Look not mournfully into the past; it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present, it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow As mentioned in the recent post on Horatio Spafford, many creatives use their writing as an outlet for their grief.
Life and Lyrics of Longfellow Read More »
To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven. ~Johannes A. Gaertner This will be an abbreviated post because you have a full to-do list ranging from preparing a Thanksgiving feast to consuming said feast to digesting it in a supine position.
Gratitude For the Sake of All That’s Healthy Read More »
For fog was merely a cloud that wasn’t too smitten with itself to visit terra firma. ~Jan Karon The most memorable fog bank I recall was also the most terrifying. My daughter and I were driving down I-55 from St. Louis to West Tennessee on a cold December day. We really should have stayed put
Fog – A Thing That Lacks Substance, And Yet … Read More »
Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you’re thinking in order to make your thinking better. ~ Richard Paul That’s a bit of a convoluted quote, but it was the best I could do. The one I used in January of 2024 was much better, as it cautioned you–and me–to learn a little at a
The Value of Critical Thinking Read More »
Every moment has infinite potential. Every new moment contains for you possibilities that you can’t possibly imagine. Every day is a blank page that you could fill with the most beautiful drawings.~ John C. Parkin Ok. I’ll cop to a bait-and-switch this week. Normally I have a target topic as soon as I finish a
Why do we feel it necessary to finish a book that brings us nothing but dread when we lift it? Let’s look at that.
Must We Finish Reading a Book Once We Start? Read More »
What enables humans to laugh? At what age do we delight our families with involuntary and totally contagious giggles? Let’s take a look.
What’s in a laugh? Read More »
Stress is a two-sided coin, but one side can be detrimental. Are you harnessing your stress to achieve goals or is it handling you?
The Benevolent Side of Stress Read More »
Are IQ tests sacrosanct? Or do you think there is only one kind of intelligence? What about creativity? Or intuitive or emotional intelligence? ~ Abhaidev, The Influencer: Speed Must Have a Limit I can’t pinpoint the recent conversation that made me think about IQ (intelligence quotient) tests. However, it must have been with my husband, because he
Does Your IQ Soar? Do You Care? Read More »
Your mind never wanders away; it only moves towards more interesting things. ~ Kevin Horsley, Unlimited Memory: How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive Oh, look – a squirrel! I do that all the time. Well, I don’t call attention to random squirrels, but I do occasionally fly
When your mind wanders, where does it go? Read More »
I’d tell anyone who wants to be a podcaster the same thing others have recommended – find a niche you’re passionate about and willing to be immersed in. ~ Sandra Sealy, Chronicles Of A Seawoman: A Collection Of Poems Clearly, I can’t disagree with that. Anytime you choose a new endeavor, you increase your odds of success
What are you leaving when you go? Read More »
It’s smokin’, Pop! ~ Katherine Irwin My granddaughter, now 21, spoke those words as a precocious toddler when she observed our small-room humidifier doing what humidifiers are known for–spewing clouds of moisture. She may have expected a flame to shoot out next (where there’s smoke …), but no. We’ve all seen fiery, explosive crashes in
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Or is there? Read More »
The fact is, for every one degree a plane gets off course, it will miss its targeted landing spot by 92 feet for every mile you fly. ~ Sam DiGiovanna Doesn’t sound like much if you don’t do the math. I did do the math, though. Let’s say I take a flight from McGhee Tyson
How critical are a few degrees here or there? Read More »
A muscle is like a car. If you want it to run well in the morning, you have to warm it up. ~ Florence Griffith Joyner Yeah, well, Florence. Some of our cars require more time to warm up, and sometimes they just refuse to start. Seriously, I take her point. I don’t know Ms.
What is muscle memory; do you know? Read More »
We could live several lifetimes and never exhaust the power of our minds. ~ Denis Hachey, A Mind to Mind Conversation: Change Your Mind, Change Your Life I have touched on the power of the brain in other posts, but not on this aspect, I think. Do we limit ourselves by what we think we can’t
Does your mind propel you or ground you? Read More »
No matter how you slice it, there will always be two sides. Spinoza In the past two months, I’ve enjoyed hosting a fair number of dinner guests. That means I have read and executed many recipes. At least half a dozen of them were for meat dishes and a few provided directions on carving. I
Any way you slice it, it’s all the same. Really? Read More »
The great art of learning is to understand but little at a time. ~John Locke Well, I guess I’m on the path to great learning because there are some topics about which I am learning only a little at a time. With those, I am absolutely thick-headed and I make no apologies for it. I
Silly topics that challenge my understanding Read More »
We all get the exact same 365 days. The only difference is what we do with them. ~Hillary DePiano The post from 12-28-23 addressed figuring out what’s important and weeding out the activities that don’t make the cut. This one is similar but deals with things we’ve always done, at least as far as we
New Year traditions. Keep ’em or kick ’em? Read More »
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. ~ Anne Lamott Like some of you, dear readers, I find it incredibly simple to solve other people’s time management issues. Feeling stressed because you’ve over-committed? You’d prefer to resign from the executive board of the Blah, Blah, Blah group,
Want a restart? SLOW DOWN. UNPLUG. Read More »
You hear about adrenaline, how it spurs you on and gives you uncanny strength, but there’s a flip side. The feeling is heady, out of control. It heightens your senses to the point of paralysis. You have to harness the power or it’ll choke you down. ~ Harlan Coben, Tell No One I have never been
In a rush? The heart racing kind? Read More »
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. ~ Epicurus How very true. I have heard a number of high-profile personalities state that you should compare yourself only to who you were yesterday, not to anyone
Gratitude, Freely Given, is the Best Gift Read More »
There are very few things in the world I hate more than Daylight Savings Time. It is the grand lie of time, the scourge of science, the blight on biological understanding. ~ Michelle Franklin Ms. Franklin is so angry she added an ‘s’ where it didn’t belong. Most of us do. It’s just one more thing
Does anybody really know what time it is? Read More »
People who are saying that they are afraid of heights are usually not actually afraid of heights. They are afraid of falling, which means it’s a synonym for losing control. So they have to get in touch with the definitional belief to find out what’s really going on. ~Bashar Usually I select quotes because they
Fears & Phobias: can you overcome them? Read More »
One who enjoys finding errors will then start creating errors to find. ~ Criss Jami, Killosophy Words from 17 days ago If you read this on the day it is released, I will be returning from a trip planned, at least theoretically, more than three years ago. One of the locations on our itinerary has a
You may see only what you’re looking for Read More »