The Infertile Mind

Book Review: Happy For No Reason by Marci Shimoff....

While I was helping my parents move this summer, I found the book Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out.  I felt a little foolish reading it for some reason, as if in my head I was really thinking, "Happy for No Reason? Yea right!"  But I slowly read it over the summer and thought I'd share with you a few good insights.  And it's full of great quotes, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

1. Get 8 hours of sleep. Nothing new, right? Well, the book added a note that according to Ayurvedic wisom (ancient medical tradition of India) that "getting an hour of sleep before midnight is worth 2 hours of sleep after midnight"  That was new information - when to get the 8 hours in. (p. 174)

So I decided to implement this one, which was not an easy choice because I am a very natural night owl.  I used to joke I'd be happy as a vampire, coming out only at night.  However, I must say after sticking to this all summer, I'm a believer.  Now I make sure I'm in bed by 11 and I'm up around 7.  There's nothing I miss about being up late and I'm going to sleep soundly every night, which was not the case before.  My next step is I think I'll be pushing back to 10:30 or even 10!

2.  The Solutions Focus Technique. (p. 63)  If I'm stuck in a situation or relationship where I'm unhappy or frustrated, I'm quick to list out all the reason it's going wrong.  However, I never stop to think how it's going right!  With this method you think of a situation you've been complaining about and rate how you feel about it from 1 to 10.  If you didn't score a 1 then you need to write down those reasons about why you didn't score it lower.  I was surprised to find even my most frustrating situations were at least a 2 or 3, so some possibility was there!

The next step is to look at your list and think of a small step you could take to raise your satisfaction by even 1 point.  Then take action.  Just the re-framing of the situation and then taking even tiny steps to help it along made this some good advice for me.

3. How People Learn.  (p.281)  The following information/quote was compiled after extensive research by Psychiatrist William Glasser. 

“We Learn . . .
10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
70% of what we discuss
80% of what we experience
95% of what we teach others.”

- Dr. William Glasser

Being an avid reader, I was a little stunned to see we learn only 10% of what we read and excited to see we learn 95% of what we teach to someone else.  Without really realizing it, it may be what prompted this post!  I think by compiling my thoughts here, I hope to retain these good insights more deeply.

In closing, what I liked about this book it is was actually more like a summary of a lot of other people and information I've read before.  For example it brought up Byron Katie and The Work, the Sedona Method and on and on.  It also gave you action steps to implement and had lots of good stories to illustrate the point.  It's also an easy read that you can easily take on in chapters and not feel like you've lost the whole story. 

Okay, I'm off to walk the dog and do some crafting with one of my nieces later!

We Need One Another.....

I took this picture one day while walking the dog.  The sun was shining beautifully behind the tree and drawing attention to the little angel statue.  I'd walked by it many, many times and never noticed it before.

As to what I've been up to for the last month, I'd call it nesting.  I have been cleaning areas of my house like a mad woman.  I think it's both a physical and spiritual cleansing.   I've also found so many wonderful memories. 

One particular find was a touching poem from my Aunt Edda's memorial service that I wanted to share titled We Need One Another by George O'Dell.

We Need One Another by George O'Dell

We need one another when we mourn and would be comforted…

when we are in trouble and afraid…

when we despair, in temptation, and need to be recalled to our best selves again.

We need one another when we would accomplish some great purpose, and cannot do it alone…

in the hour of our successes, when we look for someone to share our triumphs

[and] in the hour of our defeat when with encouragement we might endure and stand again.

We need one another when we come to die, and would have gentle hands prepare us for the journey.

All our lives we are in need, and others are in need of us.

Decoupage with mercy, frugality and humility....

 
This page is the front inside page of my transformed art journal featuring words & details from Living the Wisdom of the Tao: The Complete Tao Te Ching and Affirmations by Dr. Wayne Dyer.  This is a very long verse so I'm just going to share my favorite section here,

"From mercy comes courage.

From frugality comes generosity.

From humility comes leadership.

Now if one were bold but had no mercy,

if one were broad but were not frugal,

if one went ahead without humility,

one would die." 

P.S. If you want to see.... here's the front and back of the journal decorated with old Winnie the Pooh books.

 

 

 

Decoupage and trusting your inner vision....

 
 Here is another decoupage project - a transformed old journal - where I used more words & details from Living the Wisdom of the Tao: The Complete Tao Te Ching and Affirmations by Dr. Wayne Dyer.  This inside back page features the 12th verse of the Tao Te Ching:

"The five colors blind the eye.

The five tones deafen the ear.

The five flavors dull the taste.

The chase and the hunt craze people's minds.

Wasting energy to obtain rare objects only impedes one's growth.

The master observes the world but trusts his inner vision. (My favorite line!)

He allows things to come and go.

He prefers what is within to what is without."

Decoupage with a message.....

 
 
A few years ago I bought the Dr. Wayne Dyer book, Living the Wisdom of the Tao: The Complete Tao Te Ching and Affirmations.  It's a lovely little book with beautiful details, artwork & words that I would go back to from time to time.  However, now that I'm obsessed with decoupage I decided to pull out the most meaningful messages to me and incorporate them into my creative space.  The jar pictured above reads, "In all of nature, no storm can last forever."

The jar below reads, "Because I know that I do not know, I am guided to find my own way."

 

Believing that seasons change and cultivating trust....

So, I learned about this illustrator, Kristin Noelle, through Jen Lee (one of my fabulous teachers at Squam) and I love her style.  It is so simple and lovely.  I signed up for her Sketch A Day e-mail for 30 days and I have really enjoyed them.  (They are almost done and I'm going to be sad when they stop arriving!) This one came today and really just made me feel good and calm.  Seasons do change and sometimes I take comfort that no matter how good or bad I think things are there will change. 

And I do sense a lot of change coming with my parents moving here this year, trying to find a high school for my stepson to attend which could have us moving, a Spring Break trip and possibly a trip to Spain with my parents.  All hopefully good and wonderful changes and experiences but I have to allow myself to feel uneasy about them at times because there are a lot of unknowns.  I have to TRUST that it's all going to work out for the best.

Speaking of TRUST, that's really the central topic of Kristin's blog/website: www.kristinnoelle.com.  She also posts other illustrations via the blog portion which I have also really enjoyed.  Her site is all about cultivating TRUST in ourselves, which is also a word that keeps popping up for this year so finding her is timely.

Also, circling back to Jen Lee, she is a new favorite resource for me since going to Squam.  (Hearing her do her storytelling live was an amazing experience and to be in her class for a 1/2 day has stuck with me for months.  I think one of her retreats is going to be on a personal wish list.)  She has started a handwritten letter series, which is powerful.  Her latest one on Love, Risk and Comfort Zones is also worth a look at (plus she does beautiful panoramic photography, too!). Find it here.

Quote on doing all the things we are capable of doing....

"If we all did the things we are capable of doing we would literally astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

Here are a handful of things I've astounded or astonished myself on being capable of doing, even if at the time they seemed impossible.

- Forgave a loved one who hurt me deeply

- Let a good friend go

- Grieved the loss of 3 miscarriages

- Grieved the losses of my friends

- Found laughter even in my darkest hours

- Find life worth living (and thoroughly enjoying!), through all its ups and down

- Write a blog that people actually read sometimes! :)

How have you astounded yourself?

Having an adult snow day is awesome.....

Every month we have a meeting with one of our clients to re-cap our accomplishments and decide what's coming up next (you get the idea) and that was supposed to be this morning.  But, I woke up to the alarm and news of a 2-hr school delay which means my business partner can't make it so we had to re-schedule.  And I am giddy like a little girl who just got a snow day!  No getting ready for a meeting and getting to stay in my pjs.  Woo Hoo!

So I was checking my e-mail (from bed - yippee!!) and saw my periodic news from TED.com and the following teaser got my attention, "Neil Pasricha's blog 1000 Awesome Things savors life's simple pleasures, from free refills to clean sheets. He reveals the 3 secrets (all starting with A) to leading a life that's truly awesome."  So I watched the video, featured here, and it is indeed awesome.  Heartwarming, funny, touching and true.  The best part is the reminder to appreciate how many awesome there is in our everyday lives.  Check it out, it's less than 20 minutes (love that feature about TED talks!).  Then be sure to share something awesome about your day, too!

Getting cozy in the new year...

I've heard many times that people pick a word for the year.  So far I've got 3 that are coming to mind.  (Maybe I'll need a word of the month to expand on the idea...) The first one I want to share with you is COZY.  I want to focus on adding more personal touches around my house to make it feel warm and inviting.

The basket pictured in the photo is a new addition to the house.  It has a matching trunk to go with it.  The weave and texture are what drew me to it and it goes really well with the warm colors of our upstairs loft-like area.  Both acquired at Target, if you wanna know.

More sneak peeks to other changes coming soon.  What new changes are you making in the new year?

Smurfy day thanks to a stranger....

While we were in New York (more to come on that!) I picked up this Smurfy t-shirt at the NBC Universal Store while we did the NBC Studio Tour there (very cool, if you wanna know).  So, here I am in all my Smurfy glory (one of my all time favorite cartoons)!  If you want your very own, pick it up here.

Also, I want to send a spiritual thank you to the incredibly kind stranger who found my Target Visa and actually called them for me and reported it missing.  I didn't really think I'd lost it but just misplaced it until I got a letter from my credit card company.  I can't thank that person enough for not having a shopping spree on me or putting me through the heartache of identity theft.  Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, kind stranger.  It reminds me that being kind just to be kind is totally worth it.

Well, hope you're having a Smurfy day, too!