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Delighted to share that our latest experiment over on BFN -- bornfree.substack.com -- is both fun AND energizing. We were gifted 3 amazing #connecticate conversations this week.

A new #connecticate invitation with a new question drops tomorrow morning. Typist and the muses hope you’ll consider joining in the fun.

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Mar 31, 2023Liked by 3musesmerge

At our last B&B (it's our tradition for the last 23 years to stay at a B&B for our anniversary) we discovered a cute coffee/cappuccino machine that Deb fell in love with. So easy! So quick! We wrote down the specs and checked on Amazon when we got back home... and found it was expensive to buy, not cheap to maintain, and was perfect for the cute little cups the B&B had but not for the monster mugs Deb & I prefer. <sigh> Well, we're doing okay with our electric kettle, after all. 😁

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The car dealership much is my once every 3-4 month tradition. 😂 Otherwise... I am a huge fan of my silver electric percolator!

We do have Keurig... which I often use to make tea.

Thanks for sharing Jack! Big mugs rock!

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Hmmm? 🤔

“Big Mugs Rock” almost sounds like a T-shirt or Button… 😉

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Feel free to nick it! 🤣

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“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”

~Vincent Van Gogh

Adding a “small thing” for the writer ✍🏼 and readers 📝 of this love letter 💌.

A random 🕳️🐇 grab from an internet search for what Van Gogh might have been seeking to express... 🤔

https://www.pktfuel.com/great-things-are-done-by-a-series-of-small-things-brought-together/

I regularly assemble small things into a bigger thing both with words and flowers...

Are there any small things that stand out in your life. Easter 🐣 is approaching and I look forward to being on the ground with two small human creatures and witnessing what they create with their egg decorating skills...

These small moments are the ones that weave together the tapestry of our lives and the tales that will be told long after we have returned to stardust... 💫✨💫

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Thanks for the rabbit hole!

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Apr 1, 2023Liked by 3musesmerge

“These small moments are the ones that weave together the tapestry of our lives”

I’m really exploring this idea of why small things are able to build into big things -- thanks for expanding on this!

For me, a lot of my attention gets diverted to the big things -- decisions, events, milestones and goals/targets -- maybe even “big picture” perspective itself.

In a lot of ways that serves me.

But your comment does make me wonder if the small things are able to build better because I’m not focused on them -- they are more pure expressions.

And much of what I’ve discovered about myself is there’s a lot of joy to be had in the small moments. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say -- I am able to be more joyful when I can appreciate and experience the small moments.

What have you found Bobby? Can you stay in the zone of appreciation of small without the big picture perspective or big moment focus? Do you even try to do that? How do you balance them?

Aside from the fluffy, this concept also reminds me of a simple process in many business books “start with the end in mind” (e.g. 10 yr future state) but then the skill is converting that to the action step next week that feeds the 1,3,5 and ultimately 10 yr state.

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Bruce Lee. A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often serves simply as something to aim at.

I like Bruce Lee’s thought. Yes, and?

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Apr 1, 2023Liked by 3musesmerge

Love this Gail!

Yes, for me “goals” are the direction I’m pointing toward and likely don’t change and are never fully attained.

I can’t say though that I’m fully aligned (yet) about enjoyment. I often grapple with whether I really want to enjoy some step toward and end state itself -- or do I simply enjoy the process of trying but don’t like the pain itself.

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Hmmm...

I think I am dancing with what you are talking about as I move forward with book 4. The writing is coming ever so slowly, yet the goal is never far from my heart/mind. Just this morning on my walk with Henny, I was gifted two openings for two vignettes. Later a quote appeared that will tie perfectly with one of the stories. I think I can write them both today -- because of these inspirations.

The Great Mystery! I LOVE it!

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Good Morning Robert!

I have an unfair advantage. For almost 33 years now I have been living my life one day at a time. On the Fourth of July, I will celebrate my 33rd year of sobriety.

I begin and end each day with the serenity prayer. It’s a small thing, but I assure you it’s a game changer.

I’m also a long-term cancer support group facilitator and former hospice nurse. I have seen much death in my lifetime and I assure you, when it’s time to return to Stardust, no one is thinking about whether they reached their goals or not.

Bronnie Ware speaks brilliantly about this in her book, The top five regrets of the dying. If you’ve never had the privilege of reading it, I give it my highest recommendation.

KISMIF and Just for Today are my watch words…

At present, I am in the process of a transition that’s been unfolding since December 1, 2021.

I’ve been in corporate for almost 25 years now and it’s time to embrace the artist I discovered when I watched this Ted talk.

https://youtu.be/7TXEZ4tP06c

The transformational comedian, Kyle Cease, has a phrase he uses that I absolutely love. He says, “I don’t know, and I love that.”

Best!

🙏🏼🕊️🙏🏼

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Apr 1, 2023·edited Apr 1, 2023Author

Thanks Bobby! For those with interest... another TED link. Ralph Ammer--How Drawing Helps You Think.

https://youtu.be/ZqlTSCvP-Z0

I made a note to myself months (a year?) ago to re-vist the 15 minute mark of the talk. So glad I did! I think what he enunciates in part explains why I make time to create original art for most of 3mm's musings. 🤔

I'm amazed at how we take in information and like clams with grains of sand... then turn it into pearls!

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Pearls… 💎 Acres of diamonds…

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Apr 1, 2023Liked by 3musesmerge

This is really awesome Bobby!

My mom was a hospice nurse and she would share so often message similar to yours around reflections at the end of people’s lives.

Similarly, I love how you easily share your lives experiences and the results of the actions you put into them. Seems effortless for you so I suspect you’ve practiced this for a while now 😀. Love that you share this way.

One thing I do wonder in regard to the “end of life” reflections, desires, regrets, priorities -- I’m curious as to why that is one of the most common points to look at when assessing one’s life.

Part of it makes sense.

But part of it feels a bit odd to me.

I sense it’s a point where many of our lives will be more similar in perspective. At least if we are older age and know we are dying.

But those same people for most of their lives are the same people that would offer advise often contradictory to that.

I wonder if that is the point of my life where I want to be asked and secondly if asking me at that point of my life will produce the most accurate and comprehensive answer to guide someone that isn’t also at the end of life.

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"The unexamined life is not worth living" is a famous dictum supposedly uttered by Socrates at his trial for impiety and corrupting youth, for which he was subsequently sentenced to death. The dictum is recorded in Plato's Apology as ho dè anexétastos bíos ou biōtòs anthrṓpōi.

-Wikipedia

My take…

Well, I think Captain Kirk expresses it really well here:

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/23/1130482740/william-shatner-jeff-bezos-space-travel-overview-effect

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