Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Life

A blissful life is not built upon the
 accomplishment of many things, but passion.
A lucky life is not built upon an abundance 
of great things, but patience.
A fulfilled life is not built upon 
the goal of excellence, but balance. 
- author unknown

Monday, 27 April 2015

Watched

You may have been living your life
 under the impression that 
your every move is being watched...
[live] your life like nobody else in the world 
cares or is watching what you are doing.  
- Iyanla Vanzant

Friday, 24 April 2015

Wrong

Wrong is life's way of letting you know
 what you need to know in order 
to get the right results for your efforts. 
 - Iyanla Vanzant

Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Fixed

Not everything that appears to be broken 
needs to be fixed.
  - Ernest Hemmingway

Monday, 20 April 2015

Stress

You have more say over your day
 than stress does! 
- author unknown

Friday, 17 April 2015

April 17, 2015 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   What is your story?  Do you have more than one?  Does your story stay the same or change depending on the weather, time of year, who you talk to, etc.?

   We all have stories - stories that we tell ourselves about ourselves.  What we can and can’t do, what we believe or don’t believe, who we can associate with and can’t associate with. Our stories cover literally every area of our lives.

   Then there are the stories we tell others.  These stories may be the same as what we tell ourselves, or they may be radically different.  There may be a common theme, yet some details may change.

   The stories may be a tragic oh-woe-is-me type or an every-one-picks-on-me type.  They may follow a theme of I’m-only-lucky-if/when type of story.  It is rare to find many my-life-is-sunshine-and-roses type, though they do exist.

   Some stories end up being shared in a very public venue, and may be shown as the precarious house of cards that they are.  For example: the Canadian Senators being investigated for fraud, or the police officers in the United States who’ve shot and killed unarmed men of colour.

   Some stories can totally change us in particular situations.  When my four-year-old niece pretends to be me, it is amazing how her dexterity dramatically improves, as do other abilities that she doesn’t seem to be capable of demonstrating as her four-year-old self.

   But no matter what your stories are, or how true they seem to you, the real question is: “Does the story help or hinder your life?”
   Humans are natural storytellers.  We tell stories to connect to others, to share insights, to pass on wisdom, and simply to entertain.

   Thus, there is nothing wrong with stories in and of themselves.  They are only a concern when we internalize a story that isn’t ours and causes us to doubt who we are.  Or when we hang onto an old story that may have been true ages ago but no longer reflects who we really are.

   Just as we all grow and evolve through our lifetimes, so do our stories.  Why not look at the stories you live with and see what is valuable enough to keep and what stories have outlived their usefulness.  

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AlKx4EWQBUWAj8HtI5tHzSy2QiE24LQv/view?usp=sharing

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

Wednesday, 15 April 2015

411 or 911

What is the number you use to call God? 
 Is it 411? Or 911?...
Until today you may have placed God 
on your 911 emergency list. 
 Just for today, try contacting God 
for information only. 
 - Iyanla Vanzant

Monday, 13 April 2015

Pause

Unless you pause, 
you may not know if you are fast-forwarding 
or going in reverse.
  - Iyanla Vanzant

Friday, 10 April 2015

Step Aside

Imagine stepping to the side,
 out from under the stress and negativity, 
and letting it hit the floor beside you. 
 - Melissa Alvarez

Wednesday, 8 April 2015

Today

Today is today and tomorrow is tomorrow
 and just take one day at a time..
.give your soul energy a break 
from the hectic pace it's always in, 
allowing it to grow. 
 - Melissa Alvarez

Monday, 6 April 2015

Persevere

Try not to do too many things at once. 
Know what you want, 
the number one thing today and tomorrow.
 Persevere and get it done
. - George Allen

Friday, 3 April 2015

April 3, 2015 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings
 
   April is National Poem Writing Month (NaPoWriMo http://www.napowrimo.net/) and participants are encouraged to write a poem a day for the month of April.
 
   While I’ve never participated, or taken any formal poetry writing classes, I have participated in some poetry challenges of my own.  For example, friends and I have, in the past, exchanged emails consisting entirely of limericks for weeks in a row.

   A limerick I dash off in a sec,
   It’s a pithy rhyme, what the heck,
   Something highbrow
   Doesn’t work for me now,
   When my life feels like a train wreck.
 
   Limericks are the poetry I write,
   And occasionally even recite,
   No finer rhyme,
   For my time,
   The Irish blood in me to excite.

   While a limerick is my favourite poetic style (I’m not strict about following rules of format), I also enjoy reading epic poems such as the old English ones by Tennyson or Robert Service’s poems of the Klondike.

   Another form of poetry I enjoy is Haiku.  A few years ago I came across a book on writing Haiku and basically it said throw out everything you learnt in school.  As Japanese doesn’t translate exactly into English, adjustments have to be made.  For example, instead of the 5-7-5 syllable form we were taught, it is actually closer to a 3-5-3 syllable form and each line should invoke an image by itself, and each pair of lines (1-2, 1-3, 2-3) should be a complete images by themselves too.

   lush carpet
   emerald green grass
   under my feet

  No matter what your personal poetic preference is, or even if you aren’t a poetry fan, why not try writing a poem, whether it rhymes or not, or follows a pattern or not.  You may just surprise yourself.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kCyB6OmYInVU96LjGSW_YbOacg7_7wzP/view?usp=sharing
 
Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday, 1 April 2015

Nothing

I am so busy doing nothing...
that the idea of doing anything – 
which as you know, always leads to something
 – cuts into the nothing 
and then forces me to have to drop everything. 
 - Jerry Seinfeld

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