Tag: Inspiration
-
Ranting ANTs…
ANTs…Automatic Negative Thoughts. You have them, right? No? Are you sure? They are automatic, after all. In “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life,” Dr. Daniel Amen illustrates how thoughts change our brain chemistry. Our emotional state responds with feelings of tension or relaxation*. This system can get out of whack when we listen to ANTs.…
-
Habitude…
This blog is about TAB, again. A current re-read of “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life,” by Dr. Daniel Amen, is reminding me to examine the originating thought that drives a less than ideal attitude, which in turn drives behavior. TAB, thought>attitude>behavior. Amen’s book is quite dry and technical, but there are valuable exercises to…
-
A Friday Book Scan…
Here is a Friday book scan (as compared to a full review) of “Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives,” by Wayne Muller. This beautiful book, filled with poetic prose, stories and poems, reminds us that Sabbath is a commandment, not a suggestion. Our ego-driven and prideful selves believe we are beyond…
-
The Rhythm of Rest…
I hope you are deeply involved in a project that floats your boat, with excitement coursing through your veins as you anticipate the unknown steps on your chosen path. I am fortunate to have writing friends virtually join me in the ongoing quest to release written words into the reading world. We share encouragement, helpful…
-
Secondary Play…
Do you love what you do each day? The lucky ones get to spend their days creating beauty in whatever form and go home with a paycheck. Equally lucky are those who are filled to the brim with the satisfaction of accomplishing a previously thought to be impossible goal. As humans we yearn for someone…
-
Temporary Tempo…
Consider ebbs and flows, waxing and waning, growth and fallow times. I know they are necessary phases. Yet when slow times come, I need reminding that my lento tempo will soon return to moderato or even presto. Can you tell I’m listening to Chopin as I write this? Music employs lilts and pick-ups to make…
-
Do One Thing…
ELAN Principle 6 is Make Things Happen, the basic premise being to be active in your world, rather than sitting by, sitting out or sitting in. Pick one thing to accomplish this week. We know writing goals and breaking them down into tiny, chewable bits leads to success. Taking a Daddy bite out of a…
-
Play/Money…
Creatives live to play but there is a flipside: money. It may be sharp edges rubbing against the roundness, but commerce is necessary to share our gifts with the wider world. Otherwise, what’s the point? Picture toppling towers of handmade and thrown pots, each one a thing of sacred beauty, closed to the world for…
-
Square Peg…
Being a square peg means the world’s view of perfect roundness rubs against your sharp edges. Roundness means no friction, no tension, no change. It means being okay with the way things are, never seeing a better, or more creative, way. I’m grateful to every artist who resists the rounding. They see with a painful…