Monday Mindfulness ~ paying attention

"What is the sound of one hand texting?"  That's how the NYTimes article starts, the one about mindfulness getting its share of attention.  The author, David Hochman, defines mindfulness as "a loose term that covers an array of attention-training practices."

Okay, that got my attention, and I wondered, "Am I interested in mindfulness because there's a lot of attention being focused on it?  Or am I noticing articles and blog posts about mindfulness because I'm already paying attention to it?"

Do you know the zen koan "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"  That first sentence, which changes the last word to "texting" is a play on the classic koan.

Where is your attention these days?  On books?  On texting?  On the world around you.  What's on your mind?

Monday Mindfulness ~ This woman is meditating.

Zen thoughts

Zen Fables for Today: Stories Inspired by the Zen Masters ~ by Richard McLean, 1998, short stories, 130 pages, 10/10

Mindfulness, compassion, humor, and enlightenment are the cornerstones of Zen philosophy — a way of thinking and being that is practical and liberating today as it was two thousand years ago.  In these lovely and deceptively simple parable are relevant truths for our modern times.

This book definitely made me stop and think,

like Rodin's statue of the Thinker.

One idea I want to think about is that we are born again with each new day.  Think about it:  yesterday is gone forever, and tomorrow may never come.

Active April

I haven't posted a calendar from the Action for Happiness folks in a long time.  Having just finished a month of Clean Speech St. Louis, this seems like a good time for me to continue focusing on making our world a better place.  Click on the calendar to enlarge it, and see the words along the bottom that say:  "Happier, Kinder, Together."

What I'm thinking about today

The Consequences of Fear: A Maisie Dobbs Novel (Book 16 of 17) ~ by Jacqueline Winspear, 2021, mystery (England), 352 pages

As Europe buckles under Nazi occupation, Maisie Dobbs investigates a possible murder that threatens devastating repercussions for Britain's war efforts.  While on a delivery in October 1941, young Freddie Hackett, a message runner for a government office, witnesses an argument that ends in murder.  Crouching in the doorway of a bombed-out house, Freddie waits until the coast is clear.  But when he arrives at the delivery address, he’s shocked to come face to face with the killer.

Dismissed by the police when he attempts to report the crime, Freddie goes in search of a woman he once met when delivering a message:  Maisie Dobbs.  While Maisie believes the boy and wants to help, she must maintain extreme caution because she’s working secretly for the Special Operations Executive, assessing candidates for crucial work with the French resistance.  Her two worlds collide when she spots the killer in a place she least expects.  She soon realizes she has been pulled into the orbit of a man who has his own reasons to kill — reasons that go back to the last war.

As Maisie becomes entangled in a power struggle between Britain’s intelligence efforts in France and the work of Free French agents operating across Europe, she must also contend with the lingering question of Freddie Hackett’s state of mind.  What she uncovers could hold disastrous consequences for all involved.

My best friend Donna gave me a hardback copy of this book for my birthday in 2021, which was the latest in the Maisie Dobbs series at the time.  As most of you know who've been reading this blog for awhile, Donna died in 2021, three months after she gave me this book.  It's the 16th in the series, and I was trying to read all the others first (Donna had read them already), so I put the book aside until I had finished reading the earlier ones.  I "inherited" Donna's Kindle and have just discovered this book among the 333 books on her Kindle.  She rated it 5 stars out of 5, the highest rating.  I don't need TWO copies of the same book, so I have donated this brand-new hardback copy to our little library here at the Crown Center.  It's with the newly acquired books, unless someone has already checked it out.

Here's the whole list of books in this series now:

1.  Maisie Dobbs (2003)

2.  Birds of a Feather (2004)

3.  Pardonable Lies (2005)

4.  Messenger of Truth (2006)

5.  An Incomplete Revenge (2008)

6.  Among the Mad (2009)

7.  The Mapping of Love and Death (2010)

8.  A Lesson in Secrets (2011)

9.  Elegy for Eddie (2012)

10.  Leaving Everything Most Loved (2013)

11.  A Dangerous Place (2015)

12.  Journey to Munich (2017)

13.  In This Grave Hour (2018)

14.  To Die But Once (2018)

15.  The American Agent (2019)

16.  The Consequences of Fear (2021)

17.  A Sunlit Weapon (2022)

It's Monday, and I'm thinking about what else has happened this past week besides donating a book in Donna's memory.  Construction of the new building here is coming along nicely, and they seem to be putting the roof on the top (5th) floor.  We gathered on Friday in the Café for Florence's retirement after working more than 20 years at the Crown Center; we'll really miss her.  I got a flu shot.  Okay, that's not a very pleasant memory, but there's one recent memory that's TERRIBLE:

Someone tried to SCAM me.  I got an email from an old friend I hadn't talked to in years, saying she needed "an important favor" from me.  She is "very busy right now, emails only."  When I responded, asking what the favor was, "she" emailed back that she needs

"...to get an eBay gift card for my nephew,  it's his birthday but I can't do this now because I'm seriously ill and my doctor said I should stay indoors for some reason.  I have tried to purchase it online but unfortunately no luck with that, can you get it from any store around you?  I'll reimburse you as soon as possible."

I wrote back that I no longer have a car, so can't do it.  "She" responded:

"You can get an eBay gift card at Walgreens, Target, CVS, Walmart or any store around you. the amount needed on the eBay gift card is 400 dollars 200 dollars each, Right now I’m isolated at the health center I’m not home, once you have gotten the card scratch the back of the card showing the pins and then write it out and send the pins of the card to me here so I can forward it to my nephews to purchase games online.  Please keep me updated, I need it urgently.  Thanks."

So, let me get this straight:  (1) she's too busy, (2) she's seriously ill and should stay indoors, (3) then she's isolated at the health center, and yet (4) getting a game for a nephew is urgent.  Yeah, right!  How can she be "too busy" when she is in isolation?  Also, she's older than I am, so if she has a nephew, he would be retirement age.  I would say that very few elderly men "urgently" need an online game that costs hundreds of dollars ... AND ... my friend knows I don't have that kind of money in the first place.  

Also notice that (4) "nephew" became the plural "nephews" and (5) there's that confusing "400 dollars 200 dollars each."  Two strange things about that:  first, "she" didn't type $400 and $200, like most of us would, but typed out the word "dollars" instead.  Second, "she" is now saying "each" like there's more than one nephew.  Has he suddenly become twins?  If not, why would "she" want to buy games "urgently" for more than one nephew's birthday?  I wrote back:

"This is beginning to sound very much like a SCAM, you know.  Especially, since we haven't been in touch lately.  So name three or four of our mutual friends before I do anything else."

Surprise, surprise!  "She" suddenly ended the emails to me.  No list of friends, not even one.  I was not at all surprised.  Not having my friend's phone number in my current phone, I googled her online.  The most recent mention I could find, without rejoining Facebook, was dated 2017.  I tried calling a mutual friend, whose number I found in one of my old daily planners, but she didn't answer because "that number is no longer in use."  I looked HER up and found she had died, and so had two other mutual friends.  I finally realized she was probably still in my email contacts.  Ta-da!  Yes!  So now I have emailed her, saying, "Let me know how you are, and I'll give you more details."

Word of the Day

mind·ful / noun = the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.  Example:  I'm glad I was mindful of things that didn't add up, like "my friend" not using correct punctuation and grammar.  (Yeah, go back and re-read it.  Run-on sentences are not like her at all.)

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations: A New Translation ~ by Marcus Aurelius, translated by Gregory Hays, philosophy, 90 pages

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (a.d. 121–180) succeeded his adoptive father as emperor of Rome in a.d. 161 — and Meditations remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written.  With a profound understanding of human behavior, Marcus provides insights, wisdom, and practical guidance on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity to interacting with others.  Consequently, the Meditations have become required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style.

Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius ~ by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman, 2020, philosophy, 330 pages

Stoicism is an ancient philosophy that attracts those who seek to embrace self-mastery, virtue. and indifference to that which we cannot control.  Who were the Stoics?  This book offers a fresh approach to understanding Stoicism through the lives of the people who practiced it — from Cicero to Zeno, Cato to Seneca, Diogenes to Marcus Aurelius.  Through short biographies of all the famous and lesser-known Stoics, this book will show what it means to live stoically, and reveal the lessons to be learned from their struggles and successes.

I plan to read about Marcus Aurelius in this second book before reading his meditations and reflections about life.  I have both books on my Kindle.

The wisdom of trees

Well-being during isolation

Jane S. sent me this list, which I can probably use for my well-being.

• Shower, take my meds, and drink 6-8 glasses of water a day.  Each glass is 8 fluid ounces, so drink 48-64 fluid ounces a day.  Got it, but don't we need six or eight little boxes to check off?
• Clean one thing/space.  I've been sorting through books and papers, tossing some and trying to arrange my bookshelves so they make more sense for me.
• Tend something growing/living.  That would be Clawdia, who doesn't hesitate to tell me when she wants to eat.  I used to have spider plants and other potted plants, but I gave them away because Clawdia could get sick or die from nibbling on some of them.  And she did nibble.  She is also feeling stressed out, picking up on the feelings of humans around her and our strange behavior, like wearing masks just to walk to the trash chute.  Clawdia likes to get out of our apartment by walking to the other end of the hall with me, but lately she stops at our door and peers out fearfully.  Sometimes, she turns around and hurries back into our apartment.
• Be mindfully present to a sound or song.  I hear the sounds of traffic on the highway, and Clawdia alerts me to any noises she hears coming from the hallway outside our apartment door.  I have learned to tune into the sound of sirens, especially ones that cut off suddenly, and I go to my windows to see if an ambulance is arriving at my senior living facility.  Yeah, it happens too regularly.
• Be mindfully present to a sensory feeling.  The five senses are seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching.  Let's see, I definitely check my sense of smell frequently, knowing that loss of smell is a symptom of the Coronavirus.  Yes, I can smell and taste the tomato, the corn, the mushroom barley soup.
• Be mindfully present to something I see.  I've been noticing the people in my neighborhood, now that I've spent months staying at home and looking out my windows.  People walking dogs, delivery vans, family groups with baby buggies.  I've been surprised how many walk in the street.  Part of that is that they are distancing themselves from slower walkers on the sidewalks.  I can see Walgreen's from my kitchen window, and recently I saw a young man apparently walking home along my street, swinging two big bags that each looked very much like 12-packs of toilet paper!  Aha, that young man is stocking up again.
• Be mindfully present to a spiritual practice.  Meditation is a spiritual practice that I do.  Clear your mind, and sit quietly for a few minutes listening to this music from YouTube.  This one also has calm, relaxing photos of pleasant places.  Enjoy it, and relax as you are being mindful.
• Reach out to a human outside my home.  I text, talk on the phone, and send private Facebook messages every single day.  I don't always have to do the reaching, either, as others also want contact.
• Do one thing to get my heart rate up.  I need to work on this more regularly.  It's easier to exercise when I have to meet with a group on a regular basis, than it is to make myself exercise alone in my apartment.
• Do one thing I'll be glad I did later.  Making myself go to sleep at a reasonable hour is something I'll be glad I did, but it's hard to stop reading when there's nowhere I need to go tomorrow and nowhere I need to be.
• Do one thing just because I want to.  I love to write, so writing this blog post is what I enjoy doing.
• Get in at least one good laugh.  I like puns, so posting puns on my blog and on Facebook keeps me laughing.  Let's end with this one from The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski, 1997, page 222:

"The more things change, the more they remain insane."

Monday morning

I think we've all memorized these guidelines already, but I think I'll just leave them right here, anyway.  One of my friends said she didn't think her hands had ever been this clean.

I'm a visual person, so maybe this will be helpful to others who think the way I do.

End of the year ~ a time to meditate

Clever idea for the new year (but starting TODAY).  In one of my clergy groups, someone lamented:  "Never tell the pastor anything important on Sunday!"  There are too many people and too many distractions to remember it all, even in small congregations.  If it's important (like a prayer request, hospitalization, upcoming event, need for a visit), give the pastor a written note.  Another pastor responded with a card she had made up (illustration above).  This is a great idea!  I told her:

"Thank you!  I'm retired now, but I typed up a slightly revised version of this and printed out a dozen to give it a try.  Living in a senior retirement center and making plans with lots of friends to get together or to do something for someone means I occasionally forget to jot it on my calendar.  I'll try this out today, as a matter of fact.  Looking forward to it."

What else do I plan for the coming year?

Barbara's cat Mindy

• I'll write in my new Becoming journal.
• I intend to do more with my music, like regularly practicing the piano and teaching Gail to play.
• I'll miss the friends who died this year:  Evelyn, Barbara, and Sandy
• I'll also miss their cats:  Mindy (Barbara's cat, who moved to Vermont), Sasha (Sandy's cat, who moved out of Donna's apartment this afternoon), and Patches (Evelyn's cat, who has never appeared on my blog before).
• I'll exercise with our little group of friends on Friday afternoons, as we've been doing since April.
• I'll continue to clear out the books in my apartment, keeping only the ones I'm likely to read or re-read in this lifetime.

One way I'll do this "book removal" project is by climbing Mt. TBR, the challenge to read the TBR (to-be-read) books already on my shelves.  My goal is to read at least 48 of them before the end of the year.

Now I need to finish these library books and get them out of my way, right?  Right.

Road crossing a forest

Today I will ponder "a road crossing a forest" viewpoint, as opposed to our human assumption that the deer is crossing one of OUR roads.  From the deer's point of view, that road came through the forest, making a mess of things, causing problems, making life difficult and extremely dangerous.  Oh, to see the world ― and life ― as others see it.

Contemplation ~ twisted chimney

Who?  What?  When?  Where?  Why?
How?
Best bricklayer ever?
Built using common core?
Nightmare for Santa?
To be or knot to be?

This unusual looking chimney, twisted into a knot, is actually an abstract sculpture called "Performance Piece" on the campus of Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas.  It's 24 feet high and made from "galvanized steel, epoxy, pigments, cement, bugles, fire brick, foam, and fiberglass" by the sculptor Dennis Oppenheim in the year 2000, according to this source.

Bugles?

Yeah!

Click to enlarge

the top photo to see

the bugles attached

to the base.

Meditate on this

Sandra Boynton posted this drawing on Facebook recently, saying:  "Some literary scholars ponder whether this book, first published in the Orwellian year 1984, may be some sort of prophetic allegory."  The book she means is Blue Hat, Green Hat.  Here's what I found online about it:

Three earnest animals and one misguided turkey learn colors and clothes in this Sandra Boynton classic.  Serious silliness for all ages.  Artist Sandra Boynton is back and better than ever with completely redrawn versions of her multi-million selling board books.  These whimsical books feature nontraditional texts and her famous animal characters.

The pages use these same four colors, but the article of clothing changes from hats to shirts to pants to coats, etc.  The animals wear different colors on different pages.

My favorite character is the turkey.  If there's a "prophetic allegory" here, maybe it's how like the turkey we've become.  But let me ponder that a bit longer, meditating on the "oops" moments in my own life.

Mindfulness ~ why'd I buy this book?

Can't Not Do: The Compelling Social Drive That Changes Our World ~ by Paul Shoemaker, 2015, sociology

What this book is about:

With so many social challenges facing our world, trying to effect change feels daunting.  The problems are complex, the politics murky, and the players innumerable.  Yet, every day there are regular heroes making a significant impact on our most intractable social issues.  “Can’t Not Do” is a catchphrase for the urge that captures the heart of effective social change agents — explaining, in their own words, their passion and drive:

• “I can’t not do this.”
• “It’s not that I can do this, it’s that I can’t not.”
• “I could not imagine not doing something about this issue.”

The surprising truth from the trenches is that we already have numerous proven solutions for our many social challenges; what our world needs most, and what most changes our children’s future, are more people prepared and committed to act on their social impulses for the long haul.  Innovation helps.  Money helps, too.  But greater numbers of committed people help the most.

If you feel an internal, persistent call to do more for the world, this book will help you to bridge the gap between “wanting to do” and “doing.”  This book has seven seemingly simple questions that provide guideposts and unlock the reader’s potential to make a difference for a social cause they care about.  It isn’t a self-help book, but has authentic success stories, vital questions, and unconventional answers that can guide and inspire you to realize your greatest potential.

Why'd I buy this book?

Something's got to change.  I woke one morning to news that "Israeli forces kill dozens in Gaza as U.S. Embassy opens in Jerusalem."  That afternoon, I read:   "White House refuses to urge Israel to use restraint as 52 Palestinians are killed."  Lately, we've been hearing about the children at the border who were taken away from their parents.  Every day, it seems, there's a new atrocity.  If "something's got to change," maybe I'm supposed to do it.  Or start doing it.  Or contribute in some way.  Maybe this book will give me some ideas about HOW to do that thing I can't not do.

What are some of the things I'm concerned about?

Plastic in the oceans
Lying, hate, bigotry, corruption
The environment

Meditating on the spirit

The Theft of the Spirit: A Journey to Spiritual Healing with Native Americans ~ by Carl A. Hammerschlag, 1992, psychology, 9/10

A series of remarkable stories about spiritual connections.  Using Native American experience as an example, the author provides advice on living wisely, well, and spiritually in an increasingly materialistic world.  He shows how to journey past fear and illusion to a new strength of spirit and self.  Whether telling the story of how the Hopi Indians lost their cultural center when they lost their sacred religious objects, or how brave men and women have faced incredible odds — mental, physical, or emotional — this book is compelling and moving.

Here are some quotes I want to save from this book:

To Joseph Campbell, who knew that the meaning of life was in the experience of it.
To Mahatma Gandhi, whose prescription for living with joy has not been improved upon:
"If you're going to be somewhere, be there."
(These two are in the middle of dedicating the book to 13+ people)

"Without faith in a believable ethic, we suffer. ... Without any cultural or political guides who inspire trust, our perceptions of reality are created by sales professionals.  Image has become more important than substance ... If self, technology, and possessions have become our pervasive mythology, how can we reawaken in ourselves a sense of community that can sustain us?  We can return to a life of morality through telling and listening to stories, through experiencing genuine awe, through participating in rituals and ceremonies" (p. 25).

"Movement pumps the immune system!  If you stop moving your body, if you just lie down and become inactive, you slow your immune response.  Sneakers are the secret of life!" (p. 56).

"Researchers have now shown that prayer, a sense of personal power, love for pets, a family — all promote a healing response" (p. 88).

"Prayer is how you stop thinking about yourself; prayer is the taming of the you. ... it's a heart song ... Speech is a mind song" (p. 153).

"The Hopi say that clouds are formed from the last breath of living things.  Each cloud with its own shape is a reminder that the form comes and goes but its essence is transferable.  Wood burns and becomes ash.  And in being consumed by the flame, the wood gives off heat, which becomes moisture, which accumulates in clouds and showers rain, allowing the wood to reemerge as flowers" (p. 163).

"The Hopi say humanity must collaborate if we are to restore our existence on the planet" (p.164).

By the way, the author is a (formerly arrogant) medical doctor.

Meditating on a memory

Love and Will ~ by Rollo May, 1969, philosophy

"The heart of man's [sic] dilemma, according to Rollo May, is the failure to understand the real meaning of love and will, their source and interrelation.  Bringing fresh insight to these concepts, May shows how we can attain a deeper consciousness." ― from the back cover.

It was the early 1970s.  I was in college full-time, was a single mom of three children, and left my mother with them while I stuffed ads and comics into the Sunday edition of the local newspaper on Saturday nights.  The presses were always breaking down, meaning we had to stand around and wait until they were repaired.  So I always took a book along with me.

One time, I took Love and Will to work.  Rollo May was an influential existential psychologist, and I was studying existentialism for my degree in Philosophy and Religion.  Some of the other women stuffing the Sunday papers with me apparently read mostly light romance novels.  One near me leaned over to read the title out loud, smiled, and cooed, "Ooooooh, LOVE !"  I had to explain that it was a philosophy book, not a romance novel.  If not for her remark, I wouldn't remember this was the book I had with me that night.

Monday Mindfulness ~ cluttered desk edition

Monday Mindfulness ~ one hand texting

"What is the sound of one hand texting?"  That's an update on the classic zen koan which asks: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"  This fellow is too distracted to hear "what a little bird told him" or the dog who's trying to get his attention or the snake in the grass who has latched onto his leg.  The only good thing about this picture is that he isn't driving.  Maybe he'll walk out in front of a car or step into an hole he doesn't notice, but he isn't driving.

Too many people now text while driving, and it's scary to read about the people they've managed to kill while doing it.  Including themselves.  I've seen people doing it.  Not killing themselves, but texting with one hand while trying to drive with the other hand.  Which hand do you think they are focused on?  Where is their attention?  What, besides your hand-held device, do you really pay attention to?

I guess no one was really "paying attention" to what I had to say about mindfulness four years ago, when I got exactly ZERO comments.  This time, I decided to focus on "one hand texting."  Maybe that got your attention.

Meditating on a window design

Click to enlarge the photo

I am astounded by this design and will probably be thinking about it for days.  Who came up with this idea of a hidden bathroom window?  Why?  For what purpose?  Privacy on the ground floor?  Was the room too small for both a medicine cabinet and a window?  Was someone just wanting to be creative?  All it took was screwing hinges to the window casing and the frame of the mirror.  I'm impressed.

Oops!  But wait!  This design puts the water pipes against the outside wall, where they are more likely to freeze in winter.  Now I'm wondering where this is located.  Maybe it's in a place with little or no really cold weather.

As I continue to ponder this room, I'm trying to guess what's to the left of the mirror.  Is there a wall at 90-degrees?  Or does the wall extend several feet to the left?  Where's the toilet?  Where's the tub or shower?  What's outside that window?  Yard?  And then I ask, front yard or side yard or back yard?  Surely not a city sidewalk, since I see green bushes.

Click to enlarge the photo

Expanding my thinking about the design of the home, I remember this hidden staircase I also saw online.  It connects a library with ... who knows what?  A bedroom?  An office?  An aerie?  (I'm being poetic ― I don't mean a literal eagle's nest.)  Something else?  What's up there?  Or what would I put above that library if it were mine?  I see another window, too.  It seems odd to have a window that drops below the stairs.  Lots to ponder today, as I let my mind wander into design conceptions.

Monday Mindfulness ~ friendliness report

Since I'm writing this in the evening of the first day of this week, I can report that I've accomplished my goal to "Try to involve others and invite them to join your conversations" (see the calendar below).  Barbara and I met in the Circle@Crown Café to plan who we'd invite to a Galentine's gathering.  Already you wonder what I'm talking about, right?

I only recently learned that February 13th is Galentine's Day, a time for women to celebrate the women friends in their lives.  Apparently, it's been "a thing" for at least three years, and I was able to find lots of images to choose from to make invitations telling other residents and staff about gathering in the Café at 9:00 tomorrow morning.  It was a rush job, getting invitations delivered to the boxes beside doors of people I know.  I don't speak Chinese or Russian, so they weren't specifically invited.  I did tell the women they could invite a friend or two, and I did let the Café staff know what we're up to so they'd be prepared for the influx of women that I hope we get.

Barbara and I were joined by Sandy and, later, Donna.  They all helped me pull this thing together, making suggestions, delivering invitations to different floors of the two buildings, and so forth.  I'll try to get a few photos tomorrow.  I've been told the office staff may come in stages.  There's no program except women talking and getting to know each other, and each person can buy food and drink as they choose.  The only thing left to do is put something about Galentine's Day on a few of the tables in whatever area of the Café is not crowded when I get there in the morning.

Click on the calendar to enlarge it.

Feb. 12
~ Try to involve others and invite them to join your conversations.
Feb. 13
~ Smile at the people you're with and try to brighten their day.
Feb. 14
~ Tell loved ones why they are so special to you.
Feb. 15
~ Be kind especially when your first instinct is to be unkind.
Feb. 16
~ Respond positively to everyone you meet today.
Feb. 17
~ Call a friend to catch up and really listen to them.
Feb. 18
~ Make an effort to have a friendly chat with a stranger.

Monday Mindfulness ~ being friendly

Click on the calendar to enlarge it and read the words easier

Another week and a new list from the happiness calendar.  Here are the suggestions for each day:

Feb. 5
~ Do something supportive and friendly for your colleagues.
Feb. 6
~ Show an active interest by asking questions when talking to others.
Feb. 7
~ Thank someone and tell them how they made a difference for you.
Feb. 8
~ Notice the good qualities of everyone you meet today.
Feb. 9
~ Say friendly things to people who work in your local shop or cafe.
Feb. 10
~ Tell a loved one about their strengths that you value most.
Feb. 11
~ Put away digital devices and really focus on who you're with.

Happiness Report

I really meant to "write down my dreams and plans for the future" last week, but maybe I can get to it today instead of being supportive of "colleagues."  I'm a word person, and I know a colleague is "a person with whom one works, especially in a profession or business."  I'm retired and have no "colleagues" to support, unless it's my friend Donna who also works in the small library of our retirement center.  But we don't work every day, and we rarely work there at the same time.  Instead, today I'll think about my dreams and plans for the future.

"People forget what you said and what you did.

But they never forget how you made them feel."

— Maya Angelou