1. Flying through assignments is always a good feeling.
2. Discovering you can go home a day early for break is awesome.
3. Don't do weird accents during class...you might be heard.
4. Hugs. Are. Beautiful.
"Hugging is a beautiful Western custom...When you hug...if you breathe in and out three times, your happiness will be multiplied at least tenfold." - Thich Nhat Hanh
This quotation is from the book Peace Is Every Step, which I am reading for my Buddhism & meditation class. When I got to class today, I wasn't fully prepared. I had only read half of the text and I wasn't too excited to be there in the first place. But then we started to discuss the text. Someone pointed out a section entitled "Hugging Meditation". This caught my attention.
Megan gives the best hugs. If you ever come to see us, ask her for a hug. I think I ask her for a hug at least two or three times a day. Your mood tends to become happier. This is pretty much true of all good hugs. Whenever I was having a bad night and I was an emotional wreck, a hug from my mom always made it a bit better. Or even we were kids. If we fell down or someone hurt us, a hug would tend to make it better. Hugs are the magical medicine.
Not all hugs have been great. Take the example of the kids I babysat. I have known them for nearly half their lives and whenever I see them, they give me a hug...but it's lame. It's half hearted, distracted, and weak. Thich Nhat Hanh says, "If you are distracted, thinking about other things, your hug will be distracted also, not very deep, and you may not enjoy hugging very much." True, ain't it? I always make the kids re-hug me and then they get it right.
Which leads me to think, why do we give weak hugs? I think part of it is that we are distracted, but I think it is because we don't realize how much of an effect we can have on people through our actions. A hug is a very simple thing; so is holding the door open or helping someone pick up something they dropped. But it can make or break a person's day.... "Actions speak louder than words."
Put all of yourself into whatever you're doing. Nhat Hanh talks about a parent ignoring their daughter. If they turn their focus on her, they become a real person. And, "when you become a real person, your daughter becomes real also. She is a wondrous presence, and a real encounter with life is possible at the moment. If you hold her in your arms and breathe, you will awaken to the preciousness of your loved one, and life is."
So the next time you hug someone, be there, not distracted by other things. You never know how long they will be there nor do you know how it is affecting them. And you never know, it might have an effect on you.
Peace!
-Nicole
PS You can now comment on the list of simple pleasures....so please let me know what to add!
Showing posts with label basics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label basics. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Child's Play
1. Grammar hard at 12:20am.
2. Don't fall out of folding chairs.
3. Don't procrastinate... it's not too fun.
4. Be in awe.
For the past week Friday mornings, I have been volunteering at a daycare. I was assigned to the toddler room and at first, I was slightly concerned that I would be working with 15 toddlers. I had never worked with a group of kids that age in a controlled environment. But, I went for it, and boy, was I in for something great.
I think I have read the same children's book about 25 times in the past three weeks. It's the same one: Dinosaur Roar! It pretty much goes like this, "Dinosaur roar, dinosaur squeak. Dinosaur fat, dinosaur skinny. Dinosaur clean, dinosaur slimy." It continues on like this for a few pages more. It really has no point, but the pictures are fairly colorful and it's cute to see the kids roar whenever it comes up. At first, I thought it was cute.
But then I read it 6 times in a row and it got fairly old. The same thing happened the next week, and then again the next time I came. Always the same book and always the same reactions from the kids. Just as I was about to chuck the book across the room, I thought, "Why can't you be like the kids and read the book like it is the first time?" It seemed that every time I read the book again to them, they got something else out of it. They look at the pictures and try to find something new or they point out something familiar. They are excited to show me the little bird in the corner of the page they found the first few times the book was read. They are in constant awe of the book.
And it isn't just the books they come at with new eyes every time. A man and his dog always pass by the window every time I am there. And every time, the kids run to the window and wave to the dog. The man and his dog haven't changed since the last time they saw them, but they still have the same reaction: one of wonder and awe.
Children follow by example and they imitate nearly everything they see. So why don't we reverse what happens and imitate them? Children are happy and don't worry about much. They see the world through different eyes; everything is something to explore and something to learn from. Everything is awe-inspiring.
So, why not have child's play? It seems to work for them. So why not us?
Peace!
-Nicole
2. Don't fall out of folding chairs.
3. Don't procrastinate... it's not too fun.
4. Be in awe.
For the past week Friday mornings, I have been volunteering at a daycare. I was assigned to the toddler room and at first, I was slightly concerned that I would be working with 15 toddlers. I had never worked with a group of kids that age in a controlled environment. But, I went for it, and boy, was I in for something great.
I think I have read the same children's book about 25 times in the past three weeks. It's the same one: Dinosaur Roar! It pretty much goes like this, "Dinosaur roar, dinosaur squeak. Dinosaur fat, dinosaur skinny. Dinosaur clean, dinosaur slimy." It continues on like this for a few pages more. It really has no point, but the pictures are fairly colorful and it's cute to see the kids roar whenever it comes up. At first, I thought it was cute.
But then I read it 6 times in a row and it got fairly old. The same thing happened the next week, and then again the next time I came. Always the same book and always the same reactions from the kids. Just as I was about to chuck the book across the room, I thought, "Why can't you be like the kids and read the book like it is the first time?" It seemed that every time I read the book again to them, they got something else out of it. They look at the pictures and try to find something new or they point out something familiar. They are excited to show me the little bird in the corner of the page they found the first few times the book was read. They are in constant awe of the book.
And it isn't just the books they come at with new eyes every time. A man and his dog always pass by the window every time I am there. And every time, the kids run to the window and wave to the dog. The man and his dog haven't changed since the last time they saw them, but they still have the same reaction: one of wonder and awe.
Children follow by example and they imitate nearly everything they see. So why don't we reverse what happens and imitate them? Children are happy and don't worry about much. They see the world through different eyes; everything is something to explore and something to learn from. Everything is awe-inspiring.
So, why not have child's play? It seems to work for them. So why not us?
Peace!
-Nicole
Friday, October 7, 2011
Simple Pleasures
1. Being attacked by leaves is not fun.
2. Close your window when it is windy...the window might fall off.
3. The library does close at 5pm.
4. Take joy in the little things.
I was sitting in my room today with my friend Brianna and Megan. Brianna said, "I think it is weird that people get really excited for going to Walmart. Carpooling to Walmart is an event around here." So, then we began to discuss how college has brought us back to simple pleasures. Here is our list:
- Carpooling to Walmart
- Pancakes
- Oregon Trail
- Pillow Pets
- Hot tea & Peace tea
- Free printing
- Cross walk signal is already at 'Walk'
- Squirrels
- Having a table open at dinner
- When the roommate is gone
- Eating Nutella
- Taking a nap
- Sitting on a couch
- TV
- Stamps
- Sunshine
- Throwing leaves at people
- Disney movies
- Coloring books
- Bubble wrap
- Chalk
- Dairy Queen
- Falling leaves in the sunshine
- Soft grass
- Cancelled class
- Skipping
- Having to evacuate and class is cancelled
- Free food
- Having a good hair day
- Back scratching
- Seeing people sleep in the library
- Chasing squirrels
- Back massages
- Butterflies
- When your mint opens easily
- Tickling
- Hot chocolate
- Good smells
- Snooze button
- Fresh laundry
- Star gazing
- Cookie dough
- Captain Crunch
- Fuzzy socks
So, here is my lesson: life doesn't have to be about the big things or the most exciting. It's about the simple pleasures. Take joy in life.
Peace!
-Nicole
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Back to Basics
1. Handing in a paper feels really good.
2. Doing laundry is a very good thing.
3. Perks of Being a Wallflower is a fantastic book.
4. Sometimes you have to go back to the basics to understand the bigger concept.
Today I printed off an assignment for my writing class. It was an academic article entitled "What Is a Paragraph?" I wasn't sure if I should be slightly offended or simply intrigued. I thought I should be offended because I am 18 and I know what a paragraph is and dang it, I know how to write. But then I thought I should be intrigued because maybe I do need to know what a paragraph is. Maybe I need to go back to the basics.
The past few weeks has been stuffed full of information: first orientation, then the first few days of class that freaked some of us out, and now the first papers and exams. Most of the time, I don't know what to do with all this information. So, the information is stored in the back of my brain or cast to the side.
And the information is not simple. The concepts are getting more complicated and more in-depth than ever before. We don't review past information; we just pick off right where we should have left off. Oftentimes, without realizing it, I am wishing to go back to the basics.
I am currently taking a class on Buddhism and mindfulness. The main concept we are learning about is simplicity and not thinking... basically, going back to the basics. There, we re-learn the basis for everything: how to treat people, how to care for the planet, and even what a paragraph is. We often complicate our minds with difficult concepts, which are fantastic and sometimes they change the world we live in. But that's just it: we complicate it. If we get back to the basics, we understand why we started in the first place. And if we don't understand that, then why are we doing it?
So maybe I should be intrigued on what a paragraph is...
Peace!
-Nicole
PS I just wrote a few paragraphs right there!
2. Doing laundry is a very good thing.
3. Perks of Being a Wallflower is a fantastic book.
4. Sometimes you have to go back to the basics to understand the bigger concept.
Today I printed off an assignment for my writing class. It was an academic article entitled "What Is a Paragraph?" I wasn't sure if I should be slightly offended or simply intrigued. I thought I should be offended because I am 18 and I know what a paragraph is and dang it, I know how to write. But then I thought I should be intrigued because maybe I do need to know what a paragraph is. Maybe I need to go back to the basics.
The past few weeks has been stuffed full of information: first orientation, then the first few days of class that freaked some of us out, and now the first papers and exams. Most of the time, I don't know what to do with all this information. So, the information is stored in the back of my brain or cast to the side.
And the information is not simple. The concepts are getting more complicated and more in-depth than ever before. We don't review past information; we just pick off right where we should have left off. Oftentimes, without realizing it, I am wishing to go back to the basics.
I am currently taking a class on Buddhism and mindfulness. The main concept we are learning about is simplicity and not thinking... basically, going back to the basics. There, we re-learn the basis for everything: how to treat people, how to care for the planet, and even what a paragraph is. We often complicate our minds with difficult concepts, which are fantastic and sometimes they change the world we live in. But that's just it: we complicate it. If we get back to the basics, we understand why we started in the first place. And if we don't understand that, then why are we doing it?
So maybe I should be intrigued on what a paragraph is...
Peace!
-Nicole
PS I just wrote a few paragraphs right there!
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