Dappled Air

While going through my Facebook stream this morning I came across this picture and just had to share it.

Just came across this powerful 12 minute video about Alice Herz Summer a 108- year-old survivor of a Nazi Concentration Camp.  Her positive outlook is what helped her survive. Alice Herz Summer Quotes from the Video Complaining doesn't change things or people.  Be grateful for everything in your life. Learn from your mistakes. Learn from the bad and focus on the good. That's the way the life works. That is the essence of optimism. Smile a lot. Hatred eats the soul of the hater not the hated. Everything is a present. { [  Watch the video here  ] } I once read this quote that totally agrees with what Alice says.  "We live our lives looking forward, but we make sense of our lives by looking backward." Connect with me on Facebook  and let me know that this article did for you ...

I just watched this video from Ted Talks . In the past I have watched  a number of videos on the site. The site is full of ideas worth spreading. In today's world where many of us are looking for ways to learn how to sell our products, this talk explains it in a very simple way that is easy to understand. Now it is up to us to apply it. Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action Links http://www.startwithwhy.com/What.aspx http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/personal-branding-interview-simon-sinek/

Sometimes we feel sorry for ourselves and get depressed, but then somethings happens or a website appears that make you really reevaluate your situation. I have come across the guy in this video and his website a number of times recently. Well, today I just have to share this inspiring story. I am not sure I could be as upbeat as Nick in his situation. Quotes from Nick: "The day you believe that you have reached your fullest potential is the day you have not" "Dream big" "The only limits I have in my life are the limits I have put on myself" 3 Part Inspirational Video by Nick Vujicic Nick Vujicic, No Arms, No Legs, No Worries! Part 1 of 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bL3GR4iAW0 Nick Vujicic, No Arms, No Legs, No Worries! Part 3 of 3 Websites and More YouTube Videos Life Without Limbs Attitude Is Altitude YouTube Videos

With Valentine's Day just around the corner I was asking myself: When I look in the mirror can I really say to myself: that I love myself? Yes, it sounds so easy, but to truly mean it and feel it is a totally different story. I once read that before we can really love another person we have to love ourselves, warts and all. The reason is that once we love ourselves, loving another person is the icing on the cake. That's when I remembered Louise Hay's Book 'You Can Heal Your Life' where she talks about doing 'mirror work'. It is very simple and quite effective. Last night I created this card as a reminder. Here are some links about Louise Hay: You Can Heal Your Life - the Movie A Place for the Heart Lessons from a recovering doormat Simply Blessed Louise Hay Facebook Page

How many times have we rushed only to find that we are moving slower not faster? This morning I came across this subject when I randomly picked a page in my inspiration book called "Creative Sparks" by Jim Krause. The page I picked said this: Sometimes it's way faster to go a little slower I remember trying to catch a bus and walking really fast only to realize that all I did was tire myself and did not really move much faster. Then when I relaxed and just focused on getting there in time I moved more smoothly and even faster. What I learned is that we are our own worst enemy. Rather than blaming outside circumstances, we should be blaming ourself and instead learn to relax and just go with the flow. As I always say it's the little things that make life special, it's the icing on the cake that makes the cake special. Have a wonderful week.

Last Sunday we were invited to an open house and exhibition of paintings by a neighbour on our street. I had heard that Helen was a painter, but had never seen her work. I fell in love with her beautiful paintings. Many of them of the scenery of the Canadian Maritimes. The one thing that struck me the most were her unusual painted light switch plates in the shape of cats. I found out that she and her husband love cats, much to my detriment, I am allergic to them. I went looking for paintings by Helen Tupper online and just happened to come across this article from November of this year about her. Talking about light switch plates, in 1998 I started painting my plain switch plate covers and one thing led to another. Eventually, my father-in-law suggested that I paint a 'boy' switch plate, which I did with the boy strategically placed on the cover.

I haven't gotten around to posting for some time. Too much happening all at once. So I dug through my list of emails I send myself with interesting information to put on my blog and this is the one I picked. I was so pleased when I came across this video with a compilation of different interviews of Will Smith that show his world view. He's right up my alley.

When I came across this Abraham Hicks video in my Google Reader I knew I had found something I wanted to share.

How time flies. I just realized that I have been blogging at Dappled Air for over a year. My first post appeared on June 16/2008 . Now after a year I have gotten the hang of blogging and am in the middle of redoing my main website Marlies' Creative Universe. The website has gotten so big and so diverse since its inception in 1997, that it is time to split it up and switch to a different CMS. Currently I am using TYPO3, but the new sites will be in Wordpress. For the last half year I have been immersing myself in the intricacies of Wordpress. Thank goodness I learned to use TYPO3 and now switching to a different CMS is much easier. I will keep on using Dappled Air as my blog for my personal musings. Specific interests will be taken over by the various sub blogs. I am in the middle of activating them which is quite a big job in itself. If you check out the links below you will find that they are in various states of readiness, but from each one there is also a link to the section on ...

In the last few months my daily yoga exercise has been replaced with gardening and looking back it seems that we had very few rainy weekdays and so I did a lot more gardening than yoga. Today was the first day in over a month that I am indoors and so it yoga time. I really enjoyed my workout and noticed an effect that had not happened before. From my EFT practice I know that yawning is a sign when a release occurs. EFT Theory: "The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body's energy system" - Wikipedia At this morning's session during and after some exercises I was busy yawning and I realized that yoga does also stimulate the meridians and as my body is now recognizing this stimulation it automatically goes into release mode. I have no idea what blocks are released, however. I have not heard or read of this anywhere, but I am very pleased. Related links: EFT - Gary Craig EFT - Wikipedia Yoga - Wikipedia Meridian (Chinese Medicine) - Wikipedia

In this morning's newspaper was an article about a contestant in Britain's Got Talent 2009 contest. I remember a year ago when Paul Potts was the surprise contestant and eventual winner. So I just had to go an check out the YouTube video of Susan Boyle singing . We all have dreams and most of them never come true, but every so often there is one we just can't give up. How many time have we given up, because apparently nothing is happening only to discover later to our horror that we had just about reached our goal. I remember as a kid on holidays with my parents looking for our hotel in Amsterdam. We had been driving around for half an hour and could not find it, so eventually we asked for directions only to find out that it was just around the corner. It is the same with our dreams. If we feel so strongly about something, there is a message that we not really understand, but should follow. Dreams do come true, don't give up.

I came across this poem today and as much as I tried to find the original, I did not succeed. It is attributed to Malcolm X or the UN as a poem of the year, but I am really not sure. Well, I like the poem and hope somebody can shed some light on its origin for me. “When I’m born I’m black, when I grow up I’m black, when I’m in the sun I’m black, when I’m sick I’m black, when I die I’m black, and you… when you’re born you’re pink, when you grow up you’re white, when you go in the sun you're red, when you’re cold you’re blue, when you are scared you are yellow, when you’re sick you’re green, when you die you’re gray and you are calling me colored.”

I love working with EFT and reframing is such a simple way of working with problems. I found out about it in this YouTube video by Dr. Philip Mountrose . Here is the cue card it made for it

My favorite show on my favorite Internet radio station KKCR - Kauai Community Radio is the 'homegrown garden island bluegrass show on Tuesday afternoons Hawaiian time. They start each show with a couple of questions that are always very interesting. Last week's question was: what kind of vegetable would you be if you were a vegetable? There were quite a few asparagus' answers. I didn't even have to think too hard to come up with my vegetable. The answer just kind of popped into my mind and from the picture I placed with this post you already guessed my choice of vegetable: ARTICHOKE The reason I picked artichoke: prickly on the outside and all heart on the inside. I would love to hear what kind of vegetable you would be.

I don't even remember how I came across these yummy cake pictures this morning. I am absolutely stunned by them. I am creative, but the kitchen is one area I just can't show it. That does not mean I don't like cooking, I just don't like being in the kitchen any longer than necessary to create a meal. Any meal I can cook in half an hour is great, any more time becomes a chore. Here are some of my favorite recipes . I guess I got that tendency from my mom. She always said that it was such a shame that you spend hours in the kitchen and then in 10 minutes it is all gone. Well here are the links to those cake pictures from Flickr: Icing on the Cake Andrea's SweetCakes Sweet Sweet's

Looking through my download file I saw a free program that I had downloaded recently but not yet installed call FreeMind. I vaguely remember that it can be used to create to do lists and brainstorming. After installing the program I had to figure out how to use it and that sent me on an interesting voyage of discovery. There are a number of YouTube videos with tutorials and explanations. The program is Java based and can be used in any OS. Family Tree created with FreeMind Program The first thing I learned is that mind mapping is a great tool for visual learners. I have discovered a long time ago that we don't do and see things in a linear way, but in a relational way of circles that are overlapping. Reading the information about mind mapping just confirmed my observation. In one video mind mapping was explained like this: "a mind map is the swiss army knife of the brain." After creating my first simple map in FreeMind, my family tree, I will have to study the use of the ...

I have a lifelong interest in dreams. My hubby is a natural at helping people understand their dreams. After being married to him for as long as we have been, it has rubbed off on me and I now can usually interpret my dreams myself. Before you can try to understand your dreams, you have to remember them. Some people never remember their dreams and others are like me that they go through waves of remembering their dreams and then suddenly nothing. I view this like this. The dreams I don't remember have served their purpose and don't need to be remembered. The dreams I do remember have message for me that I should pay attention to. Some dreams explain my current situation and offer support or tell me that I am on the right track. The dreams I find hardest to place are the ones about the future, as I don't know that they are about a future event until that event happens. This weekend I came across a website with an article about understanding the meaning of dreams that comb...

Following my post from two days ago, I had to add this post from a RSS feed I subscribe called Chief Joseph Newsletter . For me this article is the way I see the world, but to some reader it might be very strange. Life, Death, and Plane Crashes Last week, on a cold foggy night in Buffalo, New York, Continental Flight 3407 suddenly spiraled down into a fiery crash five miles from its d estination. John Cali The plane, for those of you who might not know, crashed on its final approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport about 10:20 that dark foggy night in Buffalo. Fifty people died, including all passengers and crew members, plus one man on the ground. The sad events in Buffalo had a particularly poignant personal meaning for me. The next night, as I read about them, my thoughts carried me back to a time lo...

My interests are not mainstream and when I came across this interesting article at the 'Dying to Live Again Foundation website' with a different perspective on Alzheimer's I just had to post it. It is the view of 90 year old woman who has died and found a way to talk to her daughter and explain the last years of her life from the perspective beyond the grave. Patricia on Alzheimer’s Patricia is a 90 year old woman who had died a few months earlier after having Alzheimer’s for 20 years. She is speaking to her daughter. I am so excited, my dear one. I can’t tell you how much I’ve been trying to get to you. I know that there are ways that you can kind of feel me and know that I’m around but you’re not sure what it is all about. Do I have a message? What’s going on? So I can tell you right now that I just wanted you to know I’m with you all. I love you all. Just because my body is not there anymore doesn’t mean that I don’t feel that connection. I actually had the most unusual...