Positive Things for the New Week

Hello Lovelies,

 via

In order to welcome this new week, here are 7 essential reads on optimism via the Brain Pickings blog.

Enjoy!

Alix of TeaButterfly

My List of Fave Books to Re-Read

Hello Lovelies,

image source

After reading Jane's recent blogpost, I started asking myself (all over again): 

Maybe as bloggers, we could find a place to post a list of our one-per-year necessary re-reads?
  
Mine include, in no particular order:


"Lullaby" JMG Le Clézio.
"Voyage autour de ma chambre" Xavier de Maistre.
"Fictions" Jorge Borges.
One tome by Julien Green, and a short story by Roald Dahl.

Illustration from the Briar Press free images bank. Governed by a Creative Commons license. 

But also:
 
"Divisadero" Michael Ondaatje
"The Rings of Saturn" WG Sebald
"Le Rivage des Syrtes" Julien Gracq (translated unto "The Opposing Shore" for English-speaking readers)
A hard-boiled detective story by Dashiel Hammett and/or Jim Thompson

What are your fave books to re-read on a regular basis?

In closing: that's a recent image of me with of pile of my fave books in the background, the painting is also by me ("Untitled", oil on canvas, circa 1997).

Today's post is inspired by Jane's blogpost - please read it here. Enjoy!

Alix of TeaButterfly.

 

I Want a Simpler Life but... Where Do I Start?

Hello Lovelies,

original image via - text added by me.

This blogpost is a bit of a note-to-self kind, but i am publishing it here so it might be useful to others, too.

Well, do you want, just like me, a simpler, slower, more filfilling, zen-like & do-what-you-love kind of life? Do you want to actually live your dream life? OK, me too! ;-)

...But the task of simplifying may seem daunting and well... not so simple! We're often at a loss as to where do we even begin!

That is why I did a little research online and found out 3 must-read simplicity resources.

First, I highly recommend ypu read a short, simple personal story, so you can get the picture. This is simply because, if you know what your dream is, you can start & achieve it! Or, as Jennifer and Aby put it: "Living Your Dream Life Begins with Knowing What You Want."

a beautiful reminder to just "stop & smell the roses", via

You can then have a look at a very thorough zen guide to simple living that answers simply the difficult question of "where do I start?". I suggest you pick a maximum of 5 points (out of this list) - simply choose the ones that are particularly appealing to you, and start working on them... now!
I, for instance, love points #9 #13 #14 #15 of the ZenHabits guide mentioned above.

So, in a nutshell, determine what is your biggest dream/goal and read/act accordingly.

Roughly the same thing as the ZenHabits guide, but in French, the "Par où commencer ?" guide to personal development.

In closing, my motto, beautifully calligraphed:

image via

Enjoy!

 -Naomi of TeaButterfly.

PS: if you're willing to dig deeper, there are literally tons of reading material on and offline including these pinterest boards of mine:

* visual candy to help you get organized at home
* articles (less visual) to read about "getting things done"
* visual inspiration : what a simple life looks like

And, finally, the Brain Pickings site has a whole range of articles on the subject of "do what you love" for a living. You can start by this one: "How to Find Your Purpose and Do What You Love"