Thanks to Twitter I found out about a book titled “The Happiness Project or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean my Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun” by Gretchen Rubin. The book is a memoir of the year she spent “test driving the wisdom of the ages, the current scientific studies, and the lessons from the popular culture about how to be happy – from Aristotle to Martin Seligman to Thoreau to Oprah” (http://happiness-project.com). She has a blog at http://happiness-project.com where every Wednesday is tip day. The tweet I read took me to her entry on how to keep stay in touch with friends, etc., which I found very useful. You can read sample chapters at the blog, which I did and the book is available on Amazon.
The big draw for me, however, was the Happiness Project Toolbox which is found at this link http://www.happinessprojecttoolbox.com/. The Happiness Project Toolbox supplies eight tools to help you construct your "happiness project." Your "happiness project" is your own project to take specific steps to boost your happiness. Even if you do not read the book you can use the Happiness Project Toolbox. You can use it to make resolutions, lists, keep a one-sentence journal, personal commandments. You can do all this without the Happiness Project Toolbox but with the toolbox you can share your posts with other persons and you can read other people’s posts for inspiration.
Since I have been having my issues with this thing called happiness, I am going to start a happiness project today and I am going to start with personal commandments. I think I am going to plagiarize the author’s own first of her twelve commandments and make my first one “Be Joni”. Second on my list perhaps may be “When persons comment on the fact that you have put on weight resist the urge to smile politely and say thanks but I have a mirror or punch them in the face or tell them they are ugly”. What is it (and this is me venting now) with people, that the first thing they say to a person is about their body being bigger than it once was? Do I go around telling people they are ugly? Do people routinely tell people that they have lost weight? No they don’t. You can compliment someone’s clothing or hairdo or say something about something they did, anything other than a comment about extra pounds. But I suppose that might be harder, and we humans do not like harder or thinking about the consequences of our actions.
If you decide to start a happiness project of your own let me know by leaving a comment, or emailing, or using Facebook, so we can support each other. There is a tool in the toolbox for group resolutions which perhaps we could use.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Trying to get my manuscript done
So it has been a while since I made an entry to this blog. I have just been enjoying the silence. No footsteps or ringing phones or yells that indicate you are needed for a meeting just as you were getting some work done or sitting in meetings where inevitably the same things get said over and over again and nothing is ever done.
I have been taking some time to do some reading and I am going to use this medium to share an article that I found, to help my fellow poets who are all headed for publication whether they want to own it or not at this time. It is written by Jeffrey Levine editor-in-chief of Tupelo Press and is titled ‘Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Poetry Manuscript: Some Ideas on Creation and Order’. The link to the article is http://www.awpwriter.org/careers/jlevine01.htm.
Reading it has in a way kind of streamlined my thinking about my own work in progress manuscript and I am re-working some of the ideas of what I wanted it to be like. For one, I was hung up on it being titled Dragonfly and up to this point I have yet to finish the poem to be titled ‘Dragonfly’. I still intend to keep it in the manuscript when done, but for right now the title is the last thing I am worried about. It has also spurred me on to completion, because truth be told I am definitely going to be in a different place and a different frame of mind with a different story to tell come my next birthday which is only 5 months away so I am trying to get some things done but at the moment I am working on the discipline.
Discipline is basically what this blog is all about for me. When I started the blog I had intended to write more frequently, however, that will soon be taken care of when I get back to work as there will be many occasions when I just need to clear my mind and writing for the blog will be how I will deal with this.
With that said and with nothing more to say right now, do not forget to aid in the relief and restructuring efforts going on in Haiti and to all the persons who are on the ground giving of themselves in very tough circumstances; thank you for doing the job that you are doing.
I have been taking some time to do some reading and I am going to use this medium to share an article that I found, to help my fellow poets who are all headed for publication whether they want to own it or not at this time. It is written by Jeffrey Levine editor-in-chief of Tupelo Press and is titled ‘Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Poetry Manuscript: Some Ideas on Creation and Order’. The link to the article is http://www.awpwriter.org/careers/jlevine01.htm.
Reading it has in a way kind of streamlined my thinking about my own work in progress manuscript and I am re-working some of the ideas of what I wanted it to be like. For one, I was hung up on it being titled Dragonfly and up to this point I have yet to finish the poem to be titled ‘Dragonfly’. I still intend to keep it in the manuscript when done, but for right now the title is the last thing I am worried about. It has also spurred me on to completion, because truth be told I am definitely going to be in a different place and a different frame of mind with a different story to tell come my next birthday which is only 5 months away so I am trying to get some things done but at the moment I am working on the discipline.
Discipline is basically what this blog is all about for me. When I started the blog I had intended to write more frequently, however, that will soon be taken care of when I get back to work as there will be many occasions when I just need to clear my mind and writing for the blog will be how I will deal with this.
With that said and with nothing more to say right now, do not forget to aid in the relief and restructuring efforts going on in Haiti and to all the persons who are on the ground giving of themselves in very tough circumstances; thank you for doing the job that you are doing.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Observations
I am writing this in the wake of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit our neighbour Haiti yesterday afternoon. Prior to hearing the news of the earthquake and the devastation there, I had been reading “The Daily Gleaner” newspaper dated 18 June 1984, the day I was born. I happened upon an article in which it was predicted by Dr. Omar Davies, that “there was likely to be a substantial shortfall in revenue during the financial year 1984/85, because the estimate of revenue-intake which the Government had made for the period would not be realized”.
One of the headlines read “Call on govt. to repair damaged main roads”. Another: “PNP queries new hike on kerosene”. Others read: Rapes and robberies as gunmen snatch buses”, “Exports via Kingston Wharves down 26 %; imports down”, “Wanted man slain in Temple Hall”, “Three shot dead in weekend incidents”, “Argentina wants pact with IMF” and in the editorial section an article by the late Carl Stone titled “A Casino Referendum”.
Fast forward to January 2010, to the pending agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a loan of billions of dollars; increased taxes which will inevitably mean increases in the prices of goods and service (the price of chicken has already increased with increases in rice and flour imminent); job losses with more coming; the recent murders in the past few weeks and the question that begets is “how long is it going to take to get it right”.
Based on my observations we have basically come full circle. Sure there have been improvements in some areas but I find it extremely hard to be forking out money at the gas pump which is supposed to be put into a fund for fixing the nation’s roads when the roads that I drive on everyday, which were not all that great to begin with, have only gotten worse and it appears that this fund is not being managed at all.
I do not have the luxury of being a tax evader, however illegal it may be. I am a P.A.Y.E. employee, and all the various taxes get taken from my salary each month before I even see a cent. I would feel a lot better about paying taxes if I the streets were free of garbage, if everyone had piped water and electricity among other things, but that is not the case.
Everybody can see the problems but nobody is talking about a solution. The government appears to not know what they are doing, the opposition calls out the government on what appears to them to be their mistakes, pull publicity stunts that really do nothing for the man and woman on the street whose income has become so contracted due to increased costs and there is no real dialogue. No dialogue between the politicians, no dialogue between the government and the people that elected them and it all just seems like we should all give up and jump ship. I have for the first time thought seriously about leaving Jamaica for a life and living somewhere else. I am optimistic that things will get better and am endeavouring to do my part to help achieve this, but regardless of what each individual can do, our leaders need to lead.
My sympathies and prayers go out to the people of Haiti. It appears that Haiti and devastation have become synonymous. They were unscathed this year by the hurricane season only to have a pretty bad earthquake strike Port-au-Prince a couple months later. There was an article in Le Matin in 2008 titled “Possibility of an earthquake in Port-au-Prince” where a former professor at the Geological Institute of Havana, Patrick Charles is quoted, stating that “conditions are ripe for major seismic activity in Port-au-Prince. The inhabitants of the Haitian capital need to prepare themselves for an event which will inevitably occur...”
While I feel for the Haitian people, I have to ask myself the question, how equipped is my own country, Jamaica, to deal with a catastrophe of this magnitude. Is there a disaster plan and if so, how many people know about the plan or is it sitting on a shelf in someone’s office gathering dust? I have thought about what would have happened if it happened in Kingston instead of Port-au-Prince. I would have been at home, but if not for being on leave, I would have been at work. How safe is the building I work in? How would I get in touch with my relatives if communications were down? What would happen to the water supplies, the ability of our medical facilities to cope?
These are real concerns as Jamaica is at risk for earthquakes. There are several small ones every year. Are we due a big one? The fault that caused the earthquake in Haiti runs through Jamaica as well. The irony of it all is that week is being celebrated as Earthquake Awareness week, here in Jamaica. We all are aware now, so I hope that we are doing what needs to be done to prepare, just in case.
http://www.haitixchange.com/index.php/hx/Articles/possibilty-of-earthquake-in-port-au-prince/
One of the headlines read “Call on govt. to repair damaged main roads”. Another: “PNP queries new hike on kerosene”. Others read: Rapes and robberies as gunmen snatch buses”, “Exports via Kingston Wharves down 26 %; imports down”, “Wanted man slain in Temple Hall”, “Three shot dead in weekend incidents”, “Argentina wants pact with IMF” and in the editorial section an article by the late Carl Stone titled “A Casino Referendum”.
Fast forward to January 2010, to the pending agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a loan of billions of dollars; increased taxes which will inevitably mean increases in the prices of goods and service (the price of chicken has already increased with increases in rice and flour imminent); job losses with more coming; the recent murders in the past few weeks and the question that begets is “how long is it going to take to get it right”.
Based on my observations we have basically come full circle. Sure there have been improvements in some areas but I find it extremely hard to be forking out money at the gas pump which is supposed to be put into a fund for fixing the nation’s roads when the roads that I drive on everyday, which were not all that great to begin with, have only gotten worse and it appears that this fund is not being managed at all.
I do not have the luxury of being a tax evader, however illegal it may be. I am a P.A.Y.E. employee, and all the various taxes get taken from my salary each month before I even see a cent. I would feel a lot better about paying taxes if I the streets were free of garbage, if everyone had piped water and electricity among other things, but that is not the case.
Everybody can see the problems but nobody is talking about a solution. The government appears to not know what they are doing, the opposition calls out the government on what appears to them to be their mistakes, pull publicity stunts that really do nothing for the man and woman on the street whose income has become so contracted due to increased costs and there is no real dialogue. No dialogue between the politicians, no dialogue between the government and the people that elected them and it all just seems like we should all give up and jump ship. I have for the first time thought seriously about leaving Jamaica for a life and living somewhere else. I am optimistic that things will get better and am endeavouring to do my part to help achieve this, but regardless of what each individual can do, our leaders need to lead.
My sympathies and prayers go out to the people of Haiti. It appears that Haiti and devastation have become synonymous. They were unscathed this year by the hurricane season only to have a pretty bad earthquake strike Port-au-Prince a couple months later. There was an article in Le Matin in 2008 titled “Possibility of an earthquake in Port-au-Prince” where a former professor at the Geological Institute of Havana, Patrick Charles is quoted, stating that “conditions are ripe for major seismic activity in Port-au-Prince. The inhabitants of the Haitian capital need to prepare themselves for an event which will inevitably occur...”
While I feel for the Haitian people, I have to ask myself the question, how equipped is my own country, Jamaica, to deal with a catastrophe of this magnitude. Is there a disaster plan and if so, how many people know about the plan or is it sitting on a shelf in someone’s office gathering dust? I have thought about what would have happened if it happened in Kingston instead of Port-au-Prince. I would have been at home, but if not for being on leave, I would have been at work. How safe is the building I work in? How would I get in touch with my relatives if communications were down? What would happen to the water supplies, the ability of our medical facilities to cope?
These are real concerns as Jamaica is at risk for earthquakes. There are several small ones every year. Are we due a big one? The fault that caused the earthquake in Haiti runs through Jamaica as well. The irony of it all is that week is being celebrated as Earthquake Awareness week, here in Jamaica. We all are aware now, so I hope that we are doing what needs to be done to prepare, just in case.
http://www.haitixchange.com/index.php/hx/Articles/possibilty-of-earthquake-in-port-au-prince/
Monday, January 11, 2010
After the worst of the chickenpox
I am slowly immersing myself back into the world outside the four walls of my apartment after getting the chicken pox and being under house arrest. It started with a necessary visit to my insurance broker followed by a visit to the supermarket. It is a lovely day outside.
Today is the first day of my vacation leave and I am supposed to be writing. I started two poems on the weekend but I have not written anything today as yet. There is still time. I, however, spent my time waiting at the insurance broker reading Natasha Trethewey. If I am going to write well I am going to have to read so the morning was not completely lost. It is so refreshing to read good poetry. Everyday words strung in just the right sequence can be so powerful. A description of the letters t and d in “Letter” makes you think about the alphabet in a whole different light. Letters (and not just words), now have meanings of their own.
I have a list of things I want to accomplish this year. I make one every year. There however, is never a post mortem of the list as the year comes to an end. There is, however, a general feeling almost always of not accomplishing enough of what I set out to do. With this in mind (and even though this general feeling of failure never extends to this particular thing), I have opted not to put “learn to swim” on my list this year.
The hardest lessons in life are the ones that you cannot read in a book, or watch played out in someone else’s life. The hardest lessons are the ones that you have to learn for yourself. This year, on my list, is “love what you have”. It is sometimes hard to see past what everyone else has and this is not so much about material things. It is about the things that you cannot see and touch, but you feel.
So I don’t have a lot of people. There is an explanation for that. I do not let people in easily. I forgive but it is very hard for me to forget so I can dismiss people easily and perhaps I have been dismissing more than I have been letting out the welcome mat. I hold everyone to perhaps an impossible standard and when someone falls short it is such a blow to my emotional state I do not put myself in that position willingly often.
I am learning (albeit) slowly to separate what people do/say intentionally or unintentionally, in the heat of the moment or not, from who they are. Everyone is just another human being trying to find his place in the world. This is not to say there are not people in the world that are just downright evil you can feel hell emanating from their pores, and those people you stay away from no matter what. Thankfully I have not come into contact with any of those.
It is another year, another journey. The continuing journey to 26, with a brief stop, hopefully, at the Calabash International Literary Festival in May as they celebrate 10 years (with other stops in between); the continuing journey to the finished manuscript and publication; the continuing journey in love. There is also the hope of a new journey to a new place in the fall where adventure and many ideas for more writing will await. Hopefully there will be no more doctors involved in the rest of my journey, this year. I am just about fed up waiting rooms, doctors’ offices, pharmacies that take forever to fill your prescription and I think my throat has started to rebel against all those pills I am now finding it hard to swallow. I shall, however, make this a journey full of light.
Today is the first day of my vacation leave and I am supposed to be writing. I started two poems on the weekend but I have not written anything today as yet. There is still time. I, however, spent my time waiting at the insurance broker reading Natasha Trethewey. If I am going to write well I am going to have to read so the morning was not completely lost. It is so refreshing to read good poetry. Everyday words strung in just the right sequence can be so powerful. A description of the letters t and d in “Letter” makes you think about the alphabet in a whole different light. Letters (and not just words), now have meanings of their own.
I have a list of things I want to accomplish this year. I make one every year. There however, is never a post mortem of the list as the year comes to an end. There is, however, a general feeling almost always of not accomplishing enough of what I set out to do. With this in mind (and even though this general feeling of failure never extends to this particular thing), I have opted not to put “learn to swim” on my list this year.
The hardest lessons in life are the ones that you cannot read in a book, or watch played out in someone else’s life. The hardest lessons are the ones that you have to learn for yourself. This year, on my list, is “love what you have”. It is sometimes hard to see past what everyone else has and this is not so much about material things. It is about the things that you cannot see and touch, but you feel.
So I don’t have a lot of people. There is an explanation for that. I do not let people in easily. I forgive but it is very hard for me to forget so I can dismiss people easily and perhaps I have been dismissing more than I have been letting out the welcome mat. I hold everyone to perhaps an impossible standard and when someone falls short it is such a blow to my emotional state I do not put myself in that position willingly often.
I am learning (albeit) slowly to separate what people do/say intentionally or unintentionally, in the heat of the moment or not, from who they are. Everyone is just another human being trying to find his place in the world. This is not to say there are not people in the world that are just downright evil you can feel hell emanating from their pores, and those people you stay away from no matter what. Thankfully I have not come into contact with any of those.
It is another year, another journey. The continuing journey to 26, with a brief stop, hopefully, at the Calabash International Literary Festival in May as they celebrate 10 years (with other stops in between); the continuing journey to the finished manuscript and publication; the continuing journey in love. There is also the hope of a new journey to a new place in the fall where adventure and many ideas for more writing will await. Hopefully there will be no more doctors involved in the rest of my journey, this year. I am just about fed up waiting rooms, doctors’ offices, pharmacies that take forever to fill your prescription and I think my throat has started to rebel against all those pills I am now finding it hard to swallow. I shall, however, make this a journey full of light.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Chickenpox
I have the chicken pox. Happy New Year to me! I managed to get through 25 ½ years of life before getting the chickenpox and then spend the first Monday of the New Year thinking the office is really, really cold; only to get home and realize I have a fever. On Tuesday, I got lulled into a false sense of security as the fever went away only to return during the night with the blisters starting to appear.
So here I am on Thursday, after spending Wednesday morning waiting for the inevitable diagnosis; red, itchy and lacking sleep. I am trying not to scratch which is extremely difficult for me and right now I am covered in calamine lotion.
I wish the chickenpox was something you could just go to bed, sleep off and when you wake up it would be gone. However, it appears that it has to get worse before it gets better, so I wait. I suppose with a start like this, the year can only get better.
So here I am on Thursday, after spending Wednesday morning waiting for the inevitable diagnosis; red, itchy and lacking sleep. I am trying not to scratch which is extremely difficult for me and right now I am covered in calamine lotion.
I wish the chickenpox was something you could just go to bed, sleep off and when you wake up it would be gone. However, it appears that it has to get worse before it gets better, so I wait. I suppose with a start like this, the year can only get better.
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