Day Three Hundred Sixty: Pursuing the Present

"Before anybody can even think about their intentions and what they want out of life, they need to discover what it means to be present." This quote comes from a book by Mallika Chopra called "Living with Intent," which I am currently reading. The author makes the point that it is easy for our thoughts to dwell on the past or race ahead to the future but that it is fairly difficult for them to settle on the present. This is certainly true for me, and reading this book has made me more aware of my need to be more present. So, during my run this morning, I began trying to force myself to focus on the present moment by tuning in to my senses. I wouldn't allow myself to think of anything except the sound I was hearing or the object I was seeing in the present moment. When my mind started to wander, I picked a new sense and focused on it completely for a few seconds. I have never done this kind of exercise before, but it was a good practice. It felt peaceful and grounding.

Day Two Hundred Thirty-Four: Epictetus and The Art of Living

Sadly, I never read anything by any ancient Greek philosopher until a few years ago when Ruth's literature class introduced us to the works of Plato. I was interested in what we read, but I still never took the time to prioritize reading other Greek philosophers' works. A couple of weeks ago, I saw The Art of Living come up on BookBub and decided to add it to my library, even though I had never even heard of Epictetus. Since it is an interpretation of the original work, it is written in plain English and promised to be an easy read. I was able to knock it out this weekend, though I'm certain if I would have had more time, I could have finished it in a day. I really enjoyed all the nuggets of wisdom and felt the book actually encompassed almost every major principle I want to instill in my children before they leave home. It will now be required reading, and I will be seeking out more works by Epictetus and the other philosophers of Stoicism.

Day Two Hundred Thirty-Two: Wind in the Willows Picnic

Yesterday while we were picnicking during our hike, everyone started talking about what the best picnic was they had been on and what would be the greatest picnic of all time. Ruth mentioned that her dream picnic would be a Wind in the Willows picnic (which is to say a very elaborate, fancy, excessive picnic), and the boys readily agreed.

Parents aren't always able to give their children everything they want, nor should they, in my opinion. But when it is within your power to fulfill a simple dream and create memories that will last a lifetime, you do it when you can. So, with the Wind in the Willows picnic as a our starting point, everyone contributed ideas to create the most epic picnic ever. We heard things like, "We need to find a big shade tree to spread our red-checkered blanket under," "We have to have a layer cake," "We need to use nice dishes," and "We have to pack everything in a real basket," in addition to a multitude of food and drink requests. We certainly modified the contents of the picnic (because, cold tongue?!?!), but the spirit was right on, and we felt Mole and Ratty would have approved.

The original Wind in the Willows picnic

Our version of the Wind in the Willows picnic

Day One Hundred Fifty-Seven: A Wrinkle in Time

Last week we went to the library to look for a book that Max had started but had left behind at one of our stops during the holidays. The library didn't have it, so I jumped on Amazon then and there to see if I could find it. It happened to be a Newberry Medal winner, and my search turned up a boxed set of Newberry books which was only a couple of dollars more expensive than the single book. Thinking these would be great books to have in our personal library, I immediately purchased the set. A Wrinkle in Time was one of the books in the set (though not the one Max had been looking for), and though I had vague memories of reading it as a child, I couldn't come up with any of the plot. My older kids have read the book in the last few years and were so excited to see it among the new books. Since we want to see the movie based on the book when it comes out this spring, and since we have a general household rule that you have to read the book before you can see the movie, I plucked the book out of the set and brought it with me to pass the time at Ruth's horse show today. I had remembered nothing, except for the names of some of the main characters, so I think it definitely counts as a First. And, I haven't read a children's book for my own enjoyment in quite a while, so there's that. It's such a great story about good versus evil and using both your perceived strengths and weaknesses to lead you through trials to the place you're meant to be.

Day One Hundred Fifty-One: Do What You Are

A couple of months ago, I took an online personality test. Since then, I have been curious about exploring this topic further. So when I was in the library the other day, I picked up Do What You Are, a guide for matching career choices with personality traits. I finished it this evening, and it has definitely given me some things to think about. The personality type I got in the book was slightly different from what I got online, which isn't unusual given that the traits appear on a sliding scale and a person can sometimes be right on the border between traits. The personality type from the book (ISFJ) was pretty accurate, and the careers recommended would probably be reasonable for me to consider, and indeed, align with many of the things that I have already done or thought about doing.

Day Sixty-Six: Qur'an

As a family, one of our favorite places is the library, and this afternoon we stopped by to return books and check out new ones. It is always possible to find something interesting there, and the possibilities for learning are endless. While I was waiting on the boys to pick out new books, I decided to pick up something totally new to me. I selected a translated Qur'an, with notes, to peruse. I admit, I have never read the Qur'an, and obviously I didn't have time to work my way through much of it in the short time I had today, but I was glad to get to take a brief look at it and thought it made a good first.

The Qur'an

Day Sixty-Four: Recipe from my book

We were all craving pineapple rice and decided to have it for lunch today. I consulted my own book, Explore Thailand, for the recipe. It isn't strictly a cookbook, but it does have a few Thai recipes. It was the first time I have used one of my own books as a cookbook, which just tickled me to pieces. And, the pineapple rice turned out fabulously!

So fun to use my own book as a cookbook!

If you're looking for a good recipe for pineapple rice, check out my book.

Day Forty-Seven: Tapping

Listening in to the Best Self World Summit again today introduced me to Jessica Ortner and the concept of tapping or EFT, which I had never heard of. I found the talk and the tapping exercise she led the audience through really fascinating, and as soon as the podcast was over, I did a search on Amazon to see if I could discover resources that would allow me to learn more about this noninvasive wellness practice, which essentially allows you to stop your "fight or flight" response and, in many cases, even reprogram it. I purchased two Kindle books (one by Jessica's brother, Nick) and spent some time this afternoon trying to learn more about the practice of tapping. One of the cool things about my Year of Firsts, so far, is that by saying "yes" to certain new activities, doors have been opened for me to be introduced to others.

Learning about tapping from Jessica Ortner
during the Best Self World Summit

This is a poorly written book,
but it did offer a some insights into EFT,
and it was a very quick read.

I'm only on chapter two of this book,
but I think it's very interesting and written
much better than the previous book.

Day Thirteen: Kickstarter

I received a very heartfelt and unexpected gift today, and it put me in a giving mood myself. I've heard of the crowdfunding site Kickstarter, but until today, I had never so much as looked at it, much less thought of providing financial support to one of the projects. Very shortly after I began looking through the projects to see if there was anything I felt good about supporting, a perfect project jumped out at me and enticed me to make a pledge: The Yes And Journal. It almost seemed like Providence. I sincerely hope this one gets off the ground!

This photo is not my property but was borrowed from the Kickstarter page.

Day Nine: Uncle Tom's Cabin and Audible

I am embarrassed to say that I have never read Uncle Tom's Cabin. I'm also a little embarrassed to say that I only just started using Audible before our summer trip, but I have only listened to one of the Great Courses and have never just listened to a book. But with a ten-hour road trip on the agenda for today, I got to (mostly) knock out both.

Uncle Tom's Cabin