sarah friedlander

Imperfect perfectionist living life to its fullest.

  1. Reverb11 – February

    February 2011:

    One month into 2011, what question(s) are you living? Are there any prompts/questions that arose during #reverb10 that are still resonating in your life? Are you living new questions?

    I sat on this for awhile and didn’t write anything because it doesn’t feel like there is anything new to report.  Life is good, full and busy.  I feel like a lot of the questions that were asked in the December 2010 months helped me as I move through the year.  Since I feel like I am without words this month I’ll share some of my favorite photos from February.

    Reverb started as a daily question during December 2010 and has morphed into a monthly prompt that is yours to use as you like: answer it as-is on your blog, take a series of photos that represent your response, get out finger paints and go crazy, write a poem, or reflect privately in your journal. Be as creative or as simple in your response as you see fit. Read more at reverb10.com

  2. Reverb10 – Core Story

    December 31: Core Story
    What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world? (Bonus: Consider your reflections from this month. Look through them to discover a thread you may not have noticed until today.) (Author: Molly O’Neill)

    I think at the core of me is the story of a girl who was always so determined and always had a path in life.  She knew what she wanted to be from a very young age and how her life should play out.  And she judged others that weren’t in the same situation.  I think that life has a funny way of throwing things at you.  When you swear to God that you will never be like so-and-so or never be in a situation, life/God has a way of saying, “You don’t know everything – now deal with it.”

    I think that the central story at the core of me is a girl who got everything she wanted, lost a lot of it along the way and eventually will get it all over again all while learning more about herself than ever before.

    I think I also have gained a great appreciation for una mezcla of different situations that people face in their lives and that we all have the power to turn awful things into great successes.  I’m excited to see myself continue to overcome 2010′s obstacles and make 2011 fabulous.

    However, no matter how hard this girl tried to achieve all her goals,Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. Read more at reverb10.com

  3. Reverb10 – Gift

    December 30: Gift
    This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What’s the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year?  (Author: Holly Root)

    I was trying to think of a tangible gift, something that someone “got” for me but I really couldn’t think of anything.  I’ve reached a point in my life (not sure if this is fortunate or not) that I have the financial resources to buy things when I want.  Therefore most of the physical items I desire come from me – and that’s fine!

    However, the most memorable emotional, intangible gift I received this year was the amount of support and outreach from family and friends about my decision to move abroad (and other changes in my life).  I was scared to let people know about all of these changes and at one point even decided to retract everything and maybe just move to New York.  I finally had the courage to blog about everything and with that came a slew of Facebook comments, personal emails, phone calls, the list goes on.  This was such an empowering gift because it gave me the energy to make the move and change my life.  And I wouldn’t be here without that support.

    Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. Read more at reverb10.com

  4. Reverb10 – Defining Moment

    December 29: Defining Moment
    Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year. (Author: Kathryn Fitzmaurice)

    Sigh, where do I start?  My life should be purchased by a large movie production company and written into a script.  I always thought my life was pretty ordinary until 2010 when so many things happened.  There are two events that have affected my life this year:

    The first is the dissolution of my marriage, which is a painful thing to talk about.  However, I know that I am moving forward and will be a stronger person because of it.  I don’t have any ill feelings about Ryan and don’t wish to every bash him – we shared so many wonderful years together and in the end that is what is important.  However, people change.  We are constantly iterating new versions of ourselves and must learn to not stand still.

    The second is a career change where I am no longer employed by Mozilla as of this September.  I don’t want to bash my former employer – they did provide me 1.5 years of professional and personal growth.

    However with these two huge changes there was a huge opportunity to make drastic changes in my life.  Do I want to search for a new job in Silicon Valley?  Where do I want to live?

    I opted to take the path less traveled, and made the hard decision to stop talking about the dream of living the expat life and actually do it.  And here I am – living a new life in Santiago, Chile.


    Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. Read more at reverb10.com

  5. Reverb10 – Achieve

    December 28: Achieve
    What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today. (Author: Tara Sophia Mohr)

    I want to be fluent in Spanish next year.  I want to be able to not feel like a lost soul in Church when the mass is in Spanish or look up at the cashier with puppy dog eyes when I don’t understand what he or she said.  I want to have confidence to use my language and the skills I have right now instead of letting other people talk for me.  Sometimes I feel like I am in a cycle and need to break it with a simple piece of logic.  If I want to get better in Spanish then I have to practice outside of class.

    When I’m fluent or at least at a point where I have a stronger grasp on the language, I think I will fee a sense of independence.  I won’t have to rely on others to help me out in situations and I can start getting back the independence that I had in the United States (but took for granted!)  I think I will also start to enjoy more parts of expat life since language is obviously a huge part of any country.

    10 things to do right now to have that feeling of independence all include external activities: go to Correos Chile by myself, try to list things on MercadoLibre even though the language might be difficult, pick up a newspaper and read it, watch a move in Spanish, watch the news, ask someone for help about something at the pharmacy …. the list goes on :P

    Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. Read more at reverb10.com

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