Photo stories
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Your life is your art
“An artist’s real contribution isn’t what he paints, but the way he sees.” ~Martha Beck Whenever I visit an art museum, it strikes me that many of the same basic themes and subjects have been rendered throughout the centuries. Mothers and children. Landscapes and seascapes. Fruit and flowers on tables. Yet each painting is completely different in style and mood, reflecting the individuality and vision of the artist. So it is with everything we create — whether it’s a painting, a piece of writing, a garden, a photograph, or a recipe. How do you express your own vision or viewpoint? ~CL For more like this: Check out additional posts and…
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Attitude
“The last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitudes.” – Viktor E. Frankl In Man’s Search for Meaning, Austrian neurologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl chronicled his experiences as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. The book — one of the ten best-selling books of all time in the U.S. — describes Frankl’s psychotherapeutic method of identifying a positive purpose or reason to go on living. In short, he concluded that attitude is everything. The meaning of life glimmers in every moment we’re alive. As Frankl reminds us, when we are unable to change our situation, we have the freedom to change ourselves. We choose how to…
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How connected are we, really?
“We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection.” ~Sherry Turkle Words have tremendous power. As social media users learned early in the game, our words can unite — and our words can alienate. Today’s quote is another favorite in my “communication collection.” Sherry Turkle, a social science and technology professor at MIT, reminds us that online connection doesn’t offer the same emotional health benefits as in-person communication. Here, she hints at the danger of spending more time online than we spend developing deeper relationships with others. ~CL If you missed it earlier, here’s a link to a…
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How to dress for the day
“If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” ~Roald Dahl When I wake up crabby and the early-morning headlines are depressing, my first impulse is to spend the day shuffling around in my pajamas — or reach for an icky outfit that shouldn’t be seen in public. (This became a habit for most of us during the quarantine weeks of the pandemic.) I’ve always been a clothes horse, but I used to save all my “nice” clothes for special occasions. One morning, I finally woke up to the fact that every new day is worth celebrating. So I started…
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Living large
“Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine.” ~Marianne Williamson When I was a kid — before the Internet was born — I was told that it was rude to brag or boast in public. In those days, “nice people” stooped to avoid casting a shadow on others, and it was impolite to talk about yourself too much. When I earned good grades or won a contest, for instance, I learned to share the news ever-so-discreetly with the folks closest to me. Or I kept it to myself. Years…
