Ann's Joy Thread

I had to share this one.

http://www.sacredscribe.com/blog/2013/04/29/A-Song-of-Love.aspx

A Song of Love
Posted on April-29-13 1:14 PM
by heather Fraser

Quote :

I've been waking up in the dark stillness of early morning these past few weeks to the most beautiful sound of a lone robin singing her song.

It echoes in surround sound throughout the valley where I live, and her joyful vibrations stream in through the open bedroom window.

Little does she know that I am laying in bed waking up with a smile on my face because of her that could melt a meteorite, but which, in fact, does something else instead.

It changes the world.

That lone robin's most natural state of joy has caused me to add my joy to the mix of all consciousness, and now that mix will be altered forevermore.

In truth, she is my song of love, and in our unified joy we are praising existence, the web of life to which we are all connected and have the power to affect.

Such is the beauty and mystery of the moment.

There is so much grace available to us when our hearts feel spacious and quiet, and it can be the simplest of moments that humble us and fill us up if we are still and silent enough inside to notice.

Enjoyed waking up to this one; it contains some good advice for experiencing life with joy:

http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2013/38150.html

Quote :

Finding Joy in Life’s Surprises
Releasing Your Expectations
by Madisyn Taylor

When we think of letting go of our expectations, we may find ourselves at the mercy of a small inner voice that admonishes us to strive for specific goals, even if they continually elude us. However, the opposite of expectation is not pessimism. We can retain our optimism and free ourselves from the need to focus on specific probabilities by opening our hearts and minds to a wide variety of possible outcomes.

There's more in the whole article, if you have a minute's time.

Annie

Since my expectations were low, I've not only reached my goals, I've surpassed them. What joy!

Do I detect a note of sarcasm?

Any positive quality, taken to its extreme, becomes a negative.

It's all about finding a balance.

No, no sarcasm. As far as publishing is concerned, I've achieved far more than I set out to achieve. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would end up publishing a text book written by my husband! It was a great way on which to end my involvement in publishing.

And a great time to look forward to whatever success is coming next. You will do well, whatever you choose.

Annie

Another goodie by Madison Tayor at The Daily Om. The title of this one doesn't sound so joyful - you have to read on a bit to see her pioint:

Quote :

May 8, 2013
Failure
Choose Your Words

The word failure puts forward a very simplistic way of thinking that allows for only two possibilities: failure or success. Few things in the universe are black and white, yet much of our language reads as if they are. The word failure signifies a paradigm in which all subtlety is lost. When we regard something we have done, or ourselves, as a failure, we lose our ability to see the truth, which is no doubt considerably more complex. In addition, we hurt ourselves. All you have to do is speak or read the word failure and see how it makes you feel.
---------------------------------------------------------
Next time you feel like a failure or fear failure, know that you are under the influence of an outmoded way of perceiving the world. When the world failure comes up, it’s a call for us to apply a more enlightened consciousness to the matter at hand. When you are consciously aware of the word and its baggage you will not fall victim to its darkness.

http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2013/38579.html

Sold two more paperback copies of A Myth in Action yesterday - a real treat. The Kindle sales and loans are still doing well enough to allow a nice little royalty deposit to my account through June, and now going into July.

That allows me to relax enough for the work on Daniel's Daughter to keep going.

Shelagh wrote:

No, no sarcasm. As far as publishing is concerned, I've achieved far more than I set out to achieve. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would end up publishing a text book written by my husband! It was a great way on which to end my involvement in publishing.

What will you do with your spare time?

Spare time? LOL! You should see the state of my home! It isn't perfect like yours and Ann's. It is a beautiful home that is terribly neglected. There is far too much to do to bring it up to scratch immediately ... but a little every day will gradually get the job done.

Mine is not perfect, but we are trying.
Hubby got new shower doors for our 29 year old shower and I got a new plug for the bathtub --a gold fish from Amazon--think/hope the grands will like it.

Having "hubbys" tends to make it a bit easier to keep the house and yard "up to scratch." Working at home helps, but I have had to accept my limitations and just do the best I can. It's a small house and there is only me to mess it up. That helps, too.

Annie

alj wrote:

Having "hubbys" tends to make it a bit easier to keep the house and yard "up to scratch." Working at home helps, but I have had to accept my limitations and just do the best I can. It's a small house and there is only me to mess it up. That helps, too.

Annie

Truer words were never spoken. I am fortunate to have a husband who loves order.

... and I'm fortunate to have a husband who can look at an untidy room and not notice! He spends most of his free time writing textbooks, drawing thousands of diagrams for the books, drafting references for ex-students, preparing lectures and writing lesson plans. One day, I foolishly interrupted him while he was working and asked some pretty inane questions. He replied with a challenge and asked me to write a book so that I would know what it was like and how much time it took. The rest, as they say, is history! I never could resist a challenge!

HA hA !

My husband is the only person who truly understands the amount of work I've done since I set up Mandinam Press in 2008. He is as impressed with my small success as I am. If impressing my husband is my only real achievement, it was worth it to do just that.

Are you really going to stop it?

Yes, Alice, I'm going to stop. We all like to be appreciated and feel that the effort we make is worth our time. That doesn't necessarily mean that we have to be rewarded financially for our efforts; there are other ways. Unless I spend an enormous amount of time promoting the books I've published, the sales are insignificant or zero. I don't mind the low sales. What I do mind is spending hours and hours of my time for very little reward.

I first posted on the Amazon forums in 2007. During the past six years I've seen self-publishing grow and I've read readers' reaction to it. Readers want to pay as little as possible for as much as possible. This isn't unreasonable. We all like a bargain. If customers could be content with having bought books at very low cost, then self-published authors would not be targeted the way they are. Readers want control over what is read and what isn't. This is nothing new. So that he could concentrate on writing serious literature, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes. His readers demanded that he bring back Holmes and showed no interest at all in his serious works.

In today's electronic climate, readers are exerting their preferences by manipulating the reviews, and up voting and down voting the reviews on the books they want to see succeed or fail. I don't want to fight them any more. I've written novels, short stories and poems. If people are interested in reading them, they are there to be read (A Thousand Words of Poetry is currently free on Kindle). If readers are not interested, then that's okay. They want to decide for themselves about the books that make it, and that's fine by me. I won't be trying to persuade them differently.

from Choose Joy Every Day at
Create What You Want.org:

http://createwhatyouwant.org/choose-joy-every-day/



“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” -Henri Nouwen

Photography by Dianne Furphy.

Shelagh,

We all should do what brings us joy.

Right again, Alice! I thoroughly enjoyed writing and publishing my books and editing and publishing the writings of over eighty authors from around the world (over a hundred if you include the author interviews). It seems daft to allow readers to kill the joy when they are the ones I write to please!

Fantastic Mother's Day weekend so far - Friday night dinner at Lynn's: Pork Medallions in Mushroom Cream Sauce over Quinoa with Arugula and Red Bell Pepper Salad. Chris made an Almond Coconut Cake, Paleo style - no grains; flours made from almonds and coconut meat - yum.

Saturday morning, Rabbitohs moved into first place with 28-10 win over the Cowboys, aided by two Trys from the best fullback in Aussie rugby league, Greg Inglis. Here's the 2nd:


Just after game ended, doorbell rang - Mother's Day roses from Susan and Jim (coffee table centerpiece):



Call from Dave, Lyn, and Jaycie this morning, and a new TV teaser for Man of Steel



found out the coolest thing about watching Les Miz alone at home - I can sing along at the top of my lungs without upsetting anyone. (Still crying most of the way through)

Annie, wishing a Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there.

... and a happy Mother's Day to all you moms! Beautiful roses, Ann.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers and all who survived mothering.

Spent the later part of Mother's Day reminiscing with cousins on Facebook. While I was looking those posts and pics over, it dawned on me that, while I have posted several pics of Dave and Lynn, I'n not sure if I have shared many of Susan, so, to make up for lost time:


at 15


at 18


at 35


and at 40 (she's now 44, but this is the most recent one I could find quickly)

written in about 1972:

Quote :

We once told Susan her eyes could talk.
She told us that was silly.
So did her eyes.