Gratitude

Why Gratitude Makes You Happy and Wealthy
by Christine Kane

Gratitude is more than being thankful one day a year. Gratitude is a practice. For some, it's a way of life.

Why do some people swear by the practice of gratitude? Why do these people have joy-filled and abundant lives?

In other words, why does gratitude make you happy and wealthy?

• Because gratitude is about presence.

It's about waking up in this moment and being here - really being here - and noticing what's around you. Most people are so busy thinking about the next thing, or about their horrid past, that they don't wake up and look around at their present moment - the only moment there is.

• Because gratitude is about honoring YOUR precious life.

Do you ever compare your life with someone else's? Do you ever wish your life were better and more like [insert famous person's name here]? Sometimes we can lose ourselves in wondering how we "measure up" to some standard set by our families or by the media. Comparison is the mind killer. The antidote is gratitude.

Gratitude requires that you validate your own life. (And you really don't have any other life, do
you?) It forces you to say YES to the gift that is you. The choices you've made and the changes you've gone through - they have brought you here. Even if here is a place that needs a little adjustment, that's okay. There are always gifts in any present moment.

• Because gratitude is about attracting.

It's difficult to attract abundance and joy if you are constantly saying "no" to what IS. You say "no" each time you focus on the future or past, or when you criticize something that is in your present moment.

Attraction is about saying Yes. When you say Yes, you shift.

Gratitude says, "Yes, I love this!" And then more of this is attracted, because the this is what you're focusing on.

• Because gratitude is about choice.

How you translate any situation is the situation. What you choose to see is the truth (for you).

This isn't proposing that you live in denial or phoniness. It's reminding you that your translation of any life situation is your choice. We've all heard stories of people who have ignored others' translations of their talent, their projects, their art, their looks, their lives. These people chose their own translations and succeeded. You always have a choice when it comes to how you look at things. Choose to choose gratitude.

• Because gratitude is about wisdom.

I think people believe they're being smart if they criticize, complain, and focus on the problems of the world around them.

Smart? Maybe.

Clever? Sure.

But not wise.

It is wise to look for and find the knowing place in your heart. It is wise to choose joy. It is wise to honor your riches. It is wise to focus on and grow the blessings of your life.

• Because gratitude is about recognition.

Use your power of focus to hone in on beauty and on what makes your heart sing. Recognize the spirit in your life. It's all around you waiting to be noticed. In the words of Franz Kafka, "It will roll in ecstasy at your feet."

• Because gratitude is about receptivity.

Gratitude makes you receptive. It makes you a vessel, waiting to be filled.

I carry a tiny notebook with me everywhere I go. In it, I write down song ideas. I write down quotes I hear. I write down ideas for stage stories. As I do that, I become more receptive, and more ideas and songs come to me. It's a tool that says to my subconscious, "Send more my way!" And the subconscious always responds.

Gratitude is the same way. It says, "I am receptive! Send more!" And more arrives.

• Because gratitude is about creativity.

Creativity is really all about attention. (So is genius.)

When I write a song, I build a relationship with that song. I spend time with it. I get to know it. I pay attention to it. Artists do the same thing with drawings. They spend time in rapt attention, and the drawing is born.

Gratitude is how we Live Creative. It is a creative act to notice and pay attention to the moments of your life. Some days it's an enormous act of creativity to find things for which to be thankful.

Start today.

And have a Thanksgiving of presence, creativity, and gratitude!

---

Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her 'LiveCreative' weekly ezine with more than 8,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative at www.christinekane.com.

A Christmas Carol

Mr. Dragon and I went to see Disney's A Christmas Carol on Monday at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Strange place to see a movie? Not at all if you want to see it in 3D IMAX and try to catch the snowflakes! What is a bit out of the ordinary -- it was the second movie we went to see this year. We just aren't big movie goers. Julie and Julia was such a hit with us, we thought we'd try a holiday movie before the lines got too long.

Disney has presented two other adaptations of A Christmas Carol: Mickey's Christmas Carol in 1983 and the Muppet Christmas Carol in 1992. They are all so different -- hand-drawn animation, puppetry and now, 3D and IMAX 3D. In this movie, actions of human actors are recorded and then used to animate digital characters -- as in Polar Express.

Jim Carrey plays Scrooge and the three ghosts of Christmas. Gary Oldman is Bob Cratchit. I read a review in one of our local neighborhood newspapers that said "the film is so jam-packed with effects that it seemed more like a Disney amusement ride than a motion picture."

We enjoyed A Christmas Carol. We enjoyed the Houston Museum of Natural Science, too! I wouldn't recommend this movie for very young children (or for older children who frighten easily) -- too many frightening ghostly effects.

The Joy Diet: Truth

"Create and absorb at least one moment of truth each day."

I'm running a week behind. The kids were here for a week and I'm now catching up with The Joy Diet by Martha Beck. Above is my vision card for Truth: out of the mouths of babes. Kids seem to hit the nail on the head. They come out with some of the truest statements I've ever heard. Beck says to have your moment of truth you must be able to spend 15 minutes in Nothingness. So I tossed in the Buddha and the Lotus for my Nothing.

On the back of the vision card I've written the steps to Truth.

1. Start with daily dose of Nothing
2. First question: What am I feeling?
3. What hurts?
4. What is the painful story I'm telling?
5. Can I be sure my own painful story is true?
6. Is my painful story working?
7. Can I think of another story that might work better?

Lastly: Of the options open to me, which one brings the most love into the world? Or, as Martha also says, "offer compassion to your inner lying scumbag"! Oh, how I love this!

No one said Truth would be easy, but I'm working on it. Have to admit I think I'm looking forward to the next step: Desire!

Having Fun!

A short post to let you know we are all having fun!

We have been to the zoo every day.

Kids feeding the giraffes.

Grandpa and HIMSELF on the carousel.
HIMSELF on the Eland.
(The carousel is all zoo animals ... really cool.)

See you soon!

Joy!

Falconry and Murder

(Image from the British School of Falconry and google pictures)

I bet "Falconry and Murder" got your attention! Today is book review day and I have a favorite of mine for you. Andy Straka is back. He lost his publisher several years ago. Cold Quarry, his last book published, won the Shamus Award for best paperback original private eye novel in 2004. I'm happy to say he's found another publisher. Kitty Hitter: A Frank Pavlicek Mystery was just released.

You know that I read mysteries. I used to read a lot of P.I. mysteries. Then I got tired of them. They were too dark, too formulaic. Then I discovered Andy Straka. His "hero" is Frank Pavlicek, an ex NYC cop, now retired and living in Virginia. He has a tough guy sidekick, Jake Toronto, who comes with the requisite shady background. There the formula stops. You see, Frank has a daughter, who he gets along with (shock), who has become a P.I. All three, Frank, Nicole, and Jake are falconers -- something I've been interested in for what seems like forever.

In Kitty Hitter (the fourth mystery featuring Frank Pavlicek), Frank returns to New York City to help an old friend with an unusual case. He is asked to help find a physician/animal rights activist's missing cat. The doctor believes her cat was stolen and then hunted down by a bird of prey. Other pets are missing from the apartment complex, too. The case becomes more unusual as Frank and Nicole dig deeper into the case. The doctor leaves out some important information about herself. Is there really an owl in Central Park feeding on pets? Illegal immigrants show up along with secretive developers. Gang wars are going on. Straka successfully weaves it all together and includes some interesting information on falconry.

Easy reading and recommended! Welcome back to Frank, Nicole, Jake and Andy!

(Andy Straka is a licensed falconer, a native of upstate New York and lives with his family in Virginia.)

Food...

Shame on me for enticing you with the word Food. There are no recipes here today, just a review of one book - The Best Thing I Ever Tasted:The Secret of Food by Sallie Tisdale.

This book is used in an English class at a nearby community college. For a number of years I have given a tour on Food and Feasting at the museum for this class. I decided it was about time I read one of the books that the students were reading. Better late than never.

Maybe I’m still channeling Julia, but I found this book very interesting and easy to read. Her style is casual. It is part memoir, part culinary history, part sociology. She ties together history, folklore, personal anecdote and analysis. She talks about the medieval kitchen, the classic French kitchen, Betty Crocker’s test kitchen (General Mills), her childhood kitchen, her kitchen today.

Here’s a little something from the book:

“What did you eat for breakfast? For lunch, for last night’s supper, as an afternoon, snack? What did you eat, and why? We think we choose food consciously, deliberately, rationally. We think about calories, price, time, convenience, cholesterol and fat and protein and other people’s opinions, even as we mull over our desire. But what we choose to eat, even what we want to eat, is dictated by forces far beyond our reach, by tiny tides we do not see. Whether we want to believe it or not, we eat what we eat for a thousand reasons. We eat to settle our nerves, in joy and despair, in boredom and lust. We comfort ourselves, make ritual, find delight. What we choose makes us naughty or good. Food fills many empty spaces. It can be symbolic, mythic, even archetypal - and nothing special. How we feel about food is how we feel about our own lives ...”

I keep a scrap piece of paper in the books I read, especially the non-fiction, and take notes as I go along. This piece of paper is covered, front and back, up and down, where ever there was an empty space to take a note. Tisdale talks about whole grains and the change to milled white flour being the modern way to eat because it was farther from the soil. Betty Crocker being the idea General Mills had to answer all those cooking questions being asked by women who had never learned how to cook and the desire to keep things quick and easy with the use of processed foods.

Interesting partial quotes (because I didn’t write the whole thing down) like this one from Wendell Berry, “It is impossible to mechanize production without mechanizing consumption.” ...”impossible to make machines of soil, plants, and animals without making machines also of people.”

Or, the quote from Belasco and his Appetite For Change: “Avoid processed food.” “Awakening to the joy of cooking and eating, especially together...” I had just returned from a wonderful afternoon at the Path of Tea and came home, picked up this book and read the last quote. I thought how wonderful it was to spend time with people I enjoy, drinking tea, eating cake, laughing, talking. Wow! Just like we were *real* people!

Lots of wonderful things in this book. Lots to think about. I'm going to set the table tonight for sandwiches and enjoy every minute talking to Mr. Dragon about his class today. Maybe a beer to go with the sandwich in a nice, tall sparkly glass?! A candle or two?!

I guess you get the idea. I did like this book and recommend it highly.

Sigh.....

Sometimes no words are necessary.

Learn Something New Everyday

I really do believe everyday should be an adventure - that you should do something different, try something new (put your socks on differently), learn something new, do something you love. You get the idea. It doesn't have to be anything big. Look around and you might find a surprise. I did!




I do love to crochet. I find it very meditative and relaxing. I finished my Christmas doily and have enough yarn to make another. While reading blogs the other morning, I headed over to see what Julie at Moments of Perfect Clarity was up to. She mentioned her friend Beth who was learning to crochet. So I headed off to meet Beth at A Measure of Things and found something that was truly amazing and was crochet -- a coral reef! ( You can read about the Coral Reef project here.) I think I'm going to start my own coral reef. I have left over wool yarn (it felts) in various colors. What fun!

Because of Beth, I also found Ted.com and I'm going to share with you the video Beth has on her blog. When I started watching the video -- geometry and all its glory (don't let that frighten you) -- ( I have to share that I didn't do well in geometry in school -- way back in the medieval ages) -- I was fascinated and I knew I had to stop the video and go find Mr. Dragon because he would find this as fascinating as I did (math major and medical physicist) ... and he did! So enjoy the video and learning something new that I hope is fun for you!

This and That

I thought this journal page went well with my reading of Happiness is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life by Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D. So you get two for the price of one today!



Sylvia Boorstein is a co-founding teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, and a senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. She writes a regular column in Shambhala Sun and that is where I first *met* her. For many years now, I've enjoyed her columns and her books. I find her thoughtful, kind, funny and a wonderful teacher.

Happiness is an Inside Job is a small gem of a book. Using examples from her own life, she shows how the mind can fall out of its caring connection. "Opinions embedded in neurons take a long time to erase. Peace of mind derives in its own time." "Restoring caring connection when it is disrupted, and maintaining it when it is present, is happiness".

The book is divided into four parts: Equanimity, wisdom, and kindness; wise effort; wise mindfulness; and wise concentration (the last three being the three meditative steps on the Buddha's Eightfold Path).

I took my time reading this book. I wanted to fully digest each part. I keep finding little scraps of paper with quotes around the house -- nice little presents to myself. From Boorstein's friend Tamara "Worrying is futile! You don't know what to worry about first." "May I meet this moment fully. May I meet it as a friend."

She told a story about her uncle who, when he was talking about someone, if deceased would say "Uncle Clyde - May he rest in peace" or if the person was alive would say "may he live and be well" and then go on with "was sure cranky those last days" or "is sure cranky about his garage". Sort of like the Southern, "my neighbor, god bless him, ...". It reminded me of Mr. Spock on Star Trek and the Vulcan greeting "live long and prosper" !!! But, when her uncle died, no one had a bad thing to say about him because he meant - may he rest in peace or may he live and be well - even if they were cranky!

She also talks briefly about her teacher Sharon Salzberg - someone else I enjoy reading.

I'd like to leave you today with this quote--

"Here are the two formulas that I use for formal metta (friendliness or loving kindness) practice:

May I be free of enmity and danger.

May I have mental happiness.

May I have physical happiness.

May I have ease of well-being.

And,

May I feel contented and safe

May I feel protected and pleased.

May my physical body support me with strength.

May my life unfold smoothly with ease. "

Remember to Breathe!

Joy to You!

Feast or Famine

Isn't that the way it always is? It's either Feast or Famine.
It's no rain or too much rain (at one time).
I am happy to report that, without having to do a rain dance,
we have had rain twice this week.

Each time Mrs. Dragon ...

and Mr. Dragon sat on their balcony and watched the storm.

There is nothing like a good storm
with lightning and thunder
to enliven the soul.

The rain fell

and the street filled with water
(Lake Dragon).

Today
May I Sit
And Listen To the
Sounds of Nature

The perfect journal page for a wonderful rainy Thursday!

(Affirmation inspired by Kind Over Matter)

Joy To You!

Security Blanket

Julie over at Moments of Perfect Clarity (an outlet for the madness with occasional flashes of insight) and some of her blogging friends are telling a secret about themselves every day for 30 days. Her first secret was - she still has her security blanket. She's told other secrets about hitchhiking, being deported, going on a friends honeymoon - all delightfully written, but it was the security blanket that I kept thinking about.

I don't remember having had a security blanket as a child. Did you? I do remember a couple of stuffed toys that I carried with me everywhere - or tried to. Each one had a music box in them (love of music came early with their help). One was a little brown dog with large floppy ears. I remember that to wind the music box I had to twist his tail (do not try this on a real dog). He played Rock a Bye Baby. The other was a brown teddy bear. He had white paws and a white muzzle and he played Rock a Bye Baby, too. I don't know what happened to the little dog, but I do remember that the poor teddy was falling apart. He had been repaired so many times. One of his legs was hanging by threads. He disappeared one day. So sad.

One day before Mr. Dragon and I left New Mexico for Texas, I went shopping (junking) with a dear friend. I found this:



Oh my goodness. I'm sure the whole world heard my cries of delight. White paws and muzzle, big head and a music box in his belly that plays Rock a Bye Baby. No major damage. Just a little dirty. He looked so lonely and unloved. I took care of that. He was my only purchase of the day. Guess I was looking for a security blanket to take with me on our big move. New Mexico had been home for 23 years. We were leaving a life we knew for one we had no idea about.

Soon he wasn't the only teddy that came to live with us.

I found this little guy soon after coming to Texas. He's smaller, newer and plays (thank goodness) the Teddy Bear Picnic. These two bears started my bear collection. I really don't have that many. I've given some of my bears away. These two bears remind me so much of that little girl who loved animals and who loved her security bear. They'll always be my favorites. I'll share more of my bears some other day.

Did you have a security blanket?

My security blanket today?
Easy.
Mr. Dragon and myself.

Joy to You!

Reminds Me of Home

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

You Asked...

for the recipes from my baking spree at the beginning of the week. Here they are:

Strawberry Muffins straight from the oven

I found this recipe in the July/August 2009 issue of Body & Soul Magazine. The muffins are pretty. I thought they were a little bland. Mr. Dragon likes them. The recipe makes 12 and there are 6 left, so I guess we both like them. I'm still thinking about how I can tweak the recipe to add a little more flavor. Also, I did bake these 17 minutes and tested with a toothpick, but could have baked them a little longer.

Strawberry Muffins

Makes 12
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes

1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1/4 cup light olive oil or vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a standard 12 cup mufin tin with paper liners. Toss together strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar. Using a potato masher, lightly mash berries; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a glass 2 quart measuring cup or a medium bowl combine buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla; whisk to combine.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture and the berry mixture (with juice). Fold just until combined. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with remaining sugar.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

Per serving: 152 calories.

Banana Bread cooling

This recipe is a definite keeper. I believe it came from a Splenda email. After all these years of eating too much sugar, we really are trying to cut back and Splenda is wonderful. Taste and texture of this banana bread was wonderful, too.

Nutty Banana Bread

Ingredients

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/4 cups mashed bananas
1 cup Splenda, Granulated
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F ( 165 degrees C). Spray one 9x5 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray coating.

In a large bowl, blend together the eggs, buttermilk, applesauce, and bananas. Sift together the Splenda, flour, baking soda, and salt; mix into banana mixture. Stir in pecans. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serves 12
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Calories per serving 150

Enjoy!

Remember This?

I asked if you knew what this funny looking, cucumber looking, thing was. My buddy Lori at Pretty Things was correct. It is a bitter melon. We have a neighbor who grows just about everything in his front yard. His back yard (and I'm using the term yard to describe an area that is less than a quarter of a postage stamp) is filled with huge pots filled with citrus trees, star fruit, bitter melon and whatever else he can throw in. He is always sharing his goodies with us. I think he enjoys seeing our faces when he brings something over we have never seen. He's also one of the reasons that I grow tomatoes on our balcony -- I'm willing to try growing almost anything almost anywhere!


Back to the bitter melon. This is what it looks like on the inside. You remove the seeds. Our neighbor uses it in a number of different ways. He makes a juice out of it with cucumbers and tomatoes. Stir fries. In our case, I decided to use it in a stir fry. We were both a little concerned about how bitter it would be, but this light green melon is supposed to be less bitter than the dark green or so I read in this wonderful cookbook.




Since I usually review a book around this time of the week, I decided to share with you one of my all time favorite cookbooks (and the only cookbook I had with a bitter melon recipe). The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen by Grace Young is more than a cookbook. Grace tells family stories all centered around food and the kitchen. It is a pure delight and one I recommend highly for those of you who enjoy a good story along with a few good recipes!



Here is the stir fry recipe with the bitter melon along with directions for preparing the melon. If you click on the photo, it should become bigger and easier to read.



We didn't find the melon to be overly bitter and it added a little zing to the various tastes. You can see I added a few ingredients. I had asparagus left over so I threw it in along with some onion. I added a little garlic to the marinade. It made a complete meal with rice and was very good.

There really is something to trying something new!

Have a special something day.

Joy to You!

It's a Mystery

Actually, I have three mysteries for you.

The first is The Queen's Gambit: A Leonardo di Vinci Mystery by Diane A. S. Stuckart. We were looking through one of the many remainder book catalogs that we get and we both mentioned "hey, there's a Leonardo di Vinci mystery here" and didn't do anything about it. Later, we found this book, probably at Half-Price books as it is marked as a remaindered copy and we picked it up. It was okay. It had some good low level technical stuff on how frescos were painted and what it was like to be an apprentice to di Vinci. There was something here that I don't believe could happen, but if I told you what, I'd ruin the story for you and I don't want to do that.

From the book flap: " On a royal whim, Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, orders a living chess game to be enacted by members of his own court. Di Vinci conjures up the spectacle in a single night, but his latest success turns bitter when one of the pieces - the duke's ambassador to France - is murdered. Di Vinci is the only man Sforza can trust to conduct the investigation." Di Vinci and his apprentice, Dino start to gather information. The most surprising secret may be Dino's.

Would I read another? Probably, if I was looking for brain candy and I do that a lot! Historical mystery fans looking for a cozy read will like this one.

***

The Hell Screen by I. J. Parker is a historical mystery of 11th century Japan featuring Sugawara Akitada. It is one in a series and I've read them all and in order. I have been known to read a series out of order. You could pick this one up and enjoy it without reading any of the others. I have enjoyed this series, its setting in Japan, the growth of the main character and getting to know the characters and enjoying their return ... almost like old friends.

From the book cover: " Akitada is on his way to the bedside of his dying mother when bad weather forces him to take refuge in a temple whose central treasure is a brilliantly painted hell screen. Perhaps its violent imagery influences his dreams: that night he is awakened by a terrible scream. It's only after Akitada returns to his family and a scene of domestic unhappiness and scandal that the significance of that cry becomes clear. For while he slept, a woman was murdered, and now he must find her killer, even if it means looking very close to home."

The conflict between Confuscianism and Buddhism is always interesting to me in this series. The law and what was considered a crime in 11th C Japan might surprise some folks. There is more than one death and crime for Akitada to manage, besides turmoil in his household.

And lastly,

Do you know what this is?

Have a great day!

Joy to YOU!