Category: ELAN Blog
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Impromptu Joy…
I recently celebrated an artful day with one of my daughters, exploring a local modern art museum. Soaking in the creations of others feeds my soul. Doing so with a loved one, doubly so. Like music, visual art can enhance and energize. It has a way of toggling brain buttons to the on position, like…
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Ideal, Ideal Day…
What is your ideal day? I have a few. The simplest is cozying up in my writing closet, punctuated by playing piano and reading. Simple, not easy to pull off given the rarity of white spots on the calendar. I had the grandest ideal day at the New Orleans Fairgrounds, soft-shell crab poboy in hand,…
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Weather the Weather…
I’ve just returned from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival – a guaranteed day of amazing music from Blues to Zydeco and all kinds in between. Singing and dancing in the Gospel tent is going to church, rocking out with throngs of fans at the big stages is a party. The paths in between…
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Front Loading…
In the realm of time and space and all things that must fit within, I like to remember to front load…my day, my week, my priorities. Setting aside writing time first thing in the morning tells my brain and my heart that writing is an important enterprise. Front loading the week means the first three…
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TAB Continued…
Revisiting Thought, Attitude, Behavior – how does it apply to personal relationships? Do you have a wonky one that is less than copacetic? Have you noticed bad behavior toward your partner, sibling, parent, child or even neighbor or co-worker? Your perpetual irritation may seem justified. After all, they always say negative things, or they never carry their share of…
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TAB…
TAB is one of my favorite reminders of the importance of watching your language. We don’t often think about the steps that lead to our behavior. It is what happens, deal with it. But there is an attitude that drives that action. Beyond that, there is a thought that informs that attitude. Thought, Attitude, Behavior. …
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Watch Your Language…
This is one of my favorite ELAN Principles because the words we choose directly affect our perception and thoughts. We may have no power over the actions of others, but we have control over our words. We choose our internal language. It takes practice, but we can adopt a more positive dialect. In the tiny,…
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Media Deprivation…
I recently recommended THE ARTIST’S WAY, by Julia Cameron, to an aspiring writer. It is a twelve-week “spiritual path to higher creativity,” in which Cameron encourages her followers to write three longhand pages, first thing in the morning. The purpose of these Morning Pages is to dump stuff on the page more than to create…
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Adopt a Policy…
Maybe there is a catchier way to say it, but adopt a policy means to make a decision once about an issue that comes up repeatedly. Then stick to it. When we had a landline, I decided to always respond to the urgings of telemarketers with “I have a policy to never participate in phone…
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Float Your Own Boat…
What floats your boat? Don’t you love that expression? It suggests a personal creative vessel that rides the waves of inspiration. Like water, inspiration can be peaceful or tumultuous. Sometimes we need some chill time, resting in a boat on a quiet stream. Letting the things of this world pass by without too much of…
Patty Mayeux Blog 