Joyful June ~ Action for Happiness calendar

Click to enlarge this image.

I hope following these suggestions

will help us all be more joyful.

What's life all about?

The Meaning of Life: Buddhist Perspectives on Cause and Effect ~ by Tenzin Gyatso, edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, foreword by Richard Gere, 2000, buddist teachings, 160 pages

The Dalai Lama examines existential questions about meaning, purpose, and responsibility.  Using the traditional Buddhist allegorical image of the Wheel of Life and the teaching of the twelve links of dependent origination, he deftly illustrates how our existence, though fleeting and often full of woes, brims with the potential for peace and happiness.  We can realize that potential . . .

• by cultivating a wise appreciation of the interdependency of actions and experience, and 
• by living a kind and compassionate life.

A life thus lived, he says, becomes thoroughly meaningful both for oneself and for others.

Week in Review

• My Thursday Thoughts, HERE, were about a short story discussion I had attended.
• On Saturday, I shared a bit of joy, HERE, by quoting from a book.

Hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz,

we bloggers gather at separate computers in different time

zones — to share what we have been doing during the week.

Joyful Saturday stuff

It's been a relaxed Saturday so far, with fewer spam calls and texts than some days lately.  (And of course, I got a fake text about a "refund"on my phone while typing that ... LOL.)  The sun is shining, and I can see folks out biking, walking, and running.  I haven't been outside today, but it's been a good day so far.

Yesterday, I accepted book donations for the Crown Center library from the daughter of a resident who died a few days ago.  As I went through that pile of books in the library workroom, I found a couple of them that have JOY in their titles (my favorite word).  So I brought those two home with me to check out their content.

This quote is on a pale green page, but doesn't show who said it.  The book does not even indicate the person who collected these quotes:

"Some days, it is enough encouragement just to watch the clouds break up and disappear, leaving behind a blue patch of sky and bright sunshine that is so warm upon my face."

I don't have blue skies (the sky here today is gray), but the sunshine outweighs the cloudy part of the sky for me.

Today I'm pondering a short story

Today I attended a short story discussion about "The Doctor's Wife" by John Updike.  It involved reading that short story together and then talking about it.  There were only eight of us in the group with our two leaders.  Last month, we listened to those two leaders read "The Necklace" by Guy du Maupassant, but we had no copies to read along.  We couldn't retain details and discuss it very well, having no copies in hand that we could refer to and quote from.  This was better, but we had different font sizes on the copies for those who needed big print.  That meant we couldn't refer to what's on different pages because our copies didn't have the same number of pages.

"The Doctor's Wife" was first published in The New Yorker in 1961, according to Writing Atlas, HERE, where you can also read a plot summary of the 5,400-word story after this overview:

On the beaches of a remote British Caribbean Island, a mixed-race family enjoys a relaxing vacation.  However, a simple conversation with a local white woman about the island soon evolves into one of introspection and racial discrimination.

A really old book for today's post

Arrival and Departure ~ by Arthur Koestler, 1943, literary fiction, 192 pages, DNF

This was the third novel of Arthur Koestler's trilogy on ends and means and the first he wrote in English.  The central theme is the conflict between morality and expediency, and in this novel Koestler worked it out in terms of individual psychology.  Peter Slavek starts out as a brave young revolutionary, but suffers a breakdown.  On the analyst's couch he is made to discover, in Koestler's own words, "that his crusading zeal was derived from unconscious guilt."

Week in Review

• On Wednesday, I posted "THE END" for this blog, but I've changed my mind because I miss doing it too much.  I removed that "ending" and am posting again.  Should I call this my "new beginning"?  Nah.

Hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz,

we bloggers gather at separate computers in different time

zones — to share what we have been doing during the week.

Reading this was a waste of my time

Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History ~ by Bridget Quinn, illustrated by Lisa Congdon, 2017, art history, 192 pages

From Amazon:  "Historically, major women artists have been excluded from the mainstream art canon. Aligned with the resurgence of feminism in pop culture, Broad Strokes offers an entertaining corrective to that omission. Art historian Bridget Quinn delves into the lives and careers of 15 brilliant female artists in text that's smart, feisty, educational, and an enjoyable read. Replete with beautiful reproductions of the artists' works and contemporary portraits of each artist by renowned illustrator Lisa Congdon, this is art history from 1600 to the present day for the modern art lover, reader, and feminist."

That's Amazon's opinion, not mine.  I read two chapters, maybe a couple of dozen pages, and took it back to my neighbor Betty, who had handed it to me.  Nope, I don't intend to waste any more time reading that book.  My rating system below is totally subjective, and I could choose either of the bottom two (I've used both over the years since I started blogging in January 2007).  This book is one I "did not finish" and "do not recommend."  It was NOT educational, NOT enjoyable, and didn't go where I expected it to go from the description.  Betty said that was exactly her experience.

10 ~ Loved it!!  Couldn't put it down!!

9 ~ Excellent!

8 ~ Very Good

7 ~ Good

6 ~ Above Average

5 ~ Average

4 ~ Struggled to finish, but not worth it

3 ~ Annoying ~ a waste of time

2 ~ Poor

1 ~ Pitiful!

0 ~ Awful!!  Don't bother                                        

* DNF ~ Did Not Finish ~ one I abandoned

* Nah ~ I don't recommend it

Week in Review

• On Monday, I shared a book that my favorite author recommended, HERE.
• On TWOsday, I shared two words derived from Latin, HERE.
• I had a cat post on Caturday (that day after Friday), because a neighbor gave me a glass with Morris the cat on it, HERE.  Do you remember Morris?  Wikipedia can tell you more, HERE, if you are interested.

Hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz,

we bloggers gather at separate computers in different time

zones — to share what we have been doing during the week.

It's Caturday again

On Monday, one of my neighbors put this glass in the box by my

door and texted me:  "Guess what just wandered into your basket."

The words say, "Morris on glass is like sterling on silver."