Tag Archive | beauty

Get to know me survey!!! yeeeaaa!!!

Nov10

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This is a little “get to know me better” bloggy survey!

So here, get to know me better! Lol ;-D

1.) Define yourself in eleven words. Playful, compassionate, alive, mindful, positive, trusting, happy, depressed (only sometimes), loving, amused, inspired

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2.) Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
I’m a very shy extrovert! I love my own company but also love to be around people! I’m not the life of the party, I’m the quiet girl waiting for someone to come talk to me but I feel very uplifted and energized and hopeful in a room full of people whether or not I know them, even if no one is talking to me. I may come off as reserved or socially anxious or introverted or a loner but that’s totally not the case! I’m just shy. But I eventually will open up. You’ll be sorry! Lol j/k

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3.) What kind of food won’t you eat?

Cantaloupe, Eww!

4.) Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Ahh, this question! I never much cared for it. Lol I just go with the flow, bask in the beauty of now. I’m not much of a planner, especially not that much into the future!

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5.) If you could trade places with one person for a day, who would you be?
This would probably be interesting but I’m not so sure I would trade places even for only a day. There’s no one I want to be other than me. It would be enlightening though to see the world through someone else’s eyes, to live and breathe as someone else. I may like to trade with multiple people throughout the day to get various perspectives. If I can only choose one, I would probably choose someone very different than me in some way like someone of a different culture or religious view or someone with an unusual experience so in combination with my own views and experiences, I can try to deepen my understanding of the world and others in general.

“She woke up every morning with the option of being anyone she wished. How beautiful it was that she always chose herself.” ~ Tyler Kent White

6.) What is your best quality? List two.
My compassion. I’m not always compassionate but generally I have very deep compassion for all living sentient beings, even those who seem difficult to me. I don’t always feel or act on compassion, I can be cold, an asshole, angry…but for the most part I’m very compassionate. And I try to get better and better.

Also my lighthearted attitude and how easily amused I am! I can be in severe pain, physical or emotional and still find laughter and lightness often. It’s a fantastic way to be. It’s so inspiring. Everything doesn’t have to be so serious.

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7.) What book has changed your life? Why? A book called 3:00am. I wrote about it here before! It’s a fictional murder mystery with the main character being someone with a very rare sleep disorder with no known cure and the book really conveys the message of how each minute, each moment, each breath we take is extremely valuable, important, worth acknowledging and savoring. The man in the book only has one hour each day to be awake so he plans literally every minute individually to get the most in life, he goes for a run, reads his favorite books, goes on the Internet, talks to his dad…and plans each and every minute to live to the fullest before he falls asleep for 23 hours. The story is a reminder that each of us only has these moments right here, right now. We don’t have this disorder but we too only have a limited number of minutes to be awake/alive

I don’t always live like this but after reading that book I am changed and realize and live in such a way more than I used to, so that each minute counts and is the best it can be.

“Let’s cherish every moment we have been given; the time is passing by…” ~ Kool & the Gang

Here are a couple excerpts:

“Those minutes are my life, I nearly scream. Those minutes that you take so much for granted because you get a thousand of them each day are priceless to me. Your life is measured by title, wealth, and status. My life is measured in grains of sand, trickling from one teardrop to the other.
My nostrils flare when I’m angry and I wonder if Ray feels a small gust of wind. Taking a calm breath, I ponder telling her that I’m Henry Bins and I have Henry Bins. I don’t.”

(Henry Bins is the disorder named after this man who was the first in the world to be diagnosed.)

“It’s like Christmas, each minute a beautifully wrapped gift just waiting to be opened. Should I allow myself an extra minute in the shower? Could I read three more pages of my book? Run another quarter mile? Watch a YouTube video? Watch the swimming pool scene from Wild Things, twice?”
Check out my post if you want:

https://inspirationalgem.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/300am/

8.) What is your biggest problem/s in life?
My depressive disorder but it’s not constantly severe or always a problem. It comes & goes. I’m naturally & generally happy & cheerful. But it always comes back to get me. Lol

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9.) Who is your role model?
I don’t have one. There’s really no one I try to be like and live up to. Except the Buddha, Buddha Shakymuni, I try to live up to his ways. I want my love, my compassion, my happiness, my selflessness…to mirror his. I don’t always succeed at it and still have a long way to go probably. I am very mortal, fragile, weak next to him, but it’s so good to try. I practice Buddhist meditation, listen to Buddhist songs, attend classes, have Mala recitation beads, and try to live each day inspired by Buddha and practice his Teachings. Dharma is my inspiration and guide. There’s so much I don’t know but I’m learning more & more about Dharma.

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10.) Do you have any insecurities? What are they? Yes, I have an insecurity that comes and goes, like my depression does, more likely when I’m depressed. I wish i had a lifelong friend, particularly another girl, who is like family/ sister. Sometimes I feel incomplete and less loved without that. I wish I had a few longterm friendships since we were very young.

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11.) What do you believe?
??? Well let’s see, I believe we are all One, One with each other, the whole uni-verse, nature, the stars and moon & sun, animals….I often feel very connected to others and the world around me. I always have since I was a little girl but never knew how to put it into words. I am all for universal love, wishing everyone the best, wanting everyone to be happy and well, not at the expense of others though. When one person wins, we all win. When one person or animal dies, a light goes out on all of us. Your suffering is my suffering, your happiness is mine. Even if someone gets the job I want, I can be happy for that person. If someone has what I desperately want and do not have, I can still be happy and congratulate the person. If it’s difficult at first, I can tune into my wisdom of Oneness.
I don’t always feel this way even though I believe it. Sometimes I’m depressed and do not feel connected to anyone or anything. Sometimes I’m lonely or jealous or uninspired. But I always find my way back.

12.) Does blogging enrich or better your life? Yes! Both the people I meet/communicate with and my own writing. I write for others and myself. I know every post may not be read by someone or “liked” or liked but it’s still worth it to write and share. It will always be here for anyone who may find it and for me. I don’t always publish everyday but I do write for the blog every single day. I am inspired almost everyday, some days the whole day, some days only one moment but each day I find something to inspire me or just feel inspired. I am inspired by what I read, see, feel…..and love to share and uplift or inspire others as well. Writing for here helps me think more clearly and in a more deep way. Sometimes my own writing inspires me! I have a whole collection since 2012 to look back on whenever I want. Once in a while WordPress suggests an old post to read after I publish a new one and I check it out and it’s years old and still so inspiring! It’s especially helpful when I’m depressed or in severe physical pain with a headache and I look back on an old post of mine and know I felt that way and can feel that way again. Other people’s positive thoughts and writing can be so uplifting, inspiring,and helpful but there’s a certain kind of hope and inspiration knowing I felt that way myself once and have it in me to feel that way again. My cover photo on Facebook says “Life is beautiful.” I don’t always feel that way. Often but not always. And when I’m depressed/suicidal or having an agonizing headache, when I see that, I am reminded that I once felt that life is beautiful and can feel that again. Can feel that way NOW! Or soon.

Most of the stuff I post here is timeless and can apply to anyone. I share my own experiences but try to in a way so anyone at all can relate. Not everyone has depression or headaches but when I write of my experiences with those, I try to make it so anyone can take any problem no matter how minor or serious, and relate. Most of us have basic empathy to relate to one another and we can deepen it.

I feel that writing for here also strengthens my positive attitude in general. It reinforces it, maintains it. I would be positive anyway mostly, but this deepens it and helps me be positive in moments I may not be without it.
It helps to strengthen my habit of looking on the brighter side of life. I write here of my struggles and my positive way of handling them. Sometimes I don’t feel like handling them positively but I am reminded of what I share here frequently and often get inspired to be more positive. It’s like a reminder to myself while also potentially helping or reminding others. And I love when I get comments, likes, and shares. ❤

Since I make this mostly a positive place but also genuine, I do admit my flaws and less than pleasant qualities and situations but I highlight my strengths and good qualities and it carries over into life off of the blog. I remember to admit my weaknesses but also appreciate my strengths and blessings more.

13.) What kind of music do you like to listen to?
I love all kinds but especially Oldies, country, and inspirational! I love love songs and ones with deep meaning and positive messages. I also like angry death metal! Lol! They never get old!

14.) four facts about yourself:

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1.) green & pink are two of my favorite colors
2.) if I were to die I would love if my organs can go to someone in need “Don’t take your organs to Heaven, Heaven knows we need them here!”
In fact, I would love to give one of my kidneys to anyone in need even when I’m alive. I heard the transplant is more likely to be a success with a living donor. Want my kidney? You can have it if you desperately need it to live(I’m not going to sell it to people trying to get money or something…)!! Just let me know. (if I’m allowed to give it, I heard living donors who want to give a kidney to a random stranger must endure some grueling hours of psychiatric evaluation. And I have severe, severe depression off & on but I’m not trying to die, I know what I’m in for! But the doctors may think I’m not thinking clearly because of my history of suicidal depression. But I can assure them I am! I just want to help! It is not without risks and won’t be always easy, but it’s worth it and the medical people make it as safe as possible. I want someone to live. I have two perfect, beautiful kidneys, I only need one!! I have no money so hopefully it doesn’t cost anything on my part! Lol) I don’t want anything in return other than someone living.
Since I was a young girl I have been deeply touched and inspired by the idea of organ donation even though I have never been personally touched by it.
I always had a strong desire to help.
I have known for as long as I can remember that I want my organs to go to someone else when I no longer need them. The only reason is that I want someone else to live. There are so many waiting for an organ and there are many organs that would save people’s lives but the person does not consent to donation. Every single eligible person can help.
I don’t care who they go to. People have asked me, “But what if your heart goes to a ‘nasty,’ ‘undeserving,’ ‘no good,’ …..or whatever other unpleasant adjective….person?!” First of all, most people are not nasty or no good. So that is unlikely. Also it’s better to take the chance of saving an “unworthy” person than not and a “good” person dies. But anyway, everyone deserves to live!

But I don’t judge those who refuse to donate their organs before or after death even though I wish everyone would after death! I understand and it’s your choice. Organ donation is a beautiful gift and it’s amazing how doctors can perform transplants! What a gift! To have parts of someone else to keep us alive! To give parts of our self to keep someone else alive! Incredible beauty!
Thank you doctors, nurses, technicians….& organ donors/families & beautiful people!! <333 ❤ Thank You, thank you!! So many people are alive NOW because of the love of organ donors and their families and the love and hard work of the medical professionals involved.

3.) I’m reading a beautiful novel, that I just found accidentally, about a heart transplant and the pain & beauty of the families involved, how one young woman lives because another young woman died, the guilt and gratitude she experiences and the resentment the dead woman’s husband has for the family who received the heart. It’s called “Irreplaceable” and conveys so many mixed emotions both painful and beautiful that all involved experience.
4.) I have hipbone length hair and don’t ever want it any shorter.

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15.) What eleven words do NOT typically describe you?
Motivated (I’m a lazy bum), organized (I’m a slob & a wreck), greedy (obviously! See above, I’m ready to give you my kidney!), athletic(sports bore me…and I’m lazy!), aloof(i love being close to others both physically and emotionally – I love hugs!), stressed(I’m often calm and handle things well and work well under pressure), dramatic (I’m quiet and balanced – usually), loud (I have a tendency to scream when people walk in my room {it could be an axe murderer for all I know!} but other than that you won’t even know I’m here!), tenacious (the description for zodiac sign for me, insists that I am/should be stubborn but I’m quite the opposite!, I am extremely easy-going, trusting, and have even been called a “push-over” on occasion!), sensitive (in the sense that I’m not easy to offended or hurt emotionally, I can handle constructive, jokes, sarcasm…), moralist/sanctimonious (I don’t like acting like I always know what is right or acting like I live better than anyone else)

Is that eleven? I sort of lost count! 😉

I hope your day is going amazingly!!

And hopefully you got to know me/know me a bit better?!

If you want, take the survey and let me know! I would just love to see your answers! One of my favorite things to read is “about me” pages & random facts about people. It’s so fun seeing little glimpses of who someone is. ❤

Hugs & love to you, always!

😀

Xoxo Kim

Laughter in the Rain

Nov5

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“The stranger is here. I can feel it. She’s close.
The words vibrated in the dark room and stirred the night air inside the small izba at the far end of Tivil, where two dark-haired figures leaned close across a table within an uncertain circle of light. A measured sprinkle of aromatic powder sent a spiral of flashes swirling out from the single candle flame that burned before them. Together they inhaled its delicate fragrance.
‘I’ve drawn her close,’ Rafik murmured. ‘So close I can hear her heartbeat in Tivil.’
His hand hovered over a black cloth on which lay a heavy crystal sphere. It gleamed, shimmered, and seemed to pulse in the darkness as the gypsy’s hand circled above it, slow and attentive, listening to its voice.
‘What do you hear?’ whispered the olive-skinned girl.
‘I hear her heart tearing. I hear her blood spilling, drop by drop, and yet…I hear her laughing.’ The sound was sweet as birdsong in his ears.” (The Red Scarf, Kate Furnivall, pp. 52) 

Isn’t this beautiful?! It’s out of a novel I’m reading that takes place in 1933 about a young woman who escapes a Siberian labor camp to try to help another prisoner escape later. 
Labor camps are prisons where many innocent people were locked up unjustly and for stupid reasons like just disagreeing with authority.
They are tortured and not taken care of. They are worked sometimes literally to death. They are killed if they make mistakes or do not submit to authority. Many died before their sentence was up. This story isn’t real but labor camps were.

In prison, this young woman, Sofia, meets another young woman, Anna, and they become very close friends. Anna saves Sofia’s life when Sofia gets cut and it becomes infected. She cares for her day and night until it heals. The guards and others do not take care of the prisoners and couldn’t care less if they die, are sick or in pain. 
Anna tells Sofia often, about the boy she loves and hasn’t seen in years. Sofia takes great pleasure in the beautiful stories Anna tells. It’s what sees her through the pain of being locked away in a labor camp day after day, year after year. 
Anna becomes deathly ill and Sofia wants to get her out of there and get her proper care but Anna is too sick to escape so Sofia risks her life escaping so she can go find Anna’s lover and bring him back to her so Anna can escape.
I haven’t read much of the book yet but on the back it says Sofia finds Anna’s love, the boy she still loves after all these years, and Sofia falls in love with him! Uhh ohh! :-/

But it’s more than just a love story involving romantic & platonic love. It’s a mystery and full of danger and adventure. It has a lot of substance and the characters have depth unlike a lot of characters in romantic love stories, who seem one-dimensional.
I love how it’s a love story that involves both friendship love & romantic love. I love novels about friendship. 

This book has over 400 pages. I’m on page 73.

So I don’t know what happens later in the story but it seems Sofia finds herself in a position where she can potentially make a choice to betray her friend or remain loyal but deny herself the love she has for her friend’s man. I hope she will choose loyalty to her friend. 

 I want to share the scene above because it’s beautiful and mysterious and I believe it’s a positive message how we can find joy & laughter even in the midst of sorrow, anxiety, and uncertainty. 

The man and young girl above are father & daughter, Rafik and Zenia, and the teenage girl, Zenia, finds the young woman, Sofia, stealing vegetables out of their garden before Sofia suffers a head injury and falls unconscious. The father and daughter take Sofia in, knowing she’s a fugitive and it can put their own lives in danger. But they are good people who want to help her. The man and his daughter have some psychic abilities. They don’t know everything though and the daughter’s are not as strong as her father’s.

It’s a lovely book if the part I read up until now is any indication. 

So, I hope you are having a great day or night and lots of love to you! ❤

😀

Xoxo Kim 

Arachne <3

Nov4

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When I woke up yesterday morning I did not want to get out of bed. I was warm and cozy and sleepy. My dogs did not want me to get up either. But I had to get up for work. I laid in bed for a while longer drifting back to sleep, and my fan was on because it’s back to feeling like Summer here again. In November! Above my fan a spider was dangling on a strand of his/her web coming off the ceiling. What a blessing to wake up to! S/he was moving closer & closer to the fan until s/he was looking like she was going to go right inside. I jumped up quickly to turn off the fan so the little darling wouldn’t be slashed by the blades. 

I was up later than I should have been and after the shower and all I left the house, letting the spider be. When I came home that night, the spider was on my lamp now, building a beautiful spider web around the shade! I am so honored that s/he chose my room! S/he could have gone anywhere in the world! ❤

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I don’t know how to tell if this sweet thing is a boy or a girl. 

I got some beautiful pictures! I wanted to get more and better ones but my phone camera kept going out of focus and the spider was afraid. S/he kept leaving quickly pulling her/himself up on her/his web. 

My phone camera isn’t always good at capturing small things.

I felt so connected to the spider and as one with the uni-verse as I watched her spin her web, it seemed almost miraculous. Such delicate beauty and intricacy. Simplicity but also complex.

It’s just awe inspiring.

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The little beauty just hung upside down on her web. At first it scared me a bit because I thought maybe s/he was dead, hung herself on her own web or something but s/he was breathing and moving. Lol Silly little thing! And so cute! Just hanging upside down like that!  

Here are some pics:

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“Rainbows, spiderwebs, sunsets…the world is full of wonder if only you look.”

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“Nothing is insignificant.”. ~Samuel T. Coleridge

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 “See the good all around you, even if you have to squint.”

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“If I see a spider in my house, I put it in a cup, and then I take it outside. I save it. What is wrong with me?” ~Jacqueline Emerson

I do the same(after getting one million pictures!)! And there’s nothing wrong with us. Our compassion just extends to other forms of life than our own species and the cute little cuddly animals most people probably have compassion for.

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And here are a couple pictures I got on my beautiful walk to work today! 

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And while we’re on the topic of beautiful things, here’s me!

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I am so blessed to live in a world with so much beauty and to have so much love & compassion for the life all around me! ❤

The Black Widow – Alice Cooper – mobile

The Black Widow – desktop

Love & hugs to you(and if you don't like hugs or don't want my hugs then just love to you!)! <333

😀

Xoxo Kim 

Hello, November

Nov1

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(Fall is always welcome in my heart!!)

Old friend,

We meet again!! 

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I see no reason not to be happy in this beautiful season!! Colorful and crunchy leaves decorating the streets, crisp air, cool nights, houses decorated for Fall, cheerful holiday tunes right around the corner (I already have a few Christmas songs on my playlist! To me, it’s never too early for Christmas cheer!), scarecrows & pumpkin pie, my little sister’s b-day!! Yay!!

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November is speckled with all kinds of gems of beauty & inspiration!

And it’s actually starting to feel like Fall now! It felt like Summer almost all October!

I couldn’t be happier! It almost doesn’t feel real! 😀

In honor of this lovely month, I’m sharing some quotes and my pictures! 😀

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“October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces.” ~J.K. Rowling

(I am not a Harry Potter fan but this is a beautiful quote!)

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“November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.” ~Clyde Watson

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“But there is always a November space after the leaves have fallen when she felt it was almost indecent to intrude on the woods…for their glory terrestrial had departed and their glory celestial of spirit and purity and whiteness had not yet come upon them.” ~L.M. Montgomery

“In November, some birds move away and some birds stay. The air is full of good-byes and well-wishes. The birds who are leaving look very serious. No silly spring chirping now. They have long journeys and must watch where they are going. The staying birds are serious, too, for cold times lie ahead. Hard times. All berries will be treasures.” ~Cynthia Rylant

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“The November evening had a bite; it nibbled not-quite-gently at her cheeks and ears. In Virginia the late autumn was a lover, still, but a dangerous one.” ~J. Aleksandr Wootton

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“November is usually such a disagreeable month…as if the year had suddenly found out that she was growing old and could do nothing but weep and fret over it. This year is growing old gracefully…just like a stately old lady who knows she can be charming even with gray hair and wrinkles. We’ve had lovely days and delicious twilights.” ~L.M. Montgomery

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“In November, the smell of food is different. It is an orange smell. A squash and pumpkin smell. It tastes like cinnamon and can fill up a house in the morning, can pull everyone from bed in a fog. Food is better in November than any other time of the year.” ~Cynthia Rylant

I have always felt that food is always better in the cold. It tastes better and has a better feel. Somehow, my experience with severe, suicidal, long-term depression helped me realize this. It’s difficult to explain how. It’s just easier to be painfully and beautifully aware of things in a deeper way with a life of depression. Or something like that.

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“In November, the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures. The bed is white and silent, and much life can hide beneath its blankets.” ~Cynthia Rylant

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“In November, the trees are standing all sticks and bones. Without their leaves, how lovely they are, spreading their arms like dancers. They know it is time to be still.” ~Cynthia Rylant

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This wasn’t taken today but I’m dressed for Fall weather so why not share it here?! This was a few days ago! I don’t usually wear long sleeved shirts. I like sleeveless ones all year! 😀

“In November, people are good to each other. They carry pies to each other’s homes and talk by crackling woodstoves, sipping mellow cider. They travel very far on a special November day just to share a meal with one another and to give thanks for their many blessings – for the food on their tables and the babies in their arms.” ~Cynthia Rylant

This is one of the best things about the holiday season. I’m in this spirit all year but when the holiday season is near, I feel a sense of unity in the air and receive all kinds of subscription e-mails about gratitude & loving each other and kindness. Many people who aren’t in this spirit every day, get in the mood around now and it’s a beautiful atmosphere.

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“November came roaring in with gusty winds and more wet weather. Mandy’s depression would not go away. Her garden seemed sad, too. It was virtually empty now, and the few brave flowers that remained there were flattened by rain, their yellows stalks sprawling in all directions. Most of the trees were bare, and the woods had a wet carpet of leaves.” ~
Julie Andrews Edwards

This is sad but beautiful. I know what it is to be deeply, deeply depressed, I struggle with severe episodes that can feel unbearable and can relate. It always returns but it always ends. Even when I think it never will.

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“Flurries early, pristine and pearly. Winter’s come calling! Can we endure so premature a falling? Some may find this trend distressing- others bend to say a blessing over sage and onion dressing.” ~Old Farmer’s Almanac

So much wonder all around! I am overwhelmed! But in a good way!

I wanted to get some pictures outside but I was stuck at work all day and then when I got out it was very dark! Gets dark so early these days! Nightfall is so beautiful! ❤

I hope you like the quotes & pictures!! Happy November to you!! I'm sending you lots of love!

~Hugs~ ❤

😀

xoxo Kim

In the Silence

Oct31

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“I closed my mouth and spoke to you in a hundred silent ways.”~ Rumi

Words aren’t the only form of communication. So much can be heard, felt in the silence. And we can choose to make the silence beautiful, loving, positive with our thoughts and energy and intention.

This is a beautiful quote!

And it reminds me of this song sung by Simon & Garfunkel:

Sound of Silence – mobile

The Sound of Silence – desktop

I hope you are having a beautiful night or day!! ❤

😀

xoxo Kim

Rainy Day Bells

Oct28

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It’s a rainy day in Philadelphia today!! Raining all day & night!!

I was on a little excursion earlier today getting some lovely photos of green leaves covered in raindrops!  
I decided to get creative & share some of my pics here with some beautiful quotes!

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“In every change, in every falling leaf there is some pain, some beauty. And that’s the way new leaves grow.” ~Amit Ray

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“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” ~ John Ruskin

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“October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen. It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations above them once again.” ~Hal Borland

Oh, October, I’m going to miss you!! But this month has felt more like Summer & Spring than Fall most days! I love all the Fall decorations I see all around the city! 

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“Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole, and partakes of the perfection of the whole.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.” ~Albert Schweitzer

I agree but I wouldn’t be so demanding about it!

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“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” ~Rabindranath Tagore

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“If words were leaves, would you prefer fall or spring?” ~Jarod Kintz

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I like Fall & Spring both. They both have beautiful qualities!  

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“He’d grown unused to woods like this. He’d become accustomed to the Northwest, evergreen and shaded dark. Here he was surrounded by soft leaves, not needles; leaves that carried their deaths secretly inside them, that already heard the whispers of Autumn. Roots and branches that knew things.” ~Michael Montoure

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Let’s grow unused to everything!! ❤

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This picture isn’t that good, it was supposed to be black & white with one green leaf but it did not work out! All the leaves are orange/yellow and one bright green. But the whole pic showed up looking all dreary and not in a good way. But I save most of my pictures even if they aren’t really good just because they’re mine and there may be some good to them. This is outside work tonight. 

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He was so happy to see me after work! He doesn’t like when I’m reading a book, writing, or using my phone, he wants all my attention to himself and insists on crawling on me when I’m doing anything that doesn’t involve him. So while I am attempting to write this post, he’s on me demanding attention. He doesn’t like having his picture taken and doesn’t like the “beep beep beep” of the camera. When he’s angry he hits his little face with his paws, sometimes one front paw, sometimes both! He just has always done this and his babies do too! It’s so cute!! I almost always stop what I’m doing to give him attention. ❤ ❤ His name is Emmy.

😀

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This is me at work tonight on a very slow rainy night!

And here’s a rainy song I used to listen to a lot a decade ago! 

Rainy Day Bells – The Globetrotters – desktop

Rainy Day Bells – mobile

I hope you’re having a beautiful day/night as I am! Lotsa love to you! 😀

❤

Xoxo Kim 

The Power of Gold

Oct27

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“I have discovered gold in a creekbed as thick as sin in Goldstrike. I do not count it yet as either a blessing or a curse. Time will tell. Gold is an able servant but a cruel master.” (Hunter Bell’s Diary, June 6, 1857 p. 88) 

I’m reading a novel called “The Looking Glass” by Richard Paul Evans, and found this quote in it on page 88. I’m not on page 88, I just started reading it but it has quotes throughout so I was flipping through the pages and this one struck me with its deep wisdom and I just knew I have to share it!  

It’s true money can bring us a kind of happiness and solve our problems if our problems are financial related. I wouldn’t be happier in general if I just won billions of dollars but I would be happy about the money, which I can’t be now since I don’t have money to be happy about. Money wouldn’t solve all my problems but it would help with financial struggles. But even with financial struggles, someone can be very happy. My general happiness would remain but I would have an additional joy or happiness now. Money isn’t bad or evil, material objects, pretty things, expensive things aren’t bad or wrong. I don’t believe they can bring us true happiness or fulfillment but they can add to our happiness and bring a certain kind of joy.
But mostly, I think they will only bring a lot of deep joy if we’re already basically happy. They can complement it. 

What isn’t good is to believe we need money or all kinds of material things to be truly happy. And it’s not good to be jealous of people who have more or better or bigger things(i have been jealous on some occasions of what someone else has). It’s not good to steal or use people for their money or take advantage of friends who have more money. It’s also not good to spend more than we have and then be in all kinds of debt (I have done this myself). But this isn’t the money’s fault.

There are people who say winning the lottery “ruined” their lives and studies that show many people who have won significant amounts of money became less happy than they were before the money. I heard people say the money “made” them less happy. This seems like a strange kind of irony. We would think money would help us be happier! But this just goes to show, money isn’t inherently good.

“Money made me less happy.” 

I don’t agree with this. They may have become less happy after receiving all that money but not because of the money itself. Because of how they handled and viewed the situation. Money has no power unless we give it power. It can’t make me anything. It can’t ruin anything. Unless we let it. This goes for many/most/all things outside of our selves. 

But as this quote suggests, money, when we give it power, can be cruel. We think it will solve our deep innermost problems and it doesn’t. And then we become disappointed which contributes to our pain. Sometimes if we expect something to make us better and it doesn’t, our spirits sink even lower than before. Also, some people get lots of money and then spend more than that thinking they have it to spend and go in debt. 

This man is wise enough to know not to automatically count all that gold as a blessing. The real blessing is the wisdom to handle it well.

I have never been rich, financially, but there are occasions I spent way more money than I should have, thinking it would help my depression and sometimes it helped temporarily and often not at all. But even on the occasions it cheered me up a bit, a deeper emptiness and disappointment often followed, only adding to my depression. I expected all the pretty things to fulfill me and they did not. This only escalated my misery along with putting me in some serious debt.

There are occasions I was depressed and waited for packages to come in the mail and anticipated the happiness they would bring me. I was thrilled, ripping the package opened. But for what? All I found was an empty space. An empty place, deep inside me that material things can never fill. They can add to my happiness, temporarily bring me joy. But never can money or things bring me true, deep, happiness. When I’m already happy and get a sweet package in the mail, this is way better than being depressed and expecting it to fulfill me. Pretty things can for sure cheer me up but not make me happy if I’m not basically happy already. 

If someone’s only problem is not having money for food and this is seriously contributing to despair or unhappiness, money can help significantly. We usually need money for food and food to live. Money is important in some ways but it’s not everything. As long as we have enough to have our basic needs met, that is enough even if we can’t go on shopping sprees, live in a big extravagant house, have the most expensive up to date technology and car and clothes…

But for the most part, money won’t solve our problems. Financially rich people still die, still get sick, still get depressed and anxious, and experience loss. And financially struggling people can still be happy and generally satisfied. And the other way around. Rich people can be happy and fulfilled and poor people can suffer with emotional pain and feel purposeless. It’s all about our attitude. And we can work on our attitude and develop/strengthen positive habits.

I think this is true for physical beauty, cosmetic surgery, relationships of any kind, mostly anything external. They complement our happiness, cheer us up, help us cope and we can be happy about them even if we’re not very happy in general. But they themselves can’t make us happy or truly blissful in a general way. We can have very good relationships, be physically beautiful and still be miserable even if we are happy with how we look and the relationships we have. But I think connecting with people, animals, nature, the outside world, helping others….add to our (for most of us probably) happiness and bring a deeper joy more than money and other inanimate objects.

Money and material things are great when we rule them instead of them ruling us. And it’s good to remember we don’t need them for true happiness. 

“Detachment doesn’t mean you own nothing; it means nothing owns you.”

Connecting with others, helping, focusing on the good, an attitude of gratitude….these are better ways to be happy! (in my opinion) 

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❤

Here's a sweet little love song for you:

In This Life – Collin Raye – mobile
In This Life – desktop

“For all I’ve been blessed with in this life,
there was an emptiness in me.
I was imprisoned by the power of gold.
With one honest touch, you set me free.
Let the world stop turning,
let the sun stop burning.
Let them tell me love’s not worth going through.
If it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart
the only dream that matters has come true;
in this life, I was loved by you.” ~ Collin Raye

I love the message here. And it’s a beautiful song. This person opened him up to a new view and he realized what is truly important and even if this person leaves him, he is still changed by this person’s love and will still always cherish being loved at one point by him/her. He knows it’s love that’s important in this life. This is different than a lot of romantic love songs because it’s not like a pathetic attachment love song like “if you leave me, I’ll lay down and die” or “without you I’m nothing.”  He knows he will be changed in a positive way even if “it all falls apart” and just the experience of being loved by that person is enough forever. And I know it’s a romantic love song (probably) but this can apply to all love, platonic and universal and romantic. The power of love trumps the power of gold!

❤ 😀

Much0 love to you!

Xoxo Kim  ❤ ❤

p.s. Just to make you smile:

“Whoever said money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping.” ~ Bo Derek 😀 ;-D

Our Hawaiian Paradise

Oct20

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(me on the Wildwood beach this Summer)

In Orison Swett Marden’s book, Cheerfulness As a Life Power, you can read it online here,he shares an amazing excerpt I would love to share about being lighthearted, cheerful, and carefree. 

It’s old so there’s no copyright so it’s no cost to read online! I have the Kindle book. It’s not a very long book.  

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Here it is:

“Our Hawaiian Paradise”

“A newspaper correspondent, Annie Laurie, has told us all about the new kind of American girls just added to our country: –

‘They are as straight as an arrow, and walk as queens walk in fairy stories; they have great braids of sleek, black hair, soft brown eyes, and gleaming white teeth; they can swim and ride and sing; and they are brown with a skin that shines like bronze…there isn’t a worried woman in Hawaii. The women there can’t worry. They don’t know how. They eat and sing and laugh, and see the sun and the moon set, and posses their souls in smiling peace. 
If a Hawaiian woman has a good dinner, she laughs and invites her friends to eat it with her; if she hasn’t a good dinner, she laughs and goes to sleep, – and forgets to be hungry. She doesn’t have to worry about what the people in the downstairs flat will think if they don’t see the butcher’s boy arrive on time. If she can earn the money, she buys a nice. new, glorified Mother Hubbard; and, if she can’t get it, she throws the old one into the surf and washes it out, puts a new wreath of fresh flowers in her hair, and starts out to enjoy the morning and the breezes thereof.
They are not earnest workers; they haven’t the slightest idea that they were put upon earth to reform the universe, – they’re just happy. They run across great stretches of clear, white sand, washed with resplendent purple waves, and, when the little brown babies roll in the surf, their brown mothers run after them, laughing and splashing like a lot of children. Or, perhaps we see them in gay cavalcades mounted upon garlanded ponies, adorned by white jasmine wreaths with roses and pinks. And here in this paradise of laughter and light hearts and gentle music, there’s absolutely nothing to do but to care for the children and old people and to swim or ride. You couldn’t start a ‘reform circle’ to save your life; there isn’t a jail in the place, nor a tenement quarter, and there are no outdoor pool. There isn’t a woman’s club in Honolulu, – not a club. There was a culture circle once for a few days; a Boston woman who went there for her health organized it, but it interfered with afternoon nap-time, so nobody came.’
When, hereafter, we talk about worrying women, we must take into account our Hawaiian sisters, if we will average up the amount of worry per capita,in our nation.”

This is so beautiful and I get vivid images going through my head of these beautiful smiling women and their beautiful babies playing in the sand all day loving & living without a care in the world!

This is a beautiful inspiration to us all and how blessed we are to be able to encounter it!

If we are someone with a serious condition like an anxiety or depressive condition that requires professional or medical help, this most likely will not cure us but it can be a great supplement and reminder to let go of whatever is preventing cheerfulness and positivity in our heads. And if we don’t have a true mental health condition, we still likely experience anxiety or distress once in a while and this excerpt is a fantastic guide to help us cope and let go. 

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I love how the writer writes that these girls, if they don’t have a good dinner, just forget to be hungry. That’s so inspiring! They can complain about not having good food but instead they just go to sleep and wake up happy. And if she can’t get up enough money for what she wants, she just reuses the old and makes it beautiful!

Imagine if we do this often, forget to be hungry when our food sucks, reuse our old things if we can’t buy new ones and if they can’t be reused, just forget to want them until we can get them later! Instead of complaining about the weather, soak up whatever beauty we can in the weather we have. When we’re sick, instead of complaining, use the experience as a good excuse to nurture our selves more. We can seize every situation we are in and practice looking at the bright side, looking for any bit of good that we can!

Let’s remember to laugh in the sun, breathe in the sweet fragrance of the flowers, feel the soft air upon our skin, sing, and splash, and play! There’s no such thing as being “too old” as long as we’re alive. Forget the stress, the problems, the potential problems, the negativity & be happy now!

😀 ❤

Lottsa love to you!!

xoxi Kim ❤