“Right now a moment of time is passing by…
we must become that moment.“
Paul Cézanne
I am trying to constantly keep the value of the everyday in my mind. To cherish my everyday, I break it down to each passing moment and get the most of it. Time passing will not return and lost moments will not be found again.
How do you cherish the passing time? Share your thoughts and leave a comment!
Have a great week!
For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it.
For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it.
For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.
by Ivan Panin
The art of receiving is a skill I have not yet mastered.
Many times I struggle with the notion of accepting a gift – be it a material gift or a gift of a kind word – I don’t seem to think I deserve it, therefore I often cannot let myself enjoy it.
But I am working on it…
I want to open my heart and receive the love. I want to give myself permission to be worthy of the gifts I receive along the way. I want to acknowledge my merits. I want to allow people to give by becoming more competent in accepting their gifts.
I invite you to join me on this journey of mastering the art of receiving and ask you to give yourself permission to accept gifts.
Share your thoughts and experiences with me and leave a comment to this post or contact me.
Photo by: Milivoj Sherrington (Flickr)
“There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.â€
George M. Adams
Coming back from an homeland vacation, Adam’s words are 10 times more significant to me. I am definitely made up by the people in my life. My loving family. My understanding friends. My teachers. My nephew’s broad smile. The excited wag of the pet’s tail. The conversation around the dinner table. Sitting with a friend at a favorite cafe and losing any sense of time. A mosaic of people (and pets – it’s not an editing error) that shapes me and makes me the person I am at any given moment.
Do you believe that you are made by the people in your life? who is the most significant person in your life (or persons)? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
[Creative Commons Creativity Poster by maven, on Flickr]
There are almost as many definition of creativity as there are people trying to define it. In my opinion this happens because each and every person has a different take on creativity. You might already have established your idea of what is creativity and how it resides within you and others or you might still try to figure it out.
For this week’s inspiration prompt I have compiled a list of different definitions of ‘Creativity’:
As I see it creativity is Unleashing the child within and going back to the state of freedom of thinking and experimenting that we naturally had when we were children. Therefore, in my opinion, as each child is different from another, so is each person’s expression of creativity.
What is your definition of creativity? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
The picture was taken in Iceland a few months ago. I was trying to take a picture of that horse eating grass from the hands of two cute little girls. The girls would not stand still and I could neither take a picture of them feeding the horse nor a picture of the horse itself. Finally, the girls went away and the minute I pointed my camera directly at the horse’s face – IT SMILED. This isn’t a camera trick – I wish I could take more photos but I was in total shock and this is the only shot I took.
Have you smiled today? If you have not smiled yet then smile now!!!
About eleven years ago, My friend and I were about to go on a “girly-girl-date” together. We were both feeling a bit down, each of us for her own reason (hence the need for a “girly-girl-date”). My friend had made some finishing touches with her hair and came out of her room with a grin. “What are you so happy about?” I asked. “Nothing”, She answered. “I’m still not feeling very well, but this is a kick start for our date, try it too”.
I tried and it worked – now it’s your turn to give it a try too.
Smiling is the best and quickest way to elevate your mood. It’s an instant remedy, even if you have nothing to smile about. Try it. If there’s no one next to you right now or if you don’t mind the audience just make the widest most radiant smile you can come up with. Keep smiling for at least a couple minutes and see how you are already starting to feel a wee bit better.
How does the smiling-therapy work for you? Leave a comment and share. While you’re at it, include one of your best jokes in your comment. I am looking for the joke that would make me laugh even on my worst day.
Thanks for sharing!!!
Illustration By: Alain Elorza
My first nephew was a beautiful baby who has grown into a beautiful little boy. When he was 1 year old he could already calculate simple arithmetic. About half a year later he started losing his language and wanted to be left alone. My beautiful nephew was diagnosed a few years later. He has autism.
Finding out about my nephew’s condition had been devastating for us. We didn’t know what to expect and we only knew he’s special. Now I know how fantastic he really is. How pure and sincere this wee child is. I would like to share the inspiration he has given me with you:
It will take me a lot of time and practice to fully adopt all the elements which my nephew naturally lives by, but I am learning and evolving – all thanks to my wonderful nephew.
Leave a comment and share your learning experiences.
Who can identify what are the most important elements of life more adequately than someone who had formed wondrous worlds, full of character and flair, knights and princesses?
No one can, right? Than let us soak up the words of Hans Christian Andersen:
“Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.â€
Living in Ireland, which can be rainy and gray, I do appreciate the warm rays of the sun, caressing my skin softly and brightening up my day. But a sun can also be a hug from a loved one, a warm word of encouragement, an unexpected compliment from a stranger and a wide and honest smile.
Freedom is indeed a key element in life, as without it we are nothing but marionettes, hand held puppets. Freedom gives us both the reason and the means to live.
When we are free and feel the sunshine above us (whether the weather is good or it is only the atmosphere around us), all we need for going on at full steam is a flower to bloom right in front of us and embellish our day, show us how beautiful life is – remind us that we are free and that the sun is shining.
What are your elements of life? Do you agree with Hans Christian Andersen’s list? Leave a comment and share your opinion.
A while back I had hosted a giveaway on my blog. The prize offered was a copy of the brilliant book: Visual Chronicles by: Linda Woods and Karen Dinino.
On October 15th I randomly picked up a winner, yet the prize has remained unclaimed, albeit an e-mail sent to the previous winner.
Therefore, I have randomly picked another winner, which is: Mary Doak.
Her comment was:
Celebrating with family. and goals for the new year will be to declutter our home. I have packed too many things in this little house. Thanks for sharing your time and gifts with all of us.
I am from the State of Maine
Congratulations Mary, please e-mail me your address, and I’ll send you a copy of the book 🙂
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I have recently posted a couple posts about dealing with failure.
In the first post I was preparing the ground by asking you to take some time and concentrate on what you grasp as “failure”.
Then I tried to change the way you think about ‘failure’ and embrace it into your life.
I wish to accept and expect failure in my life. I wish to embrace it as an integral part of my learning curve. I wish to understand that success is a process, which is paved by failures.
Today I have stumbled upon a great quote which wraps up that idea:
“We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.â€
By: Samuel Smiles
Do you want to embrace failure in your life too? Share your thoughts by commenting on this post.
For anyone who wonders what Ing-Soc is, I am referring you to “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by: George Orwell – one of the best books I’ve read, a sure must for your bedside table. For all of you who are familiar with Ing-Soc – this idea of “failure is success” has nothing to do with the distorted regime Orwell described in his brilliant book.
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Failure is tough. It is frustrating and discouraging, yet dealing with failure is an inherent part of our lives.
Saying that, I know that most people (myself included) think they must always get everything right on the first try. We do not leave much room for failure and for second and third trials (etc). Many times this perfectionism point of view gets us so discouraged that we stop trying.
This is not the way to go about it. Failure is a natural thing and a learning tool. It only means you should give it another try. Analyze it and see what you can improve and learn from your past mistakes or just do whatever you need to do, over and over again – until you get it right. Just like a child learning to ride his bikes. At first, he falls once or twice but then he gets the hang of it and finds his balance and ride like he’s been doing that from the day he was born.
We should do the same. (Today is my birthday, which is a good opportunity for adopting new and more positive outlooks)
Prof. Randy Pausch,of blessed memory (Sadly, this incredible person has passed away in July), had put it very nicely:
“The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.â€
Many best selling authors had been rejected time and again. Many renowned artists have suffered a great deal of dismissal and criticism before making their first masterpiece (some became famous only postmortem). Moreover, even those masterpieces and best selling books were not created in one continuous brush stroke or in one writing session. They are based on numerous drafts and sketches, additions and subtractions – they are a result of a long and sometimes tedious process.
Today I am calling you to change the way you look at failure. I am calling you to look past the brick wall and use them as building blocks.
Share your thoughts with me and leave a comment. I’d love to hear what you have to say about this idea.
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“Make each day your masterpiece. “
We are grown to acknowledge the “Monday’s gloom” and its brother “TGIF” (thanks god it’s Friday). I resent those ideas as both are causing us to fast forward and actually live only 2 days out of every week. We are living from one weekend to another.
I’ll repeat (for the sake of stressing this point as much as possible), we are growing accustomed to living every 5 days in anticipation for the last two days of the week. Waiting – 5 & Enjoying – 2. Why would we do such thing to ourselves? Why would we accept notions that are basically nullifying 5/7th of our lives?!?
I have lived like that for several years. I was waiting for the weekend from the very first day of the work week, living aimlessly for 5 days only for the following two, but no more.
Why shouldn’t we enjoy EACH day to the fullest. Live each day as if it is a masterpiece… Live each day purposefully.
I hereby invite you to dismiss the Monday’s gloom. Instead I offer you to wake up each day with joy and excitement and a purpose in your hearts. I invite you to make each of your days – 7/7 – a masterpiece.
Would you join me? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with me.
Psst… You have only a couple days left for a chance to win a copy of the book: Visual Chronicles by Linda Woods and Karen Dinino.
Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment here. Just follow the instructions and secure your place at the raffle.
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Are you looking for an immediate creativity boost? Get this book now!
