely loves, and which used to be his dream job, but on the other hand brings so much problems as the constellation of people having to work together is just awful.

To me, my parents were clearly my role models. I have studied (still am, for a PhD) a very long time to be able to get into a profession that will make me happy for a long time, but which, hopefully, will also give me the freedom to leave a place that doesn’t suit me anymore. My parents have taught me how to chase your dreams, but also, how to NOT attempt it. I wish I could show them some of what I have learned not to do based on their examples. The Holstee Manifesto, to me, sums it up. Live your life with passion and share it with others. I would add: “Dance like nobody is watching.” Plus, as a little extra, this year I have met the man who has the potential to be on my side for the rest of my life and who will support all the great challenges and gifts this life gives and enjoy them together with me. And Im only 26. Incredible :)

Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts. I hope you have a hopeful and happy story yourself, too.

- Nathalie

I’ve discovered this Manifesto last year, being in New York and walking trough the streets. On the brick wall, looking at me as if saying, “You, what you try to make, understand, your friends, around you is all there,” then I’ve started sharing it. Working as 1st Assistant director in cinema makes some part that text more revelant than others. Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something change it. Getting lost will help your find yourself. This is basic in working in that kind of industry. Yourself is so invested in a project, in a idea, in following someone’s creative progress and making it happen, that you cannot do that just as a cool job. YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH YOUR PASSION, and being passionate is living. I think you can’t find yourself happy if you don’t follow your instinct and your true nature. Mine is doing films, helping directors make their imagination become life. Even more, working with that type of person, those who crave what they’re doing, is completely amazing. So, those and more reasons that would be too long to explain are why I’ve totally agree with what says that Manifesto. I trully love it. (Sorry for the potential mistakes around that text, sometimes writing is not as easy as talking. But, it’s written with humility and truth!) - Catherine Kirouac

I’ve discovered this Manifesto last year, being in New York and walking trough the streets. On the brick wall, looking at me as if saying, “You, what you try to make, understand, your friends, around you is all there,” then I’ve started sharing it.

Working as 1st Assistant director in cinema makes some part that text more revelant than others. Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something change it. Getting lost will help your find yourself. This is basic in working in that kind of industry. Yourself is so invested in a project, in a idea, in following someone’s creative progress and making it happen, that you cannot do that just as a cool job. YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH YOUR PASSION, and being passionate is living. I think you can’t find yourself happy if you don’t follow your instinct and your true nature. Mine is doing films, helping directors make their imagination become life. Even more, working with that type of person, those who crave what they’re doing, is completely amazing.

So, those and more reasons that would be too long to explain are why I’ve totally agree with what says that Manifesto. I trully love it. (Sorry for the potential mistakes around that text, sometimes writing is not as easy as talking. But, it’s written with humility and truth!)

- Catherine Kirouac

This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often We each have a life and have to worry about this. We are our own masters, and as such, we must learn to live. This means knowing how to forgive, how to recognize their own mistakes about it and learn from them. If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love Life is wonderful and my opinion is that it’s wonderful to share it with someone. There is nothing better than finding true love. Find a person who is on your side for all. That besides being your partner is your friend. Supports you in everything you do. They will try to get a smile most of all. Forgive me, but this is wonderful. The big mistake that some people (including myself) is trying to find love. Love is not looking. Love comes, you find. And as you said the Manifesto, he will be waiting. When you stop looking for it, you will find it. Life is simple  Life is more simple than you think. Simplicity is the best it can be. Do not forget that we are all people equally. Let’s be white, black, tall, short, thin or fat,… we are all people. Life goes beyond having who has more money than another, who triumphs over the other, who has more possessions. Life is the best there is, and sometimes we lose time trying to understand it when it’s as simple as that. So, just live it. Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people, we are united in our differences. Some opportunities only come once, seize them. So go out and start creating Life gives us opportunities every minute, every second … Many people regret things they have not done in some time, but if you did not, it was for something … You should never regret something that once did not want to do. We must aprobechar every opportunity that gives us life, because there are many who will not return. Never repeat the feeling of the first kiss, the first time you fall in love,… If you have a dream, chase. Do not stand idly by because you will not get anything by surprise if you stay at home locked. Sal, make, dare. Realise your dreams. Meet world. Meet new people. Be unique. Do what you want without you influence people’s opinion. It’s your life, not that of others. Therefore, take it to the maximum. - Daniel Millán (@justmillan)

This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often

We each have a life and have to worry about this. We are our own masters, and as such, we must learn to live. This means knowing how to forgive, how to recognize their own mistakes about it and learn from them.

If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love

Life is wonderful and my opinion is that it’s wonderful to share it with someone. There is nothing better than finding true love. Find a person who is on your side for all. That besides being your partner is your friend. Supports you in everything you do. They will try to get a smile most of all. Forgive me, but this is wonderful. The big mistake that some people (including myself) is trying to find love. Love is not looking. Love comes, you find. And as you said the Manifesto, he will be waiting. When you stop looking for it, you will find it.

Life is simple 

Life is more simple than you think. Simplicity is the best it can be. Do not forget that we are all people equally. Let’s be white, black, tall, short, thin or fat,… we are all people. Life goes beyond having who has more money than another, who triumphs over the other, who has more possessions. Life is the best there is, and sometimes we lose time trying to understand it when it’s as simple as that. So, just live it.
Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people, we are united in our differences. Some opportunities only come once, seize them. So go out and start creating
Life gives us opportunities every minute, every second … Many people regret things they have not done in some time, but if you did not, it was for something … You should never regret something that once did not want to do. We must aprobechar every opportunity that gives us life, because there are many who will not return. Never repeat the feeling of the first kiss, the first time you fall in love,… If you have a dream, chase. Do not stand idly by because you will not get anything by surprise if you stay at home locked. Sal, make, dare. Realise your dreams. Meet world. Meet new people. Be unique. Do what you want without you influence people’s opinion. It’s your life, not that of others. Therefore, take it to the maximum.
- Daniel Millán (@justmillan)
“Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something, change it.” The words of the Manifesto have somehow been able to tap into exactly what I have been struggling with/looking for/striving to find in my life. Since I happened upon the Manifesto via a late-night scroll through Facebook in efforts to avoid making progress on my thesis, my life has been altered. Each person I introduce the Manifesto to, I feel a little strange saying “This poster changed my life,” but then I don’t mind because it really has. The Manifesto has allowed me to view life in a way where everything makes sense; everything is simple.  The Manifesto appeared in my life in the midst of completing several graduate school applications to social work programs, writing and rewriting my thesis on alternative approaches to therapy, searching for past employers and professors who might take time out of their lives to recommend me to these graduate schools, and at the same time, imagining the possibilities if I didn’t pursue graduate school and moved to Europe to become a baker or a street performer instead. Since reading the first lines of the Manifesto, I’ve spent my days and nights trying to discover what it is I love to do, so that I can do it often. This has inevitably led to increasingly more pumpkin spice lattes, involvement in creating a production with my school theatre arts program, impromptu shopping trips with my fifteen-year-old sister who has significantly more money to spend on new trends than I, forcing myself to get out of bed in the morning to do more yoga, and squeezing in time to have dinner with friends throughout the week despite how long a day of work might feel. In my search to find out “what I love to do so I can do it often” and therefore pursue that for the rest of my life, I’ve realized I love the joy of being a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur, the beautiful days I continually wake up to, and the ability to share these things with the people around me. Whether I end up getting accepted into graduate school or moving to Switzerland to live my life as a barista, I intend to live each day as it comes and not focus on the unpredictability of the future. I’ll live every moment doing things that I love and making sure to always love what I do, because if I die tomorrow, I want to die knowing I’ve lived each day the best way that I could and filled my life with beautiful moments.Thank you, Manifesto makers, for inspiring my life daily and encouraging me to appreciate every moment I’m alive.

“Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something, change it.”

The words of the Manifesto have somehow been able to tap into exactly what I have been struggling with/looking for/striving to find in my life.

Since I happened upon the Manifesto via a late-night scroll through Facebook in efforts to avoid making progress on my thesis, my life has been altered. Each person I introduce the Manifesto to, I feel a little strange saying “This poster changed my life,” but then I don’t mind because it really has. The Manifesto has allowed me to view life in a way where everything makes sense; everything is simple. 

The Manifesto appeared in my life in the midst of completing several graduate school applications to social work programs, writing and rewriting my thesis on alternative approaches to therapy, searching for past employers and professors who might take time out of their lives to recommend me to these graduate schools, and at the same time, imagining the possibilities if I didn’t pursue graduate school and moved to Europe to become a baker or a street performer instead.

Since reading the first lines of the Manifesto, I’ve spent my days and nights trying to discover what it is I love to do, so that I can do it often. This has inevitably led to increasingly more pumpkin spice lattes, involvement in creating a production with my school theatre arts program, impromptu shopping trips with my fifteen-year-old sister who has significantly more money to spend on new trends than I, forcing myself to get out of bed in the morning to do more yoga, and squeezing in time to have dinner with friends throughout the week despite how long a day of work might feel. In my search to find out “what I love to do so I can do it often” and therefore pursue that for the rest of my life, I’ve realized I love the joy of being a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur, the beautiful days I continually wake up to, and the ability to share these things with the people around me.

Whether I end up getting accepted into graduate school or moving to Switzerland to live my life as a barista, I intend to live each day as it comes and not focus on the unpredictability of the future. I’ll live every moment doing things that I love and making sure to always love what I do, because if I die tomorrow, I want to die knowing I’ve lived each day the best way that I could and filled my life with beautiful moments.

Thank you, Manifesto makers, for inspiring my life daily and encouraging me to appreciate every moment I’m alive.

After the perfect dharma of a job, and a knee surgery gone awry … I became lost. Lost as to who I was without that definition of myself by what I do … a quantifier, a boundary, a box. It was only when I surrendered to being lost that I began to find myself, to understand self-compassion & self-recognition. To find your lost places, and glory there - that is Life. - Susie Bertie

After the perfect dharma of a job, and a knee surgery gone awry … I became lost. Lost as to who I was without that definition of myself by what I do … a quantifier, a boundary, a box. It was only when I surrendered to being lost that I began to find myself, to understand self-compassion & self-recognition. To find your lost places, and glory there - that is Life.

- Susie Bertie

My story is similar to others posted here, and that in itself is inspiring - that there are so many people deciding for themselves to make a difference in their own lives.   The lines in the Manifesto that relate most to where I am right now are: “Do What You Love and Do It Often” and “If You Don’t Like Your Job, Quit”.  Well, in my case, after over twenty-five years working in the corporate world, I did quit: with nothing except a commitment to embrace doing what I love, which in my case is writing. Now, I wouldn’t advise anyone without a financial safety net to do this on a whim, especially in today’s economy, so I gave myself a small cushion to get it right, and I’m diving in with both feet.  I just created my own website: www.sallyeastwood.com and it’s live! I’m ready to take on new challenges and enjoy the life I create for myself. Oh, and I will finish my novel. :-) - Sally Eastwood http://www.sallyeastwood.com

My story is similar to others posted here, and that in itself is inspiring - that there are so many people deciding for themselves to make a difference in their own lives.  

The lines in the Manifesto that relate most to where I am right now are: “Do What You Love and Do It Often” and “If You Don’t Like Your Job, Quit”.  Well, in my case, after over twenty-five years working in the corporate world, I did quit: with nothing except a commitment to embrace doing what I love, which in my case is writing.

Now, I wouldn’t advise anyone without a financial safety net to do this on a whim, especially in today’s economy, so I gave myself a small cushion to get it right, and I’m diving in with both feet.  I just created my own website: www.sallyeastwood.com and it’s live! I’m ready to take on new challenges and enjoy the life I create for myself.

Oh, and I will finish my novel. :-)

- Sally Eastwood

http://www.sallyeastwood.com

I bought the manifesto for my girlfriend. We’re just relocating across the country (the UK) and she’s leaving what’s been her home for the last 29 years. She’s a bit scared but keeps saying it’s an adventure. I bought the manifesto to reminder her of that, and if things become difficult that we can change them. - Mark Jones

I bought the manifesto for my girlfriend. We’re just relocating across the country (the UK) and she’s leaving what’s been her home for the last 29 years. She’s a bit scared but keeps saying it’s an adventure. I bought the manifesto to reminder her of that, and if things become difficult that we can change them.

- Mark Jones

I’m a 35 year old single mother and interior designer living in Long Beach, NY, a tiny vibrant beach community just 25 miles outside of Manhattan where I resided for 15 years. I left the East Village neighborhood I called home since my college days to raise my son in a safer, more mellow environment, where the public schools thrive on community involvement and neighbors just stop by without calling…..not to mention the beautiful beach just a block from our house that feeds our souls year-round.  It was a challenging but fresh start that I’m proud to have made for him and myself 3+ years ago. We finally felt “home.” But just a month or so ago, Sandy hit and our little one-story shack in the West End of Long Beach filled with 4’ of bay and sewer water, destroying many of our physical possessions and rendering us homeless. In the following days as I picked through the remains, I was reminded that we still had all that really mattered: each other along with the fervent will to rebuild and restore our lives. As a passionate environmentalist, I was also reminded of the power of mother nature, the chilling impact recent generations have had on the planet, and how important it is to continue to be conscious of this every single day.  So when I saw that an eco-friendly version of the Holstee Manifesto had been released, it was the first purchase I made for our home, even though we are still several weeks away from being able to return to it, and despite the fact that we have no beds and very little furniture yet.  Its message was so poignant to me and so aligned with my core values that I knew it had to be the first thing to go back up on our new walls. I even plan on crafting a frame for it from Sandy wood scraps. It will be a permanent commemoration of this turning point in our lives, keeping the blessed reminders this act of nature brought always fresh in our minds, and an homage to my own strength and vitality and that of my beautiful community here.  My son’s elementary school was also wiped out and its reopening date is still pending…..next March, April, May….who knows? I plan on buying a print for their main office whenever that time comes (maybe just the pared down “Live Your Dream” message); his school is the backbone of our community here and probably one of our lives’ biggest losses at this point. The Holstee Manifesto encapsulates many of the messages the school imprints on our children on a weekly basis and it, or a part of it, will be right at home on its walls.   My personal favorite line is “Getting lost will help you find yourself.” Sandy forced much loss and nothing will ever be the same, however I’m more rooted in my authentic self than ever before.  Sandy helped show me what matters most, who my real friends are, why I hold certain beliefs and what beliefs needed to be questions, how strong we all have the capacity to be, and that much needed to be purged to leave behind more love and faith than I ever imagined.  Self found, indeed.  The attached photo is of me and my 7 year old son Ryder just 2 days before the hurricane approached, celebrating my 35th birthday together at my favorite restaurant, blissfully unaware of the journey we’d soon be embarking on.  - Amanda Moore

I’m a 35 year old single mother and interior designer living in Long Beach, NY, a tiny vibrant beach community just 25 miles outside of Manhattan where I resided for 15 years. I left the East Village neighborhood I called home since my college days to raise my son in a safer, more mellow environment, where the public schools thrive on community involvement and neighbors just stop by without calling…..not to mention the beautiful beach just a block from our house that feeds our souls year-round.  It was a challenging but fresh start that I’m proud to have made for him and myself 3+ years ago. We finally felt “home.”

But just a month or so ago, Sandy hit and our little one-story shack in the West End of Long Beach filled with 4’ of bay and sewer water, destroying many of our physical possessions and rendering us homeless. In the following days as I picked through the remains, I was reminded that we still had all that really mattered: each other along with the fervent will to rebuild and restore our lives. As a passionate environmentalist, I was also reminded of the power of mother nature, the chilling impact recent generations have had on the planet, and how important it is to continue to be conscious of this every single day.  So when I saw that an eco-friendly version of the Holstee Manifesto had been released, it was the first purchase I made for our home, even though we are still several weeks away from being able to return to it, and despite the fact that we have no beds and very little furniture yet.  Its message was so poignant to me and so aligned with my core values that I knew it had to be the first thing to go back up on our new walls. I even plan on crafting a frame for it from Sandy wood scraps. It will be a permanent commemoration of this turning point in our lives, keeping the blessed reminders this act of nature brought always fresh in our minds, and an homage to my own strength and vitality and that of my beautiful community here. 
My son’s elementary school was also wiped out and its reopening date is still pending…..next March, April, May….who knows? I plan on buying a print for their main office whenever that time comes (maybe just the pared down “Live Your Dream” message); his school is the backbone of our community here and probably one of our lives’ biggest losses at this point. The Holstee Manifesto encapsulates many of the messages the school imprints on our children on a weekly basis and it, or a part of it, will be right at home on its walls.  
My personal favorite line is “Getting lost will help you find yourself.” Sandy forced much loss and nothing will ever be the same, however I’m more rooted in my authentic self than ever before.  Sandy helped show me what matters most, who my real friends are, why I hold certain beliefs and what beliefs needed to be questions, how strong we all have the capacity to be, and that much needed to be purged to leave behind more love and faith than I ever imagined.  Self found, indeed. 
The attached photo is of me and my 7 year old son Ryder just 2 days before the hurricane approached, celebrating my 35th birthday together at my favorite restaurant, blissfully unaware of the journey we’d soon be embarking on. 
- Amanda Moore
The special line for me was about love. I have been in a relationship and have been wondering why it doesnt feel like true love. Something major was missing and it was because in order to make the relationship work, I had stopped doing all the things I loved. I stopped traveling, I stopped doing my artwork, I was working in a job… not a career! A job that I didn’t like or have any passion for. And it dawned on me when reading that line that I wont find true love unless I start doing the things I love, and then that person will be there that fits in with what makes me the special individual person I am.  I have since rediscovered passion in my life and I feel like the world is my oyster! - Kim

The special line for me was about love. I have been in a relationship and have been wondering why it doesnt feel like true love. Something major was missing and it was because in order to make the relationship work, I had stopped doing all the things I loved. I stopped traveling, I stopped doing my artwork, I was working in a job… not a career! A job that I didn’t like or have any passion for. And it dawned on me when reading that line that I wont find true love unless I start doing the things I love, and then that person will be there that fits in with what makes me the special individual person I am. 

I have since rediscovered passion in my life and I feel like the world is my oyster!

- Kim

My attention was drawn to everything the Manifesto says. I have learnd everything in my 25 years of life the hard way. And I notice what that do on my heart, my soul, my thoughts. To read these words gives me comfort, joy, silence, happiness, that there will be a satisfaction of life in the future for everyone who wants it. Lots of love to you guys in holstee, from Norway. - Maria-Sibel Krogh

My attention was drawn to everything the Manifesto says. I have learnd everything in my 25 years of life the hard way. And I notice what that do on my heart, my soul, my thoughts. To read these words gives me comfort, joy, silence, happiness, that there will be a satisfaction of life in the future for everyone who wants it.

Lots of love to you guys in holstee, from Norway.

- Maria-Sibel Krogh

A friend shared the Holstee poster with me in 2010. At the time I was a few years out of grad school and happy to have employment to simply get my ‘adult life’ started. Funny how ‘adult life’ quickly began to feel like I was living in a giant ‘rinse-lather-repeat’ cycle. So much of the same every day, just to get by and pay bills and live a lifestyle barely within my means. I was in my mid-twenties, feeling the onset of a quarter-life crisis and questioning if I had made the right choices. I would continue to grapple with these questions for at least another year, working for various employers and trying to be happy working to make everyone’s dreams - with the exception of my own - come true. Fast forward to 2012: I had enough of putting myself second. What about that made me happy?I pulled out the Holstee Manifesto. Line by line, I wrote it out on paper and began brainstorming ideas for living it. An actionable plan. A few samples included: “Stop over analyzing, life is simple.” - I made a promise to myself to live more in the moment instead of wishing for a future I wasn’t working toward. An analyst by trade and training, I’m slowly learning to shut off the excess and noisy thoughts that come with over-analyzing. “When you eat, appreciate every last bite.” - Cook more, eat out less. Create relationships with people who grow or sell you your food. Go to the farmers market more often. Buy local. Eat slowly and at a table. “Ask the next person you see what their passion is, and share your inspiring dream with them.” - Create a networking group for young women who may be feeling the same way I did (I launched it in May of 2012 and it’s going strong!). Make this the first question you ask strangers when you meet them. “…so go out and start creating.” Stop denying your talents and start reveling in them. Pretending that working with data and spreadsheets is fine when you would rather help launch wellness-based businesses and create designs that inspire health is not okay. Own up and live in what you love. A job can be fun and filled with passion. I love the Holstee Manifesto for pushing me to look beyond just being and get into truly living a life on my terms. It has its bumps and I expect to work hard as I grow this business and live out my true purpose, but I also expect to be more fulfilled and find smooth-sailing in time. You don’t ever have to wait to start over. Once you make the decision to live on your terms and for your happiness, you begin living the manifesto of your life. - Erin Haslag, writer & designer  WELL in L.A.

A friend shared the Holstee poster with me in 2010. At the time I was a few years out of grad school and happy to have employment to simply get my ‘adult life’ started. Funny how ‘adult life’ quickly began to feel like I was living in a giant ‘rinse-lather-repeat’ cycle. So much of the same every day, just to get by and pay bills and live a lifestyle barely within my means. I was in my mid-twenties, feeling the onset of a quarter-life crisis and questioning if I had made the right choices. I would continue to grapple with these questions for at least another year, working for various employers and trying to be happy working to make everyone’s dreams - with the exception of my own - come true. Fast forward to 2012: I had enough of putting myself second. What about that made me happy?

I pulled out the Holstee Manifesto. Line by line, I wrote it out on paper and began brainstorming ideas for living it. An actionable plan. A few samples included:

  • “Stop over analyzing, life is simple.” - I made a promise to myself to live more in the moment instead of wishing for a future I wasn’t working toward. An analyst by trade and training, I’m slowly learning to shut off the excess and noisy thoughts that come with over-analyzing.
  • “When you eat, appreciate every last bite.” - Cook more, eat out less. Create relationships with people who grow or sell you your food. Go to the farmers market more often. Buy local. Eat slowly and at a table.
  • “Ask the next person you see what their passion is, and share your inspiring dream with them.” - Create a networking group for young women who may be feeling the same way I did (I launched it in May of 2012 and it’s going strong!). Make this the first question you ask strangers when you meet them.
  • “…so go out and start creating.” Stop denying your talents and start reveling in them. Pretending that working with data and spreadsheets is fine when you would rather help launch wellness-based businesses and create designs that inspire health is not okay. Own up and live in what you love. A job can be fun and filled with passion.

I love the Holstee Manifesto for pushing me to look beyond just being and get into truly living a life on my terms. It has its bumps and I expect to work hard as I grow this business and live out my true purpose, but I also expect to be more fulfilled and find smooth-sailing in time. You don’t ever have to wait to start over. Once you make the decision to live on your terms and for your happiness, you begin living the manifesto of your life.

- Erin Haslag, writer & designer 

WELL in L.A.

This is my boyfriend Stan. I got the Manifesto for him. He’s starting his own business as a musician and composer and can sometimes use a little encouragement. I hope he will hang the Manifesto in his workspace and feel invigorated and stimulated by it and make more beautiful music. - Sara Theunynck twitter.com/sajuma

This is my boyfriend Stan. I got the Manifesto for him. He’s starting his own business as a musician and composer and can sometimes use a little encouragement. I hope he will hang the Manifesto in his workspace and feel invigorated and stimulated by it and make more beautiful music.

- Sara Theunynck

twitter.com/sajuma

About:

We have been consistently amazed and inspired by the community of individuals who have embraced the Holstee Manifesto as their own. This is a celebration of the stories that speak to the truth that life is indeed about the people you meet and the things you create with them.

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