“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”
— the Dalai Lama
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Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’
Not Too Small
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, change, inspiration, Thoughts on July 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Happy Canada Day, Canada!
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, Canada Day, inspiration, poetry, Writers, writing, yay on July 1, 2022| Leave a Comment »
It is Canada Day today and I am wearing a red and white beaver shirt and my Tilley hat and we’ve just come back from a long walk through the wild and glorious suburbs of Ottawa. Now I’m going to use the strawberry syrup I made from local berries for a strawberry lime freeze because it is hot and muggy.
I’ll leave you with the start of a poem about this great country; click through the link to read more.
Canada by Billy Collins | Poetry Foundation
I am writing this on a strip of white birch bark
that I cut from a tree with a penknife.
There is no other way to express adequately
the immensity of the clouds that are passing over the farms
and wooded lakes of Ontario and the endless visibility
that hands you the horizon on a platter…
While we’re on the subject of poetry, I discovered the Poetry Atlas, which does exactly what it says on the tin. Navigate to your favorite locale to find an associated poem, like these about Canada:
Poems about: canada – Poetry Atlas
O Canada!
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World Awake
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, home, inspiration, Thoughts, writing on June 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »
We rose early. At 5:30 the world was quiet, not just because of the hour but because a heavy blanket of grey fog covered the neighborhood. Houses across the street loomed in the haze, their trees mere outlines.
The fog is almost gone now but the grey sky remains, a low ceiling that dampens sound. The birds don’t mind. A family of grackles is flitting from back yard to front, jays and finches and robins visit for a bath, and a pair of mourning doves make themselves at home on the stonework. The plants don’t mind either. Yellow tickseed flowers stand open and bright yellow even without the sun. And now, a slight breeze whispers through the maple leaves.
The wider world awakes.
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Shared Wisdom
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, advice, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on June 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Not everyone who is old is wise. Not everyone who is wise is old. But it is true that for many of us, age equals experience which equals at least some measure of perspective. There is a reason elders are respected in many societies.
The written word has many benefits, not least that it allows such wisdom to be widely shared. For the past several birthdays, the maverick, artist, futurist and professional optimist Kevin Kelly has made it a point to aggregate advice he wishes he had known. Then, through the magic of the internet, he shares that advice with the world.
“I am extremely optimistic about the future – despite reading the news.”
— Kevin Kelly (I’ll have what he’s having)
Does every suggestion work for me? No, but that’s ok. As he says, “Half the skill of being educated is learning what you can ignore.”
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The Technium: 103 Bits of Advice I Wish I Had Known
• The advantage of a ridiculously ambitious goal is that it sets the bar very high so even in failure it may be a success measured by the ordinary.
• A great way to understand yourself is to seriously reflect on everything you find irritating in others.
The Technium: 99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice
• That thing that made you weird as a kid could make you great as an adult — if you don’t lose it.
The Technium: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice
• Over the long term, the future is decided by optimists. To be an optimist you don’t have to ignore all the many problems we create; you just have to imagine improving our capacity to solve problems.
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The Jen Ratio
Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, kindness, Thoughts on June 26, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I came across this short little video and thought it was lovely. And while the coincidentally-named concept of “Jen” is not about me, I’ll try to live up to it all the same.
“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.”
― Henry James
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Stand Here
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, news, Thoughts on June 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.
― Maya Angelou
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Good Afternoon
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers on June 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”
― Henry James
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Just Press Play
Posted in Entertainment, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, family, history, inspiration, music on June 20, 2022| Leave a Comment »
As a bonus Father’s Day gift, today I’m featuring a podcast I know he’ll like.
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
In it, Andrew Hickey discusses the history and culture of rock & roll as seen through 500 songs. He’s up to episode 150.
If you prefer to consume your media via the written word, each episode includes a transcript. I also found myself somewhat at a loss as to which, what and where, so (being me) I made an episode list with links. (If an index already exists, I didn’t see it.)
Note: I built the list by translating episode titles into URLs in Excel and haven’t tested every link, but hopefully they’ll get you to where you’re going.
Enjoy!
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What We Become
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, family, inspiration, Thoughts on June 19, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.”
― Umberto Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum
Or in my father’s case, not so little. For passing on wisdom, an open heart, sharp editorial eye, love of cooking, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and so much more, thanks, Dad. Happy Father’s Day!
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Mostly Cake
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on June 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Do the things you care about to the best of your ability.
— Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Today that’s work. And cake. Cake and work. Mostly cake.
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J.R. Johnson 
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