Vintage Hankie

A pretty little hankie with one of my favorite flowers and one of my favorite languages.

How can you not love that?

A dollar, in case you were wondering... worth every penny.

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Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer

"Imagine: How Creativity Works" by Jonah Lehrer is on my "must read" list for the near future.

It was mentioned tonight by a friend. Right after that, I logged onto Twitter and saw a tweet from "The Economist" about it. Obviously, it is a book I need to read.

My friend heard him speak at a conference and shared some of the ideas with us.

One is that brainstorming is incredibly ineffective as a way to generate creative thought. What does work is challenging the idea during brainstorming so people have to clarify it.

Another thing that helps is being exposed to people outside your area of expertise. That's why Steve Jobs put the bathrooms in a central location so people from different departments had to interact.

As is always the case, persistence and hardwork often lead to the breakthrough moments.


Some of the ideas include:

• People's creative problem solving is improved by:
• Being in a blue room 
• Being sleepy
• Watching a comedy video before trying
• Being told the puzzle they're working on is from somewhere else
• By having lived in another culture

I'll have more to say once I've actually read the book, I'm sure!

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Clean Linens

This morning I woke up with the urge to wash some of the linens I've picked up in the last couple of months. I had an especially good day at the flea market last month, so I had a good bunch of them. I will buy things that are discolored and hope I can get them back to normal. If not, I just love them anyway. Those things add some character.

Sometimes it's just dirt. Or yellowing from cigarette smoke. However, sometimes it's just a stain that won't come out regardless of what you use.

Today I did a few soakings and washings, with various additions to help the cleaning along.



This is my little arsenal of products on a shelf above the washing machine. I just can't stand ugly plastic bottles sitting around, but fortunately, my local thrift stores have provided me with an assortment of prettier bottles to use.

The decanters both hold liquid detergent. The bottle in the front on the tray is bleach. I buy those bottles - originally meant to mix your own oil and vinegar dressing - whenever I find them. They always hold bleach - at the laundry, kitchen sink, bathrooms, etc.

Behind that is borax. I'm not sure what is in borax, but I can't run a household without it. It has magical powers.

Also magical is the fels naptha soap in the metallic creamer in the front. Again, I have no idea what is in it. I just know it gets out stains better than almost anything else I've ever tried. And it costs 97 cents a bar at Wal-Mart. I haven't seen it anywhere else, but all of their stores seem to carry it.

The tall green jar is to hold change that might be in my pockets. Yes, I know, I should be organized enough to take it out of my pockets before they get to the laundry, but I'm not. That's why there's a container there.

Behind it, in the large jar, is powdered oxy-clean. It's another product I like, especially for these sorts of things. I do use it other times, but mostly it's for linens.

I think part of the reason I love these things is seeing how they come out in the wash. Literally. I feel somewhat like a chemist, mixing and adding various things to see how they work. I continue to experiment.

But, sometimes, I'm rewarded with something that looks a 1000 times better when it's clean. Today it's this doily, which I loved when I spotted it under a table at the flea market. I paid $2 for it. It's all one piece, although it's made to look like two. Essentially, the two outer pieces with the pink in them share the same inner circle.

Anyway, it is so much brighter than when I started this morning. It was incredibly dingy. I knew it had the potential to be bright, but even I am a bit surprised by the difference in it. I love, love, love this bright green and pink. It's a different take on one of my favorite patterns - the pineapple.



All in all, a productive day.
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Clean Desk

Every once in awhile, my desk is clean - at least a small corner of it. I like to secure photographic evidence of this whenever it might occur. Rarity should be captured.

See it?

Unfortunately, this was taken a month ago, and it no longer bears any resemblance to this photo. Hence the reason I felt the need to look at it again.

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William Bernhardt Speaks about the Power of Books at the Kansas Writer's Association Scene Conference

I spent part of Friday and all day Saturday at the KWA Writer's Conference in Wichita. It was wonderful to be with other writers and to pick up some tips on structure.

Saturday evening's ending presentation was one of the most beautiful speeches I've ever heard about books. It was by William Bernhardt who is funny, as well as apparently brilliant. (I met him for the first time this weekend, so I'm not really qualified to make that determination, but all indicators would say "brilliant" is accurate.)

I can't possibly do it justice. He is obviously far better-read than I am, and I was so swept away listening to him that I didn't take any notes. Trust me, this does not happen often.

One story I do remember is him talking about Harriett Beecher Stowe's book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and its impact on the civil war. He told the story of Lincoln meeting her in 1862 and saying, "So, this is the little lady that started the big war." Bernhardt pointed out that the power of those words had such an impact on the world that we elected an African-American president less than 150 years later. As he said, whether you voted for Obama or not, you cannot deny that is an amazing change in attitude.

Speaking to a room full of writers, he encouraged us all to go write, because the words we put on the page do matter.

Many people encouraged him to print his speech, and I will be one of the first people buying it if he does. I wish I could share more of it with you, but I was so caught up in the experience I didn't capture the details sufficiently. In fact, I know I'm only giving you the scarcest hint at how magnificent it was.

Just trust me when I say it was incredible. And go read something!
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Sometimes You're Just Done

When I was in Kentucky recently, I had one of those moments of a switch flipping, and my attitude about something changing in an instant. It has happened before, but I wish I could figure out what causes it. If I could, it would be mighty convenient to speed things along.

This situation was one that has been lingering in my life for the last few years. Not demanding a tremendous amount of attention, but a miniscule, low-level amount every week. It was just always "there" - the "what ifs," the "coulda, woulda, shoulda," the wondering, the trying to let go and never being able to completely do it.

Then, week before last, I was having a conversation with my great-nephew BC, about nothing in particular, and it was like a tumbler in my brain fell into place and it was different. I recognized the change - I instantly knew I was done. I no longer had any feelings toward this old situation - good or bad - it was just the past. That happened intellectually a long time ago, and 99% of every other way, but there was still a tiny fraction of emotional attention being paid to it. Until that day. When all at once, it was done with. Gone. Finished. Complete. Over. Done.

If only I could figure out how to make that happen on my own time table. It would simplify so many things in life. But, regardless, I'm thankful for the change on this situation. It's always good to be done.
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Book Club - Swamplandia

My book club recently discussed the book, "Swamplandia," by Karen Russell. I really enjoyed this book. It's about a family who runs an alligator/swamp tourist attraction and their trials and tribulations after the mother's death.

I could relate to some of it from my own childhood - being somewhat isolated from the world at large - because I grew up in a very rural area. They were separated because they were surrounded by water on all sides.

Although the reader's guide didn't mention it, the water seemed another character in the novel to me. So many of the central themes of the book related to water in one way or another.

Regardless, I recommend the book. I found it to be a quick read that really kept my interest.

This was our second book. The first was, "The Crimson Petal and the White."

I also just finished, "Man Seeks God," which was fabulous. I'm also currently reading, "Unorthodox" and "Of Bees and Mist."

This book club is great for multiple reasons:
1. I didn't start it - someone else did and invited me. A wonderful change of pace!
2. The other women in it are better read than I am and smarter. I love being around smart people!
3. It's causing me to discover and read books I might not otherwise have found.

It has been a long time since I've been a in a book club, and I'm hoping I can keep up. I have a tendency to not read the book on occasion, for one reason or another. But, so far, I'm ahead this time. Our next book is "Man Seeks God," which is my favorite of the ones we've read so far.


I am going to try and keep a list of the books on the blog, so I'll have it for reference. A few years ago I started a book club with a friend and we read a number of books over the time we met. I am sure I have that list somewhere in a computer file. Maybe I'll run across it one day and can share it, too.

But, while this is fresh, I need to start the list:

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber - 2/2012
Swamplandia by Karen Russell - 3/2012
Man Seeks God by Eric Weiner - 4/2012
Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan - 5/2012

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Red Cardinal in Gray Landscape Gone for This Year

I snapped this photo a couple of weeks ago. At the time it seemed very winter-like to me with the grayness of everything except the bird. But it seems we've quickly moved from winter - or what passed for it this year - into spring.

I returned after a visit to Kentucky to see family and discovered things blooming in my yard. The gray landscape setting off this guy's bright red plumage has already passed by for this year.

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Pi and Pie Day

It's almost 3/14. Or written another way, that's 3.14, which is much like the number Pi, which is approximately 3.142.

(If you're trying to pull the definition out of your brain, it's the circumference of any circle divided by its diameter. I know that might have slipped the mind of anyone who's not a math geek, and doesn't happen to be in a high school geometry class right now. I recognize this is most of the world. I also accept my own geekiness in all its many forms - math being only one of them.)

In honor of pie day, I thought I'd post a photo of a pie I baked recently - the blackberry cobbler up top. But, just in case cobbler is not something that qualifies at pie in your book, here's another photo of a coconut pie meringe I made recently.
 

 I just made another pie Monday. It seems to be pie-baking-season in my world.

 Happy Pi/Pie Day!
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Flea Market Find - Another Costume Jewelry Pin

I found this beauty at a flea market a few weeks ago. It's really unusual. The gold/cooper bits are rolled into these shapes so there are no rough edges. I've never seen one exactly like it before. I was looking at it, thinking I would not be willing to pay whatever they were asking. Mentally I was working on what my top price was when the dealer said, "I'll take three for it."

Although I hadn't yet mentally decided my top price, I knew $3 was below it, so I said, "I'll take it." I stopped talking then so I didn't say something stupid like, "I can't believe you only want three dollars for it."

So, now it's mine. And I love it. And you're likely to see it on my person sometime soon. Then you will be able to appreciate how pretty it is. My poor photography here doesn't do it justice.

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Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas

We spent the day at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. It was a really beautiful place. The architecture alone is stunning, much less the artwork contained inside. And, it's free to visit, on top of that.

Surrounding it are beautiful trails to walk, but it was too rainy today.



It's a series of connected buildings, built around a pool. I loved the setting.



We did feel a little bit like we were at Star Fleet Command. Fortunately, none of us were wearing a red shirt.




 The rain just added to the day. I took this photo of one of the rails as we were walking out.



I am not as familiar with American art as I am with impressionism, so I need to educate myself a bit and then return. I was introduced to some new artists today and reminded of others that I appreciate, but don't often think about.

Beauty abounds.

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Fantasy Fudge First

I just finished making my first ever batch of marshmallow creme fudge, otherwise known as "Fantasy Fudge." Am I the only person on the planet who hasn't made this before?

I've made other kinds of fudge, just not the marshmallow creme kind. This seemed far more laborious than the old-fashioned way to do it. And, frankly, the verdict is still out on if mine worked.

Before I started I looked up a youtube video to see if there were any tricks and there was a girl about 11 years old making it. So, I really hope this worked. Otherwise, my cooking priviledges could be revoked.

Apparently, Kraft has changed the original recipe from using chocolate chips to squares of chocolate. I went the old way with chocolate chips. Who wants to do all that chocolate chopping? Not this girl.

Anyway, just in case there's one or two other people who haven't made it before, I found the recipe here: http://www.christmas-cookies.com/recipes/recipe191.fantasy-fudge.html
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A New... cough cough cough... Collection

You and I both know what it is, but I have been hesitant to actually use the "c" word. Collection. It sounds so... well... bulky. And insistent. Like a person has to devote energy to finding these items. However, I have a feeling these will find me.

Besides, these are just delicate little bits, designed to be tucked away inside a pocketbook. How bulky can they be, afterall?

Admittedly, I've been buying them for awhile here and there. I can't say these are the first hankies I've purchased. No, no, no, that would be a lie. I'm sure at some point or other I've even put photographic evidence to the contrary here on the blog.

I'm like that. Never smart enough to keep my shameful secrets to myself. I don't know why, but I have always been inclined to air my dirty laundry - on in this case my pretty hankies.

It was a natural progression for me to start gathering these in earnest, given my penchant for linens. And what are they but another kind of linen?

Just a wisp of beauty, glimpsed fleetingly while doing their work. They're oh so lovely... Bits of lace and embroidery... So sweet... So feminine...

What is not to love, after all?

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Daffodils are Reminders of Springs Long Past

Goodness knows there are many things to love about daffodils. They are harbingers of spring, although this winter has been the eternal spring for all practical purposes. Regardless, their bright pops of yellow dotting lawns and roadsides are welcome.

But one of the things I love most about them is that they are place markers for times gone by. I love to see them growing along a roadside, or where a house once stood, and know that at some point, someone took the time to plant and nurture them. Perhaps a young wife making her first home, or a harried mom with only a few moments to spare, or an elder still creating beauty.

Regardless of how they were started, they cling to life amidst grass and weeds, clearly stating their own right to exist. In the process they boldly mark a place that in another time hosted other lives. Although no one ever talks about it, daffodils are one of the things people leave behind when they go.
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Alone Time - Solitude - Self

I have written here in recent months about my seemingly never-ending need for alone time. I have always been a person who needs time to think, be still, be quiet, be alone. I very, very rarely feel lonely, although people assume I might. Maybe because my mind is always churning away, there's never a dull moment.

Being raised as an only child because my brothers were so much older, I learned early how to be alone and enjoy it. I was raised largely around adults in my early formative years, having little interaction with other children. I learned to amuse myself and, frankly, this is a wonderful skill.

Ironically, I'm very much a people person. I enjoy seeing people, having conversation and making connection. It's just that I still need alone time to process, think, write, whatever. Although most people would naturally consider me an extrovert, I'm about half and half on the Myers-Brigg scale (6/4 - E/I).

Today I ran across this quote that so beautifully sums it up. I should memorize this, but I suppose there's no need - that's one reason I have the blog - it's my online memory bank/memory sorting place that I let the world look in on.

"Solitude does not mean living apart from others;
it means never living apart from one's self."                 
                  -Parker Palmer

I think this is it, really. If I don't have some alone time I'm not myself. Maybe at times when I'm trying to reconfigure myself, as I have been the last couple of years, alone time is even more important.

Something else for me to think about during my alone time...
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Greg, House and Daffodils

My best friend, Greg, at my house today.

As you can tell, daffodils are blooming.

As you can also tell, I never cleaned out the dead junk in the flower bed last year. (I'm a slouch when it comes to yard work, what can I say? The only part of gardening I really like is having pretty flowers and yummy stuff inside.)

What is perhaps most evident is that my friend, Greg, is incredibly talented. He not only framed this interesting photograph, he shot his own portrait.

He is pretty much the best friend a girl could have!
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Random Wisdom of the Day

"I include the embracing of silence as one of my top ten secrets for inner peace and success, primarily because it's the only vehicle I know of for making conscious contact with God."
                        ----- Dr. Wayne Dyer

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A Mess to You, Productive to Me

To the uninitiated eye, it might just look like a mess. But, trust me, in this pile are a few dozen projects I'm working on. My methods may be unorthodox, but I get a lot done. I just don't do it like other people do it. Sometimes I think the "normal" way would be better, but I have to spend a lot of energy doing things the normal way. The Patsy way I can get much, much more done. Weird? Maybe. But it works for me.

Periodically, I tidy it all up and start fresh. It resembles how my brain works in a way. Maybe that's why it works for me.

At more than one workplace, people have been annoyed with me because it seemed like I wasn't doing anything, yet my projects always got done. I think people just see this sort of thing and think nothing can possibly be getting accomplished. But, I've written five columns, one newsletter, six blog entries and dozens of tweets from this pile in the last few days. So, it can't be all bad.

I've also got plans for a new project... Actually three new projects... If I stopped creating projects, I could be "caught up," but I know not of this mythical state of being.

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Quote of the Day

Life does not accommodate you;
it shatters you.
Every seed destroys its container,
or else there would be no fruition.                


– Florida Scott-Maxwell, The Measure of My Days




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Quote of the Day in Overheard Conversation

The Quote of the Day is from my sister in law, Mary Ann Terrell:

"She has too many irons in the fire,
and none of them are getting hot."

She was NOT talking about me, but it occurs to me she might have been. There's a reason I was meant to overhear this today.

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Pretty Hat Box

I'm in the mood to look at something fun and this qualifies. It's an old hat box I spotted in an upstairs closet at the Thomas Hart Benton home in Kansas City.

One of the things I like about myself is that I find things to love almost everywhere I go, and that I can appreciate little bits of happiness. That's actually a hallmark of happy people - appreciating small things.

I love the illustration, the broken handle with the brads, the wear along the edges of the box, the printing, and the color. Just something to make me smile. Hopefully it did the same for you.

I try to find a little bit of happiness in every day.
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Precious Real World Connections

“The more connected to the web we are, the more precious the real world is, so it is important to make a connection,” says Richard Morass.

I think we are hungry for connection on multiple levels. I think we want to find ways to interact with our fellow human beings beyond "your kid plays soccer with my kid" and "we work down the hall from each other." The real world is more precious, it seems. If only making real connection was as easy as exchanging cards.

The Morass quote was in a Fast Company article at http://bit.ly/zsBfeT. It's basically a commercial for MOO.com, which he founded, but I do appreciate some of his sentiments. And I think what he says above is really true. Even at the techiest of events, I find people have and exchange business cards.

MOO cards don't fascinate me the way they do others - mainly because they are not standard size. While that's all well and good for some people, many people still rely on traditional products to maintain and organize their business cards and I'm not ready to jump off that bandwagon quite yet.

That said, I've wanted to order them since I first heard about them years ago - maybe 2005 or so? They were big in artists circles before I saw them popping up anywhere else. They're really nice quality pieces, but I just don't know what I'd do with them. If I'm at an event where I'm handing out cards I will use the ones I already have.

Business card design is something I think about regularly because every time I do one, it's different. I've had my current one for maybe a couple of years. I put a QR code on the back of it as a social experiment and it was curious that for quite a few months only the techiest of people knew what that was, much less what to do with it. Now that they're on ketchup bottles in restaurants they've obviously reached the mainstream. However, the ways I had hoped that technology would go have not developed, so I'm not sure I'll use one again - have to think about that a bit.

I preach consistency in marketing all the time, but it's so difficult to apply all those rules to oneself. But, I must, I must, I must.

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Six Steps to Stop Procrastinating

I used to be a procrastinator. I was very, very good at it. I pulled all-nighters with regularity, and I don't mean the kind you want to brag to your friends about later, but the kind where you're working feverishly to complete a project you could have easily completed weeks earlier.

In fairness to myself, at various times I have had jobs that required other people to meet deadlines in order for me to meet mine. Unfortunately, when other people didn't get the necessary materials to me, then I was in a pickle. So, because I was the "end of the line" before the publication had to go to press, I was the one who had to stay up all night in order to not miss my deadline.

I take deadlines seriously. They're not suggestions. They're deadlines. They exist for a reason. If you can't make one, you better have a good reason.

I was always able to pull off meeting the deadline, but it often required  a very intense day or two. Sometimes, when you work in news, that is required because you can't plan ahead. News doesn't tell you when it's about to happen, so you have to react. And sometimes you work day and night because that's what the story requires.

But, because I used to do that for a living, I adopted that as my norm. And I worked for people who had also done that for a living, and they lived in that chaos as well. In fact, they viewed chaos as a normal way of running a business. It was what they knew. It worked for them. They would occasionally try something new, but there was always the safety net to fall back on of just doing it by the seat of our pants.

Entire businesses are built on this principle. Some of them work quite well. There are some things where this is a fabulous way to be - you can react quickly, you can roll with the punches, and nothing flusters you. I get that. Been there, done that. However, it also means you can't ever move beyond the next crisis, because there's always another one looming as soon as you get this one under control.

In the last few years, I have broken the procrastination habit. I'm not saying I have the next five years of my life planned out or anything crazy like that, but I like to have projects that have deadlines solidly under control. That leaves time for things that pop up unexpectedly. If I get a call from an editor who has a story she needs next week, I can take that on because the story I already have due is underway.

But, you give up some things when you stop procrastinating, too. One that is a huge factor I hadn't identified, was brought up in conversation the other day. A friend mentioned that after you complete a project like that you can sink into a chair, breathe a sigh of relief, and feel like you've really accomplished something. It's not the same rush to complete the project a month early.

However, it is a totally different kind of satisfaction. And, dare I say, a better one. You now have the energy you devoted to being in crisis to do something you want to do. You have time to do fun things. You no longer have to live in fear of what might be coming down the pike that you will have to react to quickly. Because, if it does, you will have the time and energy to handle it. It's so much easier to handle the unexpected when the expected is already under control.

Life comes with surprises. Lots of them. I'm glad I've finally managed to break the habit of procrastinating. And that's what it is - a habit.

If you are a procrastinator, here are some steps to break the habit:

1. Deadline
If you don't have an official deadline, give yourself one. And it's not the morning something is due. It's a week or month before - whatever is reasonable for the task.

2. Decide
People often procrastinate because they don't want to decide what to do. They just keep living in limbo until they HAVE to make a decision. Just decide. Today. And move forward with whatever it is. It's not going to be any easier to decide in a week or month or year. Just do it right now and start putting the energy into accomplishing instead of wallowing.

3. Do
It's easy to get "stuck" when there's a step involved you're not comfortable with. Just do it and get it over with. You will spend more time dreading it than it will actually take to do it.

4. Move ahead
Don't second guess yourself and go backwards. You've made a decision, now stick to it, and start enacting the plan. Obviously, if you have some reason it won't work you have to reevaluate, but it has to be a real reason - not just a feeling you have. People stuck here by going back to step 1 and engaging in a loop. Just keep moving ahead.

5. Finish
Complete the task. It's tempting to stop when your part way through because you can finish it up quickly later on. You'll be in exactly the same predicament as if you hadn't started because if you put it aside and pick it up again later you'll question everything that's been done previously.

6. Celebrate
When you finish your task early, take some time to enjoy the fact that you do not have to waste time and energy being caught up in the drama of a last minute rush to complete. You have earned it!

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Hospitality

Whatever else is involved in any given act of hospitality, it must always be designed to provide a respite from the impersonal world outside. It must be a parenthesis in the hurry of life. It must make one feel safe. It must nurture the stranger, or the friend, at the gate.


                                  --- Elizabeth R. Skoglund

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Blackberry Cobbler

So, if you want to be eating this blackberry cobbler, you have to start with pie crust. You can use the recipe of your choice.



Pie crust is really far simpler than many people would have you believe. Two things you need to know:
1. Keep it cold
2. Don't overwork it

What makes pie crust flaky are the "layers" of shortening and flour. If you mush it all together by overworking it, you get rid of the layers and the crust is tough. If you let the shortening get warm enough it "melts" into the flour, the same thing happens. Experiment. You'll get it.



Once you have your pie crust rolled out, put it in the fridge while you make the filling.

Many cobbler recipes will suggest you only put crust on top. Ignore them. The best part of this is the blackberry juice soaked crust.

Other cobbler recipes will suggest using a mixture that results in a cake-like topping. Some even, heaven forbid, suggest using cake mix. Do it the old-fashioned way with pie crust - top and bottom - and you will not be sorry.

Blackberry Cobbler 

1 pint blackberries (roughly - more or fewer will work)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, melted

That's it... four ingredients. If you find recipes that call for vanilla, ignore them. It's one of the most over-used things in the American kitchen, especially since most people are using supermarket psuedo-vanilla. Don't do it. You'll just ruin the natural flavor of "real" ingredients by pouring this chemical mixture over them.

Mix together and taste. If your berries need it, add a little more sugar. If you like a more tart pie, add less. This is not chemistry, it's baking, do it to suit yourself!

Put berry mixture into your prepared (raw) crust and bake at 425 degrees for 30-40 minutes. The crust will be golden, the berries will be bubbly, you will be happy.

If you like, you can make a lattice top on the cobbler - just because it's pretty and it reminds you of grandma. Even though my grandma never made pie like this, it still makes me nostalgic. Go figure.

Sprinkle a little sugar on top. Why? Because it's sweet, and it's pretty. (Really, what kind of question is that? I can only assume you are taken aback by the idea of blackberry cobbler and can't think straight right now.)






After it's baked, it will look like this...



... and you will love it. You will probably love it even more warm, with some ice cream on top.

Then you can take photos and put them on Facebook and your blog and love it when your friends say nice things about you. (Yes, I'm somewhat like the SNL skit where the woman is saying, "Please don't make me sing, Please don't make me sing" while inching toward the piano. I know, it's sad, but true.)

Enjoy the fruits of your labors!

(I have to give extra credit to my big brother, Jackie, who picked these blackberries and froze them last summer. The cobbler is a gazillion times better because of that. Thank you, Jackie!)
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Quote of the Day

I am always doing what I can't do yet, in order to do it.
--- Van Gogh-----
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Vintage Goodness

This is a little bit of a dresser scarf I bought at the flea market recently. I'm not sure I can ever have enough hand embroidered and crocheted pretties.

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Happiness is Yours for the Learning

We are all born with a "set point" of happiness, but we now know that it is also a learned behavior and just because someone isn't born that way, they can be that way if they chose to be. Genetics determine about 50%.

Important in learning to be happy:
1. Meditation
2. Journaling (esp. gratitude)
3. Fake it till you make it. Faking happiness causes the same chemical reactions as BEING happy and eventually will create the happiness. Actions matter - act happy.
4. Surrounding yourself with friends and family is a huge factor in increasing happiness. 
5. Having your own sense of self and no interest in keeping up with the Joneses is helpful.
6. Doing activities that put you in the "flow" where you lose sense of time and enjoy it, increases overall happiness. The more of those you have, the better off you are. Doing what you're best at.
7. Must have a capacity to love and be loved.
8. Altruism
9. Spirituality
10. Creativity


Damaging to happiness:
1. not forgiving - huge - the biggest stumbling block - the single biggest determining factor in someone's happiness level
2. materialism


Surprises:
1. Major health problems, such as loss of mobility, have no long term effect on people's general happiness. After about 90-180 days they return to their pre-incident level of daily happiness.
2. People are very bad at predicting what will make them happy. Better to trust human resilence than human prediction.
3. More choices you have the more likely you are to be unhappy. People feel with so many choices, there's no excuse for failure. Choices also make people question every decision.
4. Happiness comes mostly in daily little bits. People get thrills out of finding a quarter or getting an unexpected gift. The emotion actually makes them more generous, friendlier, flexible, creative and better at solving problems. Small bursts of this feeling caused radiologists to make more accurate diagnoses in one study.


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It seems there are some constants in my life, and wanting to share the secrets of happiness is one of them. People often comment that I'm "so happy," and it's true. I've written about it many times. I just ran across this blog post from livejournal that was written Sept. 17, 2004. It's all still true. I thought I'd repost for the fun of it. Or maybe the happiness of it!

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Yet to be discovered...

Interesting little fact:

Ten percent of all the mammals we know about were discovered in the last 20 years. That's about 400 mammals we've learned about in just the last two decades.

Makes one wonder what else is just waiting to be discovered.
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Big Dreams and Big Chances

I confess I'm a "Johnny come lately" to reality television, particularly "American Idol." This is the first year I've watched from the beginning.

Last year I became interested because of the addition of Steven Tyler. I happened to catch it and was just so impressed with what he had to say to contestants. Later I heard him interviewed and he said he had taken some flack for agreeing to do the show but thought part of entertainment was continuing to do new things. I really appreciate that mentality.

There is something so enthralling about watching people get a shot at their dreams. Of course, sometimes we see them leave the stage without those dreams fulfilled. But, they're getting a chance. And they're such big dreams. Big, big dreams.

How many people ever even get a shot at such big dreams?

No wonder we can't stop watching.
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