Monday 31 December 2018

Door

The question will not be, “What am I going to do with my life?”
 It will be, “Which door do I walk through?”
 - Kristine Carlson

Friday 28 December 2018

Racing

We have allowed technology to run us at a faster and faster pace. 
But where on earth do we think we are racing to? 
- Kristine Carlson

Wednesday 26 December 2018

Things

If you take a step back, it’s fairly obvious
 that if things were going to make you feel complete,
 they already would have! 
- Kristine Carlson

Tuesday 25 December 2018

Merry Christmas

Gifts 
To your enemy...forgiveness. 
To your opponent...tolerance. 
To a friend...your heart. 
To a customer...service. 
To all men...charity. 
To every child… a good example. 
To yourself...respect.
- author unknown

Monday 24 December 2018

Maturity

The ultimate sign of maturity
 is when you do something, 
even if your parents approve! 
- Kristine Carlson

Friday 21 December 2018

December 21, 2018 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   “It’s more blessed to give than to receive.”

   I’m sure you’ve heard that little homily before, and seems to become more popular around Christmas time.

   While this is considered to be an antidote to the “gimme’s,” and encourage people to be more generous, it really isn’t as true a sentiment as we’ve been led to believe, and has unfortunately made receiving a bad thing in our society.

  First off, if everyone is giving, or supposed to be giving, who are they actually giving to?  Who is really receiving their gifts?  Is there even anyone left to receive what is being given?

  Second, can you really be considered a giver if someone doesn’t accept or receive your gift?  Have you really given something away if there isn't a recipient on the other side to acknowledge it?

  Third, it is impossible to give something to someone without receiving something in return.  I don’t mean a tangible reciprocated gift, but that by giving gifts to others, or doing a service, we receive (experience) more warmth, joy, compassion, and love in our hearts.

   And, lastly, receiving isn’t evil.  When we refuse to accept another’s gift, we are really rejecting the other person’s desire to bring joy, or be of service, in our lives.  The same qualities we desire when we give.   In fact, I recently heard someone say that graciously receiving what others give is the greatest gift that you can give to anyone.

   Just as it is impossible to only and continuously exhale (or inhale, for that matter), it is impossible to only and continuously give.  And, just as with our breathing, with the exhale creating space and leading automatically into the inhale and so on, when we give something we are automatically creating space to receive something new.  Each gift given gives to both the recipient AND the giver, and each give received is received by both the recipient and the giver.


   We are told Christmas is the season of giving...it is not really.  It is the season of BOTH giving and receiving.  So, this year we should remember, “it is more blessed to give AND to receive.”  Merry Christmas!

Beth 

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua25/home/December%2021%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

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Wednesday 19 December 2018

Stop

Stop running around simply because 
“you gotta keep up, and you gotta keep going.”
 - Kristine Carlson

Monday 17 December 2018

Surprised

Instead of being upset when things don’t go according to plans, 
instead be pleasantly surprised when, once in a while, 
something you plan actually meets your expectations!
 - Kristine Carlson

Friday 14 December 2018

Masterpiece

Make each day your masterpiece.
 - John Wooden

Wednesday 12 December 2018

Anxious

Whoever said being anxious 
gets more accomplished?
 - Bob Burg & John David Mann

Monday 10 December 2018

Foolish

Sometimes you feel foolish, even look foolish, 
but you do the thing anyway.
 - Bob Burg & John David Mann

Friday 7 December 2018

December 7, 2018 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

  If you were to write out a list of everything you wanted in life for your loved ones, what would be on that list? Why not pause and actually write it out right now.

   And, what if you were to write out a list of everything you wanted in life for yourself, what would you include on your list?  What are your “must haves?”

   Now, if you are like the vast majority of people in this world, the first list will include a majority of items such as health, happiness, comfort if they are going through grief, peace of mind if they are experiencing worries or anxieties, and calm if their lives are full of chaos and drama.

   The second list, again if you are like most people, will include a majority of items such as vehicles, a larger home or second home, electronics and other technological toys, more money, etc.

   It is interesting that we humans wish for pleasant states of mind and body for others, for ease and happiness, yet for ourselves, we tend to wish for more “stuff.”

  Yet, what we wish for others, is really a sign of what we want and need ourselves, and shows what we think is really missing from our lives.  While it might be nice to get the latest phone, or newest model vehicle, at the end of the day, or the bottom of the list as it were, what we really crave is the same as all people...happiness.


   You can’t wrap up happiness and peace of mind, but you can wrap your arms around those you love and give them a hug, or smile at everyone you encounter during your day.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua25/home/December%207%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

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Wednesday 5 December 2018

Better

Do the best you can until you know better. 
Then when you know better, do better.
 - Maya Angelou

Monday 3 December 2018

Magic Wand

Stop wishing you had a magic wand; 
become the magic wand.
 - Donna Smallin

Friday 30 November 2018

Must

Remember that all you really MUST do today
 is b-r-e-a-t-h-e.
 - Donna Smallin

Wednesday 28 November 2018

Triumph

Triumph is just try with a little umph added to it. 
- Unknown

Monday 26 November 2018

Effective

The most effective way to do it,
 is to do it.
 - Amelia Earhart

Friday 23 November 2018

Limits

Limits are not limitations.
 - Alexandra Pope

Wednesday 21 November 2018

Change

The ones who are crazy enough to think 
that they can change the world 
are the ones who do.
 - Anonymous

Monday 19 November 2018

Unfold

Is there ever a time when you know for sure
 how things will unfold?
 - Colette Baron-Reid

Friday 16 November 2018

November 16, 2018 Chautauqua

       
Beth's Ponderings

   I recently read of a teacher who decided to teach the concept of multiculturalism by having each student bring to class a potato dish to share with the others.  The dish had to have potatoes and they had to provide a list of all the ingredients.

   As I’m sure you can imagine, each child brought a completely different dish.  Many were ethnic dishes that were common to their particular backgrounds, or dishes that they had been introduced to when they arrived in Canada.  The teacher brought plain old boiled potatoes. 

   In contrast to the plain potatoes, the other dishes were a colourful, and flavourful blend, and highlighted how our cultural differences come together to create something more when they are all shared together.

   Also mentioned in the story, was the various dietary restrictions some of the students had, and how they were unable to eat various dishes because of that.  There was also mention made about how they should have been more mindful of the other students when they chose their dishes.

   The reality is no matter how mindful the students were, or how they tried to accommodate all the various dietary restrictions, there is no way that every child would have been able to eat every dish.  And the dishes wouldn’t have been recognizable as what they were to be.

   The more we, as a society, try to include everyone by changing all manner of details in our institutions, organizations and groups, the more and more we’ll end up excluding people.  We are all so unique that you can’t expect one set of conditions, however tweaked, to work for absolutely everyone, in every situation.


   The only group that we can all be included in, without worry, is humanity itself.

Beth

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Wednesday 14 November 2018

Change

The simplest, smallest, little idea 
can literally change the world. 
- Joy Mangano

Monday 12 November 2018

Accomplished

You can only become truly accomplished 
at something you love. Don't make money your goal.
 Instead, pursue the things you love doing, 
and then do them so well that
 people can't take their eyes off you.
 - Maya Angelou

Friday 9 November 2018

Listen

Tom Sturges: When are you at your most creative? 
Clive Davis: When I listen.
 (from Every Idea is a Good Idea)

Wednesday 7 November 2018

Block

The brain is simply too enormous for something
 like writer's block to ever really take control of it. 
- Tom Sturges

Monday 5 November 2018

Purpose

Your purpose is to do better things in life 
and feel better into
 your thirties, forties, fifties, and beyond. 
- Tony Horton

Friday 2 November 2018

November 2, 2018 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   The Ancient Ones used a lunar calendar to keep track of time, and the cycle of their days.

   Beginning with the New Moon, the darkest night, they marked the phases of moon till the next New Moon, and that period in between was a “year. ” 

   Today, we could describe that “year” using our seasons.  From the new moon to the first quarter (half) moon is springtime when we would plant the seeds of our ideas and goals.  From the first quarter to the full moon is summertime when the most activity happens.  As the moon starts to wane to the last quarter (half) moon is autumn or harvest time as we wrap up our activities.  Then from the last quarter to the new moon is wintertime or a time of rest.  This process is also similar to what we do each day from morning rising to bedtime.

   Also, counting from the New Moon, every seventh day was a time to rest and renew, especially for those ancient nomadic tribes who followed migratory animals, or herded semi-domestic animals.  It is apparently impossible for animals to travel more than 6 days in a row without experiencing loss of health, or even life.  These rests also correspond roughly to the major phases we still mark (new, 1st 1/4, full, last 1/4).  

   Now in our fast-paced, go-go-go society following a lunar cycle, on the surface, would appear to make time go by even faster as New Year’s (each new moon) would come around approximately every 28 days, yet it actually slows time down and makes it easier to keep track of, as it keeps our focus more on the present, and not so far out into the future.  


   We are so used to our current (solar) calendars, that we don’t realize how strongly we are still influenced by the cycles of the moon on both our daily lives and our energy.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua25/home/November%202%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

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Wednesday 31 October 2018

Sleep

There is unfortunately no long-term trophy
 for sustained sleep deprivation.
 - Randi Zuckerberg

Monday 29 October 2018

Lopsided

What if it were okay to pick 
a few things to focus on each day? 
What if it were all right to give yourself permission
 to be well lopsided instead of well balanced?
 - Randi Zuckerberg


Friday 26 October 2018

Glitter

[Be] human glitter.
 - Anjali Kumar

Wednesday 24 October 2018

Thoughts

Stop and face the bears thoughts, you can’t outrun them. 
Don’t push hard, but don’t stand still either;
 find the right amount of effort.
 Laugh and be noisy. 
Then take some time to be still.
 - Anjali Kumar

Monday 22 October 2018

Sleep

Human beings are the only species
 that deprive themselves of sleep
 for no apparent reason.
 - Matthew Walker

Friday 19 October 2018

October 19, 2018 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   Is there a particular phrase that you have always wanted/needed a particular person in your life to say to you?

   Are you waiting for someone to tell you that they are proud of you?

   Do you long for someone to tell you that they love you?

  Maybe you want someone to give you permission to do something that you (secretly) have always wanted to do?

   Is what you need to hear most include “I see you” or “I hear you” or “I believe you?”

   Do you need to hear from someone that they forgive you, or perhaps you need to hear someone apologize to you?

   Or, is the phrase that you want to hear more than any other simply “thank you?”

   How long have you waited to hear that particular phrase?  Is the person that you long to hear it from even part or your life, or still alive?

   As humans, we have a part of us that longs to hear phrases of love or validation from others.  We look to those in our lives around us to say what we feel we so desperately need to hear so we live our lives more completely. 

   Yet, the person we MOST need to hear these phrases from isn’t anyone in our lives, but OURSELVES.

   If you want someone to say those phrases to you, it’s because you aren’t saying them enough, or at all, to yourself!

   The person you REALLY want to be proud of you...is yourself.  The person you really want to hear say “I love you”...is yourself.  The person you really want to get permission from...is yourself.


   You could write the phrases on post-its or a card that you could carry around.  Yet, “hearing” the words is more important than just seeing them, why not record yourself speaking them so you can play the audio.  But, an even better practice would be to stand in front of a mirror as you say the phrases to your reflection so you can really soak them in.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua25/home/October%2019%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

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Wednesday 17 October 2018

Peace

[Be] in peace in the place where [you] are.
 - Melissa Sutor

Monday 15 October 2018

Unfolds

Things tend to turn out best
 when we don't cling too tightly. 
We can hold life lightly,
 remain clear on our intention, 
and then see what unfolds.
 - Steven Hickman

Friday 12 October 2018

Better

Look back a ways, you see thet everythin’ happens
 for the best an’ things work out better
 than if you done it yourself.
 - Zane Grey

Wednesday 10 October 2018

Notice

When I move half as fast, I notice twice as much.
 - Tara Brach

Monday 8 October 2018

Earth

The earth is a solar-powered jukebox.
 - Gordon Hempton

Friday 5 October 2018

October 5, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

     How do you transition from one week to the next?  Leisurely and calmly, frantically and stressed out, or do you barely notice and then wonder why the days/weeks/months all blur together and time seems to be going by faster than you can blink?

     Some people desire to go on pilgrimages - whether to spiritual sites, or to those of famous personages, or even just to a particular location that calls to them.  For example, they long to walk where someone they admire lived, touching the common everyday items the person used, and seeing the area from the person’s vantage point, literally walking where that person walked.

  Yet, how many of us fully walk in our own lives?  Do we even see what makes us uniquely special, and what we contribute to others?

   I supposed it is a bit like trying to tell a fish to notice the water it is swimming in.  We are so immersed within our daily lives that it is hard to step back and notice what we are even doing, yet, that is exactly why it is important to do so.

   One reason why it feels like life is spinning out of control at such a frantic pace is because we aren’t pausing enough.  Scientists tell us that we are hard-wired for the negative - as a survival mechanism - so it is much easier to focus on what didn’t get done, what needs to get done, what could happen, and, of course, what we dread will happen.

   Yet, there is another way to approach our lives.  By pausing and noticing our lives...by walking where we have walked, as it were.

   Gratitude is a choice.  A choice to pause and consciously look around and see what makes our lives uniquely our lives.  It is a choice to consciously step back and see what we have done, how we have touched others, how we have triumphed or persevered, and how far we have come.  It is a choice to acknowledge who we are, as we are.


   While Thanksgiving is a time when we tend to collectively focus on gratitude, it is something we could do at the end of our week to help us transition fully from one week to the next. And, for an added benefit, why not make it a daily habitual way to end each day.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua25/home/October%205%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

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Wednesday 3 October 2018

Own

So you plant your own garden
 and embellish your own soul,
 instead of waiting for someone
 to bring flowers to you
. - Jorge Luis Borges

Monday 1 October 2018

Good Enough

Sometimes good enough is good enough.
 - Jared Polin

Friday 28 September 2018

Educate

Never reject anything 
without educating yourself about it first.
 - Gary Vaynerchuk

Wednesday 26 September 2018

Passion

Passion is your backup generator 
when all your other energy sources 
start to sputter.
 - Gary Vaynerchuk

Monday 24 September 2018

Realist

There's the extreme optimist 
who thinks things are just about solved;
 there's the extreme pessimist who sees no progress;
 and thirdly, there's the realist, 
who agrees with the optimist
 that we have come a long way, 
but agrees with the pessimist
 that we have a long way to go. 
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Friday 21 September 2018

September 21, 2018 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   Do you have items in your home that you have been given as gifts, or perhaps that you bought, that you just can’t bare to use because:
  • they are too good
  • you don’t want to wear them out
  • you don’t want them to get broken
  • if you use them, you might not be able to get a replacement
  • they are only for special occasions
  • they have special memories that you don’t want to forget
  • opening the packaging will lower the (perceived) value
or any other excuse you may have for not using them.

   Yet, just hanging onto these items doesn’t really preserve them in a brand new condition.  Over the years, the items could still end up:
  • broken
  • dried up
  • faded
  • melted
  • obsolete, if replacement parts are needed
  • expired, and then it could becomes a health risk
  • devalued, even if in its original packaging
  • subject to weather events (ie flooding) or insects
or any other condition that could render the item useless

   The other day I heard a comment along the lines that the belongings in our lives WANT to be used by us right now, or they wouldn’t have come to us.

   What is one item that you have been saving that you could use today?  What one item could you take out of its wrapping, or box, and put to the use it was originally intended?

   Because items are without value if they aren’t being used - or appreciated - in some tangible way. 


   And we have no way of know what might be coming to us next, and it could be even better than what we’ve been holding onto, but we won’t know, until we use what we already have.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua25/home/September%2021%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

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Wednesday 19 September 2018

Future

When the future...looks back with love, 
small things never come up...
Ask your future self what matters most. 
- Jessica DiLullo Herrin

Monday 17 September 2018

Show Up

Why would you expect someone to show up and help you
 when you are not really showing up for yourself?
 - Jessica DiLullo Herrin

Friday 14 September 2018

Maintenance

You can literally change your life in an instant 
by making a single decision  never to go back
 to the way you have been living – no matter what. 
What takes months, years, and sometimes decades 
is the maintenance required to live by that decision. 
- Robin Sharma

Wednesday 12 September 2018

Paths

Many possible paths to our best lives 
have been written for us. 
- Robin Sharma

Monday 10 September 2018

Start

Just start, do anything, and keep on doing it 
until something better comes along.
 - Mike Dooley

Friday 7 September 2018

September 7, 2018 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   I don’t know about you, but I’m just not a very flexible person physically.  While I can remember as a child being able to touch my big toe to my nose, the truth is that when I started attending yoga classes in my mid-20s I could not bend over and touch my toes.  In fact, I thought it pretty amazing that I could bend over and touch my knees!

   Needless to say, I have not passed a basic flexibility test in ages.  Even now, despite doing yoga for years, I am not really a lot more flexible than I was that first class - though I can touch my toes now (well, if I bend my knees a bit).

   So, I was intrigued when I recently heard a person describe body flexibility as nothing more than “energy extending out.”  She went on to say that everybody, and every BODY, is flexible.

   The example she gave was a yawn.  We all yawn, and more often than not, we do a little stretch when we yawn, but even if we didn’t, we are extending our jaws in the yawn, and thus extending energy outward.

   So, okay, that’s one flexibility test even I can pass.

   Other examples she gave included spreading our fingers, reaching out with our arms, lifting our feet up while sitting, and then more complex examples involving moving our bodies more.  Yet, not one example included touching your toes, or other body contortion.

   The contrast to flexibility is when we hold ourselves, and our limbs, tight to our body.  This posture can be seen most readily when we are hunched over a keyboard or other electronic devise.

   While there are times when it is healthy, and safe, for our bodies to be in a tight position, it isn’t healthy if that is the ONLY position we place our bodies in.  Our bodies tell us - even if just with a big yawn - that they want to move and expand.


   More than just the ability to touch our toes, we all need a flexibility based on extending our energy out and allowing ourselves to really take up the space we are in, because a flexible body makes it much easier to experience a flexible mind, heart, and outlook.

Beth 

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua25/home/September%207%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

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Wednesday 5 September 2018

Corner

If you can't go straight ahead,
 you go around the corner.
 - Cher

Monday 3 September 2018

Brave

You can, you should, and
 if you're brave enough to start, you will.
 - Stephen King

Friday 31 August 2018

Mesh

Don't think in terms of “balancing” your business 
with the rest of your life. 
Figure out how it can all mesh together,
 so that all of your passion and principles in life
 flow naturally through all aspects of everything you do...
what we do IS who we are.
 - Joy Mangano

Wednesday 29 August 2018

Creativity

Creativity is what makes you you, 
different from everyone else.
- Author Unknown

Monday 27 August 2018

Emerge

Suppose that instead of forcing the issue
 when trying to create something, 
we let it emerge.
 - Tom Sturges

Friday 24 August 2018

Success

[Success:] getting to do what you love to do.
 - Joy Mangano

Wednesday 22 August 2018

Transformation

Personal transformation is not a race...
The harder you try to change, 
the longer it takes. 
- Robin Sharma

Monday 20 August 2018

Busy

Stop being busy being busy. 
- Robin Sharma

Friday 17 August 2018

August 17, 2018 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   Once I heard a story of a gal who was in her car - which was the ONLY vehicle in the parking lot - and just before she got out, someone else arrived and parked right beside her, so close she could not open her driver’s side door to get out.  After spending many fruitless minutes stewing and fuming at the other driver, who in that time had, seemingly blissfully unaware of what they had done to her, gotten out of their car and entered the building, the gal decided that the ONLY way she would be able to get out would be to risk ripping her outfit as she climbed into the passenger seat so she could exit out of the passenger side door.  Just before she actually started to climb over, she realized that she did have another option...she could just pull out and park in any one of the many other empty parking spots in the lot.

   Now, that story doesn’t top the one from a Girl Guide Camp I visited years ago, when one of the Guiders locked her keys in her vehicle and then spent the entire afternoon, along with the other leaders, trying to figure out how to break into her vehicle - I can’t remember what vital something was also locked in the vehicle that made the situation so urgent.  After hours of worry, concern, and almost despair, someone else walked up asked why she didn’t just reach into the OPEN window and unlock the door!

   How many of us are so used to automatically dealing with the problems in our lives with a single solution, believing that we have to address the problems in the exact same way we’ve always dealt with them, and not even really looking to see what the real problem is, or what other (usually more obvious!) solutions may be available?


  Even if you are facing what looks to be a repeat situation, it isn’t exactly the same as before, because you aren’t the same person you were when you faced it before, and because of the different experiences and interactions you’ve had between the previous situation and the current one, you are actually better equipped to see the multitude of options available to you, because rarely is there only one possible solution.

Beth

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Wednesday 15 August 2018

Roses

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature
 is that all of us tend to put off living. 
We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden
 over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses 
that are blooming outside our windows today. 
- Dale Carnegie

Monday 13 August 2018

Details

The true secret of happiness
 lies in taking a genuine interest
 in all the details of daily life. 
- William Morris

Friday 10 August 2018

Delight

The quality of life is in proportion, 
always, to the capacity for delight. 
The capacity for delight is a gift of paying attention.
 - Julie Cameron

Wednesday 8 August 2018

Slow Down

For fast acting relief, try slowing down. 
- Lily Tomlin

Monday 6 August 2018

Everything

Life is better when we don't try to do everything. 
- Leo Babauta

Friday 3 August 2018

August 3, 2018 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   We act like we live in a “one-size fits all” world and we are all “one-size,” but we aren’t.

   For instance, did you know that the concept of 20/20 vision was based on the quality of sight of one individual, and we’ve ALL been measured by that standard ever since.  There is no basis for 20/20 being any better, or any worse for that matter, than any other standard for sight.

   Our keyboard layouts are based on a single individual’s idea of what letters we use the most, based on the particular words that were used the most, during a certain period in time, and in a specific line of work, and the perceived necessity of that time to slow down typists so the early manual typewriters wouldn’t jam.

   And let’s not forget all the diet/health/fitness/fashion “standards” that we are all supposed to strive for and meet, even though we all have different body structures and colouring, as well as abilities to move and function.

   I’ve been having a lot of conversations this year around creativity and talent - mostly by people who feel that they are NOT creative or talented as it seems our society defines, and applies, those two words so narrowly.

   I even had a woman tell me that her husband, an engineer, couldn’t be creative no matter how hard he tried...yet, she then went onto say that he was able to take her ideas about something she wanted made or changed around their home and he could easily make it into reality for her.  I don’t know about you, but in my books that man is FULL of talent and creativity!

   Every single one of us - no matter what our age, gender, size, shape, or abilities - is creative and talented at something.  We are not all - because we are not all “one-sized” - able to do everything exactly the same as others, or in the same areas of life, but we can all do at least one thing (if not more) extremely well. 


   And being creative and talented means that we do what we do best in a way that makes it easy and effortless for us.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua25/home/August%203%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

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Wednesday 1 August 2018

Imitate

Do something wonderful, 
people may imitate it. 
- Albert Schweitzer

Monday 30 July 2018

Day

Give every day the chance to be
 the most beautiful day of your life.
 - Mark Twain

Friday 27 July 2018

Solution

In life there is always a way to keep going. 
No matter the setback or obstacle,
 there is always a solution,
 always a way forward.
 - Joy Mangano

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