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I have signed up to The Optimist Daily today and loved the item about the community in West Bengal who imptoved their environment and their lives beynd recognition by planting trees twenty years ago. Officialdom and bureaucracy can do what they like on bits of paper but I live on the continent of Europe and am and will always be, happilly, European! :-)
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Is this not the saddest Christmas tree you have ever seen?  It's on my bus route to the city. I've been watching it snce last January. Last time I looked it had fallen over. If you didn't laugh you'd cry. X Thank you Lotta for these....!    ..about feeling good?
I found myself feeing almost apologetic the other day for being cheerful! Saying 'Really good thanks' when someone asks how you are feels like an act of bravado. (Try it today - you may be a little taken aback by the reactions.) Yes, there is politics and war and pestilence and tragedy and accidents. There always were and always will be but I ask myself will any of those things be changed one iota for the better by me being miserable? There is only one guaranteed way I know of to make the world a happier place today and that is for me to be happy. I reckon that might also increase the likelihood of someone else being happy... Being Happy Is A Rvolutionary Act. Let's be revolutionaries today! And laugh about it. Whyever not? This video by Loretta LaRoche had me laughing out loud.. She says 'Do something incongruent with your stressor' and suggests as an example saying what is bothering you out loud and doing a twirl at the same time....guaranteed giggle! Why not try it now? Giving yourself a standing ovation is a good trick too. It happens around this time every year, and every year I say Oh no! Too soon, too soon..  I ask too many questions don't I? :-) According to Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies quiz I am a Questioner - no surprise there then! In my book group once or twice a year instead of a book we have readings on a theme. We have had food, drink, gardens, childhood and many others, and our next one is 'optimism' as we are all feeling in need of some, what with the weather and the politics.... If you have any suggestions I'd be most grateful as would all the readers who also feel the need for some cheer, hope and lightness of heart.  Plans changed (I was on Plan C today). I've got a bill from Vodaphone although I have not been with them for years. The water was turned off for six hours while I had someone staying. The president of the most powerful country in the world said there was an airport there in 1775 - the world is madder than ever! I remind myself that there are swallows and orchids in my life. It helps me stay sane. :-)  What keeps you sane? (I am assuming that you are...) I think this plant is trying to tell me something..  It's a vigorous climber called mina lobata which I've been growing at the studio window as it's quite tender and the weather hasn't been warm enough yet to plant it out. I plan to grow it up canes, meanwhile it is growing up the piano stool legs! Better not sit at the piano too long.. ..at least three books at once! Do you do this?
I'm getting behind with Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life which I said I'd read, and review, one chapter a month, Gretchen Rubin's Better Than Before about making and breaking habits has just come through the door and is tempting me away from Michelle Obama's Becoming which I am rushing through for book group which is tomorrow! I ordered Becoming a bit late (do you find that if you don't pay for Amazon Prime deiiveries take a lot longer than they used to?) so to get a start on the content I started listening to interviews with her about her autobiography. In this interview (25 mins 36 seconds in) with Oprah they both get very giggly about some major experiences they have had which they found themselves reacting to with an inner Mm,mm,mm! I found it pretty funny and quite endearing and began to think of some things which have happened to me to which I can only respond Mm,mm,mm! Can you think of any such moments? ..and stuff it all in a bag, hang it on a hook and walk away for a bit. I wonder how that would work out?  There's a poster that says What is a Marie Kondo and where can I get one? That made me laugh out loud, and it also reminded me of a Calman cartoon - A woman is holding a placard which says Free Women Now! and a little man is standing in front of her meekly asking Can I have one? What makes you laugh? ...or a Happening as they used to be called?
I stepped into a crowded large room in Edinburgh's Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and found that, oddly, no-one was moving. Or talking. All that could be heard was a faint buzz from the headphones that everyone without exception it seemed, was listening to...it was surreal and I hesitated to go in, wondering if this was in fact the 'exhibit' a staged event perhaps? Someone moved and the spell was broken. I laughed out loud and went in to see the paintings. The Scottish Colourists if I remember rightly.. i am awaiting delivery of an Elizabeth Blackadder print i bought on eBay. Exciting.  Two year old Andrew took one look at this Ted and said 'Happy'. He's been known as Happy Ted since, and stays here to entertain and comfort visiting children. (I have been known to give him a hug myself on occasion.) No wonder Marie Kondo says you should leave sentimental items till last. She claims that by the time you have sorted through everything else in your life you will be well practiced in decision making and better able to deal with the photographs, letters, memorabilia, and teddy bears. The question will be the same though - Does it spark joy?  He does. Thank you Lynne. ..and goodness and beauty. I loved the film This Beautiful Fantastic (BBC 2 Iplayer) and Sunday's Private Passions with Bella Hardy (BBC Radio 3) also delighted me and made me feel happy and optimistic. And the fuchsias on the porch steps are rather cheering!   Here is my personal version of the poem God Says Yes To Me by Kaylin Haught. (Little is known about this American poet - I tried to get her consent and can only hope she takes this in the spirit of admiration I intended.) I asked god if it was okay to be a bit of a bluestocking and she said yes I asked if it was okay to love silence and empty space and she said it sure is I asked her if I could really really like clothes and sometimes wear nail polish and she said sweetheart she calls me that sometimes she said you can do exactly what you want to Thank you god I said And is it even okay if I swear at my computer just occasionally and can't keep up with my emails Darling girl she said Who knows where she got that from Maggie What I'm telling you is Yes Yes Yes What would your version say? I asked god if it was okay to be melodramatic and she said yes I asked her if it was okay to be short and she said it sure is I asked her if I could wear nail polish or not wear nail polish and she said honey she calls me that sometimes she said you can do just exactly what you want to Thank you god I said And is it even okay if I don't paragraph my letters Sweetcakes she said Who knows where she got that from What I'm telling you is Yes Yes Yes God Says Yes To Me Kaylin Haught (Am working on my own version.) Thank you J. |
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