Just Jot January - 2018

Today's prompt for #JusJoJan coincides with #SoCS (Stream of Consciousness Saturday) also hosted by Linda G. Hill.  The prompt intrigued me since the instructions were:

Your prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is as follows: read closely. When you’re ready to sit down and write your post, look to the publication (book, newspaper, permission slip from your kid’s teacher, whatever you find) closest to you, and base your post on the sixth, seventh, and eighth word from the beginning of the page. Enjoy!

I love that kind of mystery exercise.  Here are my words:

To Live Happily...  and the rest of the sentence...

...is an inward power of the soul.  - Marcus Aurelius

From the cover of the book "Positive Quotes for Every Day" by Patricia Lorenz.

To live happily! 

I didn't know who Marcus Aurelius was so I had to look him up (don't judge if you knew who he was).  Turns out he was a Roman emperor, the last of the so-called Five Good emperors, according to Wikipedia.  He was a practitioner of "Stoicism" (which I also had to look up).  I thought being "stoic" was being too serious or not showing any emotion.  I was correct about that, but I didn't realize that stoicism was an actual philosophy.  "According to its teachings, as social beings, the path to happiness for humans is found in accepting this moment as it presents itself, by not allowing ourselves to be controlled by our desire for pleasure or our fear of pain, by using our minds to understand the world around us and to do our part in nature's plan, and BY WORKING TOGETHER AND TREATING OTHERS IN A FAIR AND JUST MANNER. 

Did I shout that loud enough for Washington (or Mar-a-Lago) to hear?

So, also in my quest for the perfect me this year is being a part of the Creative Dream Circle with Andrea Schroeder. 

I actually drew up this "map" last February but it is still in my conscious mind and is the basis for the vision cards I made for this year. 

I love doing stuff like this.  Some may think it is silly but I believe that if you keep thinking about the positive ways to bring the things you want into your life, you'll get them.  "An inward power of the soul."  

Who wouldn't want "To Live Happily?"  

And that's my Stream of Consciousness.  Where is your mind taking you today?



 

Fancy-Free February - 2017

Documenting the 365 picture project again.  Just in case you missed them on instagram, here are the latest batch:

#39 -  Big box of Daphne's Diary papers and treats.  So many little bits and pieces and odds and ends of fun stuff to use!

#40 - I am not a big animal fan but I really have a lot of papers and stickers and things that have to do with dogs and cats.  I'm gonna have to start making some animal related mini-albums soon!

#41 - One more full moon picture.  This is the one that's going in the 365 book.  

#42 - My book #5 for this years' reading challenge.  I am so ready for baseball to start!  Hopefully this book about umpires will bridge me until the season starts!  

#43 - My Happy Life board.  I am working with Ali Edwards in her One Little Word class to help keep my word of the year in the forefront of my thinking this year.  Each month she gives us a prompt to work on.  This month it is "Practice" and we were to choose something to try to do every day of the month.  I've chosen to listen to Andrea Schroeder's Creative Visualization meditation and to then journal.  One of the things that came out for what I am looking for is "My Happy Life."  I've made this mini board to help me see the way to get to that point (not that I am unhappy with life now but I want the best!)  

#44 - Stuffed Strawberries for dessert!  Just because I am trying to watch what I'm eating doesn't mean I can't have treats.  These strawberries are stuffed with ricotta cheese and topped with a bit of chocolate chips.  All of these (in fact, I could have had 5 stuffed berries but only made 4) are less than 100 calories and so good!  Another Hungry Girl recipe!

#45 - Valentine's Day!  Bill and I have been married for almost 33 years and every day is Valentine's Day for us - HA!  But really, I don't want candy and while I love flowers, we can use the money in other ways right now so a simple card exchange was just enough.  I did get him/us a neat thing though.  It is a Scavenger Hunt in San Francisco where we go a starting point near Fisherman's Wharf and then using our cellphone, get clues and hints to find different things in the city.  Once the weather gets nicer, we'll take a day trip.  Luckily we can go in the middle of the week when it won't be so crowded!  Of course I made my card but he always manages to find the ones that say just the right thing!

#46 - Flowers from our little girl.  She surprised us with a visit when she and her boyfriend came down to have dinner at Benihana.  I have never seen flowers quite like this.  They are so pretty!  

#47 - Rainbow yarn.  I've had this yarn for a couple of years now and I really love the rainbow colors but I couldn't find the right pattern to use it on.  I found one for a shawl tonight that I'm gonna try.  It will give me something to do with my hands when I watch TV!  I hate idle hands!  Hopefully I'll have it finished in time for some of our summer concerts because I think it will be just perfect for those summer nights!