tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83392506239194887602008-07-25T20:21:06.459-07:00Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comBlogger433125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-89501136692518399022008-07-25T17:45:00.000-07:002008-07-25T18:05:11.016-07:00

Okay, so I'm wondering how everyone feels about people in your offline life who don't or won't read your blog. I'm hoping to get a discussion going here, so please weigh in. Some of my friends and family members read my blog and some do not. LoveHubbie sometimes reads my blog, and sometimes not. And then some of my friends read my blog, every last post. Sometimes I feel like those friends

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-71909205621665762192008-07-25T17:40:00.000-07:002008-07-25T17:45:46.890-07:00

Early this morning, Randy Pausch died. I wrote about him here at the happyluau in a post about bravery. There is nothing I can say to give him a fitting tribute. He was a man who lived his life to the fullest up until the very end. He will be greatly missed, and will not be forgotten.

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-54871681982499540682008-07-20T12:48:00.000-07:002008-07-20T13:12:41.370-07:00

I read this marvelous quote in a book I'm reading called "When You're Falling, Dive" by Mark Matousek. It has stayed with me, and I think I'm going to take it as my mantra for depression recovery: "I don't have to earn my life anymore. It was given to me to cherish as I would a precious gift from someone who loves me and whom I love."---Jim Curtan This same Jim Curtan also, referring to what he

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-76963802450882835452008-07-20T12:04:00.000-07:002008-07-20T15:11:49.415-07:00

"Energy is everywhere, but stillness plays a major role in its conversion from "potential" to "actualized" energy. [...]I was amazed to learn that butterflies have to spread their wings in the morning sunshine because the scales on their wings are actually solar cells. Without that source of energy, they cannot fly."---Laurie Beth Jones quoted in Joyce Rupp's "The Cup of Our Life" Today I

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-48652135636346450962008-07-18T10:57:00.000-07:002008-07-18T11:48:38.279-07:00

Lately I've been integrating BE BRAVE steps, and continuing to recover from depression. Mostly pushing through in small steps. Before I got on Lexapro (the SSRI medication I was prescribed for depression last year) I had slight depression and was quite introverted. Now, post-Lexapro, and as part of the Lexapro withdrawal, I have severe depression and anxiety and panic, not just introversion, but

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-86159578391499144382008-07-15T09:33:00.000-07:002008-07-15T10:12:56.633-07:00

Yesterday was my BE BRAVE Day 8 and I pushed myself to make Chicken Marsala. Part of the reason was that I love anything Marsala, but we always eat it out. I've had the recipe but have been procrastinating about making it for weeks---anticipating the "huge" amount of work and not having much cook-confidence, etc. LoveHubbie is a very good Southern cook with extremely high expectations, and I

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-77852719198726674722008-07-15T06:22:00.000-07:002008-07-15T11:54:14.671-07:00

I am honored to have been given the Brillante Weblog from my wonderful friend Kelly! Here are the rules of accepting the award (Please note: you can copy and paste these rules from my blog to yours). Also, if you don't want to accept the award (no time, no energy), just know that I thought of you and that you have a Brilliante Weblog!! 1) Put the logo on your blog. 2) Add a link to the

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-31344170351416401652008-07-13T19:04:00.001-07:002008-07-13T19:11:31.625-07:00

I just want to tell everyone how much I appreciate your friendship and support. Lately I have been a bit overwhelmed with my recovery from depression and I've realized that it is you, my online community, that has really helped so much. Your comments and support and love have helped to sustain and encourage me. Also, just having to articulate my journey and to know you'll read about it...and to

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-32069921705289081002008-07-13T00:13:00.000-07:002008-07-13T01:00:29.515-07:00

Today I was so inspired by Leah's post. I decided to revise the way I'm doing the BE BRAVE challenge to more fit the way I operate best. Instead of doing something every day for a month for 30 days straight---which is intense and challenging and hard-driving---things that all appeal to me, I've decided that I would grow more this time (Season Two, my second time through) by doing things

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-16094245383926246812008-07-11T19:31:00.000-07:002008-07-11T19:59:31.317-07:00

Today was a day I struggled to get through. I am trying to adjust my sleep patterns to go to bed at a reasonable time and get up early. So today I got up early, dragged myself until mid-afternoon, and then gave in and napped for a couple of hours. Still dragging now. Still feeling like I'm moving through mud instead of air. I wondered what I would do to be brave. I have a list of challenges

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-80703879832378083292008-07-10T17:35:00.001-07:002008-07-10T18:08:30.543-07:00

Today I had some recoup time, and my body is crying, "More, more", as is my spirit. So I'm going to keep it up. Part of the reason I need more "quiet time" is that today I had a couple of unexpected events that brought some unexpected stress my way. One is that a family member had a health crisis. It affects me a lot, and I went through a bit of a panic. I ended up taking the time to have a

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-83105677286061535712008-07-09T17:30:00.000-07:002008-07-09T18:13:45.307-07:00

Predictably, or at least it should be by now, after three very exciting days, today I crashed. No energy, very low mood, pushing-pushing-pushing through the day. I have to remind myself that I am recovering from depression...I get so intense and excited and then...this happens. I've always been this way, though, even when I was much younger and healthy. You would think I would learn. However,

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-52957386124384945872008-07-08T14:49:00.000-07:002008-07-08T15:25:08.223-07:00

Whew! After Day One, what could I follow that up with? Still reeling from the dive and the collision, I stepped out and decided to increase my exercise during this healing time. This was for Day Two (yesterday). I currently do gyrotonics. It is really hard for me. I see gyrotonics as something normally done by dancers and lithe svelt strong people, not matronly middle-aged women with weak

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-85696679321656171092008-07-07T01:23:00.000-07:002008-07-08T14:41:27.010-07:00

Today I to start another BE BRAVE project, not a formal one that people can join, but just begin to do the process again for myself for a month. Jessie started the BE BRAVE project back in October of 2007, and we both had so much growth from it. It involves just doing one thing each day that is brave---it could be anything at all, something right for where you are. The hard part is keeping it up

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-18934436523766100162008-07-05T01:36:00.000-07:002008-07-05T02:09:49.314-07:00

I found out from a wonderful Reiki reading given to me by Lori-Lyn--long distance--that I should be out in nature more, so today LoveHubbie and I spent some time wandering, relaxing, and taking pictures. I got to use my new Mino Flip Ultra (the next generation after the regular Flip Ultra) for the first time, another free gift from Amazon for doing all those reviews (1,273 over 10 years---so

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-90632986355259664562008-07-01T23:21:00.000-07:002008-07-01T23:32:07.525-07:00

Tonight (just now) I watched this video on Cute Overload and had to share it with you. It's an oldie, and you may have seen it, but just on the chance that you haven't I'm putting it here as well. I'm still crying from watching it. It reminds me of the love I had with my dogs who passed on years and years ago. They still live in my heart, though. I can never forget that special feeling...and this

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-47268301454761909972008-06-30T17:57:00.000-07:002008-06-30T19:45:34.061-07:00

I saw this quote and it reminded me of Chani's blog yesterday for Sacred Life Sunday about finding inspiration in each person you meet. This quote refers to extending to each of these precious people we meet in the course of our day: "Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness."--Lucius Annaeus Seneca via the book "Choosing Civility" by P.M. Forni ~Photo by

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-68736542326252688262008-06-28T21:21:00.000-07:002008-07-04T09:58:40.022-07:00

I just finished a wonderful, very challenging book for me, called "When Love Meets Fear" by David Richo. David Richo is also the author of "How to Be an Adult in Relationships: The Five Keys to Mindful Loving", which gives you an idea of what he writes about...being a grown-up and being mature. He is a former Roman Catholic priest who converted to Buddhism and is a psychotherapist. I highlighted

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-5756452339666553362008-06-26T18:52:00.000-07:002008-06-26T18:56:25.246-07:00

I brazenly stole this post and video from Kate I's blog. It just made me feel SO GOOD to watch this, to take five minutes and really watch this one all the way through. I almost cried. Just take five and really watch it, you'll feel better, I promise! As I continue to deal with depression, I needed this upper, helped me breathe...and smile...

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-3975584844721889212008-06-25T18:29:00.001-07:002008-06-25T19:22:29.711-07:00

Today I've been living with depression. And yesterday, too. But unlike in the past, I've been more or less okay with it. I've been allowing it, letting it be. Letting myself be sad. Grieving some losses. Being okay with being withdrawn. A book that really helped me is the recent book "Unstuck". I wrote a review for it here (see the first "Spotlight Review") calling it a "Modern Bible for

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-29247032787133749962008-06-24T17:02:00.000-07:002008-06-24T18:52:50.019-07:00

Today I wanted to share a whole mishmash of things with you. I know that it was Sacred Life Sunday yesterday two days ago, so first I want to share something I heard on television from an inspirational Catholic priest, Father Benedict Groeschel. It's something that I've been thinking about ever since I've heard it. Father Groeschel doesn't have a dedicated online presence to link to; he's

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-43851444767728269662008-06-21T18:56:00.000-07:002008-06-21T21:50:53.372-07:00

On our honeymoon 8 years ago, LoveHubbie and I went to Hawaii. We had been married for almost a year, but had to postpone our honeymoon due to LoveHubbie's work schedule. We went to the Big Island--Hawaii. During the planning and reservation calls from the mainland, hotel employees at the various places we were staying ensured us that it was warm there, but that no air conditioning was "not a

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-29216453479272126892008-06-19T16:37:00.000-07:002008-06-19T18:02:50.226-07:00

Where I found this, I don't know (it was on someone's blog today). It's called Wordle, and it's a free online tool to use to play with words. Here's what Wordle says about itself: "Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text." Of course, you can just make a list, and

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-30638546833956129772008-06-15T14:42:00.000-07:002008-06-15T18:03:09.049-07:00

Today I made you a little Father's Day video, a little insight into OWorld (7:30, but it's been a long time since my last video!): Today I found out today about Slow Movement and Take Back Your Time, both great ideas! Happy Father's Day to all!

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8339250623919488760.post-24592289402849680642008-06-14T10:59:00.000-07:002008-06-14T11:10:39.332-07:00

"It is my ego that has a story; my soul is a silence." ---David Richo from When Love Meets Fear ~Photo by LoveHubbie Mark

Oliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06058356843151306428noreply@blogger.com