Daily Update (…I think that’s a thing…)

Hello, hello, my Soft Petals!

Insert long, drawn-out, overly dramatic sigh here.

It has been a looooong day. But, no matter what I did or where I went, I brought our book along! It helped me to carve out a little “Real Me” time today.  And I managed to work through almost a third of the book, as well! Now, it is late, and I am snuggled up in my bed. Comfy, nestled in the orgy of pillows that litter my duvet, I am ready to share. Share my experiences with the book, share my progress from the book, and share my thoughts on the book itself. So, here we go, my little flower buds. Where do I start?

WOW: A Handbook For Living. That is the book we are reading. If you have kept up then you will recall that I originally found the book to be exciting, provocative, and even profound. And I still feel that way, if the reader is able to make personal sense of the book and/or to find the wisdom tucked away in the folds of this book. It is a very different style of self help book than I am used to reading. It is not a book that has a definite answer for you. It doesn’t say blah blah blah This is how you find yourself or fix yourself blah blah now here is another 200+ pages explaining how and why! No. It pushes You to find You, to fix You. In fact, it says right on the back of the book: “This book will not change your life. You will change your life.” I had already read that statement before delving into the pages, but didn’t quite get it, until I began completing exercises and answering questions the book presented me. It was like OH! I get this now!

I usually prefer more traditional type self help books. Simple, focused, thorough, wordy. You know the type. Even the less wordy, more compact, books in this category, such as “Who Moved My Cheese?” and my personal favorite “How To Raise Your Self Esteem” by Nathaniel Branden. This is what I prefer. But, in the spirit of CHANGE, I chose to give WOW a try. And so far, I am glad.

Instead of chapters, the book is broken up into 31 exercises. It begins with, what I can only describe as, a set of instructions? I’m posing that as a question because I don’t know…is that even the right word to use there? I feel like the whole idea of the book is NOT to instruct, but rather to deconstruct…self misconceptions, rules or ideas imposed by society or self, barriers to happiness, etc. So, may I call them Anti-Instructions here? Anyway, I honestly feel like the book would be the exact same if these were removed. The only thing that even seemed important to me was Anti #3 which basically states that when things don’t go the way you want them to, don’t ask why…ask HOW you can make them go the way you want instead! This was SO important to me that it inspired me to make a SIGN for my bedroom! (I have yet to accomplish this my baby’s breath, but I pinky swear I will soon, AND display it here for you all to share with me!) Even this Anti, though, could have been eliminated without affecting the book at all, because Exercise #7 is EXACTLY this. Literally, Exercise #7 challenges you to ask yourself how instead of why, with more detail. It just seems redundant to me. Was this an oversight? Or is it just so important to the authors that they made a point to repeat themselves? It has me wondering.

Moving on. Right after the Anti’s, there is about a paragraph of text, just meant as an intro. Read it. I mean, seriously, read it. “If you approach a world that you can’t see without holding on to your anxiety, then you’ll find things becoming clearer, just like a sunny day.” For me, in my journey of Becoming, this sentence is so deep and meaningful. The other sentences are also important and should def be read before the rest of the book, so please do, my rose buds.

*YAWN* My meds have me dizzy and weightless now. It is time to close my laptop for the night, Precious Petals! Let me leave you with this wonderful image, though. Right after you read the “intro” and turn the page, there are images of flowers on the pages! Wish flowers and shadows of what appear to be, maybe, Dandilions???

G’night my Daisy Cakes! Mwah!!!

 

When TV meets Life…(Diary Entry)

Ok, for those of you who tune in to read my randomly updated widget, you would see that at 12:22 pm I was both reading (WOW, the book I promised to finish in a week, but may possibly finish much sooner), and watching my current guilty pleasure Younger. If you have never watched this show, I suggest you start NOW. It’s about a forty-something year old woman who, after having taken a massive hiatus to, you know, like raise kids and shit, realizes she is no longer relevant to the literary world she once belonged to and cannot find a job in publishing ANYWHERE. So…and here’s where the show gets its name, she pretends to be MUCH YOUNGER. 26, in fact. The show chronicles her new life as a reinvented young person, and all the obstacles she faces. Now, I won’t lie to you, my sweet little baby’s breath….the show is mostly FLUFF! Ok?! Just marshmallow fluff crap. (Only real talk here, luvs.) However, in the midst of the glitter doo-doo there is the bright, shiny fact that the show revolves mostly around BOOKS! Which is why I am so hooked. I mean, originally, I started watching because it was about a woman trying to reinvent herself, which is where I am at in life: Reinventing Myself. So, I could relate. But, when the show turned out to be fluffy to the max, the constant literary discussion kept me drooling over it. That and Debi Mazar. She is absolutely drool-worthy. Always has been! YASS!

Ok, moving right along, because obviously I am going somewhere with this. The current episode I am watching (S3 E5 if you care to join me) is bringing up some feelings in me! So, the publishing company that the main character works at is itself, trying to remain young, hip, and relevant. So, they bring a new guy into the fold. He is super young and claims to be “on the spectrum”, which is supposed to be an excuse or apology for his constant rudeness and lack of decorum. First of all, THIS bothers me. As the parent of two beautiful and well-mannered young men who both fall on different ends of the spectrum, I have found that Autistic people are absolutely intelligent enough to grasp the concept of manners both simple and complex. Yes, it may take more persuasion or explanation to get these children to use them. Autism is absolutely a social affliction. It comes from the Latin word Auto, meaning SELF. But even autistic folks eventually want friends and/or lovers. And they most certainly want to be praised, which is what I do when they remember to use their manners. So why on earth would this show go to such great lengths to promote Rudeness as an expected trait of people “on the spectrum”?!

Ah, my Precious Petals, if you are still reading at this point then let me thank you enormously for letting me go on a rant there. I am still trying to get to my point, I just got sidetracked. My mind is CONSTANTLY going at this pace. Ugh! Hello, Ritalin?! LOL! Anyway, this new guy is being very disruptive to the entire literary world in the show, even going so far as to deem the written word obsolete. Now, this fictional character is not the first to make this comment, nor will he be the last. But, the publishing house kind of goes on to consider his point. They are talking about taking the greats, like Gatsby (no pun intended!…or is it? lol), and condensing them, and even making them interactive, and then putting them all on one big APP!. That was an awful run-on sentence there. My apologies, little flower buds. You will see that I am well known for my run ons, yes, but THAT was probably the most obscenely run-on sentence I have ever created. And for that, I am sorry. But not sorry enough to edit it. No, I must be authentic today. The book I am reading DEMANDS it!

The POINT is….books ARE changing. Not all, but some. It’s like the millennials are slowly putting their own spin on literature. A generation obsessed with digital media. How will this end up? The book that I am reading now, WOW: A Handbook For Living, has been touched, I can tell you that much. The layout of the book…the very style and essence of the book…would have been rejected by literary snobs not too long ago. The most dense amount of “written word” I have observed in this book so far has been less than three paragraphs at a time! It almost appears as a collection of “tweets” or “snaps” or what have you. BUT, it is one of the most PROFOUND books I have happened upon in a good while.

This post isn’t to judge ot say one way is better than another. Truthfully, my daisy cakes, it’s just a silly diary entry. But, I wanted to share my observations, in the spirit of the book I am reading. Some things will always be the same. I do not fear that anyone will be successful in taking away our precious written novels, nor will anyone succeed in ending the writing of many more fantastic, long, bound works of art! I suppose I just fear the change that is inevitable. But why? I know, I know…it is Human to fear that which we do not understand or know yet. It is human to fear change. But, as a woman blossoming into my true self, isn’t that a silly thing? To fear change? When I CRAVE, nay!, NEED change myself….

I feel that it is time to let go of the fear. Change should not be feared. One should be curious, perhaps….intrigued. Maybe even excited. Yes, my Flowers, let us get all worked up and excited about change and see where that positive aura lands us! At least today. Can we try that? Hand in hand, let’s leap into the unknown today. Because, as a wise man once told me, “Without change, there is no change.” And wouldn’t that be boring AF, my petals?

Oh Brave New World!

WOW…a book update

Alright, so after much consideration, I chose to read “Wow: A Handbook For Living” by Zen Ohashi and Zono Kurazono. It seems to be a series of exercises meant to help you find you. There are 31 in all. The only downside is that there are a set of “pre instructions”,  if you will, that explicitly ask the reader NOT to hurry. As in, don’t read the book in one week, like I originally intended. Hm, oh well. We shall see.

One thing in particular stuck out to me already and I would like to share it here with you, my flowers. The book instructs the reader to let go of the why, and look for the how. As in, don’t worry about WHY something did not go your way…rather figure out HOW to make it go your way! I like that A LOT! Hmmm….how can I remind myself of that every day? Shall I make myself a SIGN and hang it on the wall? I feel a project coming on!!!

Wow (no pun intended), this book is already taking me there y’all! YASS!!!!!

…update…

Just realized that I never selected an actual book title to share with you, my blossoming little buds…so I promise before bed I will reveal the title of said book. I just….uh…I have SOOO many self help books. Enough, my counselor says, to LITERALLY build a physical wall around my bed! I guess it truly is time to delve into the pile of self help books I keep around. I swear, it’s like I feel that if I have those books near me, I somehow just absorb the help vicariously. You know what I mean? I know it’s not real. But I think it. I also feel like if I keep those books near me, then SOMEDAY, I will read them and SOMEDAY I will change and become my real self. Well, my flower petals, SOMEDAY just became TODAY!!!!!

What’s Up This Week???

So, here we go, delving into the task of finding our best selves. Where the F to start right?! Well, I’m just going with my gut on this. And why not? Part of becoming myself is listening to myself right? Ok then. So….I am going to focus on TWO things this week. I figure if it works well, I can always pick up more work next week right? And if it’s too hard…just drop it down to ONE task. Simple. Ok, moving on…the two things I picked this week are…drumroll…

1. Reading a Self Help Book
2. Turning to Pinterest for an overwhelming amount of Ideas on how to get the best Feet

Why feet? Well, I feel like it is best to transform from “head to toe”, “starting from the ground up”. Makes sense right? Using old wisdom to become something new. Anyway, yeah. That’s the plan. Best feet eva! And reading. Which I LOVE to do anyway. And see, since I am obsessed with and addicted to Pinterest, it is a sure thing that I will stick with this task. And since I LOVE reading, it’s a sure thing that I will read the book. I mean, sure I usually take my time reading. Like, I may finish a book or two once a every couple months. Mostly because I am so distracted, and I feel guilty pausing my life just to enjoy reading. BUT, since this is a TASK I am Much More likely to actually read the book. For YOU. (And for me). For US!

I will report back on this coming Saturday. Expect to find a FULL review of the book I select and also a FULL report exposing the truth about all those Pinterest tips for awesome feet. The Truth IS Out There!!! LMAO

Also, come back and check in DAILY for random diary entries, updates on our two tasks, and other nonsense. Oh, and Bring A Friend ok?

Alright, I am going to devour an entire bag of Dove Caramel Milk Chocolates and binge watch my new fave tv show Younger. You should Totes check it out!!! K, Love You, all my beautiful baby flowers!!! Kisses! Love, Dandilion.