Tag Archives: Positive Affirmation

The 02/04/13 Joy Jar

3 Feb

There was about a thirty-five minute delay in the 2013 Superbowl when a power surge caused the lights to go out in the Superdome. Players waited anxiously on the field for the lights to come on. The lights came on and play resumed where it had been halted. Sometimes, not often, in dress rehearsals something doesn’t go according to plan and the production has to be halted to make a fix. Then, on cue the actors and artists usually proceed without missing a beat. There is a lesson for all. Often, grace under pressure allows the game, the play, and life to go on. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is grace under pressure.

 

Courage is grace under pressure.
Ernest Hemingway

 

When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.
Peter Marshall

The pressure of adversity does not affect the mind of the brave man… It is more powerful than external circumstances.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

He who is of calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden.
Plato

No pressure, no diamonds.
Thomas Carlyle

 

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The 02/03/13 Joy Jar

2 Feb

Moi is not an athlete and has no athletic ability. Walking is what moi does. When moi was growing up, she was that geeky kid with her head in a book. Still ,moi can appreciate the grace of a really good basketball game and wonder how those hockey players can get around on skates so fast. The Superbowl would have been more fun to watch if the Seahawks were playing, but moi like everyone will be watching Beyoncé sing. Watching sports adds another dimension to life just as music and the theater do. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is watching an athletic event that makes one think about competition and grace.

 

“Winning isn’t everything–but wanting to win is.”
Vince Lombardi Jr.

 

“Don’t let them drag you down by rumors just go with what you believe in.”
Michael Jordan, I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence

 

“Outcasts may grow up to be novelists and filmmakers and computer tycoons, but they will never be the athletic ruling class.”
Chuck Klosterman, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto

 

“They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they’d make up their minds.”
Wilt Chamberlain

 

“The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”
Muhammed Ali

 

“Academe, n.: An ancient school where morality and philosophy were taught. Academy, n.: A modern school where football is taught.”
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

 

“I have failed many times, and that’s why I am a success.”
Michael Jordan

 

“Always keep an open mind and a compassionate heart.”
Phil Jackson

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The 02/02/13 Joy Jar

1 Feb

The Winter Solstice in December marks the beginning of the march toward Spring. Slowly the days get longer and there seems to be more light. In January, people are acting like it’s Wednesday and there is too much week or too much winter left. Almost defiantly those who weren’t wearing bright colors before, start testing the waters in expectation of Spring. Bright, vibrant colors start appearing as accessories in the form of a hat, gloves, or a scarf. Some are bold and wear a neon coat or sweater. Everyone is waiting for the Primroses to appear, the first sure sign of Spring. Meanwhile random bright colors will suffice for now. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the bright colors of winter.

Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites.
Marc Chagall

Beauty without colour seems somehow to belong to another world.                    Murasaki Shikibu

Colors are the smiles of nature.                                                                     

Leigh Hunt

It is the eye of ignorance that assigns a fixed and unchangeable color to every object; beware of this stumbling block.                                                            

Paul Gauguin

I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colors.  I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns.                                                            

Winston Churchill

 

Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.
Pablo Picasso

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The 02/01/13 Joy Jar

31 Jan

Moi is a ‘bus chick’ and rides the bus all over Seattle or she walks. She is registered with the two pay-by-use car programs, but rarely uses them. The bus takes moi everywhere she needs to go. The bus tunnel runs under downtown Seattle and is deep underground. To reach the surface, one takes an escalator, at the deepest points of tunnel, to the street. Today moi was leaving the tunnel and riding the escalator to the street. There were several people who went past moi walking up the escalator. They shaved maybe 30 seconds off the escalator ride. Than got moi thinking about the speed of contemporary life. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is a liveable pace of life.

Life is made up of special moments which make it worth living. There are many cherished moments that are missed due to the stress and fast pace of daily living. We must slow down and remember how precious it is to be alive and to love!!!!  

Unknown

“Smile, breathe, and go slowly”                                                                          Thich Nhat Hanh

“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”                                        Ovid

“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.”                  Chinese proverb
“There is more to life than increasing its speed.”                                                Mahatma Gandhi

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The 01/31/13 Joy Jar

30 Jan

A couple of weeks ago, moi’s favorite soap and fragrance store at the mall had a sale. You could get three things for x dollars and you could mix and match items. They gave you cute little bags to put you stuff in. The place was crowded and although they say Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, the crowd was happy. Today, moi broke open the Lemon Vanilla lotion and the subtle calming scent really made the moment. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is scented lotion.

 

 

“A good fragrance is really a powerful cocktail of memories and emotion.”
Jeffrey Stepakoff, The Orchard: A Novel

 

Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains.
Diane Ackerman

To wash one’s hair, make one’s toilet, and put on scented robes; even if not a soul sees one, these preparations still produce an inner pleasure.

Sei Shonagon

“Each day has a color, a smell.”
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Mistress of Spices

 

That awkward moment when you have to much lotion on and don’t know where to put it…

Unknown

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The 01/30/13 Joy Jar

29 Jan

Moi loves her big bag or big purse, whatever you want to call it. Actually, moi has several big bags. She keeps all her stuff in it, whether it is immediately needed or not. After all, you might need this or that and someone else might need this or that. They are actually big enough to be useful in Seattle, a city which instituted a plastic bag ban. These days one brings a bag on shopping trips or has to purchase a bag in Seattle. Moi has her calendar, umbrella, smart phone, snacks, lip gloss, and all manner of other stuff. Sometimes, there are snacks. Of course there are pens. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is her big bag.

“Don’t give a woman advice; one should never give a woman anything she can’t wear in the morning”
Oscar Wilde

You’re never too fat for a new purse.
Nia Vardalos

No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.
Theodore Roosevelt

Open your mouth and purse cautiously, and your stock of wealth and reputation shall, at least in repute, be great.
John Zimmerman

“Fashion fades, only style remains the same.”
“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”
“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.”
Coco Chanel

 

 

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The 01/29/13 Joy Jar

28 Jan

 

Moi doesn’t eat a lot of cake for two reasons. One, she likes the good stuff which is made with milk, eggs, cream, real chocolate, real fruit and real flavorings. That costs $$$$. Given the choice between good wine or good cake, the wine wins. Second, once one has a slice of good cake, why stop at just one piece. Eating the whole cake is as Martha would say, ‘not a good thing.’ Today, moi has a tiny slice of really good cake. The kind of cake that rolls around your mouth and makes your taste buds stand to attention. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is good cake.

 

“Let’s just say you may regret that second piece of cake.’
Oh my God. Regret cake? Whatever was about to happen must be truly evil.”
Rachel Hawkins, Hex Hall

 

“If I was made of cake I’d eat myself before somebody else could.”
Emma Donoghue, Room

 

“Cake is happiness! If you know the way of the cake, you know the way of happiness! If you have a cake in front of you, you should not look any further for joy!”
C. JoyBell C.

 

“I suppose I wanted to have my cake and eat it.
But then again, what were you going to do with your cake if not eat it?
Frame it?
Use it as a sachet in your underwear drawer?”
Marian Keyes, Watermelon

 

Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me.
Audrey Hepburn

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The 01/28/13 Joy Jar

27 Jan

Moi has been at the ALA Midwinter Meeting for the past couple of days and it has been raining off and on in Seattle. Some folk in Seattle think of themselves as Rambos. They wouldn’t be caught dead carrying carrying an umbrella and some not only forgo an umbrella, but are sans hat. Their choice of badge is Gore Tex. Moi has a trusty fold-away umbrella which she carries everywhere in her purse, even in August. Because in Seattle, no matter the date on the calendar, one never knows. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is my umbrella.

 

It is the habitual carriage of the umbrella that is the stamp of Respectability. The umbrella has become the acknowledged index of social position. . . . Crusoe was rather a moralist than a pietist, and his leaf-umbrella is as fine an example of the civilized mind striving to express itself under adverse circumstances as we have ever met with. Robert Louis Stevenson

 

Prepare the umbrella before it rains. Life is full of surprises!

Unknown

 

“With large umbrellas, come large responsibilities” Matt Maldre

 

“The rain it raineth on the just And also on the unjust fella, But chiefly on the just, because The unjust steals the just’s umbrella”

Charles Bowen quotes

“It ain’t no use putting up your umbrella till it rains.” Alice Caldwell Rice

This last quote could be written for Seattle.

Any fool carries an umbrella on a wet day, but the wise man carries it every day.
Irish Proverb

 

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The 01/27/13 Joy Jar

26 Jan

Moi has been attending the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. Several times a week, she goes to the main branch of the Seattle Public Library. It always feels like home. The main library is in the middle of a very diverse city. In fact, moi often says the only places where all classes of people in Seattle meet regularly are the library and the dollar store. Some people who visit the library have issues like mental illness and may be in the throes of some substance. A couple of times moi was at the library and a person had a meltdown. The librarians always try to treat people with dignity and courtesy, no matter who you are. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are librarians.

“Most people don’t realize how important librarians are. I ran across a book recently which suggested that the peace and prosperity of a culture was solely related to how many librarians it contained. Possibly a slight overstatement. But a culture that doesn’t value its librarians doesn’t value ideas and without ideas, well, where are we?”
Neil Gaiman

“Don’t mark up the Library’s copy, you fool! Librarians are Unprankable. They’ll track you down! They have skills!”
Charles Ogden

“The real heroes are the librarians and teachers who at no small risk to themselves refuse to lie down and play dead for censors.”
Bruce Coville

“To all my librarian friends, champions of books, true magicians in the House of Life. Without you, this writer would be lost in the Dust.”
Rick Riordan, The Red Pyramid

“Good librarians are natural intelligence operatives. They possess all of the skills and characteristics required for that work: curiosity, wide-ranging knowledge, good memories, organization and analytical aptitude, and discretion.”
Marilyn Johnson, This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All

“In the nonstop tsunami of global information, librarians provide us with floaties and teach us to swim.”
Linton Weeks

“When the going gets tough, the tough get a librarian.”
Joan Bauer

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The 01/26/13 Joy Jar

25 Jan

Moi is attending the 2013 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. Don’t know what others think of when they think of a good book and reading, but moi thinks of a comfy chair, a glass of wine, and slippers. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is a comfy pair of slippers.

Don’t you stay at home of evenings? Don’t you love a cushioned seat in a corner, by the fireside, with your slippers on your feet?
Oliver Wendell Holmes

“.. its not so much about the shoes, but the person wearing them”
Adriana Trigiani, Viola in Reel Life

Those must be comfortable shoes, I bet you could walk all day in shoes like those and not feel a thing.

Forrest Gump

“To be happy, it first takes being comfortable being in your own shoes. The rest can work up from there.”

Sophia Bush

If we were nothing here, at least we were children of God. At some far-off point in time, all these things would be rectified and we would get our golden slippers.

Calvin Marshall

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