Archive for Books
The Joy Diet
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Jamie Ridler is starting the Joy Diet by Martha Beck as a book club and I am joining in the reading. I’ve read this book before and it’s fantastic. I am reading it for a reminder on how to create a joyful life.
I’d love to have you join with us as well. And looking forward to connecting with the others reading the book.
This first week is on "Nothing." See if we can get some nothing time in this week.
Staying Centered
Posted by: | CommentsI just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It was one of those books I didn’t want to finish, so I’ve actually been reading it on and off for two years. It’s about her travels to Italy, India and Indonesia to heal her heart.
I was curious whether she was able to stay in her lighter, more serene state after coming home from her travels. Happily I discovered she has a website. She says that while she returned to normal life she tries to protect that part of herself by, "avoiding particularly spastic invasions of too much television, consumer debt, competition, over-consumption, success-pressure, greed and other forms of our daily cultural life." And she has a meditation practice.
She, of course, doesn’t stay perfectly centered at all times and continues practicing, she brings hope that we could let go of some of what keeps a trapped in our pressure filled lives.
Power of Less Giveaway Winner is…
Posted by: | Commentspicked by random.org the winner is #5 Heather!
So email me your address and I can mail you out the book.
I look forward to tackling some great questions from everyone!
The Power of Less Giveaway
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I love reading Zen Habits by Leo Babauta. So when I heard he had a book coming out called Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential…in Business and in Life
As I ordered some books at the beginning of the year I remembered Leo had this book coming out, so I ordered it along with the other books.
So my two the Power of Less books arrived within one day of each other.
First I got mad at myself – but quickly turned it around to, "What can I do about this?".
I thought my readers would really be helped by this book. The main principles are what I talk frequently about – identify the essential and eliminate the rest. Simplifying, focusing and setting limits are a big part of this book.
So I will be sending this book to one of my readers. All you need to do is post in the comments about one or more of the following:
- a simplifying question
- something about simpler living you want to know more about
- an organizing/simplifying problem or frustration you would like an answer to.
These answers will also help me write more about what you want to hear. Then next Tuesday I will randomly pick a name.
Personal Development for Smart People
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I was so excited to get Steve Pavlina’s book in the mail, I’ve been reading his blog for years.
The premise of the book, Personal Development for Smart People, is that all the improvements we want to make, whether it’s losing weight, decluttering your house, or getting ahead in your career have the same principles to follow.
The 3 main principles are truth, love and power. Then the combination values.
Love + truth = oneness
Love + power = courage
And truth + power = authority.
The combination of all becomes intelligence.
After explaining the principles in depth, giving advice on getting over the blocks in each principle and sharing how to develop the principles, Steve goes into specifics on taking the principles into the real world.
The second half of the book shows how the principles can improve your career, habits, health, relationships, spirituality and money.
What does this have to do with simple living?
I’ve always thought improving character, makes all the other changes easier. Strengthening these principles in your life can even bring you closer to a simpler life.
Let’s go through the principles briefly regarding simpler living.
Truth -You can’t make changes to your lifestyle until you are honest with yourself about how your life is now and why. This is a great time to ask yourself the simple living questions.
Love – Use love to connect yourself with what is most important to you.
Power - Don’t let others make all your choices. Claim your power and responsibility for making your choices. Choices that bring you closer to a simpler life full of your priorities.
Oneness – Know the choices you make affect people around the world. The feeling of oneness brings you into choices that are better for people everywhere, better for the environment and better for you.
Authority – You are the authority on your life. Experiment with different ideas and ways to simplify to see what resonates with you.
Courage – Simplifying takes courage. Saying no. Setting boundaries. Making career or relationship changes.
I learned much from this book, including how to learn and change. My only negative was that I felt the authority chapter was a little anti-religon.
I wish I had more space to go in depth with the principles here. If you are interested in conscious growing, this is a good foundational book for any changes you would like to make.
Favorite Books on Simplicity for 2007
Posted by: | CommentsI was just thinking of books I have read this year and the ones that were most helpful and inspiring to me in the realm of Simple Living. Here are the top 5 books I read this year on Simplicity:
1) Coming Up for Air: Simple Acts to Redefine Your Life by Margaret Becker
On the road too long as a Dove award winning singer, Margaret steps back and takes a month long retreat. Every time I sat down to read this book it was like taking a mini-vacation. I felt Margaret’s attempts at "being" rather than doing in her journaling. I longed to go to a beach house on the Gulf in December. And picked up ideas I can use in my home here in Michigan. This isn’t a how to book – it’s an honest reflection of thinking about what is important in life. It’s also humorous and helps you appreciate moments. If you feel you just have to get away, this book will take you there.
2) 100 Ways to Simplify Your Life from Joyce Meyer
Short specific chapters give you ways to uncomplicate your life. Joyce lets you know that you will be going against the flow of how most people live their lives, but warns us that our schedules won’t change unless we change them. She goes into underlying reasons like insecurity and wanting to impress everyone for why we overcomplicate our lives. Much of the book resonated with me.
3) It’s All Too Much by Peter Walsh
Simply the best book on decluttering I have ever read – and I’ve read a lot. Peter from TV’s Clean Sweep, helps deal with psychological issues of keeping things, has a step by step plan for each room in the house and has a terrific maintenance plan. He is blunt, but funny and understanding.
4) Perfectly Yourself by Matthew Kelly
While not necessarily a book on simplicity, this book turned my schedule upside down. Matthew writes that, "Life is not about doing and having, it’s about becoming." He creates new questions for how we make decisions. He brings thoughts to the present moment and reminded me that how I live each moment determines my future. His book The Rhythm of Life is an excellent companion to this book. The only reason it didn’t make the list is because I read it last year.
5) The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
This year was a journey for me into more local and organic food. I spent many weekends at the Farmer’s Markets. And more and more food in our house is organic. Alice Waters is the founder of Chez Panisse a local, sustainable food restaurant. Her recipes are simple yet inventive. In her book, she goes into detail on technique for the more novice cooks like me. And it’s not just a cookbook. She writes on how to find the freshest ingredients, what’s in season, and what makes high quality food. She also shows variations of the recipes so you can be sure to find recipes that your family will like. I only wish I had gotten this book sooner in the year.
What books have made an impact on your life this year?
Taking Time Off
Posted by: | CommentsAs someone who loves what they do and works from home, it’s sometimes hard to take time off.
But, I vowed no work – no emailing, blogging, no clients or even turning on the computer for 5 days in a row.
I knew I had to keep the computer off or I would get sucked into reading email or working on a project. It allowed me to turn off from work completely.
We traveled and visited my parents, grandparents and my sister and her husband. We played Upwords, Scrabble, and Chicago in a Box. We relaxed to movies and music. We read.
I am reading a great book called Coming Up for Air by Margaret Becker about her month long retreat by the Gulf of Mexico one winter. She had to practice turning off as well. She wrote, "The full scope of what I should be experiencing has been shoved aside in the name of efficiency." So during her retreat she experienced deeply sunsets and sunrises, the crash of the surf, music, shells and Christmas trees. The experiences nurtured her and made her feel alive.
My time off nurtured me as well and I felt connected with my family.
I drove to the store one dark evening with the moon roof open, feeling the cold air blowing around me. I looked up at moon and stars hiding among the clouds. And I did feel alive.
If you have time off for Christmas coming up, how can you create the boundaries for no work during your time off?
Comfort Queen ~ Cpt 32 ~ Faith
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In Chapter 31 of Comfort Secrets for Busy Women, Jennifer Louden gives stories of people asking questions and living their answers. In Chapter 32 she writes about faith. Unsure of her beliefs she didn’t want to write about this. But, she discovers that surrendering to a higher power can bring her closer to what she has been “listening, waiting, seeing, believing, accepting and unfolding.” Even if she is doesn’t know what she believes about God.
She asks what are the 2 or 3 greatest stress points in my life right now and, “How could faith help me with these stresses and discomforts? What would it look like if i clearly saw myself trusting in the power of my intention and my connection to the Divine intelligence?
Rainbow outside my son’s room this week
Comfort Queen ~ Cpt. 30 Glass Half Full
Posted by: | CommentsIn Chapter 30 of Comfort Secrets for Busy Women , Jennifer Louden talks about our tendency, even after we make changes to continue talking about the same old story.
You may have simplified your life quite a bit already. But, if someone asks how you are, you may habitually say, “I am so busy. I have all this going on and I’m feeling overwhelmed.” Once you say the words you start to feel your energy and strength leave.
Jennifer says we need to stay aware so we can keep on track with the changes we want to make. Also to appreciate how far we have come and where we are now. We need to watch the stories we are saying.
“Following your unfolding path, even getting your heart’s desire, always involves wading through a whole lot of cow pies.” she writes. But to protect your strength, we need to stop telling the same, old stories.
One of her questions in Living the Questions:
How do I feel about the choices I’ve been making lately? For me, I’ve been excited about some changes I made in regards to exercise and eating. I have been connecting with the kids and my husband. Now that the kids are in school, I want to connect back with my friends. I am still having trouble sleeping on time. I do not like my choice to sleep in. I want to act like a healthy, energetic woman.
Break Time Books
Posted by: | CommentsI have a little basket near my work area with small books for break time like Office Yoga, 365 Ways to Energize Mind, Body & Soul, and Interludes. Each of these books have quick break ideas like feed the birds, do a certain yoga pose they show or have a noise fast.
I ran across notes on a seminar I went to with Interludes author Linda Anderson, entitled “Hurry Up, Slow Down.” She was going full steam ahead and neglecting her health and relationships when she was struck with cancer. She said she felt so relieved when she had an excuse to X out all those committments on her calendar she no longer would be able to do. After 3 years of getting through the disease she was taught to slow down, whether she wanted to or not. In slowing down, she realized how much of life she was missing when she was racing through it.
She says she gets the comment often, “I just can’t slow down.” Linda counters saying most of what we do is our choice. We chose this job, we can choose another for less money and more time. We choose to stay busy because we love how it sounds when we talk to other people. “Oh yes, I am just so busy doing …..” Busy comes to mean important. We choose to neglect our health by making other things more important. Sometimes, like when a family member is ill, we don’t choose. But, these instances are more short term.
Things shouldn’t be more important than our health and other people. We have so many possessions we don’t need and we rush to get more instead of enjoying what we have.
In her book, Interludes, she writes, “We expertly dodge or perpetually postpone rest and balance, choosing instead the accumulation of things or titles or others’ approval. Many times this is unintentional, but often it is simply the way we choose to live. As a result, many women are now feeling the pinch of the trap and are beginning to make courageous and often misunderstood choices to really live. To embrace time for rest, for play, for art, for love, for God. Life, as designed by our culture, has imploded on some, and they are rebelling.” She warns we will be going against our culture and it may be difficult, but it is worth it.
