Tag Archives: Books

Joy Jam

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What were the 3-5 things that gave you joy this week?

1. Kickstarter: I gave to two Kickstarter campaigns this week. One was:

Another is a book project, “Realizing Empathy: an Inquiry into the Meaning of Making.” It made me happy to give, made me feel like an old timey benefactor. It gives me joy to be able to help an artist do good work, and happy to know that if I come up with a good project that needs funding, this is available to me.

Kickstarter is the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects. Every week, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields…Each and every project is the independent creation of someone like you. Projects are big and small, serious and whimsical, traditional and experimental. They’re inspiring, entertaining and unbelievably diverse.

2. Payday: (This is related to being able to give to Kickstarter campaigns). I don’t always love my job. A lot of the time, it gets in the way of how I would prefer to spend my time, the work I’d rather be paid for, the life I’d rather live, but the satisfaction of being able to do work I can feel good about most of the time, pay my bills, give to worthy causes, spend a little and save a little makes me happy, gives me joy.

3. Good News: I won’t share what it is exactly, because it’s someone else’s personal business, but I’d been worried and the news means there’s nothing to worry about (at least for now, and until the next thing). Even if the relief is temporary or short-lived (because the reality is things are always changing and the nature of life is suffering), it is nice to get good news, and to feel grateful for it, to sit for just a minute with the idea that for now, everything is okay.

4. Sleeping: I had a moment last night when I woke up and felt so happy about my bed, my sheets, my pillows and blankets, my three sleeping boys–and the fact that I was comfortable and relaxed and would be falling back to sleep soon.

5. Epiphany: Both of these were unknowingly facilitated by friends. It reminded me that you can’t really ever know what word or action (or even silence, non-action) will be the one that really makes a difference for someone. I don’t think either friend had any idea that that one idea was the one out of everything else that caused a shift, was the exact thing I needed to hear.

For now, I’ll just give you a taste of what I realized with their help (I’ll post something more about it later): you might get more out of sinking more deeply into “this” than taking on something else/more, and sometimes discursive mind is a sign that something needs to be heard, given your attention.

Bonus moment of joy: I had breakfast this morning with a friend and her little girl. At first, the little one was so shy, she didn’t even want to sit across the table from me, needed to be in Mom’s lap. By the end of our meal, she had softened, and on the way out, she asked me to hold her hand and then blew me a kiss. *heart melting*

Joy Jam

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What were the 3-5 things that gave you joy this week?

1. Reading Women Food and God by Geneen Roth: I first heard about this book from a work colleague, and then again from Rachel Cole. Originally, I checked it out from the library because, at the time, I was trying not to buy anymore books, (I have a problem, am a bibliophile who wants to have all the books). But I could tell early on, this would be a book I would read and reread, that I needed to keep reading it until I could embody and manifest its wisdom, so I bought a copy. This book might not be for every woman, but it’s exactly what I need to hear, to know, to accept. A quote from this morning: “We are unrepeatable beings of light [and love] and space and water who need these physical vehicles to get around.”

Reading it right now is really good timing because…

2. Fort Collins Well-Fed Woman Mini Retreatshop is here! There is still time to sign up if you want to come on Sunday. I am anxious (nervous) to finally meet Rachel in person. If you haven’t read her latest blog post, “The ABC’s of Self-Love: P is for Pleasure” you really should. It’s one of my favorites.

We’re actually starving for pleasure.

By taking care of everyone else. By striving to be loved, liked, approved of, to be the ‘good’ girl, to be the ‘bad’ girl. By seeking to numb ourselves and distract from what’s here. It’s exhausting, we’re exhausted, and all this clouds out pleasure.

We don’t receive pleasure when we do “shoulds,” have “to do’s,” or when we try to fit in, suck it up, suck it in.

Dry bread and low-fat cheese. Shoes so uncomfortable they make you want to cut your big toe off. The job that looks good on paper. Faking it in all the many ways we do. Denying our self what we truly hunger for.

This is where so many of us live and this is a pleasure desert.

Rachel has a map that shows the way out of the desert. She’s a gentle and kind guide that will lead you to the river, to a place that is not a mirage, not a dream, but your real life, your true life, your one wild and precious life.

3. Surprise love note.

4. Valentine’s Day, not the commercial aspects of the holiday, but the opportunity to contemplate love, generosity, gratitude, and grace.

5. Dexter. He came in one night this week to meditate with me, and I was reminded of how great he is, how much I love him, how much joy he brings me. His gentle sweetness, his steady and calm energy in contrast to everything that isn’t, the way he buries his head in my arm and sighs, the way he “pets” me back by pressing his paw into my arm and curling his toes, the white hair that’s grown in his ears and on his chin as he’s aged.

I hope you experienced joy this week, kind and gentle reader, and that you continue to do so. Happy Friday!