Rules or Lessons? The Cowgirl Creed

So what's with the rules? If you came here by way of our Facebook Fan Page you probably know what I'm talking about. For the last week I've been posting random rules on my status with a sentence or two relating to the rule...about design, art or decorating...or real life.

So far we have:

1. Dare to be a cowgirl...or cowboy. Blaze your own trail. Make 2010 your year to kick up some dust!

2. Buck the rules! Who says your upholstered furniture should be matchy-matchy? Recover your old sofa with 2 fabrics -maybe one being leather or your grandmother's English wing-back in a Pendleton Blanket....just sayin'.

3. Stay balanced in the saddle....splurge for that antique mission oak recliner you love and for the finishing touch, rein back in on the budget with a perfectly wonderful vintage print for mere pennies from a second hand shop.

4. Ride the trail of adventure. Get out of your comfort zone in 2010 and be the person you always wanted to be... or should we say, were intended to be.

5. Dream as big as Texas! If you can't imagine it...it won't happen.

Do you see where we are going here?  The rules (the first sentence only) are from a really cool little book called Cowgirl Smarts How to Rope a Kick-Ass Life by Ellen Reid Smith. The rules aren't really rules at all, they are lessons that make up the cowgirl creed. There are seventeen in all, and up until just a few years ago before the book was written they were just unspoken lessons that women have been passing down for over a hundred years. Ms. Reid felt like they needed to be documented, thus the book...which is a quick, but very good read.

Each chapter is based on one of the seventeen characteristics of wild west cowgirls, with stories of those very cowgirls from as far back as when they were called cowboy girls. First, let me say this isn't just a book for cowgirls and second let me say it isn't just for women, although it speaks loudly to me as a woman. It is easily applied to anyone's life be it man or woman with a few word changes.

I received an email a couple years ago from Ms. Reid telling me about her book and I was so intrigued that I bought two. One for me and one for my daughter as a Christmas gift. I read it straight through the first time and now keep it in my desk drawer for a quick shot of encouragement when needed.

I've taken the characteristics/rules/lessons -whatever you want to call them - and made them my own.  When you see them in my status on our Facebook Fan Page take it and make it your own as well. It may be just what you need for that particular day...or the next. Nevertheless, it's good stuff, whether you use it for personal or business matters.

So, now you know what all the hokey metaphores are about....

...and truth be known...I do have a kick-ass life!