Feed your goodness

Posted by random olio

Goodness. Somedays it is hard to see it. Somedays are a struggle and it is harder to see the goodness in our lives. I ebb and flow with reminding myself that I need to focus on the good that is all around me. Usually when I have a moment of struggle and frustration I go down on my knees and am reminded of all that I have, all the goodness that surrounds me each and every day. Those moments of gratitude helps me to see what I am forgetting. Those moments remind us of the bigger picture.

Recently, I came across this excerpt from Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love)’s Facebook page:

“The other day, the great author and sociologist Brené Brown (my sweet friend!) was asked, “What do you know for sure?”
She replied: “Fear is dangerous. But people are good.”
The evidence that people are good can be found all around us.
The evidence that fear is dangerous can also be found all around us — particularly because of the terrible things that fear makes people do (both to themselves and to each other.)
We all live amidst fear and goodness — and their consequences.
We are all composed of both fear and goodness.
You have a choice. Every moment of the day, you have choices.
You can follow your goodness, not your fear.
You can feed your goodness, not your fear.
You can support and encourage the goodness of others, rather than preying upon their fears or adding to their fears.
To choose goodness over fear is the single most life-affirming path a human being can ever possibly take.”

It was a good reminder for me. There is goodness in watching my niece do things for the first time. There is goodness in my day-to-day world. My marriage, my job, my family, friends, and home. Lots of good is happening around me. We all have a choice to decide to see the goodness or not. I choose to see the goodness. I choose to be happy. I choose goodness, not fear. That does not mean that I do not have fear. I do fear, but if I can focus on the good, it means I am seeing the light, not the darkness.

Do you choose light or darkness? Good or fear?

Creative You.

Posted by random olio

Do personality tests fascinate you? We all have a desire to understand ourselves better. It is an insatiable desire in some. I am an avid learner so of course when I came across “Creative You: Using Your Personality Type to Thrive” by David Goldstein and Otto Kroeger, I was intrigued. I cannot say I read it cover to cover, I did more of a “scan.” So it is not listed on my list of 2013 books. Nevertheless, I wanted to share this book with you. It talks mostly about how we are each creative in our own ways, while talking through the lens of Myers-Briggs.

If you have never taken a Myers-Briggs test you can do so here. I do not know if that site is the most accurate, but it is a start. Before taking it over the weekend, I had thought I was an INFJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging) from previous tests. Taking the test again confirmed that I am INFJ. “Creative You” looks at the different Myers-Briggs personality types and looks at them through the lens of creativity. It is a fascinating concept. For example, INFJ is listed as “The Inspirer.”

It takes you through different types of creativity (music, acting, cooking, painting, etc) and shows how different personality types might respond in different situations. It also discussed these same personality types at work. I had a few aha moments when comparing my creative type to Chris’. So often we think of ourselves as strong in some areas and weak in others, and yet what came to me as I compared us creatively is that he is more strongly creative in certain areas than I am and vice versa. So maybe I should be aware of my blind spots, and not try so hard to fix them. Focusing on the creative strengths might be the best bet.

I definitely recommend peeking at this book!

Eternal Searcher

Posted by random olio

I can find contentment in my life. I can appreciate what is right in front of me. Yet, I also find that I am always searching, voraciously for new information. I am a learner. I have often wondered what made me crave wanting to know and learn more. Over the weekend I finished reading: Poor Man’s Feast: A Love Story of Comfort, Desire, and the Art of Simple Cooking by Elissa Altman. It is a memoir about food and she often talks fondly about her father and how he helped shape her craving to want to learn more about food. As a child he would whisk her away to upscale restaurants while her mother would be off getting her hair and nails done.

This quote made me think about why we search in life. Altman is talking about her father’s mother leaving when he was young.

“Her leaving him at such a young age turned my father into an eternal searcher–always walking, always moving and hoping and looking for something he was never quite able to find, or to nail down.” page 219

It made me wonder do I do that? It has always been so hard for me to slow down. My days and sometimes nights are filled with work, which I love. Yet, I also squeeze in my hour run each day, and this weekday blog. It often means I crawl into bed and look over at Chris and say “Before we turn the lights out, can I just catch up with my Words with Friends game? It is the first moment I have had all day.” Then my eyes close and I am quickly off to la la land.

Do we all have a bit of wanting to be wanderers? Do we know when to stop or when enough is enough? Usually I know when I have hit my limit. It happened last week. I came home from work and essentially crawled into bed and fell right to sleep. Chris woke me up a few hours later, and I babbled nonsense to him as I woke from my nap. None of it made sense, and I think it showed just how exhausted I was from my ongoing, never-ending days.

Maybe being an eternal searcher is a good thing, as it means that you are always creatively looking freshly at the world. I would like to think that I am the eternal searcher, content with my life just as it is, but always grateful for that new idea and inspiration that comes as I pop into a boutique, finish that good book, have an aha moment during my run. What I can tell you is that the only way you will find me as a couch potato is if I cannot keep my eyes open and I have to (s)nap out of my long wandering ways.

Memories of creativity?

Posted by random olio

Do you remember that first childhood moment when you felt creative? I remember the house I grew up in often had many projects in differing states of completion. It might have been an art project, or learning to bake something in the kitchen, or my mom was canning, or my sister was singing, you name it. At the time I did not know that the different creative projects I did as a kid with my mom or sister would be something I would want to continue doing as I grew into adulthood. Looking back, I am grateful that I grew up in a home that cultivated creativity, as that is now the thread that weaves itself throughout my life.

my first Batik

I distinctly remember doing batik at home with my mom. I do not know if I learned how to do it at school and then wanted to do it at home, or vice versa. After purchasing some Rit dye, in the range of navy and cobalt blue, some muslim fabric, and wax we were in business. I will not bore you with the step-by-step details, but after melting the wax, I painted it on in the pattern I wanted to stay the creme muslim color. Once that was complete we dyed the fabric and I had my batik artwork. I believe we stretched the final piece around cardboard. If I were doing it today, I would probably stretch it around a wood frame or pressed board for durability.

Maybe it was because we did not have a television growing up, but I found that my free hours would be spent with creative art projects (oh and of course reading). Eventually, in elementary school, I applied and submitted a portfolio to be apart of a Gifted and Talent art class. If I remember correctly, the class met after school. I was accepted and so thrilled. I loved the different projects I got to do as part of that class. I also remember really enjoying drawing. In one art class we learned to draw upside down. See link for the famous Pablo Picasso drawing that we used to learn this technique. Does this image look familiar? Did you learn a similar technique?

I am a strong proponent of exposing kids to all types of creative activities. Even if they do not become artists; the problem solving skills, willingness to try new things, and the potential confidence they learn, it is worth it. Maybe in the end they do become artists.

Were you a creative kid? If so, what were your earliest memories of being creative?

Murphy’s Oil helps get to the right brain

Posted by random olio

My desk is organized, I even wiped it down with Murphy’s Oil soap. My to-do list has been updated and organized. All paperwork has been filed. The laundry is folded and put away. The house is clean, and the bed has fresh, clean, and crisp sheets. Ah. A great way to start the week.

Is this the state of my world today? No. This is my ideal state whenever I want to do something creative. If I want to sit down for a long stint of writing, pull out my easel and paint, whatever the creative endeavor, I usually focus the best when I have cleared the clutter in the house, and in my thought. A clean slate that opens my mind, so I can dig in, create a mess, and focus solely on my project without distraction.

Why is it that a messy house, or a mind that feels full to the brim means my creative juices have a harder time flowing? Does the left side of my brain need to be filed away and put in order, so that I can use the right side of my brain? Maybe in the end I am exercising both the left and right side of my brain, so a win-win situation, right?

What tactics do you follow to allow the right side of your brain to be free and ready to go? Do you run, go out into the woods, or clean? I would love to hear from you.