books
Jean talked about books yesterday, a lovely list! (I love lists too.) I'm glad she made a list because I have been feeling a lack of good reading lately. I think the feeling was provoked by the CBC Radio show with Rex Murphy the other night when callers offered their suggestions for summer reading. That list is also on the CBC web site.
Back to Jean's comments regarding her "year in France". Boy could I identify with so much of what she said. One of these days I should write about my own "year in France." I was not in a community as isolated and insular, being a short bus-ride over the border from Geneva. But I do remember being starved for news, not realizing until years later, that the same locally focused nature of the news that I found so un-satisfying during that year if France, was the kind of news I wanted to read, news about home: locally focused news about Toronto and SouthCentralOntario. In other words, I didn't realize it, but I missed home.
Ann and I talked a bit about changing your thinking. Ann had just returned today from her trip to Hawaii, and we were out on the deck enjoying a drink, watching my friend, Todd, mowing the lawn. (Have I told you how I prefer to do just about anything else, even weed by hand about a million seedlings, rather than mowing the lawn?) Some habitual thoughts are easy to fall back into once you get home, for example, from a trip. In so many ways, traveling can allow you the room to change some of those bad habits, when the usual triggers aren't around in the usual ways. But boy, as soon as familiarity sets in, or you get close to home, those habitual negative thoughts jump right back into the old brain!
I would love to keep positive, be open, grateful, optimistic...Maybe practicing gratitude is something I should really make an effort to make into a daily habit. Many spiritual writers suggest this a great way to invite more abundance and joy into your life, a great way to eliminate the habitual negative thoughts. Another positive practice I read about involves making a list of 5 accomplishments at the end of your day.
"Hah," I said to Ann. "That should be easy!"
"Ah," Ann said. "It's not as easy as you think. Anyone can make a list, but it must resonate with your heart, you must really feel it, for it to mean anything."
That makes a lot of sense to me. I can easily go through the motions, but that isn't fooling me. Making lists of gratitude and accomplishments that I really feel....That is my new resolution. I'll let you know how I'm doing.
Back to Jean's comments regarding her "year in France". Boy could I identify with so much of what she said. One of these days I should write about my own "year in France." I was not in a community as isolated and insular, being a short bus-ride over the border from Geneva. But I do remember being starved for news, not realizing until years later, that the same locally focused nature of the news that I found so un-satisfying during that year if France, was the kind of news I wanted to read, news about home: locally focused news about Toronto and SouthCentralOntario. In other words, I didn't realize it, but I missed home.
Ann and I talked a bit about changing your thinking. Ann had just returned today from her trip to Hawaii, and we were out on the deck enjoying a drink, watching my friend, Todd, mowing the lawn. (Have I told you how I prefer to do just about anything else, even weed by hand about a million seedlings, rather than mowing the lawn?) Some habitual thoughts are easy to fall back into once you get home, for example, from a trip. In so many ways, traveling can allow you the room to change some of those bad habits, when the usual triggers aren't around in the usual ways. But boy, as soon as familiarity sets in, or you get close to home, those habitual negative thoughts jump right back into the old brain!
I would love to keep positive, be open, grateful, optimistic...Maybe practicing gratitude is something I should really make an effort to make into a daily habit. Many spiritual writers suggest this a great way to invite more abundance and joy into your life, a great way to eliminate the habitual negative thoughts. Another positive practice I read about involves making a list of 5 accomplishments at the end of your day.
"Hah," I said to Ann. "That should be easy!"
"Ah," Ann said. "It's not as easy as you think. Anyone can make a list, but it must resonate with your heart, you must really feel it, for it to mean anything."
That makes a lot of sense to me. I can easily go through the motions, but that isn't fooling me. Making lists of gratitude and accomplishments that I really feel....That is my new resolution. I'll let you know how I'm doing.
posted by Kati at 7:00 p.m.
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