Tag: joy

JAMNOLA

On By reneemarie31In Louisiana, Music, Travel1 Comment

The lack of travel posts on my blog over the past several months makes me sad. Thanks Covid-19! But today, I did go to an awesome place in my hometown of New Orleans. It is called JAMNOLA. The JAM stands for Joy, Art, and Music and it is an artistic celebration of New Orleans culture.

It is a guided tour through themed rooms which are each full of unique, colorful, and truly NOLA art. I highly recommend checking it out. It is fun and they encourage photography and fun selfies. It is a great place to spend an hour.

Much of the art is made with reclaimed materials, such as the lanterns in the feather room (made out of Gatorade bottles).

There were paintings, fun wallpaper, or other art installations on every wall and floor.

There was a room made up completely of recycled Mardi Gras beads and the reflective mirrors from parking garages.

The bling bayou was super sparkly of course.

This whole room was hand painted.

The crawfish themed room had lots of fun photo opportunities and the coolest wallpaper.

The costume room had lots of cool stuff inspired by Carnival.

The garden of legends had huge statues of famous NOLA musicians, from Irma Thomas to Louis Armstrong to Lil Wayne and more.

JAMNOLA is a uniquely New Orleans experience full of color, joy, and music.

Thrive not Survive

On By reneemarie31In Music, Positive ThinkingLeave a comment

This morning on my way to work, I was listening to the radio when the song “Thrive” by Casting Crowns came on. The song is about how we were made to do more than just survive, but to thrive.

It got me thinking. What does thriving look like for me?

There are days in life when our motivation is to just survive. Depending on our individual life circumstances, some of us may have more of those days than others. I do feel that I am fortunate enough to be able to focus on thriving, not just surviving. But what is thriving?

The dictionary uses several words to define thrive. It means to prosper. It means to flourish. It means to be fortunate or successful. It means to grow or develop vigorously.

So to me, thriving means always getting better. I am a big goal setter, and I always am working on developing new habits that will make my life better. To me, thriving also means finding joy and being happy in life. It may not be overly noble, but living with joy is one of my greatest goals.

So what does thriving mean to you? And are your daily actions and decisions designed to help you survive or to thrive?