Day 31 of October and Day 301 of Year 3 – Hmmmmmmmm
“Be silent in that solitude,
Which is not loneliness—for then
The spirits of the dead, who stood
In life before thee, are again
In death around thee, and their will
Shall overshadow thee; be still.”
—From “Spirits of the Dead” by Edgar Allan Poe
Sometimes I am sooooo thankful, I could burst!
When gratitude wells up inside me like a crescendo, then I know how truly divine it all is!!!
My saving grace is teaching and experiencing yoga, having the best husband and kids eva and the relationships I nurture and treasure with wonderful, healthy wise ones.
But – Everyone is a teacher for even the unhealthy teach me how to cope, how to outgrow and how to move forward – never mind, how to discern.
Feeling very lucky and inspired!!
I had to be ruthless to get my bookshelf to look like this and this is just one purging – I have eight other bookshelves to go.
Decluttering, letting go and giving/throwing away has been my new passion!
And as I go, I find a home for everything (in a location that makes sense) and I get to organize.
I have been encouraged to write down my wins, even if it is just a drawer. I have also taken some before and after pictures that would make you all proud of me. Keep encouraging, giving suggestions, taking my surplus and supporting me, please.
PS: Before I discard or donate anything – I have been thanking my articles for giving me such pleasure once and allowing them to recycle or re-purpose themselves somewhere other than my home any more and to someone else.
I am a capable, competent woman who is filled with strength and confidence.
I see with harmony, gratitude, health and praise.
I now create a life I love to build, strengthen, organize and write about.
I see with love and joy. I now create a life I love to look at.
My world is full with connections, safety, acceptance, freedom and unconditional love.
I expect to protect myself from toxic situations and people – no matter what or whom.
I just got done reading Jeannette Walls’ The Silver Star.
Who didn’t love her incredibly fine memoir, The Glass Castle? I am sure I have blogged about it – check it out in the search box.
Then she wrote a half memoir/half novel based on her grandmother’s life called Half Broke Horses.
Her storytelling is an entangled nest of webs that are selectively sorted out as the reveal enlightens you of what is underneath.
In The Silver Star, I felt the story was simple and the build up to the apex so tedious, I had to put the book down, one third of the way through. I let it collect dust for about one month. Then I picked it up three nights ago. Well, well, well, good things come to those who wait.
I started re-reading it just when the plot became juicy and although I sensed certain characters were this way or that way, the unraveling and development of events and personalities took a speedy turn and I eagerly awaited evening to come so I could get into bed and see what happened next.
I recommend this book as a slow starter but worth the ride.
It is all about the balance, isn’t it? It’s the Ying and Yang, the male and female, the happy medium between two extremes, or the juggling act of many balls up in the air.
Today, right this minute, let’s feel centered.
And when my deeds, actions, words and thinking correspond with my ethics and values, then I am truly authentic and feel balanced.
Here’s what 5 world renowned people you may or may not know said about Simplicity:
John Maeda – Graphic Designer, artist and Computer Scientist at MIT – “Simplicity is knowing when less is too little and more is too much.”
Sara Berman – Fashion Designer – “Simplicity is the basis of good design.”
Ken Okuyama – Creative Director for auto/transportation design, professor – “Simplicity involves two major processes: eliminating redundant elements and integrating things to make them flow.”
Gary Chang – Architect – “Simplicity requires focusing on the similarities between entities, not the differences.”
Peggy Fritzsche – Radiologist, professor – “Simplicity means products of the best quality displaying essential elements, but without additional ornamentation or clutter.”
And of course I have to put in my two cents.
Cecilia – “Simplicity is streamlined yet comfortable and easy.”
What would your line be? How would you describe Simplicity?
Playing with my new iPhone 6s, iPad mini, FitBit and mini speaker!! Crazy learning curve done years ago when I first got my MacBook and went to Apple One on One classes. I love Apple. They were very, very forward thinking and generous back in the day when they gave a personal computer to every classroom and educated lucky instructors. My first program was Print Shop by Broderbund and it was super user friendly. Before that, I failed every single computer class I attended in and after college. As Always, I remain teachable although when it came to MsDos I was a complete blockhead.
Honor the past, Imagine the future but Live in the present.
Acceptance does not mean approval.
I didn’t cause it, I can’t control it and I can’t cure it = Knowing when it is not my monkey, not my circus.
Realize you have your own agenda and you have choices to make today.
Sometimes we assume that everyone must know “that” too so we just presuppose it is general knowledge. As an example, I told someone today in conversation who is gluten, meat and dairy free but still eats eggs about what they do to male chicks as soon as they hatch. She was shocked and disgusted and saddened to say the least. When we chatted on about industrial slaughterhouses, she had no idea beef and dairy lobbies even existed, that you cannot under any circumstance visit one and big government finances “conventional” farming and rallies to make it very difficult for organic growers to get their certifications (it takes at least seven years and lots of paperwork and hoops to jump through).
Or, that when you eat meat, or dead flesh, half the time you are eating a sickened animal, always they are shot up with hormones and antibiotics and you are ingesting GMO’s too because that’s what the livestock eat. You are what you eat, literally.
Also, if we didn’t breed all these animals to kill for our appetites, we wouldn’t be running out of rain forests for grazing, we’d be able to feed more people (because right now most crops are used to feed animals), we would save water and clean up the air. In fact, if everyone gave up meat – we could clean up the atmosphere free of methane gas in ten years. On the other hand, if everything ran without fossil fuel tomorrow it would take 50 years to clean up the air.
Did you know that “conventional” is a word big agra lobbied to use so it sounded less frightening and even acceptable rather than “produce sprayed with chemicals”?
I know I must have blown a few minds with this post but here is the thing – every time someone says to me they don’t want to hear it – they believe it is so horrendous and would rather stick their head in the sand (and I know because I have been guilty of this as well) and believe it is too vile to contemplate, then, why do they support it? Food for thought.
Maybe tomorrow I will open your eyes about the dairy industry, I, who have adored cheese!!!