Wednesday 30 May 2018

Diversity

We are all one tribe, made better
 by the diversity of traits and choices among us. 
- Jessica DiLullo Herrin

Monday 28 May 2018

Mindfulness

Mindfulness...the process of actively noticing new things, 
relinquishing preconceived mindsets,
 and then acting on the new observations.
 - attributed to Ellen Langer

Friday 25 May 2018

Experience

Only two kinds of experience exist,
 not the good and the bad ones,...
but experiences [you] can celebrate 
and those [you] can heal. 
- Deepak Chopra

Wednesday 23 May 2018

Bumps

See setbacks as bumps on the right road,
 not a sign that says DEAD END. 
Abandoning the trail won't get you there faster, 
it will just get you lost...
If you don't go the right way immediately, so what? 
Just dust yourself off, find the humor, 
and give it another go.
 - Jessica DiLullo Herrin

Monday 21 May 2018

Doubt

Don't doubt yourself; 
doubt the people who doubt you. 
- Jessica DiLullo Herrin

Friday 18 May 2018

May 18, 2018 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

    I recently heard a person describe how your approach to drawing can mirror your approach to life, whether you start a drawing with a pencil or whether you start with a pen.

   In drawing, using a pencil - with a really good eraser - allows you to make changes as you go along.  You don’t have to worry about making a mistake as you can easily fix it.  If you change your mind, you can erase what you did and do something else.  In no way are you stuck with what you did if you don’t like it, or it doesn’t look like you want it to look. 

   But, one drawback is that because you CAN make changes and erase, so many do.  Rather than trusting themselves, they repeatedly second-guess their choices and keep redoing their drawings over and over until they are left with just a big mess, and not the beautiful drawing they wanted.

   Now using a pen requires a different approach.  As there is no eraser - no easy out - you need to be sure, and commit to making marks on the page.  The result is more decisive, and strokes tend to be more bold compared to the lighter more tentative ones of a pencil user. 

   Some people fear using a pen as there is no way to erase mistakes, but while more commitment to your work is required with pen, you still aren’t locked in if you make a mark you don’t like.  There are still options: you can accept it and keep going, you can make the mark into something else and allow the direction of your drawing to change, or you can get a new piece of paper and start over completely.

   And it’s the same in life.

   Now neither method is right or wrong, nor is one method necessarily better than the other.  They are just two different approaches, one is about playing it safer, and one is about taking a risk.  Each has value, depending on what you are doing, and what your desired end result is.


  Yet, in drawing, as in life, we tend to get further along the path to our dreams if we are more decisive and commit to an action than if we keep second-guessing ourselves and never actually finish anything.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua24/home/May%2018%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

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

Wednesday 16 May 2018

Free

We're more free than we think. 
- Gretchen Rubin

Monday 14 May 2018

Best

There's one rule that can eliminate a lot of conflict: 
Whenever possible, we should allow others
 to do things in the way that works for them...
we're better off letting them do things their own way...
We may think we know the “best” way, 
or the way others “should” work,
 but whether at home or at work,
 as long as the tasks are getting done, 
we should let other people suit themselves.
 We get along best with others when we recognize and respect
 that they might approach the world in a different way.
 - Gretchen Rubin

Friday 11 May 2018

Change

Our paths through life will always change, 
whether we want them to or not...
life offers us constant opportunities
 to explore new paths and take new adventures, 
and it serves up constant obstacles
 that push us into new terrain. 
And...we learn a little bit more about who we really are, 
and who we really can be. 
- Joy Mangano

Wednesday 9 May 2018

Works

If we make mistakes and mess things up,
 that's okay, because that's how we learn 
what what works and what doesn't. 
- Joy Mangano

Monday 7 May 2018

Started

We forget what we once took for granted as children – 
that we probably won't be any good
 at something the first time we try it.
 We forget that we don't have to be good to get started. 
We just have to get started.
 - Joy Mangano

Friday 4 May 2018

May 4, 2018 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

  Stuff just happens in our world…
  • small stuff
  • big stuff
  • routine stuff
  • fun stuff
  • serious stuff
  • silly stuff
  • scary stuff
  • playful stuff
  • pointless stuff
  • deeply meaningful stuff
  • gentle stuff
  • hard stuff
  • loving stuff
  • hateful stuff
  • endlessly repetitive stuff
  • one-in-a-lifetime stuff
  • insignificant stuff
  • completely life-altering stuff
  • stuff we want to happen
  • stuff we don’t want to happen
  • stuff we expect
  • stuff we don’t expect
  • stuff we can easily handle
  • stuff we really don’t want to handle
  • stuff we don’t know IF we can handle
  • stuff that comes at us one at a time
  • stuff that dumps on us all at once
  • stuff that directly affects us
  • stuff that affects other people around us

   The ONLY difference between being a victim of the stuff of life, and being someone who thrives despite all the stuff, is the ability to see endless opportunities and options, no matter what kind of stuff life throws at you.

Beth 

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua24/home/May%204%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

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

Wednesday 2 May 2018

Machine

Our bodies were designed to hunt by day, 
sleep at night, and never travel more than a few dozen miles
 from sunrise to sunset. Now we work and play at all hours...
we are machine-centred...rather than human-centred. 
- Martin Moore-Ede

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