Who you talking to, boy?

You Talkin’ to ME?

Creative Commons LicensePhoto credit: lisibo
Sometimes it becomes necessary to talk back to that negative inner voice…

Drag your thoughts away from your troubles… by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.

— Mark Twain

Every once in a while that nasty ol’ inner critic of mine talks trash – calling me names like “idiot” or going off on a “ain’t it awful” rant that demands an equally rude comeback: YOU TALKIN’ TO ME??? But I’m pretty sure such back-talk is only effective in the short run; what’s really required is a more permanent way to switch the inner-critic commentary from a rant to rave… Exactly HOW do we do that? I offer you two techniques: Continue reading » You Talkin’ to ME?

Ellie’s Three Stepper Slump-Dumper

Mixed Media Painting by Dean Russo / Dumbo Arts Center: Art Under the Bridge Festival 2009 / 20090926.10D.54883.P1.L1.CC / SML
Creative Commons License photo credit: See-ming Lee SML
What do you do when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. And that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.

— Dr. Seuss

Some days it doesn’t take much to steal away your morning cheer.  (Yeah, yeah, that’s IF you had any to begin with – some of us just wake up grumpy … something about morning does that to us.) In a recent Family Circus comic strip the Mom wakes up with a glorious stretch and a song in her heart only to be bombarded by:

  • My throat hurts… cough, cough.
  • We’re out of milk.
  • Your cell phone battery is dead!
  • The toilet’s backed up.
  • More bad news from DC…

And so slumps her mood, from glad to sad… down, down, down into a grumpy, grayness in what, a nano second?  Ta-da! Gloom rules.

Why Dump the Slump?

Some of you may be asking, “Why would I want to dump a perfectly good grumpy slump???” Because glad makes the day dance, projects march and helpers help.  It greases the skids, primes the pump, makes tasks easy as pie, carries the day, charms the birds out of the trees… Oh heck, do it because I say so!

How Shall We Dump ’Em?

(First we kill them with clichés!) Continue reading » Ellie’s Three Stepper Slump-Dumper

Cup o’ Inspiration

cup with steam swirl

Take a short break and consider the following:

“Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thought that is forever flowing through one’s head.”

Mark Twain

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