unnamed“All good things which exist are the fruits of originality.” 

~ John Stuart Mill

You don’t have to come from the “cookie cutter generation” to appreciate this most recent, lighthearted podcast. Anyone who has been conformed to a mass-produced, prefabricated shape — whether via occupation, lifestyle or mindset — knows what it means to feel like a copy rather than an inspired original.

Cookies provide a great analogy for life.

As humans, we’re all part of the same batter. In typical fashion, we’ve also been carved out and patterned in specific ways. For example, we’re defined and codified by our respective outer worlds that include our religious, cultural, economic and educational backgrounds.

As children, we each possessed a bit of sparkle, a natural sense of originality. There was a “more” factor within us desiring to be expressed and experienced!

Somehow, the conforming factors and experts in our sub-societies knew better. And we complied and conformed ourselves to fit in.

By the time we grew up, we forgot about our inner selves. We were no longer mindful of the untapped parts of us that could give place to those individual leanings, talents and ideas. We settled into familiar comfort zones and turned into copies of our environment rather than original versions of ourselves.

We’ve left unbaked parts of our personalities and brilliance in our proverbial kitchen.

If you’ve ever wanted to step out of conformity or exercise a bit more creativity in life, I hope you’ll enjoy this easy listening podcast. In it, you’ll be introduced to my zumba instructor Debbie Rivas and to Tampa author Brenda Martin. They are two women whose lives have continued to evolve over time and who are happy being their own kind of cookie today!

Click here or on the bar below for Podcast 101: Be Your Own Kind of Cookie.

  Be inspired to decorate your own life with originality and discover a savor and flavor bringing you extra happiness from the inside – out!

Maura Sweeney in Foundations of HappinessMS photo on Prime TimeMaura Sweeney is an International Speaker on Influence, Leadership and Emotional Intelligence

Find her podcasts on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play

Fan her on Huffington Post & Facebook

Follow her on Twitter & Google+

Enroll in her eCourse