Posted in {Point of Focus} on April 30, 2007 | 4 Comments »
Have you noticed this peculiarity about many of the cooking shows on TV these days? The audio recording seems to heighten every subtle cooking sound–the crack of an egg in the palm of the chef’s hand, the swish of the wire whisk against the side of a ceramic bowl, the gentle tap of a [...]
Posted in {Giveaways} on April 28, 2007 | No Comments »
To celebrate its 15th anniversary, the Todo Institute is offering a discounted gift subscription to its quarterly journal, Thirty Thousand Days, to the first 100 people who respond.
Each current subscriber can request one gift subscription, and I would like to offer mine to you. If you’re interested, please email me (maile[dot]mccarthy[at]gmail[dot]com) with your full [...]
Posted in {Better Know Your Self} on April 27, 2007 | 4 Comments »
When running up a hill, it is all right to give up as many times as you wish–as long as your feet keep moving.-Shoma Morita
I love this quote; it gets right to the heart of both Morita therapy and CBT, namely that our behavior, not our feelings, is the key to reaching our goals.
But what [...]
Posted in {Decision Making} on April 25, 2007 | No Comments »
As I worked through the exercise in Part I of this series, trying to satisfice while choosing a dessert, I found the following thought nestled among the expected worries:
“This is a bunch of crap. Settling means you won’t get what you want, and if you don’t get what you want, you won’t be happy.”
But [...]
Posted in {Attention} on April 24, 2007 | 2 Comments »
This is Just to Say
by William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
Today’s exercise may not make us all famous poets, but I have no doubt it will get our creativity flowing. Noticing the unnoticed has a way of doing that.
Here is the [...]
Posted in {Point of Focus}, {Wonderful Quotes} on April 23, 2007 | 1 Comment »
If you wish…
I ran across this quote in John Daido Loori’s wonderful book The Zen of Creativity. It made me laugh, and then it got me thinking about how many people and things have made it possible for me to be here, now, reading this quote.
Try to keep this in mind as today’s [...]
Posted in {Decision Making} on April 20, 2007 | 4 Comments »
Who else wants to make decision easily and without regret? Today begins a series of exercises on how to do just that by learning to be a saticficer.
If you missed the previous post about maximizers and satisficers, take a second and go test yourself before reading on.
Ready? The exercise comes in two parts:
1- [...]
Posted in {Better Know Your Self} on April 19, 2007 | 3 Comments »
I’m about 3/4 of the way through The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz (video and book excerpt links below), and it’s got me re-thinking the way my decision making habits affect my happiness.
I’ll explain in a minute; first, take the quiz. Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (completely disagree) to 7 (completely [...]
Posted in {Attention}, {Point of Focus} on April 18, 2007 | 2 Comments »
I just read this over at the bugsandfishes blog and thought it would make a great exercise in attention. In her 10 little known facts about me post, Lupin says :
I like to give my days and weeks themes and silly titles. If something crops up three times, that makes it the theme for [...]
Posted in {About Maile} on April 17, 2007 | 3 Comments »
Thanks to MsBelle for tagging me!
10 little known facts about me:
1. Growing up I went to 8 different schools, including three high schools. After that, it took three universities before I finished my bachelor’s degree. In my childhood, this was because my dad was in the Air Force, and we moved every two [...]
Posted in {Point of Focus} on April 16, 2007 | 3 Comments »
I read Sci Fi author Orson Scott Card’s Homecoming series years ago, and most of the story has faded (enough to read it again? hm…). One aspect of it, though, pops into my mind every once in a while, seemingly at random. It happened today.
In the series there is a character [...]
Posted in {Wonderful Quotes} on April 15, 2007 | No Comments »
Found this lovely quote here.
Posted in {Point of Focus} on April 13, 2007 | No Comments »
Transitions Originally uploaded by maile&justin.
soft pile of the bath mat,
long unnoticed–
now nuzzles my feet
Posted in {Things That Made Me Smile} on April 13, 2007 | 3 Comments »
Miranda July can! The interactive website promoting her new book, No one belongs here more than you, begins:
But within two skips, she’s panned out to the top of her refrigerator. It’s a bit hard to explain how cool this is. Just check it out for yourself. It’s a quick read [...]
Posted in {Shared Journals} on April 12, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Thanks so much to Kristin for letting me post this wonderful journal entry. Click the image to get a better view, complete with notes, on her Flickr page.
Posted in {Point of Focus} on April 11, 2007 | No Comments »
Today’s point of focus is one of Naikan’s three questions: What have others done for me today? That is, how am I supported?
Think about this question as you move through your day then, before bed, take a moment to write down some of the things you noticed. Set a timer for 5-15 minutes [...]
Posted in {Quick Tips} on April 10, 2007 | No Comments »
This is an extremely powerful exercise to shift your attention toward happiness, and it only takes four minutes.
Step one: Get out your journal or a piece of paper and a pen, set a timer for four minutes, and then speed-write everything you can think of that makes you feel contented, centered and capable. Write [...]
Posted in {Attention} on April 9, 2007 | 4 Comments »
Thirty years ago my older brother, who waas ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. [It] was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was t the kitchen table close [...]
Posted in {Quick Tips} on April 6, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Feelings follow behavior.
-David K. Reynolds
You can do this exercise any time you have ten or more minutes and a place to walk. For the best results, do it the second you notice your mood starting to drop.
The first part of the walk is the hardest: pick your goal, get up from your [...]
Posted in {Quick Tips} on April 5, 2007 | No Comments »
When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce.
Thich Nhat Hanh
One of the hardest parts of getting out of the cycle of anxiety is escaping the self-blame and self-focus that seem to go hand-in-hand with them.
Breaking away from this type of thinking is difficult (otherwise, people urging [...]
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