Ever wanted to do this….?

12 Steps to Self Care for the Holidays and every day

made by mindquotes.com

Take care of yourself this season which means you can than tae care of others and enjoy your time with your loved ones. Win/win for everyone.

Mindful Moment

‘Every where I go, I take the kindness people have shown with me. Be a rainbow in somebody’s life’ Maya Angelou

 

Maya Angelou

A clip from Maya Angelou telling her life story in Oprah’s Master Class. If you get a chance watch the whole video and read her amazing book, ‘I know why the caged bird sings’.

She is truly inspirational. Her words are meant for everyone, her joy for life is so freely expressed and her eyes shine as bright as her soul.

What a truly remarkable woman she was.

Mindful Moment ‘giving’:

 

Do Millennials Need ‘Adulting School’

Shutterstock We’re going to start this one real slow for everyone whose head is already throbbing just from reading the headline: Millennials, currently the most reviled generation for reasons that have yet to become truly apparent (but are becoming more and more clear), just got a new school in Portland, Maine. Unlike other schools —…

via No, Millennials, You Actually Don’t Need ‘Adulting School’ — Real Stories – UPROXX

Interesting article about how Millennia’s after leaving high school don’t have the basic skills ie. laundry, doing dishes, paying bills, cooking, cleaning etc. An actual school (who is paying for this?!) has emerged where young adults can go and learn these skills.

One the one hand knowledge is power, so the more you know the better off you will be. Maybe some people were never raised with these skills for whatever reason and are responsibly taking it upon themselves to actively learn life skills. I think that is great. If this is needed for you to success in life than grab every opportunity you can.

On the other hand, it has to be asked: why does this generation not know these skills? Why are parents speaking and fighting their children’s battles more often? Even calling Universities or employers to ask why their child got a low grade or why weren’t they hired. This type of parenting is not healthy and does not help anyone. I see it more and more often, little Johnny can’t come in second, there must be no winners and losers because it will hurt his feelings. But what happens in the real world when there are set backs? Will little Johnny be prepared if he has been told his whole life that he is special and can succeed at anything?

Parents it is ok if your child stumbles, has a hard time with something, even fails at something. Because there is a lesson to be learned. It is not what happened it is how you deal with it.

Do you keep trying, keep believing in yourself that you can or do you give up, never learn and wait for someone else to come along and fix it? If you are in the latter group than I hope you seek out this new school, learn new skills but mostly learn that life will have challenges and that you can face them and overcome them on your own as an adult.

What do you think? Is there really that big of a difference in the generations? Whose responsibility is it?

 

 

Mindful Moment

Think about it…

Listen and Silent are spelt with the same letters

Silent and Listen use the same letters

Coincidence or a learning moment?

Maybe both, as for me when I read this quote, I of course first checked to see if they did us the same letters, come on you know you did too, than I began to reflect on the message.

 

 

Silent and listen. To be silent is to not speak, to listen is to not speak. However let’s take it one step further. Often when people are talking, we are planning on what our response will be. A similar story to share, a reaction to their news, a hurry up and finish talking so I can talk.

Silent and listen. Clear your mind, stop the every day chatter and the thinking and planning of what you will say next and simply listen. Be silent in words aloud and in your head. Being present and mindful is to truly listen to each other, hear them more accuatly and on a deeper level where we are not just listening to their words but picking up expressions and body language leading us to better understand what the person is really saying.

Silent and listen. How many of us do this? Try for this week in one conversation to really silence the mind and listen to the whole person. The person you are speaking to will feel heard validated and more connected to you. You will feel as though you truly heard and understood, creating a deeper conversation and connection.

Namaste ♥

Book Review: I Let You Go by Clare Mckintosh

I Let You Go by Clare Mckintosh

I was walking back from a beautiful sunny summer day playing at the park with my nephews. My mom was chatting to my sister in law, while my brother and I were catching up. When suddenly the nephews ages, 4 and 6 took off running down the side walk, further and further away from us. My mom said you had better stop them, this is a busy road. My brother turned with a surprised scared look on his face and bellowed after his young boys, ‘boys, stop. You’ve gone to far. Stop, your coming up to a busy intersection….no stop….’

The novel, I Let You Go, is about a woman who was walking her young son home from school when he let go of her hand to race her home. One minute they were laughing and sharing stories of their day, thinking of the afternoon snack to come and the next moment the 5 year old boy goes dashing across in the street, right into on coming traffic. He is struck, crashing into the windshield and body flown to the pavement, with his mother screaming and cradling her dying child.

The driver takes off.

And so the novel begins with the search of the driver. Who are they? Why did they leave? Blame is thrown around as the search contines-the mother should have never let go of his hand. She should have been watching him. What is wrong with that driver? How can you leave without stopping to help? Why aren’t the police doing more to solve this case?

Lives are shattered in an instant. The woman leaves to recreate and/or if possible erase her life and start anew. But can you ever simply disappear from the past?

I Let You go is a thriller that will evoke so many emotions from you, all well delving into each charaters story well they journey through the aftermath of the tradegy.

And just when you think, oh o.k. I know what is happening here, who all of the players are…there is a huge twist. I actually stopped and went wait what? Read back a few pages, than a few more to see if I had the characters wrong. Nope. Great twist, perfectly timed in the story. And the twist takes you on a whole new compelling side of the story.

What will happen to the mother who lost her only child? Will the person who killed and fled the scene be identified and charged? How long can the police continue working on a case? Will the lead detective risk losing his job to pursue this till the end. Or will each character move on and learn to rebuild their lives?

Side note: at first I did not want to read this book as I thought it would be too emotional and sad. The back cover tugs at your heart strings about a boy dying and a mother blaming herself. Thankfully, well emotional it was not heavy on the emotional side, especially with the plot going back and forth between the woman starting over and the investigation. I did not expect to like this book, am so impressed that I do. Don’t want to give to much away as this book is defiantly one to come into cold and just read.

4/5 stars would recommend to others.

This is the authors debut book, have you read it? Were you going to read it but it cam across as being too emotional? Let me know your thoughts J

*My nephews are super smart and awesome and well everything to me, of course they stopped at the edge of the side walk as they knew to do. Also with heart pounding, they did not run far away from us again either. Did this book really open my eyes to how one moment can change everything.

Happy Reading ♥

Book Review: Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs

Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs

‘True believers can be the most dangerous of all’

For anyone familiar with the t.v. show, Bones these series of novels are what inspired the t.v. show. Dr. Brennan’s character on the show is vastly different than in the book. On the show she is awkward, doesn’t understand joking and is very serious and naïve. In the novel she is sharp, witty and has an easy banter with everyone. I prefer her character in the novel to the one on the show. Wonder why they changed it so dramatically?

I enjoy the show, however I am not one for reading about all of the fine details of an autopsy room, I generally skip over those parts. So since her Bones series is about working with corpses to dissect their secrets to catch a killer, I have stayed away from her novels. I was surprised and happy to find that although this one does delve into the autopsy room and all of the bones, tissues, cutting and inspection that goes on in there, it did not overwhelm the story. Happily even though this novel is a part of a large series, you can read it as a stand alone novel.

Dr. Temperance Brennan is approached by a superslueth, a webslueth who is part of an online community that works to find missing people. I never knew this group existed, am not surprised, but was interesting to learn about.

The webslueth brings in a very chilling and disturbing tape, where you hear a young woman record her last moments before two men enter the room.

Trouble is as Dr. Brennan goes on the hunt to discover whose voice is on the tape, she also has to figure out if the girl is actually dead, a victim, the criminal. Or a victim and a criminal?

Weaved around Dr. Brennan’s life as she and others search through a small town to uncover a fanatic religious order, family shunning their own, a corrupt priest, and so many people keeping their own secrets she is forced to continue to dig deeper to uncover the truth.

With deaths and bones pilling up, who is the killer and who is the victim is the question for the reader to solve. More urgently, than old bones are the new ones as people who begin to investigate and ask to many questions in the small town met their death.

A result of exorcisms gone wrong? A mentally disturbed young woman? An excommunicated priest? Her own family? Or a group of people brainwashed by a cult?

‘Dissociation. Exorcism. Delusions. They are all mechanisms to deal with a world that is too overwhelming.’

This novel has intrigue, keeps you guessing, and is a gripping read. The author brought in personal struggles for the characters as well, should they marry, taking care of their sick parents, relationships with coworkers, which allowed the book to be so much more than just a crime solving mystery.

So who had the most irrational take on reality? Cora? Or Hoke and the Teagues with their belief in demonic forces? Or amateur webslueths? Dr. Brennan?

3.5/5- interesting read, would give away to someone. The rating would be higher for those who enjoy the fine details of an autopsy and CSI procedure.

Have you read any of her other novels? Would you suggest I read the first one in the series or can they be stand alone novels?

Happy Reading 🙂