Blog Archives

#FindingMeaning

2/27/2017

I’ve been doing LivBits for one year now, and I’ve learned A LOT of important lessons. Some of them, I’ve already shared in my first few blog posts. Sometimes it’s easy for me to figure out something new, and other times, I can’t figure out anything at all. My mum says that’s the signal to linger in my thinking and not try so hard to find answers.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably notice that I like to use interesting hashtags. I decided that each of my blog posts would be about an important hashtag for my LivBit work. I want to show that hashtags are a piece of my understanding. Lots of times, my hashtags tell the meaning of my work.

It really wasn’t until this year that I started to think about the idea of meaning, and it came after my sister, Charlotte’s accident. I haven’t shared the details of what happened to Charlotte with very many people because it’s too hard to think and talk about. And, I found out that sometimes people want to help you in ways that aren’t actually very helpful at all. It’s like they want the details, but they forget that the details have meaning, like in your heart.

As I’ve tried to get my brain better this year, one thing I’ve worked on is how everything that happens in life has meaning. It’s like when good things happen, you don’t have to pay attention so much because your heart feels happy and safe. But, when something terrible happens, your brain wants to understand WHY, and you have to find the meaning to feel better.

Meaning is kind of like a really hard turn in ballet. If you want to get your body to do the turn, you have to practice and work hard. I have this turning board I use to help my body understand the feeling of the turn. If I stay strong enough, like in my core, I can turn lots and lots of times. When I use the turning board it’s like my body feels the meaning of the turn. I can stay steady and strong and I can keep turning. When I am not using the board, my feet have to figure out how to do the work the board was doing. It’s kind of like I have to find the meaning all over again. Even though it is harder, my body knows the feeling of the turn. My brain knows I can do it, too.

Your brain is a funny thing. Sometimes it can get noisy. My friend, Kristin says that when your brain is the noisiest, you are probably learning the most. But, it’s hard to remember that when you feel like you have figure out how to turn off the noise. That’s why LivBits is so important to me. Focusing on my LivBit work has given me meaning. Doing the LivBit work has taught me how powerful finding meaning can be.

LivBits is a story about meaning. It’s about what you can do when you try your best and you share with others. I don’t always have things figured out, but I know how to try and I don’t give up. Here’s the thing, other people can learn from your story. Other people can be CHANGED by your story. So, try hard to love your story, no matter what. My mum always tells me when you #LoveBIG, you get #BIGLove back.

If I had to write my last year in hashtags it would look like this:
#ShareYourStory;
#FindYourPeople;
#LoveBIG;
#CelebrateOthers;
#FindtheJoy;
#ShareYourPassion;
#BeYourBestSelfie;
#ChangetheWorldOneLivBitataTime.

Keep reading, keep thinking, and, thank you for following LivBits.

11 Comments

#HeartBeeping

2/20/2017

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In the last few weeks, I have had some really amazing reading experiences. I have stacks of books that I am reading, and since lately I’ve had so many snow days having a stack of books to read is something that makes me very happy! I’ve also met incredible authors and been inspired by them in so many ways. It’s always fun to meet an author face to face, get your book signed, hear them talk, and leave thinking about something new. Social media can keep the energy from an author meeting going and give you even more to think about.

This has happened to me. Last weekend, I left Wellesley Bookstore, in Wellesley, MA after meeting 5 amazing authors and my brain felt like it was on fire! They were generous with their time and even made a fun LivBit with me. I showed my crazy side a little bit, but made sure I didn’t do any front walkovers in the store (I would have, but my mom said, no). It’s just the energy I feel when I meet people who write things that matter takes over my body! I want to talk and know and understand. I want to jump into their books with them right there!

There’s a great picture from my time with these women. It shows me directing the ending of the LivBit. It’s kind of a big deal because normally I do most of the talking in my Bits. But, in this one, I wanted a grand finale with all their voices. In the picture, the ladies look so engaged. It’s like my mom captured the joy that everyone was feeling right in that moment! I posted it and my mom posted it too, and someone commented:

“5 adult women giving attention and respect to 1 young woman. This is how we prepare our daughters to be revolutionaries! Finding safe, compassionate, respectful adults to listen and HEAR them.”

I thought about this comment for a long time because it’s very true! I felt like those authors really cared about me. I don’t think it is because I am anything that special, I just think that in that moment, we had a connection and it mattered. I could feel it, and, so could they! Right after the meeting at the bookstore, we all tweeted and commented on social media. It made that time together last longer. It made me think about how lucky I am to have books, authors, and places to go where leaving makes my #heartbeep.

Heart beeping is something very special and when it happens you should pay attention. It’s like your body’s way of telling you that you’re making a memory. It’s like your heart’s way of saying, “Pay attention!”

One thing that I’ve learned from meeting authors face to face is that authors are regular people, just like you and me. They worry about how people will like their books, they want feedback and to hear what readers think. Lots of times they are creating characters that have a hint of who they really are or hope to be. When there is a “hint of me” in writing, it makes the author wonder whether they’ve made people’s hearts beep.

So, here’s my advice: be sure to reach out and let the author know when they’ve made your #heartbeep! If you’re on social media, it’s very easy. All the authors I know love to hear from readers. They appreciate when readers share their thoughts, ideas, and beeps.

But, don’t stop there! Tell everyone in your life when they make your #heartbeep! Doing that can change someone’s day; it can change someone’s life. It can make THEIR #heartbeep. And, really, there isn’t any better feeling in the world.

Keep reading, keep thinking, and, thank you for following LivBits.

Special thanks to my #heartbeeping authors:
Erin Petti: @empetti
Monica Tesler: @monicatesler
Lee Gjertsen Malone: @Lee_G_Malone
Elly Swartz: @ellyswartz
Victoria Coe: @victoriajcoe

7 Comments

#BlockandBloom

2/12/2017

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When I first started posting on Twitter last July, I loved learning how things got retweeted. I would follow my feed and look at the retweets and get really, really excited. I think retweets are a kind of feedback from my followers; they are a connection, like a big, long thread connecting me to the world.

In my excitement, I also noticed how sometimes people would retweet, but with nasty messages. It made me worried and cautious. I thought about how hard it is to figure out why people do that.

Then, it happened.

I posted a LivBit about strong women, and I shared how happy I was for girls everywhere to see Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee. I felt proud that so many people supported a woman. It made me feel like they were supporting me! As soon as I tweeted out my LivBit, a nasty retweet happened. A person dared people to “digitally punch me in the face” for my post. I felt scared and confused.

But, I was prepared. In order for me to be on Twitter, my mom had helped me understand the power of a digital tribe. A tribe is a group of followers who will help me if she isn’t right there. They are people who know me, my work, and agree to protect me if the social media waters get too rough. I never interact with a negative tweet; I let my tribe take care of it for me. All I have to do is message people in my tribe, and they will help me shut the negative down.

One member of my digital tribe is my guardian shark, Helen. Helen is a Great White Shark tagged by Ocearch. Ocearch does ALL kinds of amazing things to teach people about how important sharks are to the oceans. I’ve done a lot of LivBits on sharks and shark research because I want to be a voice for sharks, and especially, Helen.

Helen taught me to block in order to bloom. Sometimes the best strategy on social media is to understand there are people out there who will never help you grow, so it’s better to block them. Blocking gives you the power to remove negativity from your feed. A digital tribe can help get the message out to the goober that their behavior is not OK.

I think it’s really important to teach kids how to protect themselves on social media.
It would be great if all kids were taught about having a digital tribe and how to block and bloom. Lots of times kids are just given devices and begin posting, but no one really shows them how to be responsible. And since everyone has different ideas about what responsible means, kids can get stuck in situations that are hard to understand.

In my last blog post, I said that your tweet is #140charactersofHOPE. Your retweet is a chance to #ConnectandGROW someone else’s ideas, message, or cause. And, who knows? Maybe their cause can become your cause, too!

I am not going to lie; using social media can be confusing sometimes. You have to figure out who is “real” and who is “fake.” Sometimes the people you think support you, really don’t. It’s hard to learn that lesson and I am still figuring all that out. People will take your words, your images, and even your voice if you let them. Don’t let them.

Find your tribe and love them hard! Block the goobers and keep on blooming!

Keep reading, keep thinking, and, thank you for following LivBits.

9 Comments

#140CharactersofHope

2/5/2017

10 Comments

Lots of people ask me why I like to share my ideas on social media. It’s a pretty simple answer. I get to share my voice with the world. Last summer after I presented at the ISTE conference in Denver, CO, I got my Twitter account. Everyone at ISTE asked me for my Twitter handle and at the time I was only sharing my work on Instagram.

When I got my Twitter, I worked hard to tell my message in 140 characters. At first, it wasn’t easy. I realized that using Twitter meant I had to synthesis my ideas and choose my hash tags wisely.

Almost immediately, I started getting lots and lots of followers. I was averaging about 1,000 followers a week! This was super surprising to me because getting followers on Instagram came much slower. I think that the biggest difference in my work on these platforms is two things: audience and message.

On Instagram, my posts are visual and even though I have a message that I write with the post, the picture or video has to pull my audience in. I am still learning what that means and how to do it better. On Twitter, the focus is on the tweet and even though I can add photos or videos, it’s the tweet that pulls in my followers.

Yesterday I finally got the courage up to make a LivBit I’ve wanted to make for many weeks. Usually my LivBits aren’t directed to anyone in particular, but this LivBit was made for my President, Donald J. Trump.

Maybe most people would wonder why I decided to make a LivBit for my President. I noticed that President Trump and I have something in common; we like to use Twitter to share our messages with the world. I started following my President’s feed, but after just one day of reading his tweets, I became very sad. The tone of President Trump’s tweets was very different and sometimes even mean. When I think about a President tweeting, I think about reading words that inspire the world. I do think that President Trump’s tweets take a stand, that kind of tweeting is something I can learn, but I think you can take a stand and still be inspiring and hopeful.

Part of being a good digital citizen is thinking about how your tweet will be received. I’ve learned that lots of times on social media people do not think about their audience. They tweet and post things that they would probably never say if they were face to face with someone. This is a problem because people don’t consider that posts and tweets can deeply hurt others.

Your tweets are like 140 characters of hope and they are a mirror to the world. Your tweets (and posts) tell the story of who you are, what you stand for, and define your identity online. Your tweets should be hopeful, kind, and true. They influence who wants to follow you and whether they like or re-tweet your messages.

I want to be the kind of kid who inspires other people on social media. I want to use my kid voice for good and be a light that shines out to others. I want people to see my work and say, “Liv is the same online as she is offline.” I want to celebrate others by liking and retweeting their posts so that they get feedback that helps them grow their confidence.

I want to be the kind of hope that other people look for on social media all wrapped up in 140 characters.

Keep reading, keep thinking, and, thank you for following LivBits.

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#FindingMeaning

#HeartBeeping

#BlockandBloom

#140CharactersofHope

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