Seth, Time, Lack and Meditation

There actually is a relationship with these four words? I was reading Seth‘s blog about shipping versus rushing. I began to think about all the times I am racing to save those few minutes or I don’t take the time to read small, charming blogs or informative, thought provoking blogs like Seth’s. For me, I can get a fresh perspective on something or it makes me think about what I may be doing along the same lines. Most of Seth’s blogs are quite short, which I love, yet they are packed and insightful at times. Yet I won’t make the time to read them many times. I realized I need to take the time to read things that make me reflect. Simple, isn’t it? read...

Do You Know How to Blend?

So what is a blend? According to the free dictionary, a blend is “to combine or mix so that the constituent parts are indistinguishable from one another” or “to combine or mix so that the constituent parts are indistinguishable from one another”. And in this case, I am referring to blending wines. Will it be smooth and easy for a nice lamb dish? Or sturdy and vibrant for steak or spicy dish like Cajun meatloaf or flavorful Indian dish? Or fruity with some toast to create a dynamic  Chardonnay? Are there rules for blending? Or is solely a matter of what tastes best to the winemaker? What is the main purpose of blending? read...

Constructive Criticisms or Being Judgmental

A friend recently reposted a blog by a mutual friend. Her comments caught my attention since it started out with “Stupid, dumb, lazy, retarded…” (What’s that tell you about me? ) I continued to read which lead to reading the blog about people who criticize others for not using words like their, there, they’re in the proper context or using its and it’s incorrectly. These criticizers appear to also assume the writer is stupid or lazy or lacks education when, in fact, it’s a function of the way their brain works. They are dyslexics and I’m married to one. (Which may explain to many old friends why he married me!) read...

Did Your Chocolate Valentines Deliver What You Needed?

Is Valentine’s Day a necessity? Have you ever asked yourself that question? What if the greeting card companies had never created Valentine’s Day? Would you still believe you were loved? What does one day matter? Why do so many put so much stock into what happens, what they were given, where they went, and what they were surprised with? The majority of those are women. Why are the men not getting special  flowers or golf passes or special beers or taken out to dinner? If your mate is abusive the other 364 days a year but does everything right on Valentine’s day, is that good? Does that get them a pass for the next year of abuse? read...

A Return to God

I was raised to fear God. Fear him if I didn’t do exactly what I was told by the priests, teachers and parents. Even when the commands were conflicting. I never questioned much about God then. At least I don’t remember questioning anything about God then. I was too frightened to question it. Then one summer  I came to California during the summer months between my college sophomore and junior years to take care of my cousin’s son while they worked. Cushy job. Evenings and weekends I could do as I pleased and they even lent me their car. I was a goody two shoes, so no shenanigans, going to the beach and parties, going out dancing. I was trusted and I didn’t want to betray that trust. It was the first time anyone had ever trusted me. read...

Another Present Moment Insight

  In a previous blog I did for Ordinarily Extraordinary Women, I talked about the importance of staying in the present moment. Did you ever find yourself driving the freeway or expressway behind a large vehicle? You can’t see much around the vehicle. I don’t know about you but I get antsy and want to find a way to get around the vehicle so I have an unobstructed view. Then it hit me. That’s just like us traveling on the roadways of life. We really can’t see the future, we can plan what we think it should be. We can guess what we think it will be. We can hope. read...

Poetry Writing: Good for Immune Boosting?

When I can, I do hospice work with Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association. They do in home hospice and hospice in board and care facilities as well as nurse services. Volunteers attend a 8 week class. You learn the best ways to interact with with the patients and what to expect. It teaches you far more than you can even imagine. Once a year they have a retreat and I went this year. It’s at a beach home and it’s a lovely time of getting the soul nourished. This year they had a Registered Poet Therapist. I didn’t even know there was such a category. Her name is Dr. Perie Longo and she is amazing. She gave a great talk and did some poetry reading for caregivers. She also taught us exercises on how to write as caregivers. read...

Mindfulness or Meditation – Which Helps with Opinions?

I got an opportunity, a big one, to remind myself that another’s opinion of me is just that ,an opinion. It was their opinion of what I had done and what they thought of my doing it. My instant reaction was to feel hurt, this was someone important to me. Then I stopped and looked again. I reminded myself that this happened to bring up some old tired emotions that needed to be loved, accepted, allowed, forgiven, and released. I also saw this as a great reminder that even though the person is important to me, they were merely sharing their opinion of my actions and that’s all. They are not an expert online or offline on me. I am the only expert of me. read...

Designing Your Own Life Requires Paying Attention to Your Thoughts

Paying attention to your thoughts is so important. It affects your emotions, your feelings and what happens in your life. It’s the run away mind that can wreck much havoc in your life. In addition, have you considered how you talk to your friends when you get together? Are you complaining about things that happen in your life that you don’t find pleasing? Are you aware when you do that, you are drawing more of that to you?  Are you a captive of your own complaining? You are designing your own life whether you believe it or not. read...