Happy Friday! It’s here again, along with our weekly tidbits. We hope that something here will interest you, make you smile, and give you something to think about. Have a look and let us know in the comments. Have a wonderful day!
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You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
a a milne
Do you believe this of yourself? I find that I as I get older it’s getting easier to believe in myself. Maybe it’s because I am caring less and less about what other people think of me. Maybe it’s because life is pretty busy these days and I don’t even have time to think about what I think people are thinking of me. I’ve wasted far too much time worrying about other people’s opinions of me but now, I don’t care anymore. Well, I care far less than I used to.
A therapist once said to me that there are always going to be people in the world who are talking about me, but what they say is only their memory or their concept of me. It actually has little to do with who I am. This idea resulted in a shift in my thinking. It made me see that the chatter is all irrelevant. People talk. But I’m here living my life and one has very little to do with the other.
I love the story this woman tells in this video. I hear this woman speaking to me during those moments when I get too self-conscious and start worrying about how people perceive me. She’s telling me to let it go. Stop the worrying. Be myself. Be true to who I am and who I want to be because “other people’s perception of you, ain’t none of your business.” – Cris
“It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.” Anthony Bourdain
For the past two years, I have been down a reading rabbit hole, exploring various paths in my quest to better understand Italy, the land of my ancestors, and Italians. My reading on this journey has been eclectic and fascinating. People are complicated . .
I’ve just started this one, and I’ve got another one lined up. I think I’ll stop then and try to write about the little I’ve learned.
Most of these books have been on my bookshelves for years, so I feel I am “doing the bird thing”: expanding my knowledge while slowly decreasing the number of unread books I have.
What kind of reading do you do? – Maria
One of my sons has created this for his bedroom/workspace. It is unique, colourful, and practical; all he does is remove the “Not” to signify to his housemates that work is in progress and he should not be disturbed unless it is for an important reason. Reminder to me: minimize frantic summoning for tech support, especially if all that is required is to turn on/turn off . . .
Also, his sign is environmentally appropriate, as it is made from scrap paper and pencil crayons that are just sitting, waiting to do their job. Win, win, win.
Do you have any fun, creative ways of recycling or reusing? Let us know in the comments. – Maria
One of our main caregiving tasks, on the days we go to our mother’s house, is to cook a meal for her. If I cook chicken, I always use this pot. I think it’s called a Dutch oven. I am grateful that my mother has this pot as it works very well; the chicken does not stick, it cooks quickly, and the pot retains heat for a long time. It is heavy, but serves its purpose well. I love the colour too!
Do you have a favourite pot? Tell us a little about it in the comments. – Maria
This is one of my favourite children’s books. Certainly my favourite Robert Munsch book. I took my children to see him live and he performed this book. His shows were always performances, he didn’t just read his books out loud.
This is the story where the girl outsmarts the dragon, dumps the boy, and probably saves the world as an adult. It’s all about female empowerment. I read this book over and over to my girls because I thought they needed to hear it and probably even because I needed to hear it. Elisabeth isn’t scared of a fire breathing dragon, she dumps the prince because he treats her poorly and she’s happy to be dancing down the street wearing nothing but a paper bag!
This is a story about women holding onto their power, using their intelligence and seeing their worth. I think I’m going to go through my box of children’s books and read it again.
Have you read this story? – Cris
A little but related to the first part. Something I’ve noticed is some people can get very upset if you don’t “listen” to their advice. I say “yes I did listen. I gave your advice some careful thought, and I either decided it wasn’t right for me, or not right for me Right Now, or to only partially act on it. That doesn’t mean I didn’t value it.” This seems to annoy a lot of people. What do you think?
I’d never thought about the Paper Bag Princess like that before 😮 . If anyone is interested in a similar premise but aimed at audiences a little older (say 9-12 maybe?) I recommend The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, which begins with a book called Dealing With Dragons. It’s about a princess named Cimorene who refuses to be a Proper Princess and get married to a stuck-up prince, so she runs away to try to get herself “kidnapped” by a dragon.
I completely understand. Especially when the advice is unasked for or the advice-giver seems to think they know what is best for us, the conversation can be difficult to navigate. It has made me more careful and strategic regarding who I share difficulties with. Also, I will sometimes state beforehand that I am not looking for advice to try and avoid this upsetness.
Those stories are great. Thanks for the summary.