@justinthebishop @_leopfeifer #amazing
“One Day You’ll Go Blind,” directed by Leo Pfeifer, tells the story of Justin Bishop, a lifelong skateboarder who went blind at the age of twenty-five but refused to abandon the sport he loved.
New Yorker Article Blind Skateboarder’s Return to the Ramp
It was a week of intentional distractions from the stress of a situation that’s 100% out of my control.
Don’t you love those?
God, grant me the Serenity
To accept the things I cannot change…
Courage to change the things I can,
And Wisdom to know the difference.
Okay, God. I’m on it. I get it. I can’t do anything about it.
Nothing. Nada. Zero. Not a thing.
So of course I only say “but maybe,” “if only,” “but just” and “but what if” about a thousand times a day.
My favorite monk is Thich Nhat Hanh, the Zen Master and revered spiritual leader from Plum Village. Thich Nhat Hanh has a simple approach to understanding concepts that otherwise get complicated or feel overwhelming. He is calm, especially about things that are not. And he is hopeful.
We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.
Thich Nhat Hanh
TNH Audio is GREAT website where you’ll find over 4,000 Dharma talks by Thich Nhat Hanh. There are descriptions of the talks with options to download the audio, listen with a podcast app or watch the video where available. And it’s free!
I love Thich Nhat Hanh’s voice. It is soothing and reassuring. It is upbeat and playful too.
Click HERE for a quick three minutes on Mindfulness and then Click HERE again to watch Thich Naht Hanh teach the four exercises of breathing.
Hope your day is filled with opportunities. Be sure to pay attention so you can see them.
xoxo, dee (and bella)
Happy confusing Monday because Daylight Savings Time is really confusing.
At least we have an excuse today.
An excuse for being all weird when the alarm went off this morning. I thought it was 3am or so. I couldn’t figure out why an alarm was going off in the middle of the night.
Wow. Apparently that hour makes a really big difference.
So go easy today.
Especially if you’re going outside of your house.
Don’t be distracted while you’re driving or walking or drinking hot coffee.
Don’t try to juggle. There’s all sorts of studies that show increased numbers of bad juju on the Monday after the time change.
So, today I’m listening to more episodes of my new favorite podcast:
FearCast PodCast is excellent! Really great conversation about the anxiety spectrum. Whether it takes you 100 times of checking the lock on the door before you leave the house or you just can’t leave the house, this is a podcast chock full of great information and resources.
It’s all at fearcastpodcast.com.
Let me know if there’s an episode you think I should move to the front of the line. Right now, it all looks amazing.
Hope your Monday is good and mindful and mostly trouble-free.
xoxoxo, dee (and bella)
It is a gratitude Saturday around here because I got a surprise visit from my favorite baby brother of all time! My little tiny eensy teensy baby brother is amazing. And a visit from him is gold. And he doesn’t even mind that I still pretend he’s only 5 years old.
When I was a teen and he was a tyke, we would spend every minute together after my school day. I would pick him up at his little people school and we would drive all around town, visiting my parents at their offices and revisiting my high school where I would check up on the status of high-level high school affairs.
We were a team.
Gratitude.
It seems so easy. But it’s a little trickier than that.
Luckily, there are SO MANY really great resources now for learning how to practice gratitude. In a way that makes sense for you. And in a way that doesn’t feel fake.
A great place to start if you want something more challenging than ‘be grateful for this day’ is Sam Harris.
I like Sam Harris because he says things in a way I can understand. Like this:
There’s now a lot of research that suggests that gratitude is good for us.
Sam Harris
And he also says things that make me really think deeply. Like this:
My mind begins to seem like a video game: I can either play it intelligently, learning more in each round, or I can be killed in the same spot by the same monster, again and again.
Sam Harris
Here’s a quick introduction to Sam Harris talking about gratitude. Thank you to Patrick Buggy for providing links to the video and transcript also!
Then you can check out Sam Harris’ very cool podcast called Making Sense (not to be confused with Stop Making Sense). He’s got lots and lots of free content easily available. He’s got premium subscriber content available too for a heftier fee, but you don’t need that to stay busy for days listening to him for free. He does have an interview with Tara Brach that I’m thinking of paying for though. Maybe I’ll get it for Christmas.
And speaking of Tara Brach! Check out Tara Brach’s amazing offerings on gratitude. She’s my guru on gratitude.
Have a great day and be thankful you’re able to read this. 🤎
See? You don’t have to wait for your neighbor to trip over the garbage can!
xoxoxo, dee (and bella)
Journaling is a great way to self-manage your mental and physical health, improve cognition and boost creativity. It’s also really satisfying. And PositivePsychology came up with 83 Actual Benefits!!
Here are some links to websites that help you figure out the best approach for your needs. There are so many ways to journal. And you don’t have to be a writer. You might just want to make lists. You might like bullet lists. You might prefer calendars. Personally, I keep a daily journal using DayViewer.
I also journal in greater detail by event. For that, I tend to use MicroSoft OneNote. I like OneNote because it automatically updates while you’re adding to it throughout your meeting, event or day. I use OneNote on both PC and Mac. I use it on PC for work and on Mac for other stuff.
Check out Bullet Journal and Journal Buddies. Both very cool. And completely different!
In case you’re overwhelmed by the thought of a journal or intimidated by the thought of writing, good news! You don’t have to produce anything amazing. My journals are made up of phrases and lists and words and curse words and exclamation points and doodles and quotes and, quite often, the word DUH. Although sometimes I type it this way: D.U.H.
More on journaling later. In the meantime, think about yours!
Or at least put journaling on your list!
With bullets!
xoxo, dee
