Quote for January.

“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

I am better with songs (You Tube!) and Pictures (vi.sualize.com!), poems, well, no, I am an avid reader, but I read mostly prose, and as for “speaking a few reasonable words” – maybe? Just maybe, I am there…”Hi, how are you?”  does it seem reasonable enough?  Then let’s say I am on track.

Writing comes alive

Source: http://vi.sualize.us/view/kallini2002/e1d44128a6ea9bd8f85354cfbe7bc979/

Let’s fix some of my shortcomings, LOL.

Poems from the calendar:

January: (the page has gone missing)

February (Theme: Symbols of Love):

Love wants love

Sweet kisses and

Smiling hearts

An ocean of chocolate

A paradise of togetherness

March (Theme: New Thinking):

Fashion meaning

From black and white symbols

Smears of grace

Chiseled into balance

April (Theme: April Fools):

Ferocious caramel universe

You speak like a candy animal

In your corduroy yesterday

Flying through clouds of baby growls

May (Theme: Garden of Possibility):

A moment of delirious skin

Showing up in the garden

Delicate essential languid

Shine for me

June (Theme: A Muse of Fire):

Fortune seek no friend or villain

And forswears naught

Bestowing melancholy and grace

Like a maiden drunk with love

July (Theme: Bottle Rockets):

Summer produces a thousand dreams

Of lazy sleep

And rusting feet

And purple fingers full of delirious juice

I will live for these delicate moments

August (Theme: Beach Ball Game Theory of Relativity):

The fat cats hat

Grows slowly

In the clean green ground

September (Theme: Your Song):

Short story or poetry

What plot illustrates my world

A strange in the library

Creates a novel of me

October (Theme: Shadow History):

Delicate whisper of a garden

Incubate a thousands dreams

A shadow of spring in the fall

November (Theme: Food for Thought):

The memory of a chicken

And a pickle as sour as lime

Make me think of people

And our tremendous emotions

December (Theme: Everyday Celebrations):

Remember the rhythm of the ocean

The animal breathing

Of a delicious universe

Source:

http://imgfave.com/popular/page:2

Calendar Wisdom.

I am trying to stick to the monthly assignments from the calendar.  In February, I have not done such a good job.  Not in March, not in April.  The major conclusion: I need to focus.  This month – on flowers, gardens & possibilities.

Garden of Possibility.

May is all about flowers – from nursery rhymes to festivals and traditions all over the world.  The gentle beauty of these blooming plants is a perfect symbol for the growing warmth and ease of the coming summer.  We also celebrate motherhood this month, often with flowers.  This month is an opportunity to recognize the power of new life, of nurturing new things into existence.  Using flowers as a metaphor, consider how the year is progressing.  What has bloomed and what is still coming along?  How does your garden grow?

Quote of the month:

“Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.  I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.”

- Louisa May Alcott

Source: http://www.bloomington.k12.mn.us/indschool/WB/calendar1.jpg

Calendar Wisdom.

For all these (3!) months I have not done well at all.  All of these months I have not succeeded, even in March when I decided to stick to “Success” and “supposedly” made resolutions.  No, to be more specific, I made resolutions; the only problem was I did not carry them through.  But remembering the Art of Reframing, it was not a disaster, but a learning experience.  So, I need a plan, I need motivation, I need to check my progress daily.  I will see what will happen from now on.  But I have to admit that two ideas are firmly planted in my head – Love (February’s theme) and Success (March’s theme), they are unrelated (or so it seems so far!).  I have read a book by Anthony Robbins “Awaken the Giant Within” and I will be quoting him regularly.  I guess I can give myself credit for at least trying to find a way – Anthony Robbins is considered to be a psychologist of change and success, even though his expertise is not indisputable.  Regardless of his credentials, I believe that if I do the exercises that he suggests and take his advice with a pinch of salt, I will do better than without any plan or direction in mind.  I have to stay on track!  I can change almost everything, but it takes time.  So, opening a new chapter…

April Fools.

Perhaps it’s light-hearted nature of Spring that brought about April’s Fool Day, the way it looks like summer one day only to be freezing the next.  Take a moment to inject humour into your day.  See if any of the word tiles below strike your funny bone.  If not, try randomly grabbing words and putting them next to each other.  Take it further: put together those words that seem least likely to be side by side.  Create an absurdist collection of funny language.

Quote of the month:

“Humour is the great thing, the saving thing.  The minute is crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place.”

 - Mark Twain

I tend to think that I have a great sense of humour, but some people just don’t get my jokes and in the worst-case scenario it all turns very ugly.  They may get angry, offended or aggressive.  I think they take themselves way too serious.  Do I have to adjust all the time?  I guess it is a choice…  I always laugh at myself, so it must be a good Sign!

Calendar Wisdom.

I am trying to stick to the monthly assignments from the calendar.  In February, I have not done such a good job.  Even though, I was thinking about love, but I did not write so much about it.  But it certainly made me think.  I even picked a couple of books on dating.  I did not expect to find much in them, but surprisingly enough they opened my eyes.  I even started following the advice given in them.  I hope I will write about some of my experiences in the LOVE department or as we used to say in Russia “on the love front” (I guess, everything is a battle for us!)

But there is a new beginning.  AGAIN.  A new Chapter.  Calendar Chapters are months.  So there is a new month.  March’s theme is “New Thinking”.  The major idea is in order to get where you want or anywhere at all, from point “A” to point “not A”, you need at least to start moving.  Forward, one might assume.  Or backward.  Or in circles (I hope NOT!)  Well…

New Thinking.

Sometimes the challenge of moving forward isn’t simply seeing the path, it’s taking the first step.  And to move our thinking forward, we have to make mental leaps into uncharted territory.  Pick your favorite word in the first line of a poem, using it from the tiles.  Each day use this word in the first line of a poem, using it as differently as possible each day: as a noun, a verb, an adjective, as something good, something bad, as something personal, as something public.  Stretch your imagination and see where one word can take you.

Quote of the month:

“Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

 - Pablo Picasso

So… I am picking the word “SUCCESS”