Category Archives: Beginnings

How To> Appreciate Life

1 Reply

I once was sad I lost my job, until a friend told me he had almost lost his life. As he described the feeling of death’s threatening blade against his neck, I felt ashamed for my neurotic and inconsequential fears. We so often wrench our eyes closed on life’s roller coaster, when we could be enjoying the thrill of surviving being thrown in loops.

If you are like me, and are finding yourself getting wrapped up in the soap opera you have created for yourself, it’s time to take a seat in the audience and regain some amused perspective on the whole thing. You can do this anytime by taking a deep breath and remembering to enjoy life in the following ways:

  1. Physically: Are you still alive? You must be if you’re reading this. Remember that you were given a body, (even if there are a few wingdings occasionally,) and it is already starting to decay. If you have wanted to do a marathon or skydive, start preparing now. Your body is capale of amazing things, and the sooner you begin the journey, the faster you will get there.
  2. Viscerally: Stop to smell the flowers– no really. Stop right now, and feel your environment with all of your senses. The small things really are amazing when you begin to realize this world is all woven together to cloak us in an ornate tapestry we can enjoy anytime we please.
  3. Emotionally: Emotions can be overwhelming, and when they get too intense we often want to shut them down. But, happiness is an emotion too. The next time you want to check out of a painful experience, try to remember you are decreasing your exposure all the other great possible feelings as well.
  4. Intellectually: The concept of reincarnation is great if you are okay with losing your consciousness, but once you’re an ant, you won’t remember your humanity. The next time you are overwhelmed, consider the option of being any other species on earth without the ability to appreciate their existence in the way we do.

The whole “You don’t appreciate something until it’s gone” holds abundant truth: take anything in your life even you remotely like, and then picture your life without it. Water is an easy one: what if you could never drink water again? Makes you kind of thirsty right?

I once was sad I had no shoes, until I realized I am an able bodied person who can make my own pair.

How To> Set an Attainable Goal

Leave a reply
  1. Start with your original goal.
  2. Pick one part that you could reasonably complete in a week.
  3. Divide the goal into 5 equal portions.
  4. Create a satisfying to-do list for each day that includes one of those 5 portions. [Five is for five days of the week you should will complete a part of the bigger task, and then 2 relax-off days.]
  5. Depending on you and the goal, commit 30-120 minutes to your goal. Whether that be in 30 minute units, or all in one chunk.
  6. Pick a strong start-day, like a Monday, and DO IT.

How-To> Start a Blog

2 Replies

They say everyone is starting a blog these days, and I tend to disagree. I’d say, ‘anyone ready to go public’ is starting a blog these days. [To clarify further, ‘Anyone who has internet access, is literate, and has no problem with floundering for the amusement of others’ is starting a blog these days.]

However, here I am pouring myself into the mold and then hoping I will solidify into something so differently formed and sturdy the mold will have to be reformed in my image. A bit of a creator’s complex if you will.

Therefore, today’s how-to on this first day of June is, “How to Start a Blog.” 

  1. Buy a domain name that you find clever and is still available. Having a suitable domain name for your personal “brand” can be very motivating. It is relatively cheap and easy to claim: so I recommend buying any you might foresee liking in the future. I use Dreamhost because their customer service is great and my hosted space grows every year.
  2. Pick a theme that matches your domain and that you feel passionate about. As a tech writer, How-Tos are my forte, and thus an instructional on life idea was a ringer. What do you know more than anyone else? Write about that.
  3. Install a Blog app or program your own. This is actually much easier than it sounds. If you go into it knowing that there are forums all over the internet covering the exact same question you have, you can do anything!
  4. Pick a staring date and STICK to it. This will be a running theme throughout my blog, as I seem to put everything off until a.) the beginning of a week, b.) the beginning of a month, or c.) sometime in the future when I think I will be more prepared.
  5. Make it happen! Blogs are completely edit-able by you, the author. If you don’t tell anyone about it, no one you know will find it and thus what you say could be completely anonymous. Just starting when you say you will creates some momentum…

Doesn’t it? I plan to find out and that is why I am making this post on June 1st. I chose this date because it is the beginning of June (Reinvention month) and I am proud to see I have stuck to it.

Well, what are you waiting for? Get to it!