Isn’t she gorgeous?
Judi Dench has worked for over 60 years and tattooed “Carpe Diem” on her inner wrist when she was 81.
You can read the interview here.
Carpe Diem
work
Decide
Every time I come home and walk through my door, my pitbull-mix dog Opal runs to greet me. She has done this every time I’ve walked in the door since I adopted her on February 16, 2013. Every. single. time. She loves me, this is true, but she also does not tire of routine or sameness. She doesn’t get jaded or bummed out because she’s been missing me all day.
I walked into a bank today and the young man who greeted me was very enthusiastic about everything: greeting me, asking me if I needed help, guiding me to my appointment, and then going on to greet others. I later learned that he just started working at the bank. Do you remember being new at your job? I do. I loved everything about my day. Nothing could get me down. Everything excited me.
Buddhists have a saying: “Happiness is a choice, not a result.”
Sometimes our most important challenge is to keep life new and choose to not be jaded by things.
I started to lose my way when I learned that our school superintendent did something (it has not been revealed to the public) and will be fired and be paid out several hundreds of thousands of dollars. We just passed a tax hike for education. I’ve been pretty down about it, thinking that certainly, the next expenditure for education will not pass because of this. I got angry thinking about all those tax dollars going to this one woman and not to the thousands of students in our district. But I can’t worry about that. I need to choose to be happy because I have students in front of me now.
I am more productive when I’m happy than when I’m frustrated/disappointed/sad/angry.
What We Tell Girls
He didn’t mean to be mean
He was just playing when he grabbed you too hard
He’s sorry and you should just move on
He’s not stalking you, that’s your imagination – you need to work out it, both of you
What did you do to make him do that?
What were you wearing?
Why were you alone with him?
He’s just a touchy-feely kind of guy
He does that to everybody
51
Today is my birthday.
I’m 51. 51 is the new 31. Look who else is 51: Will Smith, Hugh Jackman, Julia Roberts, Jimmy Kimmel, David Guetta, Kylie Minogue, and Vanilla Ice, people! I’m in good company. Jennifer Aniston is almost there and so is J. Lo.
I’ve decided to be proud of my age. It is what it is. How are we to be a society that embraces the elderly if we have shame just for living a long time? I’ve made it. I’ve had a couple close calls: a scooter accident in San Francisco….a blood clot post-labor 17 years ago…breast cancer…yet here I am. I’ve lost some loved ones this year (and in past years) and you know what? Life goes by fast. Live in a way so you won’t regret anything.
And I’m fit. I’m the strongest I’ve ever been mentally and physically. In my twenties, I thought it was most important to be thin. Now I see it’s most important to be strong.
I’m glad I’ve learned the lessons I’ve learned: Be present. Be open. Allow your children to be who they are. Love your job. Live well each day. Don’t take yourself – or anything -seriously.
The Hexagon
I’m taking a podcast class. Seth Godin’s first lesson: start small. Your sister is your first guest…and then a neighbor…maybe a friend of a friend. But not until your sixth guest do you invite someone who has something “better to do.”
You’ll get more “yeses” once you’ve built your hexagon.
You need to develop your skills.
I love Seth’s closing: “Go make a ruckus.” I am thinking of my own…
The Ultimate Solution
The answer to every “problem” is presence.
Cellist Pablo Casals* on Work
“To “retire” means to me to begin to die. The man who works and is never bored is never old. Work and interest in worthwhile things are the best remedy for age.”
“…Casals argues, we renew ourselves through purposeful work. (He) lived and worked for another four years, dying eight weeks before his ninety-seventh birthday.”
From Brainpickings.com
To Market
It’s on Amazon.
People ask me why I don’t market it more and try to maximize sales. At this point, I’m not trying to make profits or “become known.” I’m honing my craft and still learning a lot about art and writing.
My goal right now is to make meaningful work in my own voice and to do better with each project.
I’ve adopted Seth Godin’s philosophy (and James Altucher’s ideology) of “choosing myself” and that’s why I’ve chosen self-publishing.
On Graduating and Growing
Your path is your character defining itself more and more everyday like a photograph coming into focus.”
—Jodie Foster
On Graduating and Growing
Your path is your character defining itself more and more everyday like a photograph coming into focus.”
—Jodie Foster
Kismet 