Awesome Finds!

Ten Small Words

Several years ago, I posted about one of my favorite sites: http://www.headbutler.com. At Head Butler, you can find reviews of books, music, movies and products. Head Butler is Jesse Kornbluth, a magazine journalist who loves all things cultural – he sees himself as sort of a cultural concierge. He’s my cultural idol.

He always seems to find something new and fresh to share. My intention as well; but I am not as good these days at putting myself into the thick of things.

That’s why, every week, I devour his email.

A few weeks ago, I was struck by the column below. What stood out for me, in addition to the story he tells, are the 10 words he hears in a song- Am I a Blessing to Everyone I Meet?

Straight to the heart.

Check out his post (recopied here for your ease) and then click through to his site. Sign up. Perhaps there will be something you see that will enable you to answer, Yes.

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It-s embarrassing. No, really, it-s humiliating to admit this, but somebody wronged me in 1989 and I still haven-t dealt with it. I-ve tiptoed right up to the door of a conversation I need to have with this person, a close friend who very nearly cost me the best job I’d ever had, but I-ve never taken the final step and told her that I know what she did and asked why she did it. I have my reasons — I mean: I have my rationalizations — and first among them is that I have, from day one, known why she did it: She was desperate, there was something she had to have, and it made no difference what lie she had to tell about a close friend to get it.

One could have compassion for someone so over her head that it didn-t matter who she had to burn to survive. But for more than two decades, I haven-t been able to forgive this person. When I think of her — and it-s not often — I-m suddenly sitting on a powder keg of fury, with no way to locate compassion or forgiveness.

In a moment like that — a moment of loathing for her and self-loathing for myself — I heard a song from Brandi Carlile-s new CD, –Bear Creek. That Wasn-t Me.- It-s about addiction — not hers — and dealing with it, and that person changing, and friends wanting to believe in that change. It-s about love and compassion and hope, emotions that Brandi Carlile can access with astonishing speed. [To watch/hear the video, click here ( http://headbutler.pmailus.com/pmailweb/ct?d=WZxhdQGhAAEAAA2iAAZIhw ) .] Of course I bawled when I first heard it — the way I know something is Art is that it makes me cry — and I got teary all over again the next dozen times I heard it. So I stopped playing the CD. For a never-before reason: It was too good. [To buy -Bear Creek- from Amazon, click here ( http://headbutler.pmailus.com/pmailweb/ct?d=WZxhdQGhAAEAAA8qAAZIhw ) . For the MP3 download, click here ( http://headbutler.pmailus.com/pmailweb/ct?d=WZxhdQGhAAEAAA_8AAZIhw ) .]

But now there-s been an event — you don-t need the details — that has reminded me of this long-distant betrayal. And the wrong done to me has been gnawing at me. Often. So, seeking solace in somebody else-s drama, I put on -Bear Creek- again. And, in -That Wasn-t Me,- I heard the words fresh: -Do I make myself a blessing to everyone I meet?-

And you know what? I don-t. It-s not obvious that I don-t, because I can fake it as well as anyone in this city, but it became very clear to me that as long as I-m holding onto this bile, I-m treating everybody I deal with just a bit more defensively than I ought to. That-s got to stop. And I-m gonna stop it.

Why tell this story?

I-m not minimizing the importance of entertainment — life is hard, a good night out is to be cherished — but some entertainers are healers as well as performers. And over three CDs, I find qualities in Brandi Carlile that are worthy of admiration. Healing qualities. And not, I’d bet, just for me.

How do you MindFULLY decide to change a behavior? Let us know!

Eat, Drink and Read

This from the pages of MORE magazine; a great concept that I will bring to my book club this year – Eat, Drink and Read. Oh ya, we already do that. We actually have trouble finding time to discuss the books.

So, in the spirit of keeping on with what you do best, I thought I’d share a great book and cocktail recommendation. Whether you are in a book club or not, I hope you find State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett, and an iced Blood Orange Cipirinha, an easy way to spend one of these warm summer days!

Blood Orange Caipirinha

1 blood orange

1 lime, cut into 8 wedges

4 tsp of super fine sugar

4 ounces Cachaca (Brazillian sugarcane liquor)

Cracked ice

Club soda

Cut the blood orange in half lengthwise. Squeeze half, set the juice aside.
Slice the other half into 4 wedges.
Place 4 lime wedges and 2 blood orange wedges in each of 2 rock glasses. Add 2 teaspoons sugar to each. Muddle the sugar and wedges. Fill each glass with ice to the top. Divide the blood orange juice between the glasses. Pour 2 ounces Cachaca over each. Transfer the contents of each glass, one at a time, to a cocktail shaker; shake vigorously, and return to the glass. Top off with club soda.

What delicious books have you MindFULLY read this summer?

Let us know!

Half A Million Secrets

Everyone has one (or some). “Secrets can take many forms — they can be shocking, or silly, or soulful.” Says Frank Warren. . Warren is the creator of PostSecret.com, a blog full of secrets anonymously shared via postcard. It’s the most visited advertisement free blog in the world.

What do you think? Could you post your secret there?

I loved this TED talk about the site. http://www.ted.com/talks/frank_warren_half_a_million_secrets.html It stirred something deep inside. I loved how people put their secrets out there. I loved their stories; I imagined how they lead to relief, happiness, connection and lightness.

I once had a secret and it took me years to tell someone I thought should know. When I finally told her during dinner one night, she literally looked at me and said, ‘Really. Hmmm. Well, did you know ….” And then proceeded to tell me HER story and basically said, “Pass the ketchup.”

All those years and that was the response. Too bad Frank’s blog wasn’t up yet. I sure wasted a lot of energy. Don’t waste yours. Stop by and post your secret. No one will know its yours and yet, everyone will know it. Imagine how good that could feel to let it out. And then, imagine how good it could feel to let something else that lightens your heart, in.

Do you MindFULLY keep your secrets or do they just keep you? Let us know!

MindFULLY Motivated

Have you ever wanted to do something but couldn’t quite get your mojo going and then, something catches your eye and you are off and “running”?

Well, I have talked of “wanting” to run forever. And yet my pace around the park has remained at a steady walk. Until yesterday.

As I was picnicking on the park bench with my daughter, this young lady ran by.

She was in great shape and had we not looked below her waist and seen the glimmering silver post and slipper, we’d have never known that she had a prosthetic leg. It was beyond inspiring.

So, When I got home, I pulled out an old list of running songs to load on my iPod and decided that today would be the first day of my lap around the park.

I know I recently shared a post on songs, but here is one more list for you to load:

Better Off Alone Alice Deejay

Dogs Says Are Over Florence & The Machine

Hung Up Madonna

I Run For Life Melissa Ethridge

One More Time Deft Punk

The Rising Bruce Springsteen

Rolling In The Deep Adele

Gotta run and lace up my sneakers. The siren of inspiration is calling!

What have you MindFULLY been meaning to do? Let us know!

Life and Summer’s MindFULL Music

If there was a song that summed up who you are, or reflected where you are at this point in time, what would it be?

The song for my life thus far would be Carol King’s Tapestry.

I was inspired to think about this after watching my daughter use music to reflect on her 10 years of learning in school thus far. Called a Portfolio Defense, the kids show their work and talk about what they’ve gained, academically and personally.

She set her Defense to a musical soundtrack, and the overarching song was Green Day’s Good Riddance – Time of Your Life (the title makes the song sound negative, but it isn’t. It’s actually very sweet). She chose a different song to reflect each year. Then, when she graduated, the teacher who spoke of her used the same theme and dug deeper into the lyrics from her Life Tracks. He talked of who she was, what she contributed and how music reflected her life and love. It was touching.

That’s what music does. It touches our memory, stirs our present and creates a backdrop of something greater than we are.

I try and make a cd of new music for every season. I look to friends, movies, magazine lists and iTune trials for inspiration. In the March issue of Vanity Fair (www.vanityfair.com) they list several movies and songs from their soundtracks. I thought I’d share a few that sounded good to me:

New York New York Carey Mulligan

My Week With Marilyn Soundtrack

Memories Are Made of This Dean Martin

We Bought A Zoo Soundtrack

The Help Soundtrack

Pusher Man Curtis Mayfield

Check out the issue. There are so many more they list. Maybe you’ll find something that you speaks to you. Then turn up the volume on your life and Let The Good Times Roll!

What songs will you compile to set a MindFULL Summer playlist? Let us know!

Crying Over Chicken Salad

Who are you? said the Caterpillar… “I-I hardly know, Sir, just at present,” Alice replied rather shyly, “at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have changed several times since then.” – Lewis Carroll Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Such leads the first chapter in the book that is currently serving as my lifeboat through these “weepy weeks.” Aptly named Transitions, Making Sense of Life’s Changes by William Bridges, it is the manna from heaven, fallen to feed my tossed about spirit.

“The Weepy Weeks” is the name given by my daughter to these last two weeks of school. While admittedly ready to leave the small, thoughtful school she has been in for most of her young life, she is also comfortable and clinging to the known. Next year she heads to a large, inner city urban high school. From 15 in her 8^th grade graduating class to a Freshman class of 650, the unknown looms on the streets of the city. Exciting and Scary. For both of us.

Sounds familiar for many of us, in different ways, at different times in our lives. That’s because one of the things we can all count on is that at some point, we will be in “transition.” Jobs change, bosses change, births/deaths/ moving houses/cities, aging, illness, etc. happen to all of us.

I can’t tell you the relief I felt when I remembered this phrase, for I could not figure out what was wrong with me. I was so out of my skin and my girlfriend, who always puts things in perspective, said that she and her husband are calling it “crying over chicken salad.” That is how arbitrary and often her tears seemed to flow.

But Bridges reminds us that our tears and confusion are neither arbitrary nor unusual. They are actually part of the three stages of any transition: Endings, The Neutral Zone and The New Beginning. We are clearly in the Ending phase and “yet how we recognize endings is the key to how we can begin anew.”

The book is elegantly simple yet profoundly insightful. It is actually a quick and helpful read. You will not only be the better for having read it, you will be able to recognize old ways of being and develop new ways of seeing. In your heart you’ll realize that chicken salad can be made 15 ways to Sunday and that you can make the most out of any way it’s made.

Is there something you have used to help you navigate change? Let us know!

Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

I saw this post on Facebook and thought it was pretty funny, til my husband shared a story he heard on NPR about a man named Bernie. You have to read the interview below and then if you can find it, see the movie.

Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction In Bernie http://www.npr.org/2012/05/07/152205689/truth-is-stranger-than-fiction-in-bernie?sc=emaf.

I hear the movie is funny, touching and makes you think. After you see it, let us know what you thought!

How do you MindFULLY stop yourself when you get mad? Let us know!

Pull Up a Chair!

Do you have kids heading off to college and need to furnish their dorm room? Know of someone setting up a new home or better yet, find yourself in need of a “Spring Spruce”? If so, how about MindFULLY seeing the chair in the corner of your family room in a new way or hitting your local re-sale shop for possibility!

In our area, Consignment Furniture shops are all the rage.

Check out the chairs below.

I would have walked right by them. Not my style. But one look through my friend Colette’s (www.thehandygirlfriend.com) eyes revealed well kept grandmother’s chairs, in great shape, with great bones. And the price? $45 a chair. I spend more than that on a manicure and pedicure.

She bought the chairs for one of her friends, took them to a local upholsterer and had them redone. Sometimes, if you buy fabric through the Upholsterer, you can get a discount. Our guy gives 35% off. And he does a great job. Notice the fabric covered buttons on the finished chairs.

How clever is that? And they look like new. Positioned in her friend’s living room, Colette made them look like they fit with style and purpose. And all in, for less than $500.

Below is a chair I did. My husband and I bought it over 20 years ago for our first apt at a garage sale. It was crushed yellow velvet with tan wood. Bluch. I painted the wood an iridescent silver and chose a traditional fabric with a sheen. The chair cost $75 and the fabric and labor, all in, was around $300. We still use it.

So, the next time you plop down in your old chair that smells like animal or displays arm stains where your elbows rest, check out my favorite idea site www.houzz.comThere you can find tons of ideas on fabric, styles and details. (Warning: When you make your fabric selection, make sure you get a sample of the fabric first. Approving it before they put it on your furniture can avoid unwanted surprises. A lesson I learned the hard way. Sometimes dye lots change or the texture isn’t what you really wanted.)

Have fun with this! Everyone deserves a chair to curl up in, why not make one you love? After all, for the cost of a day at the Spa, you can have a feeling of ease in your special chair everyday.

How have you MindFULLY breathed new life into something old? Let us know!

Enriching Minds Want To Know

At the beginning of the year, I decided to create a year long theme vs making resolutions that I was bound to break by month’s end. It seems a theme is easier to use as rails for evaluating interest. Resolutions are hard and fast.

My theme for 2012 is Enrichment.

Having just cleared my plate of most everything that has kept me “busy” for the last few years (Boards, moving, renovating, Bat Mitzvah planning and school participation), I find myself with the freedom to choose what’s next. I need to refuel. Ya know, fill up the old gas tank. It has been running for miles and desperately needs fresh oil and some detailing. It’s been a long road.

I don’t want to do just anything. I want to MindFULLY add in activities. However, being MindFULL about “next” takes time and it can’t come being isolated in the house during cold winter days.

Or can it?

Lucky for me there are many sources for inspiration. Today I am listing two (and one I look forward to) and as the weeks go on, will share more.

1. TED. Ted is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. There are videos galore with amazing people and topics to educate and delight. A video a day, helps keep inertia away! www.ted.com

2. Pinterest. Here is a site where I can spend hours just looking at ideas. Pinterest is a virtual worldwide bulletin board. You go on and set up your own boards (categories) and then scour (follow) the boards of others and “repin” what you find onto your own boards. I have home, food, party ideas, fashion , great sayings, books and music on mine. And I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface. www.pinterest.com

3. Coming Soon: MIT classes, for FREE, on line!

Wow. Classes at MIT, for FREE? Its not just a school for engineering types. There are so many wonderful departments (art, psychology the world famous Media Lab). Who knew? http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmarshallcrotty/2011/12/21/m-i-t-game-changer-free-online-education-for-all/

If you know of other sites that delight and inspire, please share! Afterall, how can we MindFULLY fill our minds with new ideas if we keep on doing what we’ve always done?

What sites do you like for MindFULL Enrichment? Let us know!

When Cookie Crumbs Lead to Great Things

With all the talk of a New Year filled with resolutions and goals, its kinda hard to sift through the advice and come away without feeling overwhelmed or hopeless. There are so many things I’d like to do, that sometimes I have trouble getting started, so it’s the examples of people who simply take 1 action and do something that gets me to turn off my iPad and turn on my motivation.

You see, it doesn’t have to be a big deal. You can think about what you like and then take 1 step toward it. Take my friend, Lisa. She has 3 kids – 14, 13 and 13. She has spent the last 14 years doing all it takes to raise three kids and learned a thing or two along the way. One of her most important lessons to raising healthy, happy kids? Snacks. Who would have guessed? As she says, “Obviously this doesn’t mean filling them up with junk food right before dinner, it means that having appropriate snacks at necessary times can keep kids from getting hungry, which keeps them from getting cranky, which keeps them from falling apart and allows them to be their best selves and focus on whatever it is they’re doing. Interestingly I’ve found this is true for adults too (don’t get me started on naps). A delicious “treat” can reinvigorate you and help make you more productive the rest of the day.”

With this lesson, Lisa, a self taught baker and ice cream maker, started Gertie’s Homemade Cookies. Her cookies are all handmade with all natural ingredients and no preservatives or anything artificial; the perfect blend of cakey and chewey, chocolatey and buttery. Yes, they contain sugar, but one cookie is the perfect serving size and will change your day.

What inspires me, besides her yummy cookies, is her journey. She started baking them at home, figured out the recipe and then found a commercial kitchen to rent for $20/hour. That’s the cost of a manicure. She then simply packaged them, with materials from a local craft shop, and started sharing them with family and friends.

And soon, she was off and running. 1 step, led to a jog, which led to a run. Inspiring.

While you are probably watching your sugar and carbs, at least til the end of January, know that a “treat” can actually help you stay your course. When we deprive ourselves fully of something, we have a harder time. If we have a “bite” or a “half” we are better able to stay our course and self –inspire.

So, “treat” yourself to a Cookie Tower. Cookie Towers are four nesting boxes filled with 4 different kinds of delicious cookies, chocolate chip, M&M, chocolate chip pecan and Heath Bar. The cost is $40 and that includes tax and local delivery (for out of Colorado delivery, check with Lisa directly). They are perfect for business associates, clients, kids at college (shipping is available, but extra) kids in the car after school, baby showers, wedding showers, birthdays, anniversaries, rainy days, snowy days and sunny days.

Gertie’s Homemade Cookies is a small, local company trying to change the cookie landscape in Denver. To learn more, visit their website Gertieshomemadecookies.com, call 303-366-7786 or send an email to lisagergely@gertieshomemadecookies.com.

What is one MindFULL step you would like to take toward doing something you have dreamed of this year? Let us know!