Weighty Issues, Dead Scrolls ,Happiness and Mixter's on the Road

After working hard for the last few days I finally have a day off and those things that I have taken issue with have piled up! It can be hard to write about issues after your initial furor has boiled over, but hopefully I can still make a few valid points.

It is also hard when you finally have a day where you have to not only catch up on sleep, but also laundry, dog issues and groceries to deal with. I also want to blog,so.....I have planted myself on the livingroom floor, cup of hot coffee, Matt Lauer in the background and issues before me!

First we go back to the "Happiness Project". What’s something you know now about happiness that you didn’t know when you were 18 years old?

I look at my son, and what seems to make him happy, and the difference in what makes me happy these days. I don't look for the big things. I can be happy and smile with a small gesture. A nice Burts Bees chapstick can make me happy. A good walk with my dog. A yummy box of Girl Scout cookies can be a pleasant surprise. I now know that happiness in life, for me and maybe many people, is made up of all the small stuff. Sure the big things can be extra special nice, but they are not the stuff of everyday.

If you’re feeling blue, how do you give yourself a happiness boost? Or, like a “comfort food,” do you have a comfort activity?

Unfortunately I have MANY comfort foods! In the last few years I have also developed "comfort activities". Blogging and journaling have been a great comfort to me. It was initially difficult for me to begin my journaling on my laptop, but once I got over the need for pen and paper I began to love it. Just have to remember to hit "SAVE" every so often!

Now, we move on to religion. You had to know that neither Mixter, nor I, can let a post get by without a passing mention of our current fave topic!

'Biblical scholars have long argued that the Dead Sea Scrolls were the work of an ascetic and celibate Jewish community known as the Essenes, which flourished in the 1st century A.D. in the scorching desert canyons near the Dead Sea. Now a prominent Israeli scholar, Rachel Elior, disputes that the Essenes ever existed at all — a claim that has shaken the bedrock of biblical scholarship.' This comes to us courtesy of Time Magazine. Seems to me, after reading this article, that another of the stories connected to the Bible et al may be just another fabrication with which people used to control/manipulate the peoples. Are we surprised? Only reason that folks will get in to an uproar is because they hate it when their "faith" cage gets rattled.

Finally we get to the turmoil over Meghan Mcains weight. Can we get serious!! Are we actually still so controlled by our high school emotions that a radio chat host would act like a pissed off cheerleader and poke fun at another girls weight?

"Ingraham, using an empty-headed Valley Girl voice, also mocked McCain, saying, "Okay, I was really hoping that I was going to get that role in the Real World, but then I realized that, well, they don't like plus-sized models. They only like the women who look a certain way."

But on Monday, McCain fired back at Ingraham, whom she admitted "I had actually never heard of," before her comments, stating: "It's terrible. It infuriates me. I'm a political writer on a blog and all of a sudden I'm too fat to write? There's no place for weight criticism of women in 2009."

Seems that conservative radio talk person, Laura Ingraham, decided to blast Meghan Mcain not for her politics, but for being fat! Are you kidding me! No matter what Mcains politics I still believe that she can totally speak or write about what ever she likes without her looks or weight coming in to the mix. I think that people who stoop to those tactics are really the ones who are fearful and have inner strength and like to belittle others to make themselves feel better. I applaud Mcains comments and rebuttals! You go girl.

Our girl Mixter is on the road! Yahoo. She landed a cool, new job that is going to require her to be on the road for awhile and living out of a suit case. Blogging in a hotel lobby or library. Hope they won't escort you out of the city as some sort of subversive for your points of view!! Can't wait to hear about her exploits out there in "God Country". even though I did not know that He showed any personal preference. I live in a college town and figure that we are not counted among His favorite places. Too much drinking and debauchery!!

The Happiness Factor

Seems that in these times of economic crisis people are always looking for and interested in information about getting and / or staying happy. I have been a student of the search for several years now. I have come to the conclusion that I can find it and have it whenever I need to, although sometimes it is a bit more difficult to sustain. Especially in these times that we find ourselves in, where we must tighten our budgets and learn to work and live in new ways etc.

Slate magazine has been publishing a series on the search for and what the myths are about happiness.

The series is interesting and makes for a good read. There are things that I agree with as well as not. They do not believe that spending time alone can make you happy. I disagree. Some of the best time that I have spent has been time that I have been alone and devoted to my personal interests. Reading and writing are two things that really are best when done alone. A few years back when I made the move to do these things on a regular basis I feel that I greatly enhanced my happiness level. It still works to this day.

I definitely agree with the idea that a "treat" can cheer you up! Sometimes just a cup of coffee or a lipstick can make my day go from grey to sunny. I have been know to become quite ecstatic at the purchase and use of a new razor!! It can make one quite giddy.

I have also found that when I am happier I attract a better attitude from those around me, especially at work. When I am happier my family is happier. I guess it is a circle.

In these times it can be very difficult. There are things that seem to try our patience at every corner. Finding the rainbow or silver lining can be tedious at best. In my experience it may take some time to find that one thing, or the many things, that can work for you. The day I began to journal was the beginning for me. It also became the best outlet ever! I really look forward to those days.

Not to say that I don't have my dark days or times, but they are becoming much shorter in duration. I have found several things that work for me and I will quickly go to them. With the world wide web at our finger tips it is easy to find the things that can work for you. Your pot of gold at then end of the rainbow.

Also Loving Life

Like my good pal Mixter I too am just loving life right now. This morning it might be -27 with the windchill, I have a stack of bills waiting for an envelope and stamp, trying to plan for Max's open house/graduation party/going away party... the list never ends, but I am loving life right now!! Thanks for making me think about this Mix!!

Yesterday I was enjoying a new beverage that was recently brought to my attention. A few girls, from work, took me out for my birthday. They bought a bottle of a Belgian beer that is infused with fruit, a Lambic, raspberries in this case. It can also be made with peaches, black cherries and apples.

Now, I am not a beer lover at all, but it looked really pretty. An awesome pink color with cool foam similar to champagne. I tried it and LOVED it! A bit sweet, but not too sweet and tasted NOTHING like beer. Only $11.00 for a big bottle. Low alcohol content so nothing that will really mess you up.

As my blogging buddy has stated, she has not been able to find anything pissy to blog about, I too have been having the same thoughts with the exception maybe the Starbucks corporate jet. I understand the timeline of purchasing one and that it is not something that just happens overnight, BUT..... when you are asking your employees to take large cuts in hours, 401K matching is coming to an end, amid lay-offs and closings...... it can tend to piss one off.

When you state that the company is going back to basics and you never get there and then you end up with a jet, in these economic times, you are just begging to piss people off. Your smiling, happy partners are going to tend to get a bit cranky and smile much less. Most of us need to keep our jobs, since they still are giving us health insurance, and tolerate the crap. We are only hopeful that it will get better soon.

If that is all I can find to complain about then I am doing well. Like Mix I am seemingly very happy right now. Strangely nice and wonderful things are going on in my life and that of my family. I am meeting and making some really great new friends, counting Mixter among them, and I seem to be finding less and less to complain about. Granted there are days that seem to go awry, but far less often and when they do I seem to have much more ability to deal with them. One thing that may be contributing is watching less news. I am reading things that are much more enriching rather than debilitating. That has made the biggest difference.

John and I are watching this excellent calming show in the mornings. We Tivo them and watch them over and over. Sunrise Earth on the Discovery channel. They are exactly w3hat you might expect, sunrises in various parts of the world. nothing but nature and water and quiet, calming sunrise. A fantastic way to start your day. Look for it if you can on your cable. You will not be disappointed. A great way to start your day with a cup of coffee.

Thanks again Mixter for getting me to acknowledge my gratitude and recognize how good my life is. It is good to be alive.

Winds of Change

" When we expect happiness to come to us from the outside, we are usually disappointed. Happiness is not guaranteed by sunny weather, a raise in pay, a new car, a beautiful home or anything else of a material nature. External things are often possessed by very unhappy people. Happiness does not come out of a New Year, it comes out of men and women. Life does not change when we hang a new calendar on the wall or when the clock strikes midnight and a New Year begins. The only way life will change for us is when we change ourselves".


- Wilferd A. Peterson