Natalia Corres
Earlier this month I challenged a dear friend to find 30 things she liked about herself and blog about them (one each day for 30 days) - the "reward" being a great dinner...the actual reward, I hope, lasts longer than the dinner. I challenged her to do this because of her sincere surprise at having …
Fear seems to be winning. So many people are afraid of so many things, I have trouble unraveling it when I am trying to respond - because if I cannot identify the particular fear, I may say the exact wrong thing that sets off the awful side-effects of fear - which are anger, hate and …
Not trying for a high-falutin concept, just an everyday find something good. For example, I enjoy meeting folks with a passion...whether that passion is art, shopping, writing, science or videogames. Passionate people resonate. They vibrate positively. Listening to someone rhapsodize about their passion is inspiring. It is energizing. It feeds the soul and inspires me …
The last day of April, it has been "Poetry month" and a couple of my friends have been diligent in writing poetry nearly daily and publishing on their blogs. So in their honor, I submit the following: A poem for my friends: Blood becomes roses in the water, fascinated I am open in augury for the …
I've never had any problem with meeting goals once I have decided on what I want to do. The biggest problem has always been in deciding from the universe of possibilities. As a creative consultant, I have helped others clarify, distill, and accomplish their goals. And sometimes, I need help to do the same. Lately, …
I know some (very few) folks whose families are kind, supportive, loving and basically the kind of family we think of when we think of Norman Rockwell paintings, and the American Dream. And I know some (the majority of my friends) whose families are a collection of foibles, odd opinions and sometimes destructive behaviors - …
I like to read poetry, especially when turmoil and strife seem to have such loud voices...these days hate seems evident everywhere, and that translates to fear - fear of the unknown, fear of the "other"...two sides of a coin. I need hope. I need life and love and happiness. Poetry leaves breadcrumbs to answers. Glimpses …
My other other blog was nominated for the Liebster Award, and I cannot tell you how pleased that made me…it is a fun award, meant to be shared – paid forward – and that is one of those concepts that makes my heart warm and my soul sing. 🙂
This is very exciting for me, and I am sending my heartfelt thanks to Sam in Yorkshire, England (lovingthefiftysomething.com) for nominating the Zen of Living Smaller for this wonderful award! The Liebster Award is something of a chain letter, in that it encourages you to nominate 5 to 10 other blogs and they do the same and onward – extending the number of new readers to a blog and opening new horizons for many more folks. Cool concept!
There are a set of rules, once you are nominated – and I will do my best to adhere to them (you can find them at: theglobalaussie.com/blog/liebster-award-2017/ ).
So here’s my answer to #3 on the list of rules: I have a love for sustainability and living smaller (mostly because I started out poor; clawed my way to middle class; accumulated a ton of stuff; lost it all; did it…
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This is how I always picture “my America”…I love this…and wish more of “this” would happen…
Gate A-4 By Naomi Shihab Nye:
Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning my flight had been delayed four hours, I heard an announcement: “If anyone in the vicinity of Gate A-4 understands any Arabic, please come to the gate immediately.” Well— one pauses these days. Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.
An older woman in full traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing. “Help,” said the flight agent. “Talk to her . What is her problem? We told her the flight was going to be late and she did this.”
I stooped to put my arm around the woman and spoke haltingly. “Shu-dow-a, shu-bid-uck, habibti? Stani schway, min fadlick, shu-bit-se-wee?” The minute she heard any words she knew, however poorly used, she stopped crying. She thought the flight had been cancelled entirely. She needed to be…
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The difference in Presidents is striking. I try not to judge, and I try to be respectful of the office. This was shared with me and I feel compelled to share it with you. Sigh.
I will make a concerted effort to be the change I wish to see….
Below is an excerpt from The President’s Devotional by Joshua Dubois, the former head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He’s recounting events that occurred Sunday, December 16, 2012 — two days after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and 6 adult staff members. Dubois had gotten word the day before that the President wanted to meet with the families of the victims:
I left early to help the advance team—the hardworking folks who handle logistics for every event—set things up, and I arrived at the local high school where the meetings and memorial service would take place. We prepared seven or eight classrooms for the families of the slain children and teachers, two or three families to a classroom, placing water and tissues and snacks in each one. Honestly, we didn’t know how…
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