Wednesday 29 November 2017

Discomfort

Discomfort isn't always a sign 
that we're doing something wrong. 
If we're not uncomfortable, 
we're usually not growing.
 - Barbara De Angelis

Monday 27 November 2017

Silence

It is only when we silence the blaring sounds
 of our daily existence that we can finally hear 
the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, 
as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts.
 - KT Jong

Wednesday 22 November 2017

Doors

Just because one door is closed 
doesn't mean all doors are closed. 
- Barbara De Angelis

Monday 20 November 2017

Gratitude

Gratitude makes sense of our past, 
brings peace for today, 
and creates a vision for tomorrow.
 - Melody Beatie

Friday 17 November 2017

November 17, 2017 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   When my sister and I were younger, our house was hit by lightning one night.  The lightning hit our TV aerial and travelled along the wiring, into the house...an outlet cover was blown across the room, but the most freaky part of the whole thing was that the lightning went  horizontally into our metal TV stand just above all the LPs storied on the bottom shelf before it changed direction sharply and went straight up into the TV. 

   As a consequence of getting zapped, our colour TV became a black & white TV, except if we watched black and white movies - which always appeared in bright vivid colour.  Other than the quirk of the coloured vs black and white, and the odd loud snap and crackle when you least expected it (and the house was totally silent otherwise), the TV was fine so we didn’t get a new one, until it finally did bite the dust.

   After literally YEARS of watching the TV, and knowing that if we saw black and white it was really in colour, and visa versa, you’d think we wouldn’t have been surprised when we were able to watch shows and movies the way they were meant to be. 

   The first time we popped in the old John Wayne classic “Angel and the Badman” (VHS) to watch on our brand new TV we were sure that the TV, or the VCR, or both, were broken as the movie we were viewing was definitely black and white, and not in colour as it had always been every other time we viewed it. (It has since been updated in colour and newer releases on DVD are almost all in colour).

   We even scrutinized the video case in sheer disbelief to discover that the version we had was in fact a black and white movie.  As we sat there watching the movie we could remember the colour of each and every outfit and item of scenery, as well as the vivid blue of the sky! 


   Even though we had known in our minds that what we had been viewing before had been altered as it was being seen on a (for all intents and purposes broken) TV, that had been our “reality” for so long that when we saw it through a new lens (TV), it took a while to adjust.

Beth 


Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Monday 13 November 2017

Naive

There's a benefit to being naïve about the norms of the world –
 deciding from scratch what seems like the right thing to do, 
instead of just doing what others do.
 - Derek Sivers

Friday 10 November 2017

Wednesday 8 November 2017

Success

Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, 
not from persistently promoting what's not working.
 - Derek Sivers

Monday 6 November 2017

Mistakes

If you're not making mistakes,
 then you're not making decisions.
 - Catherine Cook

Friday 3 November 2017

November 3, 2017 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   As we make the transition to the season of winter, many of us just don’t feel the urge to move or exercise.   No need to feel guilty as this is a part of the natural cycle we go through, as do most mammals in our northern region, as our bodies slow down to conserve energy during the cold winter months of hibernation.

   Since humans don’t hibernate we need to maintain some level of activity, even in winter , in order to stay healthy.

   But, how much activity do we really need?  Articles, websites, books, and newcasts abound with various recommendations ranging from a mere 5 minute walk daily to an hour of intense activity daily.

   I recently read where NASA discovered - almost by accident - the condition that causes the greatest ageing and illness on our bodies is weightlessness (i.e. zero gravity), and the closest earthly equivalent to weightlessness is sitting or standing because gravity isn’t working on our bodies, other than to keep us earth-bound.


   Therefore, the best “exercise” is one that moves our bodies through gravity - not so much horizontally, but vertically, such as jumping and climbing.  Now, before you get too winded just thinking about that, the easiest way to move our bodies through gravity is to stand up from a sitting position and sit back down.  Doing that a minimum of 32 times during each day will do more for our overall health than most exercise.

Beth


Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 1 November 2017

Afraid

Do you really want to look back on your life
 and see how wonderful it could have been 
had you not been afraid to live it? 
- Caroline Myss