Photo stories
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Wilderness survival
“There will be times when standing alone feels too hard, too scary, and we’ll doubt our ability to make our way through the uncertainty. Someone, somewhere, will say, ‘Don’t do it. You don’t have what it takes to survive the wilderness.’ This is when you reach deep into your wild heart and remind yourself, ‘I am the wilderness.’” ~Brene Brown Today’s quote reminds me of the time I quit my office job in reference book publishing to start freelance writing at home. In those days, working from home wasn’t as common, so my decision felt risky (and lonely) at first. It took time to establish a new routine and get…
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Your life is your art
“An artist’s real contribution isn’t what he paints, but the way he sees.” ~Martha Beck Whenever I visit an art museum, it strikes me that many of the same basic themes and subjects have been rendered throughout the centuries. Mothers and children. Landscapes and seascapes. Fruit and flowers on tables. Yet each painting is completely different in style and mood, reflecting the individuality and vision of the artist. So it is with everything we create — whether it’s a painting, a piece of writing, a garden, a photograph, or a recipe. How do you express your own vision or viewpoint? ~CL For more like this: Check out additional posts and…
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Attitude
“The last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitudes.” – Viktor E. Frankl In Man’s Search for Meaning, Austrian neurologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl chronicled his experiences as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. The book — one of the ten best-selling books of all time in the U.S. — describes Frankl’s psychotherapeutic method of identifying a positive purpose or reason to go on living. In short, he concluded that attitude is everything. The meaning of life glimmers in every moment we’re alive. As Frankl reminds us, when we are unable to change our situation, we have the freedom to change ourselves. We choose how to…
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The road ahead
“People ask me to predict the future, when all I want to do is prevent it. Better yet, build it. Predicting the future is much too easy, anyway. You look at the people around you, the street you stand on, the visible air you breathe, and predict more of the same. To hell with more. I want better.” ~Ray Bradbury, Beyond 1984: The People Machines As we age, we map out the course of our own future. We plan for retirement and organize our personal finances. We might start thinking about who will care for us if or when our health declines. At the same time, we need to consider the…
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How connected are we, really?
“We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection.” ~Sherry Turkle Words have tremendous power. As social media users learned early in the game, our words can unite — and our words can alienate. Today’s quote is another favorite in my “communication collection.” Sherry Turkle, a social science and technology professor at MIT, reminds us that online connection doesn’t offer the same emotional health benefits as in-person communication. Here, she hints at the danger of spending more time online than we spend developing deeper relationships with others. ~CL If you missed it earlier, here’s a link to a…
