Time to grab your pen and seize the throne of your writer's voice! Linguistic expression is your chance to rule the world with words. Write your heart out, whether it's poetry, stories, or the ultimate "Dear Diary" confessions. Pour out your feelings, and let those words dance like flames on paper. Voilà, you've got the keys to your emotional kingdom!
And let's not forget, talking it out is epic! Share your tales of triumph and resilience with your fellow queens. When you connect with your tribe, you create a sisterhood of support, laughs, and love. Together, you'll slay the dragons of self-doubt and shame, transforming them into lessons for personal growth.
Now, let's dive into the magic of finding your writer's voice. Your literary voice is more than just words; it's your soul's signature on the page. It's the style, the tone, and the rhythm that make your writing uniquely you. So, how can you discover and embrace it? Here are some regal tips fit for a wordsmith like you:
Your writer's voice is your royal decree to the literary world. Embrace it, hone it, and let it reign over your creations. Your voice is a force of nature, and with every word, you'll build a kingdom of stories that's uniquely yours. So, go forth and conquer, for the world is waiting to hear your majestic tales!
Picture this: You, in your badass lair, paintbrush in hand, creating like a warrior poet. Artistic expression is your superpower, baby! Whether you're painting, doodling, or turning old junk into fabulous masterpieces, art is all about letting your soul run wild and free. The best part? When you're totally lost in the creative zone, you'll forget about your pesky boss, annoying ex, and all those toxic vibes. Who needs stress when you've got a canvas to conquer?
Art is not just about pretty pictures. It's therapy for your soul. Do you have some emotional baggage or trauma lurking around? Take those suckers, turn them into vibrant art, and say, "Bye-bye, emotional baggage!" Art lets you heal and grow, all while unleashing your inner diva.
Now, let's dive into the incredible journey of finding your individual style in art. Your artistic style isn't just about creating something unique; it's about telling the world, "This is me, and I'm here to shake things up!" So, here are a few tips to help you discover your signature style and let your creative flag fly high:
So, there you have it, fearless creator. Your individual art style is waiting to be uncovered. Let your artistic journey be a thrilling adventure filled with unexpected turns, wild inspiration, and a whole lot of you. Embrace the chaos, find your rhythm, and let your soul shine through your art like the magnificent masterpiece that it is. You're a creative force to be reckoned with!
Life's rollercoaster ride often comes with its share of ups and downs, stressors, and challenges. We all face moments of craziness, drama, and uncertainty, but why not flip the script and use these experiences as opportunities for self-expression and personal growth? In this post, we'll explore the remarkable power of artistic and linguistic expression, backed by science, as your secret weapons in the journey of mindfulness, personal development, and perhaps even world domination.
Science has long supported the idea that engaging in artistic activities can significantly reduce stress. Art therapy, in particular, is recognized for its capacity to help individuals express their emotions and alleviate stress. When we create art, our brains release dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward. This "feel-good" chemical can help reduce stress levels, leaving us with a sense of relaxation and accomplishment.
Additionally, the act of creating art can shift our focus away from the stressors of daily life and into the present moment, promoting mindfulness. This mindful engagement in art-making encourages relaxation and can even lower cortisol levels, the hormone associated with stress.
Linguistic expression, particularly through writing, is another potent tool for personal growth and stress relief. Numerous scientific studies have highlighted the therapeutic benefits of journaling and expressive writing.
When we put our thoughts and emotions on paper, it can lead to greater self-awareness, emotional processing, and clarity. The simple act of writing can help us make sense of challenging situations and foster a deeper understanding of ourselves. This self-reflection can be immensely empowering.
Furthermore, writing about emotional experiences has been shown to have a positive impact on mental and physical health. Studies have demonstrated that regular expressive writing can reduce symptoms of depression, and anxiety, and even improve immune function.
So, how can you tap into the magic of artistic and linguistic expression for personal growth and stress relief?
Embracing the realms of artistic and linguistic expression is a kickass way to conquer stress, foster personal growth, and embark on a path of mindfulness. It's time to unleash your inner creativity and experience the magic of self-expression, supported by science. So, go ahead, pick up that paintbrush, grab that pen, and paint the world with your creativity and linguistic prowess. Your journey to total world domination begins with you!
The book I finished last week was "Hello Summer" by Mary Kay Andrews. As the title suggests it is a beach novel. I read it in the few days leading up to and our weekend on the beach at Assateague Island National Seashore.
What piqued my interest originally was the fact that the main character is a journalist from Atlanta, returning to her hometown to keep her family's small-town newspaper afloat. There is some romance and suspense around the town's characters as she follows an investigation of an accident that ends in the death of a local congressman. Share your current favorites below.
Who isn't looking forward to having a few days off with family? The sight and scents of a beautifully prepared meal shared among loved ones and friends.
Perhaps you are like me, uncertain as to how this event will play out in the middle of a pandemic.
I was doing my regular shopping yesterday and noticed the seasonal music playing faintly in the background. I held back the "Bah humbug". Another thing I was not ready for.
Navigating the path of arrows between the isles, I followed my cart to the checkout line. I stood perfectly on the dot that said "Stand Here". Catching the eye of a lady before me and noticing her cart, I was envious. She seemed to have an entire "Thanksgiving meal" figured out, while I was still eating the left-over candy from Halloween.
By the time I got home, my gloominess and feelings of inadequacy were gone. I unpacked my bags and went out to enjoy the clear sky and the rustling of leaves.
I found a better mindset, but it was not going to come during a shopping trip. Somewhere between the still, calm landscape, at a dog park, interrupted by a few mischievous barks and kids laughter, I saw a good frame of reference. Simply felt happy to be alive.
Then I got in the car. Watched as the scenery passed by, remembering conversations and faces reflected from the corners of my mind. What is Thanksgiving if not this? It's a time to reflect and hope for the best.
“Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.”
~ Samuel Smiles
Historians believe that the First Thanksgiving in America had a different menu. One mostly prepared in traditional Native American style.
The ancient origins of Thanksgiving stem from the tradition of harvest festivals, stretching back long before the first American event, in 1621.
The holiday would not exist, if it wasn't for Sarah Josepha Hale, the author of "Mary had a little lamb. She petitioned Lincoln, for a day when all Americans could give thanks. It was at a time when the country was divided by civil war.
Lincoln proclaimed a Thanksgiving holiday, in 1863. It was in 1939, that President Roosevelt moved up the holiday a week. Extending the shopping season to boost the economy.
Not all Americans decided to follow celebrations on the new date, however. In 1941, it was congress who settled the dispute. They declared the official date to be the 4th Thursday of November. Check out the history channel video here. "Thanks giving" can happen on any day but this particular Holiday is about us all, being thankful together.
I glanced at the headlines in the media. The ones with those numbers reflected as it has been the norm for a while now. My mind went to the park and echoes of laughter, my heart, light as air, but the sun was now obstructed by some of those grey clouds. For so many of us, perhaps Thanksgiving will never feel the same.
It's not as important as how we celebrate, as much as it is to reflect on the things to remain thankful for.
Here is a quote to reflect on before we head out for those "Black Friday" deals:
“Never let the things you want make you forget the things you have.”
—Anonymous
Food loss and waste amount to the significant squandering of resources. It has harmful economic, environmental, and ethical consequences. Its effects include the loss of opportunity to provide nutrition to those in need, contributes to global greenhouse emissions, and an economic loss estimated at 240 billion with approximately $1,866 per household.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 40% of food in the US gets tossed every year, while there are millions of American's going hungry.
If you get a kick out of facts and figures refer to the USDA site for food waste.
Although most of the waste happens on the consumer level, the issues are not exclusively related to individual households. They are also acerbated by restaurant waste, the overproduction of produce discarded from backyard gardeners and farmers. Your local supermarket, due to litigation fears, might also be adding to some of these issues as they discard meats and produce reaching/nearing their sell-by date.
Many of these foods are perfectly good to eat and high in nutrition content but are transferred to a landfill where it proceeds to pollute the environment. When we think about the fact that about 15 percent of the US population, many of them seniors and children, live in poverty and experience hunger, this amount of wasteful behavior seems illogical. Disparities in food distribution also mean that there are some communities that are left with limited access to fresh and affordable food.
“Imagine walking out of a grocery store with four bags of groceries, dropping one in the parking lot, and just not bothering to pick it up. That’s essentially what we’re doing.”
– Dan Gunders (american writer and food scientist)
Simple reasons include the holiday season(s) and the marketing strategies we are enticed by. Including sales gimmicks such as, "stock up", "buy two get one free" and do not forget the "supersize" or "bulk sale" and food warehouse mentality. Another contributing factor is the confusion around the various ways foods are labeled, such as the "sell-by date", "expiration date" etc. If you are looking to fall asleep go to the USDA food safety education site, where they talk about labeling.
Most of us understand exactly when our Milk is spoiled and how long we can store butter. Surprisingly, or not, the biggest food wasters are consumers in developed countries such as the EU and the US.
Food waste also happens because of better living standards. Research points to higher-income households wasting more than lower-income households, due to healthier lifestyles. These lifestyles result in buying more fresh perishable items. This doesn't mean you should stop eating healthy. None of us really likes to waste food, yet we all seem to do it.
We do our weekly shopping, nicely stocking our produce and fresh foods into various compartments in the fridge. We go about our business throughout the week. Then one day, we reach in there, grabbing what we think would be a bag of nice crisp organic spinach, only to realize it is beginning to compost.
What happens next, depends on the individual and how they value food. You might pick out what can still be salvaged, another person, however, might choose the trash bin and search for the next package. A third person might feel a bit guilty, while the other might not even give it a second thought.
"The key to changing our ways depends on rekindling our relationship with food, family, community, and nature."
Do you have a memory of your grandmother's canning preserves, or as an Italian family, your grandfather's tomato sauce?
Many of our ancestors or elders had this necessity associated with resource scarcity.
During wartime, kids were encouraged to "Lick the plate clean" or "Share the food". I remember my grandmother, carving a cross on every loaf with the bread knife before she cut the first slice. I thought it was significant because it meant that we were blessed to have the bread. Come to think of it, perhaps it's the reason I love bread so much.
More than that, we value food as an experience that can bring all of us together in celebration. Each guest contributing to a particular dish to share. One becomes intrinsically mindful of a season, a tradition in the preparation as well as the enjoyment of the company around a table.
Food is not a main event. Food is part of a ceremony.
It's not hard to see that in every culture, food has long played a dual physical and spiritual role. Connecting with food means a connection with the source. Read about harvest celebrations and how you can connect again...
When we take care of selecting our food, process, and preserve it, we tend to understand its' value. It's in the work to prepare it and the experience of sharing the time spent together.
I cannot tell you how many potatoes I've peeled when I was growing up, but I can recall the laughter drowned into tears as my mother and I chatted and amused each other as we prepared a Sunday lunch. These are memories and traditions to cherish and pass on for generations to come.
You might say that those times have come and gone, but I would argue that those times are worth remembering now more than ever. It's time for us to be the bridge between generations that passed and serve as responsible torch bearers to those that come after.
In our society, there is an ever accelerated change, due to low cost, freshness premiums, consumer confusion, cheap disposal options, and lack of connectivity. We have quickly moved from a culture of responsibility regarding our food to a culture of abundance. This is no time to check out, now is the time to pay attention.
“All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.”
― Noam Chomsky
The next time you find another wilted lettuce in the fridge, I hope it makes you pause for just a second. Remember those moments you have shared over a good meal. Think of nature and the abundance it has given you, your family, friends. Picture a landfill that is filled with 250 pounds of food. That is the number that is estimated that an average household wastes a year. Choose to make a change before you go shopping again.
You ready? Click to get tips on a 30 day challenge to become a no food waste household.
If you are like most of us, (Thanks Coronavirus!), you might feel like you cook more at home then ever before. With that said, you are probably also noticing an increase of household food waste.
Let's talk dirty then as we get down to the basics of composting!
What you will need is a designated composting bin. It is best to work with what you already have, such as a trash can or some form of a container that has a lid.
Your composting mix is going to be made of greens and browns. Refer to the lists below. Green materials are generally wet go on top of the layer and brown materials, which are dry go on the bottom. Microorganisms with do their magic when you have aeration, which makes the use and layering of brown materials important. You also will want the brown materials to be more in ratio to the green.
Decomposition will depend on the season and where you live but typically between 3-6 months respective of how cold it is. If its hot, it will take less time to compost. You probably will have to turn it as well. When the compost smells bad (like the landfill) it means it is not decomposing. Compost should start to smell earthy sweet and ince you get a fluffy texture, it is ready to be used in the garden or flower box.
| Do Compost | Do Not Compost | |||
| Brown Waste Biodegradable | Green Waste Agricultural | |||
| Sawdust, wood, straw/hay pine needles, fallen leaves, dried grass, shredded paper, cardboard, newspaper, Dryer lint Cotton fabric soil, shrub clippings, wilted plants, weeds | tea bags citrus peal coffee ground fruit waste vegetable waste | soil ashes from BBQ animal products (meat, grease, fish, fat) dairy products sawdust from plywood/treated wood diseased plants |
Paper is affordable and cheap. It is probably the first medium most of us learn to use as children when it comes to art. Advancements in technology when it comes to harvesting wood, printing industry and at home printers has led to high consumption and waste levels. There are several environmental issues with affordability and high consumption such as deforestation, air and water pollution due to emissions in various industries including the toxicity of chlorine based compounds used to bleach wood pulp.
But lets face it, we love paper. Here are a few things artists and avid fans of this natural product can do, other than advocating and sourcing materials from manufacturers that use sustainable forest management, non-elemental chlorine processes and supporting regulation and oversight of the pulp and paper industry.
Recycling Paper Waste Material
This is not just about the basic R's: Reduce, Reuse. Recycle. It's about cultivating a way of life that encourages mindfulness and intrinsic values leading into a sustainable lifestyle.
By savoring conscious experiences and sharing them with friends, I can become less susceptible to the manipulation of advertisers. To me and my family, it is not about giving up the joy of using paper, but concentrating on the joy and fulfilment of creating and reusing what we have.
We focus on the natural qualities, color and the texture of the paper, whether it's just regular construction paper or specialty paper and visualize the forms and shapes we want to create.
I have used this simple mindful exercise with my son. I have created a bin for scraps and find that its become fun to upcycle the paper for various other projects.
Ideas
Mosaic Monday's
Create or design a paper mosaic utilizing your left over paper from your paper upcycle bin. This bin can also include toilet paper or even paper tower rolls.
You could do up to two to three of these projects a month. Check out some of these ideas to start off with.
Greeting Cards
I like to encourage DIY cards. Any cards for that matter... Thank You, Get Well , Holiday cards or Birthdays. These add a personal touch. Challenge your creative aptitude! As of yet, I have not received a complaint about not supporting hallmark. This is particularly simple and you can add specialty paper, I have even combined some beautiful paper scraps I have purchased from recyclable paper.
Bookmarks
My son's school regularly encourages the use of bookmarks made from leftover paper scraps.
Create 2D-3D Characters to challenge your kids and provide hours of interactive play.
If you or your little ones are like us, you will be busy creating in no time. Next, you will have to wreck your creative mind on the solution to storing them, but that's left for another post.
You can used them for scrapbooking, creating seasonal garlands, origami creations and so on.
If you have ideas or have created upcycled paper art that you would like to share, please forward them to me or leave me a message!
In the mean time, please help me with eco-friendly storage ideas!
Mankind has struggled against various illnesses and ailments throughout history. The use of plans for healing and beauty is as old as ancient civilizations as evidenced by preserved documents, monuments, and gravesites. These ancient herbal and plant-based medicinal discoveries were largely instinctive and experimental. In time, such experiential plant use became founded in explicit facts. Up until the 16th century, plants had been the source of treatment.
The most famous writer on plant drugs was Dioscorides, who wrote the "De Materia Medica", which was translated many times and continued to be updated until the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Dioscorides’ most appreciated domestic plants included the willow, camomile, garlic, onion, marshmallow, ivy, nettle, sage, common centaury, coriander, parsley, and something called sea onion.
Due to the increasing contradictions of usage, side effects and questions on the effectiveness of modern synthetic drugs, there has been an increase in interest towards natural, homeopathic solutions.
Read about homeopathy and herbal remedies
To find yourself, think for yourself"
-Socrates
If we indiscriminately allow the external world to overpower our inner workings, we are at risk of losing our way. Others, in turn, are deprived of our best and most valuable "inventions", qualities, contributions, opinions, and ideas. It's often those ideas that have great value to improve the human condition and are not necessarily rooted in economic return.
Fulfillment and meaning can be found in action which is performed as a reward in its self. Abundance comes from such a state, as it is less of an effort to maintain such experiences and easier for you to keep creating value for others. Wisdom comes from experiencing ourselves in such situations which lead us to self-knowledge and self-expression. All this can be fueled by just one courageous, persistent and at times patient action to listen to the voice within.
"If you go outward, the journey is endless. However, inward, is just a moment. "
Your life experiences will lead you to your truths and the truth keeps evolving as you move through life and interact with others. We are not only free to potentially create our own subjective meaning and purpose, but we are expected to do so for the sake of others and betterment of our world and our species.
I wished for a long time that I could come up with a life plan, much the same way as I would come up with a work-out plan, meal plan or career plan.
If you want to guarantee that you get lost or take the "long way" home, then you start out with the wrong assumptions
Sadhguru, a spiritual yogic leader who is known for exploring the scientific methods for self-transformation, has a great story that makes a similar point:
"Someone who once came looking for Isha Yoga Centre asked a local boy, how far thecentre is. The boy said 24,996 miles. The man was aghast. The boy told him the way you are going that is how far it is. However, if you turn around, it is just 4 miles.If you go outward, the journey is endless. However, inward, is just a moment."
-Sadhguru, Inner Engineering: A yogi’s guide to joy
