Category Archives: Open Heart Project

Gratitude Friday

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This post is a mashup of The Little Bliss List and Joy Jam, and as such is meant to celebrate: the little things that brought me hope and happiness this week, the sweet stuff of life, those small gifts that brought me joy this week. By sharing them, I not only make public my gratitude, but maybe also help you notice your own good stuff and send some positive energy out into the world.

1. Tulips from a dear friend. This one is my favorite color.

2. A/C in the Eddy Building. They finally turned it on! My office is on the third floor of an old cinderblock building with huge windows that reach wall to wall and from the ceiling to the height of my desk, so it gets HOT in here. My plants love it, but my brain and the chocolate have been reaching melting point with the 80+ degree temperatures we’ve had this week, so I’m grateful for freon.

3. Dance Walking. Eric and I were watching “Glee” the other night (or rather, as I have explained before, I was watching and he just happened to be in the room) and during a musical number, he said “I would hate living in a world where people just broke into big dance, musical numbers or had to sing everything. It’s like my worst nightmare.” I just smiled and stayed quiet. He looked at me and said, “You’d love it wouldn’t you?” Yes, yes I would…

I have always loved musicals (The Wizard of Oz, The Wiz, Funny Girl, Lady Sings the Blues, Fame, Flashdance, Grease, Oliver, etc., and the TV show Glee). I was in theater and choir in high school. I long to be in a flash mob. I have been known to break into spontaneous dance parties of one. And this video makes me so happy.

 

4. Guess what I’ll be doing this weekend?

5. Susan Piver. I am still basking in the glow of the Fearless Creativity retreat I did with her and ten other lovely people two weeks ago, and for the Open Heart Project this week, she made a video about my favorite topic, basic goodness. I adore her.

 

6. I realized this week that in only two more weeks, I will be on summer vacation, my first one in about ten years.

Bonus joy, bliss, and gratitude: I had moments this week (you read that right, more than one) in which I felt like I was enough and that I had enough, and maybe more importantly, telling you this so publicly doesn’t even make me feel afraid that by mentioning it, I’ll somehow jinx it. I am cultivating confidence in enough.

Something Good

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1. Giving away good stuff for free. There are a lot of websites and blogs where if you sign up for the regular newsletter, you get a free book–and these aren’t cheap, crappy giveaways, this is meaningful, useful, and oftentimes beautifully designed content. Some good stuff for I’ve gotten for free recently:

  • “The Anatomy of Joy,” a 90 minute talk, live streamed online, by Brene’ Brown.
  • The Open Heart Project. You’ve heard me talk about it before and plenty, but I can’t say enough good things about it. If you are interested in meditation, you absolutely should sign up for this. Susan’s mini (not small in meaning, but short in time) dharma talks and meditation with instruction are definitely something good. This week, she talked about one of my favorite subjects, basic goodness, in her “You are Good” post.
  • Hulu. I know that in a technical way, it’s not really free (they make you watch commercials), but I love that while I no longer pay for cable tv, I can still selectively and mindfully watch the good stuff (which mostly means “stuff that makes me laugh”): Modern Family, Parks & Recreation, 30 Rock, Community, and Glee.
  • Creative Joy Workbook (click the link to download your own copy), put together by Susannah Conway, Jennifer Louden, and Marianne Elliott. Susannah also shared links to all the other people who wrote about creative joy last week, and made a creative joy mix tape (she makes the best mixes!).

2. Speaking of Susannah’s mix tapes, I was listening to her “Dance Meditation” mix this weekend, and heard Samantha James, who I hadn’t known about before, and who I am now loving. Here’s a video of the title song from her new album.

 

3. Real Writers Rest from The Write Practice blog. This is a great collection of wisdom, but you want to know the irony? I’ve been too busy to read all of it!

4. Demystifying self-care: 34 ways to begin your self-care practice, a great list by Jenn Gibson on Roots of She. Again, the proof that I need to read this is that I haven’t given myself the time or space to take a mindful look at it, or get even close to applying any of its wisdom.

5. 11 Questions, 11 Answers from A Design So Vast. This meme sounds so fun, but I don’t have time to do it right now…are you sensing a theme here, dear reader?

6. Castaway on the Moon. I wanted to watch a movie one night last week, and was trying to find something on Netflix streaming. I was considering Melancholia, but it was described as dark and dramatic, and I was home alone. Just as I was about to stoop as low as I could get and watch “No Strings Attached” with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, I saw the listing for Castaway on the Moon, and remembered that my friend Courtney had watched and recommended it. So good…

 

7. You might not know this about me, but I think things like Autocorrect Fail are so funny, I can’t even read them–I start laughing so hard, I can hardly stop, and almost make myself sick, (seriously, even having to look it up to get the link was risky). Here’s another set I loved, Texts From My Dog.

8. Smart and funny, it’s Incidental Comics.