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Archive for November, 2007

25
Nov

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

Season of Gratitude
This final post in the 2007 Season of Gratitude Series. Thank you all for participating and reading all the tales of gratitude this year.

Thanksgiving’s come and gone here and it was a beautiful day to give thanks indeed. Fall is now my favorite season. I went over to a friends house and laid out in the hammock so that I looked through the golden and fiery leaves of a maple tree. The day was gorgeous.

This is the final installation of the Season of Gratitude, rounding the total list of posts to 33. That’s $165 for the Heifer Project :-)

My personal gratitude list this season:

  • My parents and family
  • Friends
  • New job
  • That I have a job
  • New beginnings
  • Online and offline spiritual community
  • The ability to walk
  • Living close enough to work to walk
  • Authors and bloggers
  • Music
  • Nature
  • Toastmasters
  • All of my readers and subscribers

May you all be blessed and remember to give thanks everyday.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Nneka

19
Nov

All About Books

Season of Gratitude
This post is a part of the Season of Gratitude Series. You can participate by writing a gratitude post and telling me about it. For more details, click here.

What would you have to say about these questions?

How many books do I have? Not sure of the exact count, but it’s about 500. When I did the swag by multiplying how many books on a shelf by the number of books I was shocked that so many are fitting into this tiny space. When I moved in here a friend of mine commented that she thought I’d have more books. Since simplifying, I borrow fiction from the library so that’s cut down on consumption :-)

What’s the last book you read? Big Girls Don’t Cry by Fay Weldon (also known as Big Women). It’s a book about the rise of feminist publishing house in London along with the stories of the 7 women involved in its founding.

What’s the last book you bought? Just Saturday night I bought Loving What Is by Byron Katie. I saw her do The Work with 4 individuals in a movie and I headed straight to the bookstore. I’m looking forward to devouring it and practicing the principles that are in it.

Five Meaningful Books Man, this one’s a tough one because I read such divergent stuff. I’ll have to categorize.

In the chick lit genre which I’m up on since my separation, I’ll have to go with Good In Bed. It’s the first in that genre I read. While Jennifer Weiner might think it an insult to be labeled that way, I just love that the story spoke to me and was an easy read. I read mostly very heavy non-fiction and my life it’s serious, chick lit gives me a place to kick back and relax.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert is the best biographical book I’ve read out of a total of about three :-) Seriously though, this book gave me clarity, strength, and courage during a very difficult time. I saw it about 6 months before I bought it and knew I had to have it. It’s Elizabeth’s story of finding herself through the decadence of Italy, the reverence of India, and the balance of Indonesia.

Third up is Retire Young, Retire Rich by Robert Kiyosaki. Of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series, this book was the most helpful to me and I think it contains all the concepts of the others. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by itself was a jolt to my subconscious with regard to money and work. I always thought that you had to work for money, and you do. However, the book taught me that money can work for you.

I recently finished facilitating a 6-week book study on Ask and It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks. I was very resistant to reading this book, however I found that it was a very practical guide to the way the Universe works. It’s great as a primer for the world of subjective reality, oneness, and deliberate creation.

Given to me on my 18th birthday, The Way of The Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman, helped me to see the plasticity of the material world. It really all is extremely amorphous and I enjoy playing with it. In the past year I’ve been playing more :-)

Today I am thankful for being introduced to the written word early on in my life. I often escaped into the world of books as a child and continue to be very inquisitive as an adult because I know someone has written about it somewhere. It’s also spawned my love of writing. I give special thanks to Rick who tagged me in this meme. What are you grateful for today?

In Spirit,
Nneka