#reverb10: wonder

(what day 3 (moment) was all about)

day 4 prompt ... How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year?

(- Author: Jeffrey Davis )

after a rather frustrating moment in cubeopolis very early on in the year - i reminded myself of something i had temporarily lost sight of - my mission | vision | value statements. and after a hastily sent text message to a dear friend, i paused and reminded myself that i chose (and was chosen) to be part of cubeopolis. not that i am yet in anyway knowing of whether cubeopolis is the place for me - but i do know i have a purpose.

as described in my response to day 1's prompt (one word), i simply reconnected.

i plugged back in ... choosing (and being chosen by) activities, experiences, people, and places ... nostalgia, pensive moments, old personal journals, pop culture, urban street scapes, local parks and regional hikes, "crazy paper" writing, music, drawing, and - much to my surprise and disbelief - adding more social media to my life. (leslie MUST be in wonderment of that?!) ...

vicarious living ... part of my wonder comes from my occasionally living vicariously through others' tales of life's ups and downs, as i continue to enjoy my experiences among them. having the opportunity to spend time with someone willing to share his/her motivations, inspirations, fears, successes, lessons-learned and lessons in the (re)learning mode - these moments are more abundant than i had once been aware. and every once in a while, i come across someone who shares similar sentiments as i have shared through my mission | vision | values.









lessons in the making ... while i am still learning my lessons, i continue to ask of myself and others in my life those questions that can make us feel alive and afraid at the same time -

who
what
where
when
how
why

however, i believe that the most important question, which continues to cultivate my wonder and which i enjoy asking of others - and of myself ...

... why not?

confession ... similar to friday's prompt,
i actually wrote this response on sunday, dec 5 at ~noon.
playing catch-up after switching mobile phones has been ... well, fascinating
(thank you for accepting my re-dating of this post.)

#reverb10: moment

(what day 2 (writing) was all about)

day 3 prompt ... Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).

(- Author: Ali Edwards)

adolfo (aka adolofo moments?) ... this is the first "moment" that popped into my head when i read the prompt early in the morning. each moment i have spent with adolfo, i feel differently and most alive. make sense? (read on)

first, my back story for this morning's choice of adolfo as my moment ... i was completely puzzled. "adolfo? moment?" i thought this morning, "no, that does not make sense because adolfo is an artist/painter - whom i see periodically throughout the year at art festivals. i will wait until i can choose from several moments."

and indeed, several other moments - a few of these moments that others would likely consider relatively profound - came to mind as my day continued. some of these other moments included over-the-top hilarity, pensive reflection resulting from grave sadness, spiritual awareness, or the witnessing the unbelievable beauty of nature.

however, adolfo remained swirling among these moments. and now, i believe i understand why. each moment i have had a chance to spend with adolfo, albeit short-lived, is the place for me to be - physically, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually - at that moment in time. effortless. meaningful. provocative. inspiring. authentic.

the moment i chose ... an afternoon conversation i spent (during the los altos rotary club art show, fine art in the park) with adolfo at his art show festival booth.

"... describe ... - texture, smells, voices, noises, colors ...

on the surface ... my mid-may 2010 moment with adolfo would appear to anyone watching us talk as if we simply were two people catching up. we sat in camping chairs nearby his booth watching prospective buyers entertain the idea of purchasing adolfo's and other neighboring artists' labors of love. we were among the voices and laughter of strangers walking by, barking dogs, occasional light breezes, green grass with fallen brown leaves randomly strewn along the festival park-grounds, the roughness of bark from an aging tree, cars slowly driving along the frontage road behind , shiny metal jewelry, a rainbow of colors of semi-precious and precious gem stones, blonde-colored wood carvings with dark wood inlays, and garlic -- garlic from the smell of festival foods.

within my heart and soul ... we were two people catching up since the last art festival. we spoke - as we always have at these art festivals - about our experiences and decisions ranging from the trivial and insignificant to the broad sweeping life-changing decisions made and those still being pondered. we spoke of old and new friendships, intimate relationships, loving pictures and stories of pets, frustrations with work, pop culture gossip, occasional current events, and other random details of life-lived and life-observed for which those passing by might say our conversation sounded like strangers talking during a cross-country airplane flight.

while we occasionally looked around at the neighboring artisans' booths, i recall a snippet of our conversation feeling somewhat magical. surrounding voices were crisper and colors looked (and even felt) more vivid. meanwhile, adolfo's words resonated deeply with me both in tone and meaning, and i felt my own voice carry a much different tonal quality. we were speaking with raw and unedited candor.

authenticity ... this is the moment when i became aware that our seemingly reader's digest version of sharing life's stories was and has been (and perhaps will be) those moments when i am reminded of the value of being true to myself and to those around me - being aware of the couplings of self-doubt and self-esteem, caution and spontaneity, purposefulness and randomness, ignorance and knowledge, living boldly and living quietly, snap judgments and patience, acceptance and denial. neither is better than the other and neither is worse than the other.

a simple conversation with adolfo
has reminded me about being human.

confession ... similar to thursday,
i wrote this response afterwards, on saturday, dec 4 at ~7:30 AM
because sometimes friday night is, well, friday night.
(thank you for accepting my re-dating of this post.)

team CDWL@edi at healthmonth

Caloric Dolls Who Link (at) eco dork inn... that is the team name for which i am one of three team members in december's healthmonth.

our name? it's a cute and clever anagram of two rules, which the team members share.

our team picture? a collection of personal tchotchkes and/or things we love. if you are playing, we're over here.

our mission statement? we are working on it.

#reverb10: writing

(what day 1 (one word) was all about)
day 2 prompt ... What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?

(- Author: Leo Babauta)

shiny penny ... shiny penny is my term of endearment for random (and not so random), very short-term, external (versus my internal process) distractions and moments throughout a day - some sort of external stimuli where i get off-track (physically writing, thinking/idea generating) for whatever reason.

i love monikers! i have been and am definitely aware of shiny penny - for better or for worse. i gave these "moments" a moniker, so i could have a little fun calling them out and being more aware of these moments. i have found that shiny penny can lead to a spiraling and leap-frogging effect of procrastinating, which i recognize as little choices (or excuses, even) to put my writing to the side for a bit.



- can i eliminate shiny penny? yes - but no ... and that is great for me. here is why ...

shiny penny fairy godmother ... i have come to realize that shiny penny can be and are opportunities for writing inspiration and for a bit of down-time to recharge. as soon as i have called out a shiny penny moment, it has been fun to see what results from shiny penny that i can attribute and contribute to my writing.

i get it! was this a fun, trick question?! ... hmmm, in this short time of writing my stream-of-consciousness response to this question, i have realized that what i have thought of as shiny penny getting in the way of my writing is evolving and becoming a source for my writing!

shiny penny (equals) writing (equals) life ... in just this little response, i have recast shiny penny to the next level and amped it up - "these go to eleven." i can celebrate shiny penny by physically jotting down a little note about shiny penny, recognizing a life moment as a little writing gift, recording a quick voice note, and/or capturing that moment in my writing process and writing as inspiration, content, or motivation.

confession ... i wrote this response on dec 3 at ~6:00 AM
because of late, last night's (dec 2) shiny penny.
(thank you for accepting my re-dating of this post.)

#reverb10: one word

reconnect ... this is my word for 2010. throughout the year, i have found myself continuing to reconnect - with friends, family, and places. i also have found great strength in reconnecting with many activities and experiences that i enjoy and even those that i do not always enjoy - it is part of life's lessons, i believe.

however, i would say that 2010 is most certainly marked by my reconnecting with what i have affectionately called my "crazy papers" that led me to my 1994 epiphany - my mission | vision | value statements.

reconnect ...

in 2010, i rediscovered my feeling of excitement from this louis pasteur quote -

"in the field of observation, chance only favors the prepared mind"

i had this quote posted on my office wall in 1994 because of the many(!) people independently sharing this quote within the span of three days. 2010 has reawakened my spirit, and again, this quote was shared with me throughout the year. just this late october, i found myself proudly expressing my sentiments as part of an opportunity where i work. i realized after i wrote my cover memo, it was not about applying for a position, it was about reconnecting with my heartfelt passion.

enthusiasm ... that is the word i envision for my 2011. perhaps it is serendipity, i have chosen this word that is part of a r.w. emerson quote shared by my college friend, alison, with whom i spent this evening chatting it up.

"enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. when you do a thing, do it with all your mind. put your whole soul to it. stamp it with your own personality. be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

2010 reconnect . . . enthusiasm 2011

f|break: midweek fiber break

cookie monster ... seen him lately? as the campaign goes - "Cookie Monster wants to host Saturday Night Live and he needs your help! Click here to join the Facebook group and help Cookie Monster be the next host! http://bit.ly/CookieSNL"

enjoy a fiber break of ~4 min
with the cookie monster (over here)

"branch out beyond cookie eating career ... "
"hosting saturday night live... me made audition tape"
"macarooner ... fake news ... monster gaga"

nutshell: november 2010

recapping the month of november ... because of the random order of topics, for ease of reminiscing-ish, nutshell is my recaps at the end of each month.

on transforming ... i read blogs and pass my time in a variety of ways.

• security blogkets ... my go-to-blog reads that are like my security-blanket blogs. i continue to enjoy tyler's articles; this month i commented on his articles about on stating a commitment, about nice guys finish first, 16 reasons to unsubscribe to his site, and his top secret AR support team exposed.
  
  
• SHEDn and CYCCYLn ... took a little hiatus on this months posts, however, i have enjoyed the two teleconferences with kit.
  
  
• transitioning into the year ... starting a few activities into the new year - healthmonth and reverb10.
  

on pop culture and nostalgika ... stuff pops in my head and often it is pop culture, nostalgika, or some viral whatever-thingy forwarded to me (and many others).

• fiber breaks ... never a loss for fiber breaks each weekend (and then some 'tweeners) and this month i found obvious breaks - the sets of comedians i enjoy; this month included nick kroll (as fabrice fabrice), myq kaplan (who is sooo clever and witty AND funny!), matt braunger (two funniest names bit), . and not quite a reader's fiber break, but my fiber break of fulfilling some of the venn diagram wisdom, a l'il david sedaris lovin', toonces (from SNL) the driving cat, will & grace's jack mcfarland and coffee, a scene from mike & molly with victoria and molly, the elements song with mr. harry potter himself (daniel radcliffe) on the graham norton show, and gilligan's island.
  
  
• pop culture me ... many fiber breaks also involve pop culture, however, then there were non-fiber moments with the humor shared about missing missy (via 27bslash6) that has brought tears of laughter to cubeopolis, snark and judgment about the fashion show ultimate collection (episode 1, episode 2, episode 3), and thanksgiving chuckle with wkrp's infamous turkeys away episode.
  

cubeopolis life ... cubeopolis (aka where i work) has been a mix of reminiscing and current activity. this month also spawned the beginning of "r|cubicle" or (re)cubicle - kind of a subset of cubeopolis intended to be my thoughts on re-entering a cubicle setting after 13 years of business ownership/self-employment (from out of my home, even!).

• on cubeopolis proper ... this month included a post with pretty much the cut/paste content of the transmittal cover memo contents for an internal position i submitted my interest, prepping for annual performance review, thoughts about personal branding inspired by a friend interviewing for some positions in cubeopolis, and selecting a veggie recipe(s) for an upcoming luncheon potluck.
  
  
• on r|cubicle ... the beginning of (re)cubicle started this month. i decided to fashion my "roll out" (it's not all that, but it sounds good) within the classic cubeopolis recipe of the meeting phenomena activities - meetings to meet about meetings - a necessary staple, actually. in this case, the roll-out happened over 3-1/2 meetings (maybe i can call it 4 meetings). the result of meeting #1 with myself - a prep-meeting for a brainstormed-stream-of-consciousness long list about ideas for the backdrop r|cubicle. the result of the meeting after the prep-meeting (meeting #2) was my initial short-list.
  

going to happy places ... just because

• inspiring words ... although i did not post stories or poetry this month, i did share a little about my design fix.
  
  
• for the heck of it, random posts ... this month included continued love of my fluevogs, love of sade, more love of fluevogs, and vintage cal bears t-shirt.
  
  
• i love people ... friends (and acquaintances) then and now - the oracle is someone i realize i can say i've known for nearly a decade when back in the day he shared some quippy quotes; although college buddy is not named - a post for him; a little post when i heard about my friend's husband's death; todd will cut you;
  
  
• reposts from flashbacks ... my r.i.p. eco-sphere pet mitch, congrats to my friend, anna, who recently married and many years ago nicknamed me shylock.
  

food stuff ... i socialize over food, so a few places to share - il porcini in fremont, nibblers in pleasant hill, grits (at rudy's can't fail cafe, 900 grayson, and lois the pie queen), and césar españa on shattuck in berkeley.

visit with me ... this month i have decided to add a nutshell section some of the sites i have visited - mainly for ease of revisiting and remembering why i even bothered to share something about a site - kind of my accountability web visits, as if someone from cubeopolis were to ask "why did you check out ...?" (and some do - so here is the answer key)

• learning about myself - results of survey of character strength is from visiting the university of pennsylvania's authentic happiness about positive psychology. i continue to think about thoughts on ignorance as shared here and visited tim wise's site. and i'll be engaged with reverb10 and healthmonth as part of my your heart's desire activities.
  
• laugh out loud (or quietly) - pictures and words from 27bslash6 are hilarious, perhaps a cubeopolis cartharsis via despair.com. i enjoy comedians including nick kroll (here, here, and over here on tv's the league), myq kaplan (here, here, and on twitter and part of a twitter duo), and matt braunger (here, here, and on twitter). then there is ms. emily mccombs who is asylum's "token girl" and has "a women's perspective on ..." bits (love it!).
  
• swirling r|cubicle thoughts - coming across escape from cubicle nation was a light/dark moment all in a good way and perhaps quite a bit of why i have been thinking about r|cubicle.
  
• i learned something new - learned about crushqueens and pedal stomp after sporting my fluevogs. (re)learned about movember, and i do have a college friend with prostate cancer. (re)learned about the ecosphere - it's part of the whole enviro world i live in. and (re)learned about my design fix with design observer, glass house conversations, and risd; i am looking forward to risd's john maeda's blog posts.
  
• pop culture fix - i visit blogs as part of my pop culture fix (of course). for recaps of the fashion show ultimate collection, three sites - david dust, tom & lorenzo, and racked.
• i read - i love david sedaris; 'nuff said!
  

it's december!