Hi Lovely Simplerista,

I'm slowly starting to see how amazing I am.

There. I said it. It feels weird writing those words. Forbidden. I'm breaking the rules.

I've always thought it more virtuous to think little of myself. And safer. Because then people can't knock you down. You've already done so for them.

I've always compared myself with others and found myself lacking. Other people are more accomplished, more successful, more confident, more elegant, more focused, more powerful.

I've always looked at myself in the mirror and found myself ugly. An eyesore. Not suitable to look at with the naked eye.

Unconsciously I've been punishing myself for my perceived sins by forcing myself to do things that didn't lift my spirits. Work harder so that some day I may be good enough.

It feels like that whole belief system and everything based on it is crumbling. And it's a very good thing, although I do feel quite exhausted from the inner turmoil.

For most of my life, I've wanted to be anyone but me. Anytime I saw someone who looked like they knew what they were doing, I'd wish that I was them. Didn't matter much what they did or who they were or how they felt with themselves.

More and more these days I find myself actually really wanting to be me. I look around, and there's no-one that I'd want to swap lives with. I really appreciate my own, thank you very much. That's a new feeling. And a nice one.

A big part of it has to do with finally living where I feel like I belong, where I feel at home. Now that I'm here for real, with paperwork and everything in place, I can see myself more clearly. Who I am and what I have to offer doesn't fit in Denmark. It fits here, in New York, in the US. This is where my puzzle piece fits.

And as that happens, it becomes abundantly clear how impossible it is to go out and share our gift with the world when we don't appreciate and value who and where we are. When we don't value ourselves, we don't value what we have to offer, and neither will the world. And chances are when we try, it's going to come out weird, because we're still trying to fill a hole or run away from ourselves.

So if you don't currently value yourself, how do you change that? Start by being willing to consider the possibility. Not valuing yourself is a learned behavior. Have compassion for that, and be willing to explore the alternative. Allow your natural self-value to bubble up. You can't try to force it top-down, it has to emerge naturally. And it will, once you start to clear the clutter that's blocking it.

New features in Simplero

The launch of our new marketing site is imminent now. Along with that comes a freshening of the login pages and a slight freshening of the general layout for your public pages and spaces.

Don't worry, everything will still work and look good, in fact a tad better.

The new design direction, though, will make heavier use of your logo and icon if you've uploaded those. So if you have a logo and an icon, and you haven't yet uploaded them to Simplero, I suggest you go to Settings > Your public site, and upload them now. You'll be glad you did.

Random stuff from around the interwebs

The world's loudest sound: "The sound made by the Krakatoa volcanic eruption in 1883 was so loud it ruptured eardrums of people 40 miles away, travelled around the world four times, and was clearly heard 3,000 miles away." Holy smokes, that's loud!

Two things Jony Ive learned from Steve Jobs. Good things, both. Not things I master, that's for sure.

Seriously depressing how vile the internet can be, especially towards women. Kathy Sierra has quit the internet again.

May you have an incredible weekend. See you again next week.

Big love,
-Calvin