Happiness

I stumbled across an article about happiness today while trying to find a PBS film to watch. It’s interesting because every time I read about happiness, I’m surprised by how counter-intuitive it is. One thing an article said is, to reach happiness, it’s best to pursue happiness as a goal rather than pursuing success. Also, a happier brain leads to a more successful person. I like this quote: “Happiness is not something that happens to you. Happiness is created.”
The article recommends doing five things to improve happiness for the next 3 weeks. I’m going to try it.

1. Write down three different things each day that you’re grateful for.
2. Spend two minutes a day writing about one positive experience you had during the previous 24 hours.
3. Exercise for at least 10 minutes a day.
4. Meditate (or sit quietly, away from work) for two minutes, focusing on your breath going in and out.
5. Send one quick email first thing in the morning thanking or praising someone in  social support network.

Here’s a link to the article:
http://www.nextavenue.org/blog/scientific-proof-happiness-choice

Rescued a Dog

My husband brought home a dog, Joe-Joe, the other day that he found on the street. We were luckily able to find his owner. Claire had a good time while he was at our house, though. She LOVES dogs. She gets very excited every time she sees even our own dog, though sometimes he isn't very nice to her and knocks her over.

Claire chasing Joe-Joe.

 

I find this picture cute, though I don't like it when Claire does this!

Joe-Joe

Writing Projects

I have lots of novel ideas, but I want to make sure I'm writing books people are interested in reading too. I love to write and it doesn't matter too much what I'm writing about.

Publishing

I've decided that before I try to publish another book, I'm going to makes sure I have an agent lined up. Before I do that, thought, I'm going to pursue blogging as a fun, writing hobby and to encourage me to write every day. It's working so far. Teen fantasy books are fun to write, but you aren't connected to your readers, generally. I'll postpone novels for a while.

Dragonfly: The First Spring

Gluten Free and Dairy Free

I probably never mentioned this, but I'm gluten free and dairy free. It's strange to put food in a novel that I can't eat. Claire, my daughter, seems to be allergic to gluten and eggs. I hope she grows out of it!

Simpliflying

As I try to clean up and minimize my belongings to prepare to move to a teepee, I'm finding my house is very nice and comfortable. After hauling out several trash bags of junk, hiring Junk King to come and take things away for us, and filling 2 trash bags of give away clothes, our house is looking pretty neat. It wasn't easy to part with some t-shirts, jeans, and dress shirts, mind you. I'm considering hiring someone to help organize and simplify our belongings for us. I could definitely use some help.

It might be difficult to leave, but worth it I think. Though, there are downsides to every location. The trains are noisy, the neighborhood across the street from us seems dangerous and it's impossible to get a good nights' sleep in a tent here - I've tried. The cops, fire trucks, and blaring radios woke me up throughout the night.

Moving into a teepee will help connect us to nature. The woods sounds beautiful on my parents' property.

Good Film on Climate Change / Global Warming

I haven’t seen this film yet, but it should be good. I’ll be sure to do a review of it after I’ve seen it.

Greedylyingbastards.com

The Wild Life

Hey, I have good news! This has been done before! A man went for a year eating only wild food. Well that’s a huge relief!
http://www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk/the-wild-life—a-year-of-living-on-wild-food-3196-p.asp