Rainy Days and Mondays

it's raining buckets here in New York City today, and the wind is so strong the umbrellas are trembling when asked to stay open.  Some have given their hearts out to the nobler cause of keeping their owners dry, and you can see their skeletons folded into the NYDOS trash cans.


I've been hibernating like a bear.  Eating too many snacks. Watching too much tv. (Football, ice skating, PBS miniseries - Emma, among others.)  Reading (Cleopatra's Daughter at the moment).  Painting classes (with Misty Mawn). Lots of movies at the theater (I saw Colin Firth's "A Single Man" TWICE, among many others.)   If I were pregnant I'd blame it on nesting, but I'm well past that stage of my life.  


I don't want the pressure of things left undone in my home right now,weighing upon me, and though I'm not sure why I suspect it is part of my need for Less is More this year.

My laptop hinge cracked over the weekend and I'm currently using the one we keep at home for emergencies while my baby is hanging out with the Geniuses at the Apple Store.   I keep all my info on there: iCal, iTunes, iPhoto, bookmarks, files and folders and well, I guess you could say my computer and I have become inseparable.  


That's kind of worrisome.  But I can't help it.


I went to the Post Office this morning to mail all the buttons out for our Soul Journaling button swap and kept thinking, "Button Up Your Overcoat" due to the rain.  GLAD that is finished and the buttons are on their way to the swap participants.  I also walked to Lee's Art Shop (on 57th near 7th Ave.) to get more soft matte gel medium, and while I was there I got some small tubes of acrylic paints in pastel shades and the tiniest little detail paintbrush -- even tinier than the one I currently have.  I'm very happy about all of that.  On the way home I stopped at Dagastinos for groceries.  Do you have one of those where you live?  I got organic Fuji apples, blueberries, pineapple, and cherries.  YUM.  

Can't wait to play with my paints!


  

GPP Street Team-Crusade 36 Braving the Elements

How have you been doing with braving those elements? Here in the northeast snow has been a major player in our weather, so Michelle Ward's GPP Street team technique challenge was perfect for my state of mind. This poem is one I have saved since my teenage years. I think it was originally published in 17 Magazine and I wish I knew the author's name so I could give credit. It really resonated with me and my life at the time and I've always wished I were the author. Ever like something that much?

click on the image to read the poem

I'm thinking of Haiti tonight

After listening to tonight's news about Haiti, my first thought was of course to wonder what I can do. There will be many groups collecting money to help, and I'm always cautious about these groups because it can be difficult to know which are valid, but I'm going with what I know. Below is from CNN.com:

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who in 1975 honeymooned in Haiti with the current U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, urged listeners to donate to www.clintonfoundation.org/haitiearthquake.

"Anybody who sends us money, we're just going to move it into those supplies quickly," he promised.

He said that, after the 2004 Asian tsunami, Americans donated more than $1 billion, with a median contribution of $56, and half of the money came via the Internet.

"Little donations can add up to big amounts," he said. "Five or ten dollars can make a huge difference. These people are just like you, and they're hurting now."

Change a Mind about Mental Illness

Those of you who know me personally also know I've been actively pursuing this cause for a long time. As an educator and as a human being, I firmly believe it is time for us to realize that mental illness affects each of us, either personally or in our friendships and our families. It is often genetic (like being nearsighted or having diabetes) and almost always treatable by supplying the brain with the missing chemicals and through therapy and support. Denial and fear are the enemies of those who need treatment.

I'm grateful to Glenn Close for sponsoring this video. You can help spread the light of knowledge in this dark corner of our world. Help change a mind about mental illness.--teri

"1 in 6 adults and almost 1 in 10 children suffer from a diagnosable mental illness. Yet, for many, the stigma associated with the illness, can be as great a challenge as the disease itself."

"BringChange2Mind.org combats the stigma surrounding mental illness. Spearheaded by actress Glenn Close, the organization provides a global forum for people to share their stories and shed light on the unfair shame that's inflicted upon those living with mental illness. Watch videos, get news, take part in events and more.

BringChange2Mind.org is a hub for all resources related to eliminating mental illness stigma. Join the discussion or share your story today: http://bringchange2mind.org/"

20 Tips for a Positive New Year

I came across a list called 20 Tips for a Positive New Year

by Jon Gordon, www.JonGordon.com and wanted to share a few of my personal favorites with you.

Stay Positive. You can listen to the cynics and doubters and believe that success is impossible or you can know that with faith and an optimistic attitude all things are possible.

Transform adversity into success by deciding that change is not your enemy but your friend. In the challenge discover the opportunity.

Make a difference in the lives of others.

Believe that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out of challenging experiences.

Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.

Remember there’s no substitute for hard work.

Instead of complaining focus on solutions. It’s the key to innovation.

Read more books than you did in 2009. I happen to know of a few good ones.

Learn from mistakes and let them teach you to make positive changes.

Focus on “Get to” vs “Have to.” Each day focus on what you get to do, not what you have to do. Life is a gift not an obligation.

Smile and laugh more. They are natural anti-depressants.

The thing that has been most consistently helpful for me is to look into each adversity for the opportunity, rather than viewing it solely as a burden. It's hard to do this, and it took practice, but I remind myself that I always have a choice.

Loss leaves room for something new. I ask myself often: I'm seeing the knotty underside of the tapestry, but what is the bigger picture that I can't yet see? There is the peace and the opportunity.

Thoughts for the new year

MAMEEN

Be infinitesimal under that sky, a creature
even the sailing hawk misses, a wraith
among the rocks where the mist parts slowly.
Recall the way mere mortals are overwhelmed
by circumstance, how great reputations
dissolve with infirmity and how you,
in particular, live a hairsbreadth from losing
everyone you hold dear.

Then, look back down the path as if seeing
your past and then south over the hazy blue
coast as if present to a wide future,
recall the way you are all possibilities
you can see and how you live best
as an appreciator of horizons
whether you reach them or not,
admit that once you have got up
from your chair and opened the door,
once you have walked out into the clean air
toward that edge and taken the path up high
beyond the ordinary you have become
the privileged and the pilgrim
the one who will tell the story
and the one, coming back
from the mountain,
who helped to make it.

- David Whyte
from RIVER FLOW: New & Selected Poems 1984-2007
©2006 Many Rivers Press