Macy Makes My Day

October is Down's Syndrome Awareness Month! Did you know that 9 out of 10 women who find out that their child has Down's Syndrome will terminate the pregnancy? Does this news shock you? I bet most of these women never grew up in close proximity to someone with Down's Syndrome. If they had, then they would know that of course raising a child with DS comes with great difficulty (like any child) but it also comes with great joy! They would know that while Down's Syndrome children will never be developmentally perfect, they will still live full, happy lives. I think we should encourage more  women to keep their Down's Syndrome babies and see them as different, not damaged. 

Macy Makes My Day is an instagram created by a mother about her Down's Syndrome daughter, Macy. In her own words, she created the account because, "in this day and age with social media, we have endless opportunities to promote whatever the heck we want. And while social media may often be used for selfish and less than ideal purposes it's at my disposal to help the whole world see the beauty and gift that Down syndrome is." She adopted Macy as a baby and truly believes that parents of Down's Syndrome children are the blessed few. Some of Carter's family are looking to adopt a DS child and I think they would agree :) The portraits into Macy's life show a beautiful, vibrant, loving fashonista who only needed a chance at life to thrive. You absolutely have to look at her insta! She's adorable! Macy's mom also has a blog: Oh Macyn!

Ideas are Only Multipliers

I read this today from Derek Silvers and thought I would share:

It's so funny when I hear people being so protective of ideas. (People who want me to sign an NDA to tell me the simplest idea.) To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions.

He goes on to explain that you have to multiply an idea and its execution to understand how much a business is worth. An idea on it's own is only worth a few dollars; even the most brilliant ideas out there are only worth twenty or so dollars. The execution is really where the money is at. A brilliant idea multiplied by brilliant execution is worth billions but a brilliant idea and no execution is worth nothing. Twitter is going public and their company is likely worth a BILLION dollars. I mean, TWITTER. My, and everyone else's, initially reaction to Twitter was, "Why would anybody use that?" and yet everyone you know and the White House uses it. A perfect example of a so-so idea with genius execution.

Does that sound like common sense? I guess it is, but the kind of common sense that everyone needs to know and be reminded of. I needed the reminder in regards to my life and food blog. In case you are wondering why that blog has sat stagnant for a couple of weeks (not that anyone except my most devoted stalkers would wonder that) it's because I'm thinking about what kind of blog I want it to be and who my target audience is and yada yada yada--all that stuff you learn in Freshman English and think is kinda irrelevant. Also, I'm in the middle of a DIY blog redesign which is talking waaaay longer than planned. Also I might be pregnant (not really) because I recklessly haven't renewed my birth control prescription and thus haven't taken it for a week so who knows? Ha ha. . . ha.

ANYWAYS, I've been somewhat pessimistic about the whole thing because a food blog is no new idea and there are thousands of them on these inter webs. How is anyone ever going to read MY blog and cook MY food? What do I even know about cooking? I'm only twenty-two! I didn't go to culinary school! I don't even know how to make pasta from scratch (I watched an 11 yr old on Junior Master Chef make a perfect gnocchi the day after my attempt at gnocchi miserably failed)! I only cook with foreign foods sometimes! SEE HOW THIS QUICKLY SPINS OUT OF CONTROL?

So what I'm trying to say is that I needed to remind myself that while my idea is not-so-new all I really need is some good execution. I think I can do this?