Category: Inspiration

Be Flawsome!

9/26/2019

Flawed + awesome = FLAWSOME
💛
Flawsome is embracing your flaws, owning them like a human being
Flawsome is working with your flaws and mistakes, no shame required
Flawsome is an antidote to perfectionism, imposter syndrome, self-criticism and comparing yourself negatively to other people
Flawsome is empowering
Flawsome is real
💪
It's how we wear them and work with them that makes us awesome - not being without flaws to begin with
Since being human is to have flaws, what do you have to lose?!
BE FLAWSOME!!

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Instructions for everyday peace of mind

3/23/2016

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In the midst of what is surely the most bizarre election season in living memory, perhaps it would be helpful to review some old advice on how to maintain one's mental stability when it seems that the world really is in the handbasket, headed down to a very hot place.

And by old, I mean old. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are presumed to be at least 1,600 years old, maybe more. Yet the advice in Sutra 1:33 about how to not get all freaked out by what other people do or say feels quite fresh and relevant.

From Christopher Isherwood's translation:

Undisturbed calmness of mind is attained by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked.

and T.K.V. Desikachar explains Sutra 1:33 like this:

In daily life we see people around who are happier than we are, people who are less happy. Some may be doing praiseworthy things while others are causing problems. Whatever our usual attitude toward such people and their actions may be, if we can be pleased with others who are happier than ourselves, compassionate toward those who are unhappy, joyful with those doing praiseworthy things, and remain undisturbed by the errors of others, our mind will be very tranquil.

Notice the term "cultivate" in the first quote. That's a reminder that growth takes effort and attention over a period of time. It's worth it, though, since friendliness is the antidote to jealousy, compassion allows us to be supportive rather than judgmental, delight lifts us up when envy or comparing ourselves to others drags us down and indifference (not paying too much attention) frees us from getting worked up with worry or outrage.

And if at first, you don't succeed, no worries - there will always be plenty of opportunities to practice!

Photo:Jubair1985

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The Journey

3/5/2016

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One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.

~ Mary Oliver

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The word

10/12/2015

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"The word that allows yes, the word that makes no possible.
The word that puts the free in freedom and takes the obligation out of love.
The word that throws a window open after the final door is closed.
The word upon which all adventure, all exhilaration, all meaning, all honor depends.
The word that fires evolution's motor of mud.
The word that the cocoon whispers to the caterpillar.
The word that molecules recite before bonding.
The word that separates that which is dead from that which is living.
The word no mirror can turn around.
In the beginning was the word and that word was

CHOICE."

Tom Robbins ~ Author, Still Life With Woodpecker

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Hokusai Says

9/22/2014

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Hokusai Says, by Roger Keyes

Hokusai says look carefully.
He says pay attention, notice.
He says keep looking, stay curious.
He says there is no end to seeing.

He says look forward to getting old.
He says keep changing,
you just get more who you really are.
He says get stuck, accept it, repeat
yourself as long as it is interesting.

He says keep doing what you love.

He says keep praying.

He says every one of us is a child,
every one of us is ancient
every one of us has a body.
He says every one of us is frightened.
He says every one of us has to find
a way to live with fear.

He says everything is alive --
shells, buildings, people, fish,
mountains, trees, wood is alive.
Water is alive.

Everything has its own life.

Everything lives inside us.

He says live with the world inside you.

He says it doesn't matter if you draw,
or write books. It doesn't matter
if you saw wood, or catch fish.
It doesn't matter if you sit at home
and stare at the ants on your veranda
or the shadows of the trees
and grasses in your garden.
It matters that you care.

It matters that you feel.

It matters that you notice.

It matters that life lives through you.

Contentment is life living through you.
Joy is life living through you.
Satisfaction and strength
is life living through you.

He says don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid.

Love, feel, let life take you by the hand.

Let life live through you.

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Advice for beginners

3/5/2014

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Ever heard radio journalist Ira Glass talk about what's involved in getting good at something, at being successful?

Basically, it's all about persistence. More than talent, more than luck, more than money or privilege, even more than who you know - persistence. You can have talent, luck, money, privilege and connections, all are golden, all help immensely - but none of these qualities can substitute for plain dogged persistent, sustained effort long enough to do something enough to get really good at it.

This does require hanging in through a fair-to-huge amount of frustration as we travel along the learning curve, but it's worth it. It helps to enjoy the journey.

Check out artist David Shiyang Liu's very cool 'kinetic typography' presentation of Ira Glass giving his best advice for beginners.

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Author

Welcome to my very occasional blog:
Productive Distractions

Since we all get distracted (some of us more than others), let's make it useful.

However, just in case, are you one of those people who can fall down the rabbit hole and lose hours online?

If so, welcome, fellow traveler!

Now, do yourself a favor.

Right now, before you do anything else, grab a sticky note & write down what you're looking for, or how long you're going to spend, or what it is that you're really supposed to be doing.

Next, note the time you will stop and get back on task - write big numbers!

Stick the note on the screen. Set a timer.

Keep your promise. :)

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Ready to move forward towards living with meaning & satisfaction?
Like what you see here?

Let's talk!

I'd love to work with you.

I offer online counseling for people in California. Click below to set up a free 15 minute consultation by phone or video.

Let's talk!

Be Flawsome!

Instructions for everyday peace of mind

The Journey

The word

Hokusai Says

Advice for beginners

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