Focus on the present

This is such a nice piece to read. It's written by Shauna Niequist, an America author. To be honest, I've never heard about her before. But I think from this moment I will remember her and will try to read her books. The writing below is about the present moment and the things you believe on that instant moment. Happy reading =)

"believe that this way of living, this focus on the present, the daily, the tangible, this intense concentration not on the news headlines but on the flowers growing in your own garden, the children growing in your own home, this way of living has the potential to open up the heavens, to yield a glittering handful of diamonds where a second ago there was coal. This way of living and noticing and building and crafting can crack through the movie sets and soundtracks that keep us waiting for our own life stories to begin, and set us free to observe the lives we have been creating all along without ever realizing it.

I don’t want to wait anymore. I choose to believe that there is nothing more sacred or profound than this day. I choose to believe that there may be a thousand big moments embedded in this day, waiting to be discovered like tiny shards of gold. The big moments are the daily, tiny moments of courage and forgiveness and hope that we grab on to and extend to one another. That’s the drama of life, swirling all around us, and generally I don’t even see it, because I’m too busy waiting to become whatever it is I think I am about to become. The big moments are in every hour, every conversation, every meal, every meeting.The Heisman Trophy winner knows this. He knows that his big moment was not when they gave him the trophy. It was the thousand times he went to practice instead of going back to bed. It was the miles run on rainy days, the healthy meals when a burger sounded like heaven. That big moment represented and rested on a foundation of moments that had come before it.I believe that if we cultivate a true attention, a deep ability to see what has been there all along, we will find worlds within us and between us, dreams and stories and memories spilling over. The nuances and shades and secrets and intimations of love and friendship and marriage an parenting are action-packed and multicolored, if you know where to look.Today is your big moment. Moments, really.

The life you’ve been waiting for is happening all around you. The scene unfolding right outside your window is worth more than the most beautiful painting, and the crackers and peanut butter that you’re having for lunch on the coffee table are as profound, in their own way, as the Last Supper. This is it. This is life in all its glory, swirling and unfolding around us, disguised as pedantic, pedestrian non-events. But pull of the mask and you will find your life, waiting to be made, chosen, woven, crafted.Your life, right now, today, is exploding with energy and power and detail and dimension, better than the best movie you have ever seen. You and your family and your friends and your house and your dinner table and your garage have all the makings of a life of epic proportions, a story for the ages. Because they all are. Every life is.You have stories worth telling, memories worth remembering, dreams worth working toward, a body worth feeding, a soul worth tending, and beyond that, the God of the universe dwells within you, the true culmination of super and natural. You are more than dust and bones.You are spirit and power and image of God.And you have been given Today."

— Shauna Niequist (Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life)

(image source: weheartit)

Smallest act of kindness

I always love to talk about every act of kindness. Even if it's only the smallest act of kindness. You don't need to judge how big or small it is, the thing that matters the most is the sincerity of doing the kindness. It's how you do it not how big you can do it. Here's a short writhing by a famous American author/novelist Dean Koontz from one of his books "From The Corner Of His Eye" about act of kindness...about how the author explain on good and bad. Hope you like it =)

Not one day in anyone’s life is an uneventful day, no day without profound meaning, no matter how dull and boring it might seem, no matter whether you are a seamstress or a queen, a shoeshine boy, or a movie star, a renowned philosopher or a Down’s-syndrome child. Because in every day of your life, there are opportunities to perform little kindnesses for others, both by conscious acts of will and unconscious example.

Each smallest act of kindness—even just words of hope when they are needed, the remembrance of a birthday, a compliment that engenders a smile—reverberates across great distances and spans of time, affecting lives unknown to the one whose generous spirit was the source of this good echo, because kindness is passed on and grows each time it’s passed, until a simple courtesy becomes an act of selfless courage years later and far away.

Likewise, each small meanness, each thoughtless expression of hatred, each envious and bitter act, regardless of how petty, can inspire others, and is therefore the seed that ultimately produces evil fruit, poisoning people whom you have never met and never will. All human lives are so profoundly and intricately entwined—those dead, those living, those generations yet to come—that the fate of all is the fate of each, and the hope of humanity rests in every heart and in every pair of hands.

Therefore, after every failure, we are obliged to strive again for success, and when faced with the end of one thing, we must build something new and better in the ashes, just as from pain and grief, we must weave hope, for each of us is a thread critical to the strength—to the very survival of the human tapestry.

Every hour in every life contains such often-unrecognized potential to affect the world that the great days and thrilling possibilities are combined always in this momentous day.

— Dean Koontz (From the Corner of His Eye)

(image source: vi.sualize.us)

The Boy In The Stripped Pajamas

Last weekend I just finished reading a book called "The Boy In The Stripped Pajamas" by an Irish novelist John Boyne and afterward I watched the movie with the same title. The story is about a boy named Bruno who had to move out from his house in Berlin with his mother, father and his sister to a place in which he never been before. Turns out that it was an Auschwitz concentration camp because his father was a Nazi Commandant. He was so bored and upset about the new place of his house until he met this boy, Shmuel, a Jewish boy on the camp. Shmuel was the boy Striped Pyjamas. The story of their friendship starts from then on until one day something happened. Do you wanna know what happened to both of the boys? You should read or watch the movie. Here's the trailer of the movie. I really recommend both the book and the movie. It's a very touching story.

Four Arrangements...

Another great guidance and wisdom for us to live this life. This time is from Miguel Ruiz. He is a Mexican author. His most famous work that has been able to influence many people is called "The Four Arrangements". It's about how we can find ourself in a whole..within ourselves. Just those simple things that often do but we often do those things without thinking what those can do when we do those things sincerely. Here are the Four Arrangements:

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word

Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally

Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions

Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best

Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

- Miguel Ruiz -

(article source: goodreads.com - image source: pink-promise.deviantart.com)

Fate is like a small sandstorm

So, the continue yesterday's topic about fate, I found this amazing and thoughtful paragraphs about fate written by Haruki Murakami from one of his books, Kafka on the Shore. Haruki Murakami a Japanese writer who often writes about a story that can make your mind jump out of your common thoughts. I love all of his works. I often just browse on his quotes from parts of his books just to refresh my mind about this life. His writes unique stories with thoughtful words and sentences that I often read several times because the sentences are so good. Do you know the feeling when you got goosebumps reading some of the great writings? Not goosebumps in a spooky way but those that can blow one's mind. I can feel goosebumps reading the paragraphs below. This one is about fate.

“Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.

An you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You’ll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others.

And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” Haruki Murakami (Kafka on the Shore)

(image source: weheartit.com)

You might as well lie back and enjoy

I found this writing written by the oh-so-talented Neil Gaiman about life, which is all about balance. It is one of those writing that you can use as some kind of a guide for your life, just to ensure you that life is not always good. You just have to face some dull moments now and then. Life is full of ups, life is also full of down moments. Life is bad, life is good. But in the end, the best thing that you can do is just to ENJOY LIFE =) And as for now..you might as well enjoy reading Neil Gaiman quotes below. Have a good Friday..

“I can believe things that are true and things that aren’t true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they’re true or not.

I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and the Beatles and Marilyn Monroe and Elvis and Mister Ed. Listen - I believe that people are perfectable, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones that look like wrinkled lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women.

I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone’s ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline in good sex in America is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state.

I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste.

I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we’ll all be wiped out by the common cold like martians in War of the Worlds.

I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman.

I believe that mankind’s destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it’s aerodynamically impossible for a bumble bee to fly, that light is a wave and a particle, that there’s a cat in a box somewhere who’s alive and dead at the same time (although if they don’t ever open the box to feed it it’ll eventually just be two different kinds of dead), and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself.

I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with her girlfriends and doesn’t even know that I’m alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind luck.

I believe that anyone who says sex is overrated just hasn’t done it properly. I believe that anyone who claims to know what’s going on will lie about the little things too.

I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman’s right to choose, a baby’s right to live, that while all human life is sacred there’s nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system.

I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you’re alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.”

Neil Gaiman (American Gods)

(image source: cdmuckosky.blogspot.com)

Watch Diary

This is very unique. I am sure that everyone who loves to write a journal or who loves to own a not book or a diary will love this book. This one is called WATCH DIARY. I found this really unique diary on Yanko Design. Wonjune Song is the creator of this Watch Diary. What makes this diary so unique is the watch located at the center of the book. Everytime you turn new pages, you'll see the watch and therefore you will always remember what you did on what time or what you'll do at what time. Just like what the site explain below:

The “red hand” indicates the current task, the “before hand” indicates past chores and the “forward hand” indicates the upcoming ones.

(all images via yankodesign.com)

The charm of Nantucket

I just finished reading a book of my fave author, Jane Green. This time the book is "The Beach House". The setting of the story was in Nantucket. I had always had a crush of Nantucket. The place is so charming and calming. I even had a posting about how to dress in Nantucket. Click here to see the post. Why do I like the place? I love every single thing about it, but what I like the most is that it is located by the sea. I often imagine myself live there. And when I read the book, it's like a coincidence that my fave author had Nantucket as the main setting of the story. The story is about friendships of strangers who have never met before. Out of nowhere, they end up being in one vacation house in Nantucket with their own different problems. Amazingly, they have bonded and became more than friends, they became a family. It was a really touching story about how people have to know that there are other people who love them out there, even strangers can be family.Here's a general info about Nantucket:

Nantucket is an island 30 miles (48.3 km) south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the United States. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and the coterminous Nantucket County, which are consolidated

Here's the review from Yahoo! Travel about Nantucket:

Old Nantucket lives in the Nantucket you visit today. The combination of 18th and 19th Century buildings and the cobblestone streets will make you feel as though you have stepped back in time. Antique shops, historic sites, charming inns and interesting museums are yours for discovering; with the added bonuses of dramatic scenery, miles of unspoiled beaches and plentiful nature preserves. With few cars and no traffic lights, beach-goers and sightseers, cyclists, strollers and happy ice-cream eaters lend to the charm and personality of Nantucket, making it a popular destination for people fleeing larger cities for vacation and weekend getaways.

(sources from Wikipedia-Nantucket, Yahoo! Travel - images from destination360, wikipedia, countryliving, promaptraveler, far out brussel sprout blog)

A soul mate

Last Saturday night I was hanging out with my friends and one of them was talking about the book "Eat, Pray, Love". I've read the book there we were discussing the book. How a woman can finally found herself back in the life she's been wanting all this time and of course that includes love. Have you read it? If you have, which part of the book do you like the most? I will surely choose the "Love" part. Why? Because it took place on my lovely country Indonesia. Liz went to Bali, one of the most beautiful islands in Indonesia, and found LOVE. I can't wait to see the movie. So, here I am looking for the quotes that we discussed that night. It's not weird at all that we both like the same quotes from the book. Here's the quote of Elizabeth Gilbert from one of her journey:

"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.

A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave.

A soul mates purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master..."

— Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia)

(image from here)

Like the flowing river...

Two days ago I bought this book. Like the flowing river by Paulo Coelho. I heard about him so many times and have seen many of his books here and there but I don't know where to start or which book should I read for the first time. A cousin of mine told me to read this book that consists of the short stories collection of the writer himself, Paulo Coelho. Yesterday when I open the very first chapter of the book, I fell in love completely..with the words, the sentences and the simple story but able give us very deep thoughts. And below is one of my favorite stories from the book...

The story of the pencil

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point he asked: ‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’

His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson: ‘I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.

‘But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’

‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.’

‘First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.’

‘Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpner. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.

‘Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.’

‘Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.’

‘Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. in just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action’

How to eat the French way

Have you ever heard this phrase "French women don't get fat"? Ever wondered how do French eat and how can they stay slim & healthy? What about those croissant, cheese and the lattes calories counting? This topic has crossed my mind many times that I decided to do a little research on it. Many people say that French women have the best diet trick ever. It has been said that the trick is just to eat half of what's on the plate. Based on one source, "When being served meat, soup, vegetables, whatever, at someone's home, or even in a restaurant, Frenchwomen are apt to tell the person dishing it out, 'La moitie, s'il vous plait' — just give me half of that." Non! But this is too, too delicious! They have these wonderful lives, and qualities, by looking at how much everyone else is eating and just having half of it.

Mireille Guiliano, the author of the book below, has a personal reason on writing the book which is primarily dedicated for her American friends. Guiliano's own weight started to climb in her late teens. It was when she left France to study in the U.S. This book isn't just about dieting or losing weight but it's about learning to live the good life with those French tricks. She said that it's important taking time to enjoy the culinary offerings of each season. Guiliano also has recipes to be shared with us. Click here for the recipes. And you can click here to know the ultimate guide of eating for pleasure and not to get fat.

Here's another quote from this website: "The French live longer too, and have lower death rates from coronary heart disease. They don’t diet and they don’t spend hours panting round the gym." Here are the so-called “French paradox” points to be taking into account when you're still wondering how French women stays healthy and slim.

1. Food for pleasure - savor the flavor: French people tend to taste foods individually rather than piling a number of foods on the fork at once.
2. Small portion size: Although the French diet is rich in butter, cream, pastry and cheese, the research demonstrates they consume fewer calories, resulting in decreased number of overweight and obese people. Size does matter.
3. Red wine: Antioxidants called flavonoids, natural chemical compounds found in red wine, promote health benefits to the heart and blood vessels.
4. French tend to aim for food quality over quantity: French people buy fresher and of better quality of foodstuff from the open-air market.
5. Home-cooking tradition: Regardless of their social background, French cook the real food which is prepared in their kitchen
6. “No snacking” habit: The French tend to snack much less, instead, they try to eat more regularly. If they do snack, the French often choose fresh fruits between meals.
7. Water vs sodas: Beverage preferences also come into play. French drink a lot of bottled water instead of sodas.
8. Walking - naturally active life: The French aren't prone to rushing to the gym, however they are more physically active by simply walking a lot.
9. Self-discipline: It’s true that the French deny themselves very little when it comes to food. But they also eat very little of it: a piece of dark chocolate after a meal, as opposed to a large piece (or two) of cake. They know that denial isn’t healthy, but it has to be moderated

Read more books...

One of My 2009 resolutions...Read more books.

Like the flowing river

I've never read any of Paulo Coelho's books..afraid I might not like it. But a cousin of mine suggested that I should read it. And I said to her (considering there are lots of title of Paulo Coelho's books!) "Which one should I read first?"..."Like the flowing river (Ser como o rio que flui)" she said. Why? Because it's a famous collection of thoughts and short stories of Paulo Coelho. By reading it..people will get a broad idea of Paulo Coelho's writing. I guess this will be my next reading.

Bookshop..

(image via here)
This is Iliad bookshoop...I would be very happy to have a visit sometimes....Wow...this is what I call a book store. I love a traditional brick and mortar bookshop is better than the modern one I guess. I can picture myself getting lost among piles and piles of books....

For One More Day

This is My first posting for My new Blog...Can't believe I finally made My own blog after all this time. So, I decided to post this entry of the lates book I've read. I just finished reading (for the second time) Mitch Albom's "For One More Day"...Such an inspiring story that I believe has influenced many people's life. The story is about one "strange" day of Chick Benetto (the main character of the story) when he had a chance to go back to his past life back when his mother was still alive. On this one day he had to learn how to make peace with all the regrets in his past life and he had to fix what he did wrong back then. But what I like most of the story is the eternity of a LOVE of a mother to her children....Endless!

I've watched an interview of Oprah with Mitch Albom that if a person could go back to the past to fix things to a person they care the most, most of them would say "I Love You" or "I'm sorry". I agree to his statement...nothing matters in this life than to love and be loved. Of the other two books of Mitch Albom, Five People You Meet in Heaven & Tuesday With Morrie), For One More Day is My fave of all. Next thing I have to do is to find the movie and watch it =)