Sometimes someone comes along who teaches us how to love the world, ourselves, and others.  Amanda of Kind Over Matter is one of those people.  Her site encourages you to embrace who you are and share your passion with the world.  She was ever so nice to answer a few questions for us.  You’re going to love how inspiring her answers are!

In case people don’t know about you and your amazing business. Would you mind sharing what you do?

Thank you so much for your sweet words & having me share here, Megan, I’m honored.

Kind Over Matter has been through quite a few transformations over the last 3+ years but ultimately, it’s always been a space for people to share their art, gifts, lessons & stories. It’s a safe & loving space that was built to celebrate people, growth, change & kindness. My heart is set on inspiring more people to let go of fear & step into a life they love, whether that be in their relationships, through their art, their creativity or through a business. I hope that by visiting readers will be more aware of the beautiful things in this world, the small things & the big things. That you will stop & take notice of the small details more often, that you will go out of your way to make someone else’s day. Hey You, yes, YOU, reading this… You are reading this which means you are ALIVE & breathing, you are capable of anything you put your mind to, start living in THIS MOMENT, it’s the only thing that’s for sure. You are beautiful. You are unique. Chin up. Keep your eyes peeled. Smile. Make this trip around the sun unforgettable.

What made you decide to found Kind Over Matter? And what do you feel your community gains from its existence?

Kind Over Matter began in a creative rush. My muse snuck up on me from behind & attacked. We made out for a bit, it was beautiful. Like the birth of most things it was fast, furious, wild & full of love.

Jenn, my soul sister, my former partner-in-kind & I had connected through our diarist-esque blogs (live journals!) – we started emailing back & forth, hitting it off from the beginning. In February of ‘09, I had created some printable inspirational cards to sell in my Etsy shop, encouraging others to leave them in random locations for either a loved one or a stranger to find. I had done similar things in the past with the now defunct Guerilla Poetics Project. I thought, why not leave cards anywhere & everywhere, hoping they would stir up some sort of positive reaction in the receiver. I ended up sending the cards to Jenn & we decided to start a Flickr Group. Things after that are a bit of a blur, I emailed her & said we should start a blog, recording our ‘card drops‘ (that have now morphed into Kind Bombs!) & then if others sent in their ‘card drops’, we could post them too. The blog was designed in a weekend. It was such a rush of incredible creativity, we thought, ‘Why not make this a space where people can come to Feel Good?’ We started featuring art & businesses that do just that, the ideas just kept coming to us. It was & continues to be beautiful.

I’ve gotten countless emails from readers saying… KOM changed my life. Thank you for helping me drop my fear. Thank you for helping me realize that I am enough. Thank you for helping me see my situation in a different light. Thank you for fueling my courage. Thank you for all the smiles. I’ve gotten long, deep, personal letters from sweet folks that were in a lot of pain, KOM helped them make it through that torment. I think KOM’s readers gain so much because of the community aspect. I share stories from incredible folks doing incredible things. I hold space for people to tell their stories, so someone in the thick of something similar can see themselves in them & find that deep knowing that it’s going to be okay, that they are going to be way better than okay. I am humbled to share so much. I’ve changed because of it too.

You have quite a collection of inspirational e-books. Did you ever imagine your idea for a community space would lead to you writing books?

No, I mean, I’ve always been a writer, since I could form sentences on a page – by way of journaling, poetry, short stories… I’ve been blogging in some form since 2001 but I never would have thought my path would have led me to writing whole books & selling them, a lot of them! I am still sort of blown away by that. Anything’s possible. Any. Thing.

Do you have any advice for someone wanting to create their own space like Kind Over Matter?

I think whatever it is that you are trying to create, it takes enthusiasm, time, love & persistence. You have the power the choose. You have the power to choose how you want to feel, what works for you, what doesn’t, what you want to charge, what feels good to you… when you connect to the core of yourself, to your why & create from that space, anything is possible. “Failures” become lessons. Connecting with my people with pure & utter enthusiasm & love – being myself – since the very beginning has been my greatest fuel for growth, going that extra mile to let them know that, hey, I see you & you’re gorgeous. The enthusiasm came easy because I feel that way about what I am doing in the world. Find something that lights you the fuck up, then the work its self is the reward.

Your business and site have grown so much over the past few years. Did you ever worry about failure or face a difficult obstacle? And, if so, how did you overcome those fears?

I don’t tend to focus on failure all that much, it’s super-bad energy to be swimming in. Kind Over Matter was always something I loved to do, it’s always been FUN. It’s all perspective, right? The way you look at it. So, at the beginning & still, just the act of sharing, the act of creating something meaningful, is enough for me.

I do have fears though from time to time, when I am about to launch a product, share a personal story or when I am in the midst of a new & big project, when I’m on new & shaky ground, fears show up.

Just recently, I did my first video interview which brought up a lot of fucked up stories I’ve been telling myself, like… you’re not good enough or smart enough to pull of a good interview, your voice will crack & shake like it did when you gave presentations in school, you will look like an idiot…

Saying Yes & loving up on your fears, I feel, is the only way to work through them. Once I agreed to do the interview that was the jumpstart of me dropping all those stories that weren’t serving me or my community.

Your fears need your love too. Your failures or challenges are your greatest lessons, love them too.

Don’t forget to visit Kind Over Matter and spread some love today!