On Being podcast, Japanese cherry blossoms, talking to loved ones

Listening to the On Being podcast - the episode called "Becoming Wise" with Tools for the Art of Living. Nine wise and graceful lives share their tools, including Desmond Tutu, astronomer Natalie Batalha, and spiritual teacher Eckart Tolle.

It's a peaceful caturday here. James is showing a property and I just made a simple breakfast. Drinking a cup of decaf with a dog and a cat sleeping nearby. Feeling thankful today. Had a chat with my mom, across the ether, letting her know I miss her and love her. I hope she heard me.

Last weekend's cherry blossom festival was a zoo. Better to go enjoy those blossoms after the actual event and avoid the annoying crowds. Adding to the mania, there was a super loud music show going on at the international houses. So as we tried to commune with nature, we were serenaded by the boom of bad music. I am officially old.

Got these fun pictures as the bonus.

Meditation, zero waste living, smoothies, and tinnitus

A few fun things of late, and one not so fun one:

Still loving Tara Brach's podcast on mindfulness meditation. Her talks are insightful and she tells funny jokes, which add needed levity on stressful days.

The Live Planted podcast. All about zero waste, vegan living. I'm nowhere near being zero waste, far from it, but the episodes vary. I like the most recent one about all these popular YouTuber vegans who are abandoning veganism. Fair weather folks who are giving kind of goofy reasons for going back to meat. Alyssa breaks it down in a very interesting way. 

Daily Harvest smoothies and soups. I just got my second box and I'm loving these smoothies. I have made smoothies in the past, but they never taste FANTASTIC. Daily Harvest checks all the boxes - taste, texture, ingredients, value. One frozen cup is $8 and it makes two smoothies. All organic ingredients. Yum.

And a question for anyone reading - have you had tinnitus? If so, what did you do to get rid of it? Any supplements? I had it 9 years ago and it did go away. I'm going to see an ENT next week, to do some testing - and they have a tinnitus retraining program that I'll probably do. Also looking into craniosacral therapy, which is heavenly for any reason. Ok, I'm all ears. Bad pun. Comments welcome!

Blog more #goal

A newly acquired full time gig has me so busy with technospeak writing that I haven't been able to make time to blog. My intention from last year remains unfulfilled, so far. Other goals I want to pursue:

- more sewing - those Japanese flowy style dresses that look like you can just cut them out and sew them up and it would work
- more planting of succulents and having a plant sale
- create a curated sale of vintage wares, underpinned by a persian rug
- finish our remodel - no choice here, it's happening!
- ride my new bike more

In other news, I have changed my diet over the past 16 months and lowered my cholesterol by 65 points. I am as proud of myself as I can possibly be. For anyone who knows how hard this is, I know you're shaking your head yes and thinking I'm a rock star. The method is easy, unless you have a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol - just don't eat animal products. I feel lighter without meat. I eat the rare piece of fish, usually salmon, and I cheat with a cheese plate at Le Bonne Table, but mostly it's nearly vegan for me. I just got a bottle of Just Egg and can't wait to try it - fake eggs made from mung beans! Update on Just Egg - this sadly does not do the trick. Doesn't work texture wise, or taste wise. Too bad.

I recently subscribed to Daily Harvest, and get a box of Imperfect Produce ever other week. Really makes it easy to eat healthy.

Ok, just felt like reaching out to the blogosphere. Goodnight all. Maybe I'll try to get back here more often. Subscribe if you want to be informed of new posts,

Waving a flag to my "followers"

If you'd like to follow my blog, click subscribe then be sure to ACTIVATE your subscription when you receive the email. You'll get updates when I publish a post. I have no intention of using your email for anything else. Okay! That's all I have for today.

Photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@rawpixel 

Surprising Win

 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, defeated political veteran Joe Crowley, 56, on Tuesday night in their party's congressional primary in New York City.
Mr Crowley, a 10-term Democrat, had been tipped as a future party leader or even Speaker of the House.
Ms Ocasio-Cortez, a former Bernie Sanders volunteer from a Puerto Rican family, won with 57.5% of the vote.
Read it here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44625617  

And then you have Ben Jealous' win. Change is afoot. https://www.thenation.com/article/ben-jealous-shakes-maryland-politics/ 

Day interrupted: Dies intermissus

How many times a day are you notified and alerted? Phone banners, texts, incoming emails, news feeds. So much click bait vying for our attention, and so many tragic headlines. Do you drop it all and swim into the chaotic flow? Or choose  something non-electric like nature. Supposedly just breathing in a forest that has fern growing strengths your microbial makeup, because ferns are some of the most prehistoric plants out there and they offer healthy soil microbes that we need. So go snort some fern air, and do it today.

To change your alert functions: go to Settings, then Notifications (on an iPhone,) and turn off as many notifications as possible. Silence the demons of solace. 💗

Hi, 2017

What a whirlwind we live in. So much change and upset, wrapped in apps and snaps. It's a time for looking ahead, moving forward, finding and doing things that make you happy.
What brings you calm? I like to...

1. Photograph daily life on my Insta page: https://www.instagram.com/p/BPObt3rgYQq/?taken-by=robinwrites

3. Make good food: https://www.instagram.com/p/BK1OQZmj0IX/?taken-by=robinwrites
4. Spend time with family and friends: https://www.instagram.com/p/BNOYFH5jXyv/?taken-by=robinwrites - This was from Thanksgiving at our house.

Slowing down

Nearly 10 days of sniffling, sneezing, aching, and whining. Cap that off with my phone being stolen this Sunday. I joked when my husband came home for lunch the first day I was "existing" without my phone:

Him, walking through door: Hi, how's it going? Me: Oh my god, someone found me! I feel like a Chilean miner hearing the first taps from rescuers.

Today is day two of the phoneless situation, and I have a new practice brewing. While I have the options of checking my social sites via desktop, I'm finding myself not doing that. In my new phoneless world, no one can call me. I'm not getting texts. I can't send any texts. I feel lighter. If you want me, it's email or you could write me a letter.

Slowing down brings the little things into focus. Give you time to read about the Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hecktor Garcia and Francesc Miralles.

New year, new crack at Minimalism

Photo credit: http://daniebester.co.za/

I may have gone too far when I lifted the lid on the trash can and heaved in all four high school yearbooks. A good rule of thumb as you minimize: get a scanner and scan paper stuff that you want to keep, even pictures. I can recall the important images, but they will have to live on in my mind's eye.

I'm still keeping up with my guys over at www.theminimalists.com and listening to their podcasts. They can be repetitive, but simple messages are like that. I benefit from the reminder of why minimalism can really add value to your life, even if the examples are similar. We surround ourselves with so much stuff and most of it is neglected, sitting in a drawer, or in a bin, or in the garage. So who needs it? Maybe someone else. Donate! 

Minimalists I admire:

Courtney Carver --  Her latest book, Soulful Simplicity.
Leo Babauta -- Leo's book, Zen Habits.

Sam Harris -- Sam's book, Waking Up.

Kitty en cabana

Kate, our darling tabby, in her kitty cabana, enjoying her day. 

Beautiful Maui

Went to Maui recently for 7 days and re-familiarized myself with relaxation. It is so slow and balmy. The second to last pic was taken up at Haleakala National Park, and the LAST one was the beginnings of the three hurricanes that threatened our departure. 

The first two pics are my vistas, left and right, from the beach in front of the house we stayed in; taken just after sunrise. We stayed on the north shore in a quiet residential area.

Curled up cats

Dropcloth slipcovers

Drop cloths are having a heyday, at least in my backyard. This weekend James and I worked together to make slip covers. Amazing what you can do with a few packages of $13 drop cloths! They are not expertly sewn, but they are so much fresher than they were.