Tag: gratitude

Day 2–Positivity Challenge

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Day 2 of my 5-day Positivity Challenge! Doing my bit to radiate positive energy in these Trump Days. I’m listing three things about my life that are positive (or for which I’m grateful), which I will then post on Facebook and tag three FB friends. They’ll do the same. If you find it hard to participate in the daily task, that’s okay. Just keep trying. Forget about coming up with anything profound, just focus on finding one thing, no matter how small. DO NOT have to blog, just post on Facebook. 

2016-08-10 19.56.27-2

Here goes:

  1. Steve Martin. Last night, I saw his new “adult” comedy, “Meteor Showers” at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. It wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. Way too “clever” to be cohesive. The acting was superb though, and the venue delightfully intimate. A magical evening.
  2. Yet another dragonfly visit. Big and brown, the creature showed up in my writing studio, yesterday. The last dragonfly who paid me a visit was a wild and fiery red, perched on a bullrush reed in my pond. According to animal totemism dragonflies are connected to the symbolism of change and light. When the dragonfly shows up in your life to remind you to bring a bit more lightness and joy into your life. Yes indeed!
  3. Laguna Beach. I may complain about the traffic and this and that, but I am so ever fortunate and grateful to be living in an art town.

5-Day Positivity/Gratitude Challenge

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Reminded by Faceboook of the 5-day Positivity Challenge I took in 2014, I’m starting one of my own. Couldn’t be a better time, don’t you think? Too much Trumping going on. Time to radiate positive energy. So, for the next five days, I will list three things about my life that are positive, or for which I’m grateful on my Facebook wall and then tag three Facebook friends, who will do the same, and so on. If you find it hard to participate in the daily task, that’s okay. Just keep trying. Forget about coming up with anything profound, just focus on finding one thing, no matter how small. You DO NOT have to blog, just post on Facebook. 

Day 1:
1. I am so wildly, madly grateful for my sweet loving Jake. He has buoyed me through some mighty trying times. And at 12 1/2 years old, he’s still willing to climb the dratted hill  every day with me. Even in the broiling sun. I love you Jake!!!

Jake Closeup

2. I’m loving “A Moon Shaped Pool,” Radiohead’s latest albumn.  Yow!

3. Finally, I’m blogging again, albeit, a short stint. Still, it’s a most positive event.  I’ve been querying Small Presses for Monkey’s Wedding, and trying to find a path into the memoir (or maybe it’ll be a novel) that’s been tapping me on the shoulder.

Until tomorrow!

 

 

Don’t Pet The Sweaty Things

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I want to thank Don Williams of New Millennium Writings for giving me the idea to add to and expand upon his list of what I’ll call “suggestions of how to be a better human being.” Here are a few of mine.

Think with your mind and your heart.

Keep an open mind and when it slams shut, and plays a tape from your upbringing, your fear, your prejudices, your religion, your education, your philosophy, pry it open even if your fingers bleed and you lose your fingernails.

Think “us,” there is no “them.”

Interact with respect and compassion with all kingdoms in nature.

Wake each day and let your first thought be gratitude. Just because.

Meditate—it isn’t just about lowering your blood pressure, or emptying your mind; it isn’t in opposition to praying; it isn’t some exotic eastern discipline or “devil” tool. It’s about being open and receptive to that life that is so much greater than you, and that any philosophy or religion is able to fully define.

Love wastefully.

And . . .

Don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things—George Carlin.

Following The Muse

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About two weeks ago, I came upon the Circle Painting project on Facebook. It was the colors that drew me in, but then I became entranced by how beautiful and vibrant these works of art were, a little bit of Joan Miro, some Frederick Karl, perhaps some Picasso? This, despite the fact that the creators are a random group of people coming together to make art.  Even little kids!

The project is the brainchild of Hiep Nguyen, an artist and teacher who believes in making art accessible to all. Since 2007, he and his group of fellow artists have traveled to 10 countries and engaged over 100,000 participants. Here’s a blurb from his website that explains the process:

Inclusiveness: Circle Painting embraces everyone into its circle of playful and easy-to-follow activities. Together we paint away stress, isolation, and creative block. Our motto: Art for All, All for Art.

Collaboration: You have an idea, I make it happen. I start a line, you complete a shape.We accept each other’s sizes and shapes, colors and values. We make everything big, bold, and fun.

Imagination: Expect the unexpected! See the world in a drop of paint and heaven in a piece of cloth. When we interact with each other’s lines and shapes, colors and forms, new images emerge at every turn, stirring our imagination.

This makes my heart swell, brings tears of gratitude to my eyes. This is what I need right now. This is what it’s all about. So this Sunday, I’m off to spend three hours at The Great Park in Irvine, with a bunch of strangers to paint circles, squiggles, dots, sun rays, zigzags, starfish, jelly beans, moons, vortexes and . . . and whatever my heart desires.