SHINER WOODBLOCK PRINTS

Here's a good idea from Shiner. If you take a lot of Instagram photos, Shiner will mount them on pine blocks, each 3.5"x 3.5"x .75."

All images via Shiner.

THE CONTRADICTION OF SILENCE: SHORT FILM FROM CHOREOGRAPHER ALEXANDER EKMAN

The Contradiction of Silence from Bolon on Vimeo.

MENTAL OBSTACLES

There is a mental audience inside every writer, every artist, every person that creates. This is something that I believe exists, like a literary Santa Claus. I think it's a part of human nature to create an audience, and this…is a problem.

Ever pandered to an audience? It's reflexive. They like something, you give them more. They don't like it, you stop. Cause and effect. Here's what my mental audience is like: it fluctuates a lot - sometimes it's people I know, sometimes members of my family, sometimes it's co-workers, and sometimes it's just a mass of faceless strangers, but the quality they have in common, is that they are complete @$$holes. If you've read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, I believe she referred to a radio station running through her head called K-F*cked. You see where I'm going with this?

The easiest way to keep writing, to keep going, is to clear the audience out. That's why I emphasize simplicity. That's what I got from the Dalai Lama talk.* So you don't write while considering what other people will think, you choose your one goal (singular), and move towards it. You screen everything else out. I like the quote above: your goal is to create beauty, and no one else matters. The clearer the mind, the easier the goal is to reach. 

* The Dalai Lama post on Happiness, where he distilled happiness into really simple ideas: focusing on others, being part of a community. And you're done. If you meet him, he's one happy guy. 

A PICTURE FOR THE WEEKEND NO. 29

I thought I would try to end the week on a calming note. I like the colors here, the two tiny people on the hill. Honestly, though, it's not all that high. 

BETTER WORLD BOOKS: THE AMAZON ALTERNATIVE

Who is Better World Books? from Better World Books on Vimeo.

Better World Books (BWB) sells books online. Shipping is free. BWB then uses the money from books sold to fund literacy projects both in the US and internationally. BWB makes a book donation for every book sold, book for book. 

If that's not enough: 

"In addition to selling new titles, Better World Books supports book drives and collects used books and textbooks through a network of over 2,300 college campuses and partnerships with over 3,000 libraries nationwide. So far, the company has converted more than 117 million books into over $15 million in funding for literacy and education. In the process, we’ve also diverted more than 73,000 tons of books from landfills."  

As a bonus, they even have shipping that is carbon balanced by Green-e climate certified offsets approved by 3 Degrees.

They even sell eBooks and used audiobooks. I checked. I'm trying to think of reasons not to buy from them, but until I can, you should check them out.

THE DALAI LAMA PHILOSOPHY OF HAPPINESS

There were no cameras allowed at the Dalai Lama talk. No computers. No cell phones. No photographic instruments of any kind. What was allowed? Babies. The kind that scream. There were a few of those, and then there I was at the very back of the balcony, with a notebook and a pen.

I just want to give a little background to what I am about to share, so you can add a little salt to this post, in place of an absolute truth.  

The Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of the Buddha of compassion. His topic was a good one: How to Achieve Happiness. Happiness is a buzz word: it grabs most people's attention, and if you attach "how to" anywhere near it, you pretty much have a captive audience. 

He had about one hour to answer this elusive question, and to also fit in a brief audience Q & A. So what he provided were his conclusions, and then some supporting stories.

My notes follow below in red, but before I write down what he said, I want to take a moment to describe the Dalai Lama, just the visual impression, because if you just sit and observe, and watch him as he speaks, there is a lightness in him. He's joyful. He has a really good sense of humor. When he talks about happiness, he also happens to embody it.

Here are my notes: 

Focus on others and oneness, rather than self:

"A self-centered attitude is contrary to happiness… mentally, emotionally, spiritually, we are the same."  

"We are social animals, we need to work together in a oneness of humanity."  

"If there is too much emphasis on the self, you make yourself a prisoner.  The oneness of humanity is very essential."

"We all come from the same God. Everyone has the spark of God. If you do good, you get the benefit."  

Money does not lead to happiness:

"Money leads to physical comfort, but not happiness of the mind. Happiness depends on internal values." 

He then told the story about his friend who lived in a small house by the side of a mountain. This man ate only bread and water. He spent his days in meditation.  However, when you looked into his eyes, you saw that his eyes overflowed with happiness.

How do you reconcile the first notion that humans are social animals with this man's isolated happiness? I thought about this. It may be that meditation is a form of socialization. Through meditation, you connect to a universal truth, or oneness, and this connection is a social connection.  

On Faith:

"The purpose of faith is to be more compassionate."

"It shows a lack of firm convictions if you want more edicts."

On Death:

"Death is changing old clothes. Change of body, not self. Self remains."  

"When you liberate from ignorance and destructive emotion, that is salvation." 

In the aftermath, I read my notes out loud to someone, who disagreed with pretty much every statement here. It didn't occur to me that these statements were controversial. I thought they sounded very simple, and wondered how I could apply while I was commuting to work or making dinner.*     

What do you think? Is this useful?

*As an aside here, there was also a huge protest outside the building where the talk took place. People were chanting for the Dalai Lama to give and stop lying. I can't help thinking that there are better ways to spend your Saturday morning. 

FRIDAY MUSIC: LYKKE LI

FUN LINKS

Apps

Notabli

This app allows you to share pictures, video, quotes, and other memories with your network of family and friends. This is being promoted for people with kids to share and preserve memories. I, however, can think of many other uses, such as if you're collaborating with people and want to share ideas in different formats. There is a lot of untapped potential here. 

Style

This outfit

It's kind of mysterious. I sometimes try to get away with that air of mystery, but it never works as well as this.

Motivation

The Complete Guide to Not Giving a Fuck

Sometimes, I try to include articles about staying calm, about not multi-tasking, about training and restructuring your thought processes. Simplification. Here is one more great way to simplify it up. Just stop giving a fuck. Nothing more simple than that.

Health

Exercises for your midsection

I divide up exercises into what body part they are meant to address: running to build up leg muscles, yoga for arm strength (climbing if you really want definition), and then exercises like these for that part between the arms and legs. That part.

Career

What Should I Do With My Life?

I'm in transition right now and looking at a lot of different perspectives as to where to go. Here's a good one to think about. 

Mind

4 Ways to Make Your Brain Work Better

Brain training! Yay! There is a podcast linked to this article, where the author explains in greater detail how to optimize the workings of your brain. The podcast takes more time, but probes a little deeper. If you manage to optimize the way your brain functions, then your reward will be focus and contentment. It's not a bad goal. 

Writing

How to Get Reviews For Your Book (Without Begging, Bribing or Resorting to Subterfuge)

This post kind of speaks for itself right? 

MILEY SHAMING

I went to a Miley Cyrus concert.

This is normally something that I would file under "Nobody Cares," and then move right along with the next topic. Ironically, the next topic would be the Dalai Lama, who I saw in the same week. Except, a few little things happened to make me reconsider.  

When I mentioned to a friend I was going, her reply: "That's great - oh wait - that's horrible."

Other reactions: "I'd be embarrassed."

Then you feel that slight twinge - the need to justify yourself or whatever it is that you're doing. It's an instinctive reaction in the face of criticism, or in this case, the shaming. I've gotten to the point when I recognize the twinge for what it is, a reaction, and ignore it. 

It's interesting the things that will set people off. Not only would they never go to that concert, but you shouldn't go either. Or if you go - you shouldn't tell people about it. You should treat this like an STD. It should be a secret. 

With these pleasant thoughts in mind, I decided to go ahead and write this post, something that I otherwise would consider not that interesting. If this is not obvious, then I'll go ahead and say this now: this is not a blog about me and about my life, it's about ideas, observations, beauty, simplicity, a slight infatuation with interior design (I'll admit to that), and topics that will ideally make life a bit more enjoyable. That's right - I went from talking about a Miley Cyrus concert to talking about making life better. Here's how I went from one to the other:

Sometimes, when you find someone interesting, there is a quality that person possesses that you admire. What I like about Miley is that she doesn't care about the people that hate her (and there are a lot of those out there), she focuses her energy on the people that care about her, her fans. That's a good policy. There really is nothing worse than bending over backwards to try to please everyone. 

Now if, say, you do happen upon her in concert, share! Miley knows how to show you a good time. 

KARL LAGERFELD ON MOTIVES

“Beauty—or the desire to be beautiful—is in itself a dangerous motivation. Someone (I forgot who) once said, ‘Does the person who loves someone for their beauty really love them?’ So don’t focus on beauty ... a respectable appearance is sufficient to make people more interested in your soul. It is the sum of our experiences that makes us interesting, and having been through a time in your life in which you were in a bad place (or what you perceived as a bad place) physically, can be useful. It can even be necessary.”
- Karl Lagerfeld (Yes, that Karl Lagerfeld), The Karl Lagerfeld Diet

He holds a metaphorical sword of Damocles over all his friendships. He stole his friend's adorable cat. When he decides to open his mouth, it's sometimes good to keep track, because usually it will be undeniably unique, and you will never see it coming.