Nic Marks: The Happy Planet Index | Video on TED.com

Nic Marks: The Happy Planet Index Video on TED.com

And now it's autumn.

Hello world. Welcome to your autumn experience. If you are living in an area that witnesses the four seasons, expect falling leaves. I spent the morning going through some old papers. I tossed most of them out. They were out of date. I spent a little time on some of my favorite computer sites and then decided that, perhaps, if I hurry, I can still do something significant with this day. It is 2 pm already and I've been to Facebook, Yahoo and Ebay about a dozen times. Such a waste. I don't mean that those sites are a waste, I mean, that rat, running to the feeding stall for another cup of  pressed corn pellets, action.
I did venture over to Ted.com and listened to a speech on the Happiness Planet. Imagine the concept of a world based on a nation's happiness level instead of their accrued income. It's a strange concept. The very idea of making a world where happiness really matters. And having this happy world also designed around the idea of taking less from the planet. Did you know that Costa Rica is the happiest country? Our American culture is in the throes of the dark ages of violent movies, computer games, literature, personal relationships and throwing up walls to solve problems.
Well, Rome was not built in a day but it was built. We could rethink things in America. We're innovators. I'll try to attach the speech that I listened to today....

The speech should be above this post.

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Here it is, your moment of zen.

A few thoughts on worry

       It is windy here today. I look out the window and notice the trees in my yard, the cornfield across the road and the clouds in the sky responding to the urging winds.  Everything is being blown about, out of control in unison. The morning started out with me edging close to a panic attack. My heart was racing, my breath - stuck in my throat, and my muscles ready to sprint. I had a dental appointment.
       I knew that this would be an expensive visit. I was scheduled to receive 2 crowns and I'm not even royalty.  Now as I waited to enter the dental zone, I started to notice my feelings. I even asked myself why was I feeling so stressed.
      The truth is, I've delayed this visit / procedure / decision since April. Back then the dentist told me that I would need 2 molars crowned. She looked in my mouth so matter-of-factly, told me I'd need crowning and then added "you might even need root canals." Which made me wonder if a person can faint sitting down. I even wondered about her bedside manner...."hey lady, there's a human heart in this body!"  I'm thinking a person should be taken into a chapel for news like that.... at least a little soft music and a box of tissue.
       I left the office pondering how to clue my frugal husband in on this news. And to tell you the truth, I didn't even mention this to him until this morning. I pictured him laying flat out on the floor with me wielding a defibrillator and shouting "clear!"  Instead, he just mentioned something about a health savings account and handed me a check book.
      Today I learned a big lesson - again. First off, there is no figuring my spouse, and try to stop worrying. Mostly, try to stop worrying. You see, I have been carrying those dentist's words around with me since April. I have pondered those words at all moments of the day. I have laid awake at night thinking about those crowns.  Why? I'm not sure.  This is the way worry wields it's tentacles into our souls.
      I come from a long line of worriers. My mother had this fear that someone would break in on her and my Dad and do them great harm. She had that "Husband murdered - wife raped then murdered" headline playing in her head for a large part of her life. She was normally an upbeat person but lived that mental horror.
      As the panic started building this morning and I found myself able to name it, I began an inner dialogue...."calm down, breathe, think of something fun and positive, everything is going to be ok, you want to keep your teeth." This helped.
   I went to the dentist. I only needed the crowns - no root canals. Everyone was very patient with me,  the sun was shining, the dentist with the charming bedside manner was not on duty, the dentist with actual charm was on duty,  my husband never insisted on looking in my mouth, the numbness finally wore off, I took needed action and can move on.
     They say that worry is a wasted emotion. Worry is fear in disguise. Maybe I have learned my lesson but if I haven't.... I'm not going to worry about it!

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Here it is, your moment of Zen....

N.C. Recap

By now, many of you will have lost interest in my last blog about the gravel road and the yard sale to raise funds for gravel for the road. And who will be Barge God - lost from your mind. But there are those who have asked for an update. And there have been so many attempts at an update only to have the updates tossed away like balled up paper hitting the trash can rim. The mood has evaded me. Today, I begin again. At the end of July, I loaded up my car with my yard sale items and my personal stuff and headed south. North Carolina was in my sites. I was looking forward to seeing my family and having some fun in the process.

I got such a kick out of helping my sisters with various summer projects. I sat with Grace as she recuperated from her knee surgery. I tagged along with Marlene as she shopped for new bedding, hung some more state plates in her state plate collection, and watched as she admired the Bear Mountain Lodge painting that I made for her. I helped Rebecca as she, Marlene, Jack and I cut corn off the cob for freezing. And I tried to encourage my baby sister Rachel as she was dealing with a personal set back of her own. Of course, I enjoyed swimming in the pool at my brother Doug's. And had dinner at my brother Elihu's house.  It was also good to see my sister JoAnne and her family. I love all my sibs so much!

I have to admit though, that above all I really appreciate the way my family turned out to help with our gravel fund raiser.

   It was hot! I believe it was close to 100 degrees on the Sunday afternoon we gathered to sell our goods. We had so many wonderful and unique things to choose from. My sister Rebecca had women's cowgirl shirts, magazines, grab bags, and an assortment of household items. My sister Marlene has some quilts, toys for the kids, and a pound cake that almost started a bidding war between my nephew Zane and I. I pulled out my stuff only to realize that I had forgotten the Barge God hard hat at home! Along with all the other items that I had highlighted in my previous post. But I did bring a 2 x 3 foot poster of Elvis that was a crowd pleaser. It too almost caused a bidding war. My nephew Jody brought 2 pints of blueberry jam that his wife had made...I scooped those up before anyone could even see he'd taken them out to sell! My niece, Neva brought 2 super cool cowboy hats which made the day for my nephew Zeb's 2 children. And the best, most dear thing to me was that people bought stuff and donated money very generously to help get gravel for the road. We ended up raising $205.00.  I am so blessed to have such a fabulous family!

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      Here it is, your moment of Zen!

Who will be Barge God?

I came across this hard hat at the Lincoln Building. When you think of barges, you probably think of waterways. You might think of large crates or containers being moved along the river or down by the sea. So how did a hard hat worn by a barge worker end up in a warehouse in Anderson, Indiana? It's a great hard hat. There is a little knob in the back that allows one to tighten the innerworkings around the head and you don't even know you're wearing a hard hat. Also, check out those reflectors and the American flag sticker (one on each side of the hat). You need this hat and you know it!

How about a seashell picture frame? Finally a lovely frame to showcase that special beach picture. It can be yours for the low price of one dollar. It will be on display at the family picnic / flea market on Sunday, July 25th....be there (with money) or be square!

Novels.....lovely, bodice ripping novels!

What kind of world would it be without Pokemon cards? Here's a whole pile of them, just waiting to come to your home and play....get 'em while they're hot!

SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!

     My baby sister had knee replacement surgery today. The last few weeks leading up to today have been worrisome for her. She is not a neat freak by nature and neither am I.  She was worried that folks would show up at her house for a visit and find everything in disarray. We were talking about that last night and I laid my new theory of stuff versus beauty on her.

     Basically if you own stuff, you have certain responsibilities to that stuff....a place for it to be.... cleaning and repairing the stuff....a purpose for having the stuff is also nice. And if you are doing none of these listed activities, you end up with stuff guilt.

     Since the brain can only work on one thing at a time, you're using up gray matter on the stuff that you could be using on more interesting activities.

    So I broke the idea of a family picnic / flea market on her. I am coming to my little, childhood home on July 23. I will be bringing a car load of items to sell at a family only flea market on Sunday, July 25th. I know that might not be the best of days for merchandising but Harrison and Brittany are going to be there too. It would have been a great Saturday event but they won't get there until late Saturday and the following Saturday, they leave for Brittany's family reunion in Tennessee. They really want to see the family, so thus the choice. And to make things clearer, I want to sell all I have and put whatever funds I gain into a road repair fund for the cemetery road.  I would also like to encourage all my family members (and you know who you are) to bring stuff to sell as well (of course with the idea of donating the funds to the cemetery road fix up.) It doesn't have to be a lot....a shoe box of goods, a bushel basket of items, a trunk load of treasures, or a pickup load of lovelies.

    And more importantly, please bring a dish of food to pass around for a big family picnic. We'll start gathering at 12:30 pm, with the dinner being served between 1 and 1:30. Meantime, we'll set out our goods and let folks look them over. At 2:15 or so, we'll let the dealing commence.

   If you have any folding tables, please bring them. And since this is a developing story, there may be other things coming down the pike. Call me if you have any questions or any ideas about how to make this better.

Also over the next few days, I will be highlighting things on this blog that I plan to bring to sell. Any Elvis fans out there? Also, if there is something you're looking for let me know. Thanks everyone, look forward to seeing you on the mountain top!

P.S. You don't have to bring anything to sell. Just bring a dish of food to pass around and some money to buy the wonderful treasures that I know you will find.

The Golden Room

Several years ago, during a bleak and bleary, gray winter, I came across this post card. It was just laying in wait for me inside an obscure box or book. And when my vision landed on it...I sort of gasped. It is a post card that I bought in New Port, Rhode Island. Philip and I had travelled there for a vacation which included a cruise to Newfoundland. I try to get a post card from where ever I travel. I'd read an article once about a woman who buys a post card on her travels and then writes a little anecdote on the back of the card about what she did while she was visiting the particular place the card represented. Good idea, huh?  Well, so far I just get the cards. And I can remember what happened there.. in Newport.... it rained buckets of rain! So this whole story is taking an ironic turn.  Anyway, I love this card because the room pictured is so airy and light. Full of golden light. It is a room in the Rosemont. One of those Newport, turn of the century, rich person's mansions. And I can tell you what it over looks. A garden, I'm sure, but beyond the garden, the big, wide ocean.

Ultimately, it is all about beauty. One does not have to be rich to have beauty. Beauty comes from a simple place. It comes from clean lines and open circulation. Beauty is not complex.