There's no doubt about it: Self Improvement is big business. No matter where we look we seem to see men attired in business suits and fancy haircuts. Sporting dinky little ear-piece microphones, they speak to us as though we were attending the annual general meeting of their multi-national self-development business which, I suppose, isn’t that far from the truth. They speak to us in sound-bites; “I’m gunna show you how…”, “you just need to follow my plan: no thought required; just follow the plan”. Success and winning, they preach to the audience, are a sure thing.
But is self development a sure thing? If, like me, you believe self development is a life journey that is never completed, you know that the only sure thing is that the search for self development is far from being a sure thing. The journey will entail more failures than successes, more loss than gain and more self-doubt than we think we can endure. The only way to improve one’s self is to challenge the habits and assumptions we have gathered along the way. To go out on a limb with no guarantee of finding what we want takes courage. No ‘success plan’ would contemplate such a course of action!
So, if we can’t get succor from the self improvement ‘gurus’, who can we turn to?
The answer, I believe, is to look to the people who have always explored every single aspect of the human condition. They did not always find the answer, but they all had courage. They are of course, the world’s artists.
How can a painting help us toward our goal of self improvement you might ask? Well, some paintings help to bring serenity and a feeling of inner peace; I feel this whenever I look at an Impressionist painting, especially paintings by Berthe Morisot. She was never recognized as a great artist during her lifetime; she was relegated to the category of "feminine" artists because of her usual subject matter — women, children, and domestic scenes. Her paintings are intensely intimate. She is an example of someone who never gave up on pursuing what she thought was worth while despite being largely ignored.
Jackson Pollock instills different but equally powerful feelings. I used to believe all modern artists “just throw a bit of paint on a canvas and call it art”. My preconceptions were swept away when I was lucky enough to attend an exhibition devoted to his work. His paintings were beautiful and challenged the way I look at a painting. The search for your inner self is all about challenging your currently held notions.
Music is probably the easiest of the arts for us to accept as an aid toward our search for self development. How often does a certain piece of music make us feel happy, relaxed, romantic, hopeful, fulfilled? You name it, music hits all the buttons. My favourite music is anything by Beethoven. His music makes me feel all of the aforementioned. He was a man who accepted nothing less than perfection. He sort redemption through his music. Ultimately, he didn’t find it and he spent much of his life feeling alone. But his courage of conviction made his life, and countless others, a better thing. His last words were "Applaud, my friends, the comedy is over.”
Perhaps our greatest inspiration comes from writers. They have helped me, and millions of others, to find the inner self. Life would be a much poorer experience without our great writers. I won’t name all the writers that have inspired me; there are too many. But if there was one thing I would urge you to do, it is to read. If you’re not sure who to read then go to a library and ask! Tell the librarian what it is that you want to experience, feel or learn when you read a book. They’ll help you; don’t let shyness defeat you. If you can’t get to a library then join a reading club on the internet. The one thing I have found is that people, who love to read, love to help others to read books.
So, forget about buying into those testosterone, succeed-at-all-costs seminars, ebooks and DVDs. Go and look at a painting; or lie on the sofa and listen to music, maybe dance wildly to it, cry with it, make love in time to it; or curl up and read a book that will take you where you never thought possible.
You may not get to where you wished, but Art will accompany you every single step of the way.
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Saturday, October 10, 2009
Jing Si Aphorism - Inspirational Wisdom Quotes by Dharma Master Cheng Yen
Having no inclination
to think in a negative way,
all that we hear will be helpful and
constructive to us
***
Weeds do not easily grow
in a field
planted with vegetables.
Evil dos not easily arise
in a heart
filled with goodness.
***
How can we
expect to accomplish
the big things
if we don’t do
the little things?
***
Stopping halfway is,
in truth,
more difficult and tiring
than persevering
on the path toward
the final goal.
***
To forgive others is in fact being kind to ourselves.
to think in a negative way,
all that we hear will be helpful and
constructive to us
***
Weeds do not easily grow
in a field
planted with vegetables.
Evil dos not easily arise
in a heart
filled with goodness.
***
How can we
expect to accomplish
the big things
if we don’t do
the little things?
***
Stopping halfway is,
in truth,
more difficult and tiring
than persevering
on the path toward
the final goal.
***
To forgive others is in fact being kind to ourselves.
natural mandala. . . rex oxley
* * *
intricate & beautiful
made with natural organic objects
by rex oxley
(so worth a look at the close-ups on his site)
Friday, October 9, 2009
Eggs Benedict
The other morning, I decided to treat myself to a yummy breakfast. Eggs Benedict is something I very rarely get the pleasure of eating. I mean, it's almost the furthest thing from figure-friendly that you can possibly eat. All that butter. That yummy, yummy butter. Anywho, I deserved a treat, if I did say so myself, so I made up a batch. Just for me. And I ate almost the entire batch of hollandaise. By myself. Haven't stepped on a scale since. ;)
This meal really is pretty easy, if you follow the steps correctly. It comes together in minutes and is a really fun breakfast to change things up a bit from the everyday bowl of cereal. Yes, I just confessed that I rarely actually make breakfast. See, by serving such a gourmet breakfast (cereal) most mornings, it doesn't take much to actually impress the fam when I do want to make breakfast. Totally works in my favor! And when I do want to impress with a nice breakfast, I love meals like this that come together so fast but are still showing off more than a bowl of Corn Flakes would.
The sauce is going to be the tricky part. But it's really not that tricky. You have to use a double boiler to make this sauce. You'll need 2 pots (or one pot and a metal bowl). Fill the bottom pot with a couple inches of water, making sure that the water level DOES NOT TOUCH the upper pot. That is EXTREMELY important. If the water does touch the upper pot, your eggs will scramble, which will ruin your sauce. So just do 2-3 inches of water at the very most.
Then place your other pot (or metal bowl) on top to make sure the water level will not end up touching the bottom of the upper pot (or metal bowl). Then take it off the top BEFORE you turn your burner on to bring the water to a boil. That is the second VERY important part. You need to add the sauce ingredients to a COLD pot (or bowl), otherwise, again, the eggs will scramble.
Ready?? ;) On we go!
Hollandaise ingredients:
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup butter, brought to room temperature and cut into thirds
1 teaspoon salt**
Bring water to a boil. Meanwhile, crack eggs, discarding the whites (or save them for a more waistline-friendly breakfast later in the week, since you'll need it after this dish!). Place yolks into your COLD upper pot (or metal bowl). Then add lemon juice, water and salt.
**NOTE: If your butter is salted, OMIT the salt**
Now place on top of the other pot. Whisk CONSTANTLY. When eggs start to slightly thicken, add first 1/3 of the butter. Once that is melted, add the next 1/3. Repeat with the remaining 1/3. Whisk another minute or two, until sauce is very smooth and thickens slightly. Remove from heat IMMEDIATELY.
To assemble Eggs Benedict: Toast English muffins. Top each half with a slice of Canadian bacon (or thinly sliced deli ham works fine, too, if you have that on hand!), then a poached egg (I like my yolks to be runny still for this dish, so I only poach the eggs for about 3 minutes), then smother with sauce. Face it, you're gonna gain like 2 pounds just by looking at it, so be generous with the sauce!! Enjoy. Then go for a run. 10 miles should do it.
This meal really is pretty easy, if you follow the steps correctly. It comes together in minutes and is a really fun breakfast to change things up a bit from the everyday bowl of cereal. Yes, I just confessed that I rarely actually make breakfast. See, by serving such a gourmet breakfast (cereal) most mornings, it doesn't take much to actually impress the fam when I do want to make breakfast. Totally works in my favor! And when I do want to impress with a nice breakfast, I love meals like this that come together so fast but are still showing off more than a bowl of Corn Flakes would.
The sauce is going to be the tricky part. But it's really not that tricky. You have to use a double boiler to make this sauce. You'll need 2 pots (or one pot and a metal bowl). Fill the bottom pot with a couple inches of water, making sure that the water level DOES NOT TOUCH the upper pot. That is EXTREMELY important. If the water does touch the upper pot, your eggs will scramble, which will ruin your sauce. So just do 2-3 inches of water at the very most.
Then place your other pot (or metal bowl) on top to make sure the water level will not end up touching the bottom of the upper pot (or metal bowl). Then take it off the top BEFORE you turn your burner on to bring the water to a boil. That is the second VERY important part. You need to add the sauce ingredients to a COLD pot (or bowl), otherwise, again, the eggs will scramble.
Ready?? ;) On we go!
Hollandaise ingredients:
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup butter, brought to room temperature and cut into thirds
1 teaspoon salt**
Bring water to a boil. Meanwhile, crack eggs, discarding the whites (or save them for a more waistline-friendly breakfast later in the week, since you'll need it after this dish!). Place yolks into your COLD upper pot (or metal bowl). Then add lemon juice, water and salt.
**NOTE: If your butter is salted, OMIT the salt**
Now place on top of the other pot. Whisk CONSTANTLY. When eggs start to slightly thicken, add first 1/3 of the butter. Once that is melted, add the next 1/3. Repeat with the remaining 1/3. Whisk another minute or two, until sauce is very smooth and thickens slightly. Remove from heat IMMEDIATELY.
To assemble Eggs Benedict: Toast English muffins. Top each half with a slice of Canadian bacon (or thinly sliced deli ham works fine, too, if you have that on hand!), then a poached egg (I like my yolks to be runny still for this dish, so I only poach the eggs for about 3 minutes), then smother with sauce. Face it, you're gonna gain like 2 pounds just by looking at it, so be generous with the sauce!! Enjoy. Then go for a run. 10 miles should do it.
What's your favorite I-don't-care-if-I-gain-10-pounds breakfast?
Digital Inspiration - Technology Blog - 3 new articles
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When all you want to do is write, a distraction-free writing tool can come really handy as it will automatically hide all the distractions on the desktop and you can therefore concentrate on your writing.
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twiggy.
via google.
meine stilikone.
twiggy.
endlich wochenende :)
was habt ihr schönes geplant?
♥
p.s.: kleine ebay-erinnerung!
:)
twiggy.
endlich wochenende :)
was habt ihr schönes geplant?
♥
p.s.: kleine ebay-erinnerung!
:)
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Digital Inspiration - Technology Blog - 4 new articles
|
Virtualization, in simple English, is a interesting technology that helps you run multiple operating systems on the same machine.
As we amass more data daily on our computers, a quality backup plan becomes increasingly crucial. Backup programs have been in existence for years – some allow you to backup your computer files locally to an external hard disk or a portable drive,...
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Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Beef Stew
It's like 2 degrees outside...and supposed to be Spring. Seeing that this is my last week of "freedom", I figured I'd make a beef stew since it takes a long time. I'm also running pretty low on $$, even for budget gourmet, since this $200 I was expecting didn't come through. (I write this as an act of spite, of course). So with time and no money and freezing weather, the only logical conclusion is beef stew!
--
Gourmet Inspired Tip: I'm sure everyone knows this - you can't hurry stew. The longer the better. Seriously, if a recipe says 1 1/2 hours undisturbed, leave it for 2. Since I'm not married and have lived in 6 different places over the past 5 years (I've finally stayed in one spot for over 12 months last year) - I do not own something like a casserole dish - so I had to use a large metal saucepan instead. The trick I discovered, is to line your metal saucepan with baking paper on the bottom and another layer of paper over your cooking ingredients. The paper acts as a barrier against the intense heat of the metal to prevent scorching - and makes clean up a lot lot easier!
Hearty Beef Stew
Ingredients:
500 g beef - cubed
1/2 cup flour
1 tbs paprika
1 parsnip, cubed
1 carrot, chopped
3 small onions, chopped roughly
4 potatoes, cut
250 ml red wine
Salt and pepper to taste
NB: We had some tops of some leek in the fridge, which worked really really nicely in the mix as well
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine flour and paprika and lightly coat each piece of beef.
In a casserole dish (or large pot with lid - lined with baking paper), layer your beef pieces on the bottom spacing evenly. Put vegetables on top and stir gently to mix, making sure all of your pieces stay within the confines of the baking paper walls if you've got it on the botoom. Pour in wine and water. Cover entire mixture with another piece of baking paper and put on lid.
Cook in oven for at least 2 hours. The longer the better. The extra 45 mins will do wonders to tenderise the meat.
Season to taste and serve.
--
Gourmet Inspired Tip: I'm sure everyone knows this - you can't hurry stew. The longer the better. Seriously, if a recipe says 1 1/2 hours undisturbed, leave it for 2. Since I'm not married and have lived in 6 different places over the past 5 years (I've finally stayed in one spot for over 12 months last year) - I do not own something like a casserole dish - so I had to use a large metal saucepan instead. The trick I discovered, is to line your metal saucepan with baking paper on the bottom and another layer of paper over your cooking ingredients. The paper acts as a barrier against the intense heat of the metal to prevent scorching - and makes clean up a lot lot easier!
Hearty Beef Stew
Ingredients:
500 g beef - cubed
1/2 cup flour
1 tbs paprika
1 parsnip, cubed
1 carrot, chopped
3 small onions, chopped roughly
4 potatoes, cut
250 ml red wine
Salt and pepper to taste
NB: We had some tops of some leek in the fridge, which worked really really nicely in the mix as well
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine flour and paprika and lightly coat each piece of beef.
In a casserole dish (or large pot with lid - lined with baking paper), layer your beef pieces on the bottom spacing evenly. Put vegetables on top and stir gently to mix, making sure all of your pieces stay within the confines of the baking paper walls if you've got it on the botoom. Pour in wine and water. Cover entire mixture with another piece of baking paper and put on lid.
Cook in oven for at least 2 hours. The longer the better. The extra 45 mins will do wonders to tenderise the meat.
Season to taste and serve.
Digital Inspiration - Technology Blog - 4 new articles
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If you are not a geek, let me explain the logic of this very simple program.
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Tuesday, October 6, 2009
New Work - Exterior colours
(below) Main House - Before
New Garage/Studio with Main House behind - After
Here is another collaboration with Minty Architecture. A new garage with a studio above was designed and built on the street in front of the existing house (see top photo).
This house is located on a street that has a reputation for brightly coloured houses and the clients wanted to carry on the tradition. One half the client duo wanted to keep the overall exterior scheme simple and the other half loved purple.
So this scheme was pulled together - we went bold on the weatherboards and doors and we balanced this with white trims and neutral greys. It has a slight Scandi feel about it. We put the much loved purple on the front door of the main house and on the letterbox.
The colours has been getting great response on the street, the clients are delighted and even our star builder, Euan likes it. Sweet.
Photos by Charlotte Minty.
Digital Inspiration - Technology Blog - 4 new articles
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Yahoo’s Easter Egg
Google India is giving away free AdWords coupons to businesses who own a website but have never used the Google platform before to advertise their website on the Internet.
The number for Facebook in India is 9232232665. That may sound a bit complex but it’s actually very easy to remember because if you break it down, the last eight digits of the phone number would spell as ‘facebook’.
Some of may know that Facebook provides a desktop client –
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