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Posts Tagged ‘artful living’
My inner Buddha is fahrklempt!
I am on a voyage to space, the final frontier – in my closet. What I crave to have in my possession is space. Less stuff, less options, less stress.
I have to tell you about this fabelhaft challenge I just discovered:
Can you live with just six things in your closet for 30 days? Lingerie and shoes not included.
Some people who have attempted this have stumbled upon some surprising insights. One woman was delighted to realize that she really didn’t need everything in her closet. Another woman was slightly annoyed that her husband didn’t even notice she was wearing the same six pieces for 30 days. I liked the guy who found a creative approach to the challenge – reversible shorts!
As you know, I am all about less so this sort of lifestyle overhaul is just the kind of thing I was looking for. I especially like the forgiveness clause about shoes. But really, think about what this can reveal about you, your relationship with your stuff and your buying habits.
How much of what you own owns you?
What six things are important to you?
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
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Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
Do you find it difficult to disconnect?
It takes me a couple of days to let go. Why I have to work so hard to relax is beyond me but thanks to all of you, I am happy to share Step #3 of my Twelve Step Plan for Restless Creatives. This Plan is for you who work hard and are passionate about what you do. There is this fabulous quote by Leo Tolstoy that opens Part One of The Networked Nonprofit by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine, two creative social media thinkers, which I want to share with you.
“Everyone thinks about changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself”
I just got the book and am so thrilled that Beth and Allison have provided a “Google map” for nonprofits to navigate their way into a new and highly networked world. More on this book to come! Just do yourself a big favor and get a copy for yourself.
Back to Tolstoy.
This Plan is to help you change yourself into a relaxed and rested version of yourself so you can This is why it is so important for you to calm down!
I am so grateful for the suggestions you have sent me and will be writing them up for you every Wednesday.
In case you missed them, here are Steps 1 & 2
1 Get over yourself
2 Get off the grid
And today we have -
3. Get local
Slide your feet into those flip flops and stroll down the boardwalk to Rockaway Taco.
Check out the used surfboards with a fish taco in your hand. Somehow you will feel a strong desire to wear one of those tank shirts that say, “Eat, Sleep, Surf” and watch the tide roll in. I have been intrigued by the new patterns I have been seeing in board shorts.
“You got to take in a wave in clutch shorts, dude.” I overheard this fashion tip from a bunch of surfers so it must be true.
Lose yourself in a different world. Be a local in a different galaxy, one where the fire trucks sport rescue surf boards and the firemen look like surfer dudes. It is hard to get aufgeregt (Yiddish for agitated) with sand between your toes.
What do you think?
Get more Wow, dude!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
A version of this post appeared on the Queens Council on the Arts blog.
One of my favorite quotes in the world is by Agatha Christie who said,
“Conversation reveals all”
And she should know.
The Grande Dame of Whodunit has built an empire of mystery novels of assorted murderers, scoundrels and thieves who have been undone by conversation.
I prefer to keep company with other types of people less deadly but just as fascinating. For me, the best place to do this and to have a conversation is over lunch.
How do you get to know someone?
Spending an hour with a person over a sandwich and coffee is a great way to start a relationship. Breaking bread is usually followed by breaking the ice. If you are a skilled conversation artist, you will find yourself listening a lot more than talking. If the food is exceptionally tasty, this is not difficult to do. People like to talk and share stories about themselves.
I think of lunch the same way I think about weddings.
Who is the wedding for, really? The bride and the groom? Guess again. It’s for everybody else. You guys are just animated versions of the cake figures.
Who is lunch for? I’ll give you a hint:
The most important letter in the word “lunch” is u.
U, as in you. Not you, the other you. The other person.
Three great places for lunch
I have three places for you to have lunch in Queens, the borough of great food.
In Jackson Heights, you will love Espresso 77, an artsy cafe just off 37th Avenue. It is owned by my friend Afzal Hossain who is an artist as well as the owner of this delightful neighborhood coffee bar. You can relax with a cup of coffee and a sandwich among work on the wall created by local artists.
In Flushing, there is an oasis of a restaurant in the Queens Crossing building called Mulan. This place has an interesting dining area in the center of the restaurant enclosed by the illusion of a waterfall. Nice place to chat with a board member or a prospective client over elegant Asian cuisine. Here you will find yourself surrounded by art from a roster of international artists.
In Long Island City, a new spot I have recently discovered is Testaccio on Vernon Boulevard. Hearty handshake from Ivan, the owner and handmade pasta too! What’s not to love? Their roof garden will be opening soon and they have several smaller dining areas in the back, perfect for a small gathering of artists, a staff lunch or a tete a tete with a colleague.
Bon appetit!
Lunch is about everybody else, if you really want to get to know people. When you invite someone to lunch, ask them to bring their appetite. You bring your ears.
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
photo by Neato Coolville
I am not happy with my recent iPad experience.
Self Serve is Not for the Faint of Heart
I am trying to enter my credit card information so that my data plan can renew automatically every month but I keep getting an error message asking me to validate my billing address. No matter what I do, AT & T will not accept where I live. They have cut off my service and everyone I have spoken to over the past few days cannot help me. They cannot even take my information over the phone because this is a “self serve account”.
When I am in the supermarket with Seth, we like to go through the Self Check-Out line where we scan, bag and pay ourselves.
Sweet!
I think the idea is great but I wonder if the cashiers will become as scarce as toll booth collectors since the rise of EZ Pass. However, you will always need to have a person standing by to help you out when something doesn’t scan properly, or if the machine cannot read the barcode.
To help you out.
So, imagine my shock when AT & T shut off my data plan because they needed 72 hours to find somebody to resolve on the problem.
Somebody?
I thought “self serve” means that iPad users manage their own accounts. That’s why the very nice people answering the phones could not fix the problem. Then who is the somebody who is going to fix it?
“I cannot take your information over the phone but I would be glad to walk through the self serve process with you again.” said the pleasant but useless AT & T service person on the phone with me.
Are you kidding?
Where is the person that fixes self serve problems? They always have one at the ready in the supermarkets.
Why doesn’t AT & T?
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
here’s a sunrise on the beach for you
I always imagine things can be better.
I am constantly trying to lose those elusive ten pounds.
I want to be self improved, streamlined, and sexy would be nice, too.
Today, in all of its punishing heat and humidity, I dragged myself out of bed before the moon had a chance to escape and ran five miles along the beach in Rockaway to have a conversation with the universe. Standing by the water’s edge, I take a deep breath and start talking:
Hi, its me again! Wow, you’re up early. Just kidding, you are eternally up. Me, I am only here physically waiting for the rest of me to wake up and catch up with the rest of the world. Hey listen, before I get going I just want to say – thank you thank you thank you for everything.
I love being here to see the sun come up, I love standing on this morning beach, I love breathing in ocean scented breezes. I love feeling so alive.
OK, I have some questions for you about stuff that I could use your help with:
- Should I be a creative or a reactive?
- What does success look like for me?
- What am I going to be write about this week?
- Is what I do meaningful to anyone?
- Are you listening to me?
I could go on but this is typical of what I ask about. Most of the time I just listen. And run.
If we have a big discussion or a lot of stuff to figure out, I set my sights on the light house at the tip of Breezy Point and put in thirteen miles. In this distance there are lovely long spaces for me to ask these questions, close my eyes and run guided by the sound of the waves until I begin to get answers.
What does the universe say
It feels good to let the universe know what I am wondering about. I imagine myself shining a flashlight into the night sky, but instead of light, I am shooting my inquiries into the far far away. My questions are now a part of an immenseness that is at once inspiring and inconceivable.
Sometimes the answers come to me with a clarity that is embarrassing. How could I have not known?
Sometimes it feels good just to be out there with unanswered questions. Do I really want to know?
Opening your soul like that has unexpected benefits like the sudden realization that perhaps you already possess the answers to questions that have yet to be asked.
What is life without a little mystery?
Do you have something to ask the universe?
Get more Wow!
If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:
Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good
Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit
Style Notes from me, your artspy
Hoong Yee
– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day
– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested
– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)
– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.
Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?
