Introspection

This Year I’m Going To…

/ Ally Bean / 6 Comments

I find that I’m constitutionally incapable of making life altering, deeply personal resolutions when the weather is cold outside and the trees are bare.  I need to leave the specifics of resolutions for the summer months when my mind has a more can do attitude.  In my worldview, warm weather is for thriving and taking on new goals;  cold weather is for surviving and maintaining the status quo.

So instead of resolving at the beginning of each year, I’ve taken to picking one word as my guiding principle for the upcoming year.  I never over think the word that I pick.  I just ask myself a question such as: what do I need to do differently this year to feel more alive?  Then I let my new word float into my mind.  In its own good time.  Very Zen.

And what word finally floated into my addled brain about one week after it should have arrived?  Glad that you asked.  This year my one word is:  NURTURE.

Five Senses Friday

/ Ally Bean / 5 Comments

~ ~ • ~ ~

Feeling:

rather calm considering that:

there are half-finished drapes hanging on the kitchen windows… the house is three-fourths decorated for Christmas… I haven’t begun to figure out what to serve at a party we’re having in two weeks… the handyman guy for the leaky bathroom window is dragging his feet while tightly clutching our money and not doing the repairs… we have a huge muddy mess in our basement where there is a crack in the chimney foundation or a leak in the chimney cap [or both I suppose]… and we have now hired some company to fix our foundation/chimney/cap mess before winter sets in.

Hearing:

the sound of the [new] furnace blower as it keeps our house warm

Tasting:

freshly brewed black coffee

Seeing:

strewn in front of my computer on my desk:

clipboards – white paper printed with info – small yellow legal paper scribbled with ideas – one blue pen – one book – many pink & blue 3×5″ index cards – dust

Smelling: 

not much of anything because allergies have my nose stuffed up

~ ~ • ~ ~

{This wonderful idea is from abby try again.   If you wish, you may play along in the comments below or on your own blog.}

To Comment Or Not To Comment

/ Ally Bean / 15 Comments

Here are assorted musings on one topic.  Make of them what you will.

###

For the past few weeks I’ve made a point of reading new-to-me blogs– and then leaving a comment on the blog.  I’ve found that I’m not alone in doing this.  Many people have stopped by The Spectacled Bean for the first time during November and have left me a first time comment.

I appreciate that effort very much.

###

I know that I’ve seen some bloggers write about how easy it is for them to visit someone else’s blog and toss out a comment.  (Or to hit the “like” button available on some blogs.)  For them interaction via comments is a given– and they do it as a matter of course without any hesitation.

I envy their ability to get involved so easily.  I’m not like that at all.

###

For me, an introvert, it takes a bit of effort to leave a comment on someone’s blog.  Perhaps that’s how all introverts feel.  I don’t know.

All I know is that I’m self-conscious about inserting myself into someone else’s life.  My goal is to encourage with what I say in a comment, but I’m never entirely sure that I carry out my goal.

Good intentions, dubious results.  Perhaps that’s the reality of all earnest people.

### 

I realize that there are always lots of people who lurk on my blog.  Through my stats info I see you out there.  You arrive here at the same time every day, from the same place, and stay long enough to read what I’ve written.  But you never interact with me.  I don’t take it personally– and honestly, I rarely even think about it.  I understand that’s how some people consume blogs– detached and anonymously.

It’s safer that way.

###

I’m always concerned that there will be a misunderstanding about what I say in a comment.

I try to be clear and specific in what I say in comments, but without visual clues there’s no way to know exactly how what I said is being received.  And it’s this sense of vulnerability that slows me down when commenting.  I want to tell my truth and I want to do it with grace– while honoring the thoughts of the blogger who has written the post in the first place.

It’s a delicate balance to do.

###

My Three Rules

/ Ally Bean / 18 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I found this delightful post: “I’m better than Gibbs. I only need three rules.”  It’s written by Jo White aka Mediamum.  I like what she has to say and how she says it.

Reading her post got me thinking about what my 3 rules might be.  Here’s what I decided.

~ ~ • ~ ~ 

1.  Arrive pre-amused.

Swiped this idea directly from The Little Book of Letting Go by Hugh Prather.  Attitude is everything, no?

2.  Embrace complexity.

I started saying this after we moved from a smaller city to this here big city where nothing is straightforward or easy.  Instead of whining about everything, I adopted this point of view.  It has served me well. 

3.  Say thank you.

It’s good manners.  It’s a prayer.  It makes your mother happy.  So why not demonstrate your grasp of successful interpersonal relationships and say it, huh?

~ ~ • ~ ~ 

What are your three rules?  Or do you have more than three a la Leroy Jethro Gibbs?  Please share in comments below– or on your own blog.  We’d love to know.