“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost.
Maybe Lost is exactly the right place to be, Mairead.
photography
For anyone who’s feeling a little tired this morning….
(Happy Buttons)
“Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.” -Aeschylus
It’s worth the effort, Mairead.
Take a little break!
(It takes time to grow a tree)
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy
It might seem like a huge effort will get things finished, sometimes… not so. Mairead.
Courage and Fear are close associates!
(Tree with some battle scars)
“Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it.” – Mark Twain
If you’re scared, turn it into courage by taking that next step. Mairead.
You are NOT stupid!
(Lost in a forest of little leaves)
“Everyone is a genius, but judge a fish on ability to climb a tree & it will live its life believing it is stupid”. – Albert Einstein.
Put your attention on what makes you a genius, Mairead.
Fly birdie, fly!
(What you looking at?)
“The shell must break before the bird can fly.” – Alfred Lord Tennyson
Is there something you need to break? Mairead.
Good Morning!
(We went to Dublin on Saturday and saw some socks)
Good morning (no it’s not Sunday afternoon…) I’m sitting looking out the window as the sun is breaking through from behind a cloud – lots of bright rays, like the way my seven-year old self used to draw the sun (well I still doodle it that way…)
(We nearly hired Dublin Bikes)
I probably should run out and get a picture for you but it’s quite nice just sitting here looking t it and dropping my head occasionally to write a line. Our cat Fred is sitting on the desk beside me looking at the sun too or maybe he’s looking at the birds.
(We walked on the cobblestones)
A plane went by, very high up above the sun’s cloud and I am wondering about the people in it. It’s very hard from down here beside the cat in front of the cloud to imagine more than one hundred people sitting up there in the sky….. possibly having their breakfast. Then it’s very difficult to imagine the life of anyone else as I sit here in my life with the cat and the cloud. Even when I do imagine that life I know it’s only from my point of view. And the details are made up of my experience of a slightly similar situation.
Now Fred is looking at me and I’m wondering about his life…. probably time to get up, Mairead.
Friday Quote – Expectations… Iive up to your own.
(Most of the Moon)
I am not in this world to live up to other people’s expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine. – Frizt Perls
Well that’s a relief, Mairead
Turn off your DLPFC!
(Mixed media in progress…)
I’ve been reading and listening to Jonah Lehrer’s book Imagine How Creativity Works. I listened to it last summer with the hens in the forest. They weren’t hugely impressed with Jonah but I really like him so I bought his book too. Anyway, the bit I was re-listening to this weekend was about the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Rather than try, I’ll let Jonah explain it….
“While the DLPFC has many talents, it’s most closely associated with impulse control. This is the bit of neural matter that keeps each of us from making embarrassing confessions, or grabbing food, or stealing from a store.”
(after I heard him say this I highlighted it)
Sounds good, right? Well yes and no…. Most of the time it’s a good idea not to be too impulsive. But what if you’re learning to draw or paint or what if you just want to create a beautiful get well card? What if you want to write something interesting or design something that pleases you? Well, at times like that impulse control is your biggest critic and your biggest enemy. In all fairness it’s trying to protect you from something embarrassing – a silly drawing, an aspiration to write a book, a childish necklace – very scary possibilities.
(….playing with disposable….)
Turns out the DLPFC is the last brain area to fully develop, that explains why small children have no problem throwing a tantrum in a crowded shop. It also explains why they love their art! No impulse control… no critic. The good news is Jonah tells us about a study where just asking the adult subjects to think of themselves as seven-year olds (and spend a little time writing as their seven-year old self) caused them then to score higher on creativity tasks.
I’m off to play…. Mairead.
P.S. it’s Sunday afternoon as I write ✓
Travel stories 