EASY WEEKEND DIY: SIMPLE HANGING LAMP

Image via Hitta Hem

I saw this hanging hand lamp on the Hitta Hem website. On occasion, while walking next to houses that turn on their lights but don't close their curtains, I've noticed that overhead lights are not all that flattering. They usually cover everything in a flat yellowish color, which become apparent if you look at walls that are white in daylight, and yellow at night. One possible way to mix things up is to have multiple light sources. Once easy way to do this, is to hang a hand lamp off a shelf or to a desk, as shown above.  

There are two ways I can see to replicate this: 

1. There is the cheap industrial version from Daniel Woodhead (Search for an incandescent hand lamp or wet location hand lamp). Then add an edison bulb.
2. On the more high end, you can go to West Elm for their wooden cord set, add their selection of edison bulbs, and add a light guard so you can hook it to a shelf. 

YOUR FRIENDLY STRESS REMINDER

There's nothing new under the sun here. I'm not here to blow minds or take names. What I am here to do is to remind you of thoughts that you probably already know, but may tend to forget.

Certain feelings, I have found, are detrimental to the soul. There are certain mental habits that come almost automatically, without conscious thought or action. I consider these fallback emotions; they take over when you are weak or tired or simply reacting. Breaking these habits takes constant vigilance and practice, and possibly random reminders like this one.

One of my personal favorite habits is thinking "Oh, I should have done that." That being whatever was the opposite of the choice I just made. I've never consciously said that, even in my head. The "should have" feeling is just that - a strong negative emotional...intonement. Let's go with that. 

The "should have" feeling is pretty much a guaranteed path to unhappiness. Most decisions are not about life or death. They're just decisions, but when you add the "should have" or "could have" into the mix, decision making becomes a miserable no win situation.  Nothing good comes of thinking in "should have's." It is a bad mental habit. If you have this habit, throw it away. 

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FUN LINKS

Productivity

The Daily Habits of Highly Productive Philosophers

Audiobooks 

Free audiobooks  

Mostly classics, but they're also classics.

Mind 

Free Online Courses 

I'm always on the lookout for ways to continue learning.

Writing:

10 Words to Cut From Your Writing 

It's probably clear by now that I haven't read this. 

Creativity 

Do What You Love: Getting Started 

Body 

How to train for a 19,000-foot mountain hike - when you live at sea level

Eventually, I would like to go to Nepal, and I would also like to return alive. I have this bookmarked.

Food

The Dirty Dozen

If you don't want to buy all organic produce, just buy these.

HOW DARING GREATLY CALMS ME DOWN

Image via Braid Creative

I've been feeling stressed and overwhelmed lately. Strangely enough, listening to Brene Brown's book Daring Greatly on audiobook really helps me to unclench those stress muscles. There is a magical collaboration that takes place between the written content and reader's vocal delivery that just hits the spot. Also, the book is good. 

I don't think I can add anything that hasn't been said already and better, such as by Braid Creative where I got that pic. What I will say is this: the audiobook relieves some of the burden of stress by putting emotion in context. Brown talks a lot about vulnerability, and in doing so she gives it a purpose. You are no longer swimming aimlessly in a sea of discomfort and anxiety, but moving towards a goal. That knowledge, and the repetition of that knowledge, sends a series of neural signals to the part of the brain specifically geared to relax. 

SUCCEEDING AT LIFE WITH ISABEL MARANT

Via

High end fashion is like the island of Santorini in Greece; it is a beautiful jewel in a land far away, and only accessible with a significant investment of cash. Then I came across the above interview with Isabel Marant from the Wall Street Journal magazine. The interviewer is very good; he notices little details about his subject. He notices the way she cuts open and rolls her cigarettes, and the pleasure she takes in simply being herself. 

"I do fashion because I'm happy when somebody gets joy from a new garment. There is a magic side to this."

What is particular to Marant is the deliberate choices she makes to balance between two edges of a spectrum. On the one hand, Marant is a high end fashion label. On the other, she herself embraces a low profile way of life. She notes, "When people meet me, they think this cannot be her, because I look like a bum." It's interesting how despite being immersed in the fashion industry, she can hold herself separate from it, and embrace a separate set of standards for herself that are uniquely and entirely her own.

"If you have a nice house outside of Paris...you have to fix the heater or the roof is broken. I don't need that. On weekends I want to empty my head and be surrounded by green nature and breathe. I need balance." 

So on weekends, she leaves for a cabin in Fountainebleau outside of Paris with no running water or electricity, and this is the other side to being a fashion designer for her: commuting from city to nature and back again. This is her balance. This is what she needs to create.

It's not too far of a reach to say compare writing to design. The goals are the same: the creation of joy. There is alchemy in both.

REJECTION WITH BOUNCE

I love my rejection slips.  They show me I try.

- Sylvia Plath

Long story short, I sent out a draft of my book* to a friend for a review, and the review came back that she had stopped reading at about 70 pages because she just couldn't get into it, and that if you haven't hooked the reader by 70 pages, then you never will because they will stop reading. 

So, the first reaction was feeling that this was a personal stab to the heart; it's like she told me my child looked like a gnome. I don't think that part is avoidable. It was a first draft, and I don't think anyone's first draft comes out anywhere near perfect. I read that part of her email again, and...nope it was still a stab to the heart. 

Then, I did what I did when I was back in college. I used to bounce back quickly back then. I remembered that I really enjoyed self-identifying as a problem-solver. For some reason, rejection never seemed to be a surprise then, it used to be something that just happened, and something that you turned into a problem to be solved. It's an old skill that I used to do instinctively, and that I'd like to learn again. 

I'm going to try to break the 70 pages of unreadability into manageable parts. What exactly worked or didn't? I think her assessment was useful and timely - I'm at a place where I can do something about it, but I would like something more concrete than that she couldn't get through it. I have some guesses on what went wrong, and if I think on it a bit, I can come up with some solutions. So life goes on. 

*Co-book. I've co-written a book, but to lessen confusion, I will use "my."

A PICTURE FOR THE WEEKEND NO. 27

JIHAE AND HER VOICE

I contributed to the Kickstarter campaign to fund Jihae's album. She has one of those deep textured singing voices. It's not exactly pretty, but the kind of voice that pulls its own weight, the box that houses her soul. When she sings, she releases a little bit of soul out into the universe. It's my kind of voice. 

It was probably listening to the pitch that did it for me. Sometimes, when people talk about their passion, you pick up on their enthusiasm, you feel happy that they're happy, and their success becomes yours. That is the essence of a good pitch.  

She included this song on her kickstarter page. I looked up some of her previous music and they're not as good. There's a promise here that better is coming. I believe it. 

ON WHO YOU BECOME

"I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become."

 -  Carl Jung

WEEKEND DIY: WALL BOX SHELVING

Photographer Petra Bindel

I'm not delusional. This is not at all easy and it may take forever - but this is an interesting idea: attaching boxes to walls to act as shelves, and painting the interiors to add a little bit of visual interest. There are two views here, from the front and from the side, to provide a little perspective. Takers?