We all have dreams and desires. For many of us, our dreams are something we put on the back burner, never really believing they can be achieved anyway.
In this book, author Henriette Anne Klauser, Ph.D., explains how simply writing down your goals in life is the first step toward achieving them. Whether you want to find the perfect job in the city of your dreams, live in a cottage by the sea, or find your soul mate, Write it Down, Make it Happen will help turn your dreams into realities. Seeing your desires written down in front of you sends a signal to yourself that you are ready to make them happen.
Write it Down, Make it Happen guides you, step-by-step, through examples and exercises. You will read inspiring stories of successful people who have created the lives that they longed for. Klauser's exercises will help you discover your passions and your fears. Soon, through the simple act of writing things down, you will be on your way to living what you before, only dared to dream!
What are you waiting for? Start living your dreams!
When I am, (craving sound advice with a bit of whimsy) I love to read Dr. Seuss. What a brilliant man. I love him and every one of his characters! It takes me back to childhood with the fun and the rhyme, but I love and understand his genius so much more as an adult!
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..." ~ Dr. Seuss (Oh, the Places You'll Go!)
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." ~ Dr. Seuss
"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You." ~Dr. Seuss (Happy Birthday to You!)
"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." ~ Dr. Seuss
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Thank you, Dr. Seuss...
"From the bottom of my heart to the tips of my hair, I will love you forever, I will," I declare!
Hey now - don't hit the beach without a great book this summer! The Mermaids recommend a number of great books and you can buy them right through our website.
Perhaps you are really happy today -you are feeling quite content with yourself. Or, maybe your aren't? There's a good chance that something or a variety of things aren't right in your life and you'd like to change them.
What will it take to feel this happy?
Change can take time, but good things can happen with a concerted effort. One way to learn how to define what you want and go after it, is by reading "Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy."
This book has been on my nightstand for years and I love it! You will too!
Well written, well researched historical fiction is like a drug to me. I can't get enough of it. That's why I enjoy Tracy Chevalier's works. Most of us are familiar with her bestseller Girl With A Pearl Earring,the story based on the artist Vermeer and a fictionalized servant in his household. The characters in Chevalier's books are women in limiting circumstances. Each of her works explores the contrasts of gender, social class, and education in a period of history. She then finds similarities within the divergent groups. Her latest, Remarkable Creatures continues this theme.
Here is what Chevalier says about her story as quoted from her website:
"Remarkable Creaturesis the story of Mary Anning, who has a talent for finding fossils, and whose discovery of ancient marine reptiles such as that ichthyosaur shakes the scientific community and leads to new ways of thinking about the creation of the world. Working in an arena dominated by middle-class men, however, Mary finds herself out of step with her working-class background. In danger of being an outcast in her community, she takes solace in an unlikely friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, a prickly London spinster with her own passion for fossils. The strong bond between Mary and Elizabeth sees them through struggles with poverty, rivalry and ostracism, as well as the physical dangers of their chosen obsession. It reminds us that friendship can outlast storms and landslides, anger and and jealousy."
Chevalier's title describes the fossils the women search for, as well as the women themselves. While this story is not a rip-roaring ride through history, it does serve to remind the of the reader of the struggles of the women who came before us. I recommend Remarkable Creatures for bookclub reading, as it has fuel for amazing discussion about women's issues from a historical perspective and where we are as a gender today.
Karen's blog, Influence By Design, is packed with ideas and observations that help women tap into their true potential. She offers this free bookmark to readers. I have one, it's a great reminder that we can have influence in all situations.
Get your free gift from Dr. Karen Keller!
Karen Keller, Ph.D. is the Influence It! Life Coach for women and creator of the website Real Power For Women Who Want It.Unlike other psychologists, Karen is also a Master Certified Coach and the only modern-day teacher of influence as a way of inner thinking and being...then ultimately doing for having more of what you (really) want. Her first book, "Stepping Stone to Success: Experts Share Strategies For Mastering Business, Life & Relationships"with Deepak Chopra, Jack Canfield, and Denis Waitley is expect to come out soon. Experience the gift of inner influence for power decision making by subscribing to Karen's highly recognized blog for women, Influence By Design. @KarenKeller
My new favorite thing this week is "Eat This, Not That - Supermarket Survival Guide," by David Zinczenko.
In my house, I am the primary shopper for everything from shoes to milk. Each week, I go to the grocery store to buy a big order of food for my family.
From daily sandwiches to dinner menus, I am planning them all while trying to make healthy food. It's a big job, but someone's got to do it; and I think I do it pretty well.
But, until reading this book, I thought was doing a fairly good job! Now, I see that even products that are clearly labeled as being "healthy" or "good for you," are not. False advertising seems to abound in food marketing these days.
According to the book, "Quaker 100% Natural Granola, Oats, Honey & Raisins," a product we eat regularly is just as sugary as Cocoa Pebbles! In fact, if we ate Cocoa Pebbles instead of the Granola, we could eat twice as much for the fat and fiber content. And here I thought granola was good for you!
Good thing - Veggie rundown
The listing of vitamins in fruits and veggies in this book is very cool. In one week I have already revised how much fruit we are eating throughout the day; and what vegetables to make at dinner. With each fruit of nature there is detail about the vitamin and fiber content plus overall benefits.
Great thing - Salad bar survival guide
If you like to go to the salad bar at lunch, you may wish to visit this section of the book. It details which items to snarf down on and which to leave in the little plastic serving bowls.
Good cheeses - who knew?
There is a section on cheeses with associated health values. Yes! I knew that somehow cheese would be declared as good someday. However, the only caveat is that some of these cheeses are expensive. I guess you really get what you pay for with Kraft Singles, vs Manchego.
The perfect pantry
This is awesome because you can get a great idea of common foods to carry in your pantry. They also do this with the Spice Rack. For example, my new favorite food, Quinoa, is a great pantry staple! It's super healthy and delicious with anything.
Size of books and variety
These books are great to leave on your coffee table to browse while you are watching TV at night. They have become an empire if their selection on Amazon is any indication.
Now you can buy this book right through Mermaids of the Lake! Hooray!
This past Sunday, January 24 was declared the most depressing day of the year by a British psychologist named Dr. Cliff Arnall. It was calculated based upon a number of factors that depression for the year hit its peak that day.
Perhaps your diet has already failed, you are no longer going to the gym, and you miss the socialization of the holidays? All of these factors combined might make for a tough end of the month for you in early 2010.
But there's hope! In this book called, "Secrets of Longevity, Hundreds of Ways to Live to be 100" by Dr. Maoshing Ni, there are a plethora of ideas for not just living right now in January 2010; but long term in 2020, 2030, 2040, and beyond.
A good long life can sometimes be more about balance than fad diets.
We three Mermaids are avid readers. This time of year it is a fun tradition to read a Christmas or holiday book. I have several that I read every year or so and I also love to choose a new one each year.
My new choice this year is: Little Ellie Claus, By James Manos Junior
This sweet little novel, by Emmy award winning-author, James Manos Jr. is a gift of love and hope for the Christmas season. Set in 1933, it is a magical tale for young and old filled with sweet, gentle humor and heart-felt emotion. more
We each chose a favorite this year to review for our Mermaids of the Lake holiday issue. Please read our reviews here.
Wouldn't it be fun to pick a special book each year and read it together as a family?
What are you reading this time of year? Do you have a holiday favorite? Please leave us a comment and let us know. We would love to add to our list of favorites.
Book review - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Review by: Mermaid Jennifer
This book was released in probably the most timely manner possible during the upswing of the Green Movement of late 2007. For all of 2008, we heard nothing but news about how to live better, eat better, work better. All of us sat up around our take-out pizzas and said, "Oh my gosh - do all of our habits as humans really hurt the planet, our bodies, and future generations?"
While the green movement is still valuable, it seems to be leveling off in the media. This book by Barbara Kingsolver, although released during the height of all of the hullabaloo is as timeless as my grandfather's- J.Crew chinos worn 50 years before they became popular in glossy catalogs.
It is a book that is imminently readable because of how Kingsolver writes about not only the nature of growing food and raising animals - but how her family interacts with the scenario. "This is not a book aimed at getting you cranking out your own food. We ourselves live in a region where every other house has a garden out back, but to many urban people the idea of growing your food must seem as plausible as writing and conducting your own symphonies for your personal listening pleasure," she extrapolates.
Kingsolver, an established novelist, essayist, and poetess, among other things, is not here to prove that she can tell a good story - although she can. She included her family in the writing of the book because they were real people within the story who were learning to adapt to making their own cheeses; gathering eggs; and spending Friday nights baking pizza from the vegetables in the garden.
One thing that I love about this book is that at the end of the day, despite our work and even what we've eaten or accomplished; it is our family relationships that matter. Kingsolver demonstrates this through her stories of the family interacting in the kitchen and communicating. This my friends is a task that I certainly haven't mastered as when I cook I prefer to not have others looking suspiciously over my shoulder at my techniques. Kingsolver invites them all in for canning beans and plucking chickens.
Her husband, Steven L. Hopp educates us on the political and social perspectives of what we eat and where we stuff it. Daughter, Camille Kingsolver, already a gem in my book because she is a yoga teacher; shares how the change from just eating the food of the world to growing and eating your own food changed her life. "I have a confession to make," she writes, "Five months into my family's year of devoted local eating, I moved out. Not because the hours of canning tomatoes in early August drove me insane or because I was overcome by insatiable cravings for tropical fruit. I just went to college."
She goes on to share how she began to look around the cafeteria and wonder how the t-shirt clad squints could be eating the limp lettuce in the salads. She didn't don a caftan and take up a piece of poster board to share her concerns about their food reality in front of the student union building, however. "...because who really cares when there are basketball games and frat parties to talk about?" she notes.
But what she did realize is how much she missed the seriously delicious food grown right from the earth on her family soil. She also because to realize how as much as we can bury our heads in a box of Froot Loops to hide from the future of our planet and stomachs - the reality is coming.
Now, as a family who does plant the two tomato plants and one zucchini plant a season, it's not likely that we are going to get into raising chickens or tracking down heirloom seeds to foster the weak soil in our garden. This book however, did bring an awareness to me in how I should go about feeding my own family. It impacted how I think of casually picking up a bunch of bananas that happen to be at Safeway; but have traveled over 4,000 miles to get to the fruit bowl on my table.
After reading the book, I began buying my eggs from the Liberty Lake Farmer's Market in the summer. The chickens are happily roaming a local property eating well and feeling happy. The eggs cost more, and they aren't bleached out white and clean like the prim grocery variety.
So if you decide to read this book - read it to enjoy it. Try some of the fun recipes, and let the book work on your mindset about food to become something appropriate for you.
Ways to change your food thinking for the better:
- Try sitting at a table with your family to eat in the evenings. If you don't have a outside commitment, gather at the table to eat and talk.
- Try slow cooking your food. The aroma in the home when you return from work is amazing and all of the prep work has been done. Then eat together!
- Go to your local Farmer's Market and buy food grown locally that is in season. Then eat it!
- Grow your own garden according to the seasons of where you live and your own tastes.
- Eat organic food and support those who are making an effort to remove chemicals from our food.
- Resist buying produce that is out of season and that must come from thousands of miles away. Try to buy produce that is local or in season at least somewhere close to where you live.
Advertising with the Mermaids... is a great way to get your business noticed. The Mermaids of the Lake website is an online magazine, reaching thousands of readers.
