Discover Your Bliss

Go Shopping in Your Home

The next time you need something - consider shopping in your home.

Please ignore this idea if you need new milk or dog food.

Shopping in your home is a creative way to reduce the amount of stuff you bring into your home by finding a new use for something you already have or re-discovering what you already own.

For example, I wanted to figure out a way to put the business cards I collect from others on my computer. At first, I thought about what programs might work on my computer and how much I wanted to spend.

Then I realized that I owned "Neat Receipts" - which has a business card scanning feature - problem solved.

Need a container to put on your kitchen counter to hold your utensils? Pause before you buy something new. There's a million different ideas within your own home that can serve the same purpose - a flower pot, an extra-large mason jar, a washed and cleaned fruit jar, a random basket you have in your closet.

The idea is to get creative and use what you already have. It's one of the first steps in saving our planet.

What's something that you might need to purchase that you can "shop" your house instead? How can you expand this idea with neighbors, relatives and friends?

I'd love to hear your discoveries and comments.

Yummy Raw Watercress Green Pineapple Smoothie

I love watercress and I have a hard find good-quality (not wilted) watercress when I shop.

Trader Joe's newest food addition: hydroponically grown watercress. The roots and all are in the bag to maintain their freshness and life.

As a result, I bought a bag. Then I Googled: "watercress raw recipes."

What I found might not sound too appealing, yet I think it's fantastic.

Watercress Pineapple Green Smoothie

1/2 pineapple
about 1 cup of watercress
1 cup water

Blend all of the ingredients in a blender. Add more water to get the consistency you like.

What I did that was different - I used the whole bag of watercress (washed and chopped) and one can of chunk pineapple in its own juices.

Watercress has a peppery/spicy taste and mixed with the pineapple, it makes for a great combo.

Many people won't enjoy this drink - however - if you want a nutrient-dense drink that boosts your energy - this is the one.

How willing are you to try something new? What is your "limit" when it comes to trying new things? How does that limit serve you?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and discoveries!

How to Make Friends in Los Angeles

1. Go outside (making in-person friends is trickier when you stay indoors- meaning you house/apartment)
2. Find a flowerbed or garden in need of attention (get permission first - making friends at the police station is not as likely if you are escorted there)
3. Dig out anything that is unsightly, diseased or dead (please be kind to anyone that is a Glamour "Don't")
4. Replant with healthy plants, shrubs and flowers (that are legal)

Okay, so that's not exactly a "generic" solution or applicable to everyone - yet I thought I'd give it a go. 

As I spend more time working in the flowerbeds and area surrounding my apartment building, I become more visible to the routine walkers.

An elderly couple with an English accent paused to tell me, "Keep up the good work." 

I also heard cheers of "way to go" and "good for you" as I dug an unsightly evergreen ground shrub taking up space under a bush. 

Caryl Meryl smiled and waved as she passed by on her second walk of the day. 

Digging in a flowerbed on a busy street with a sidewalk affords me the "stage" to chat with and connect with these clockwork walkers and I look forward to their every passing. 

How do you expand your friends network?  What's something new you can do to either develop more friend relationships and/or deepen current relationships?

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries!

How to Hit Your Knee & Have Fun Doing It

After I finished sitting in an infrared sauna, I realized I didn't pick up my towel.  As I turned to re-enter the sauna, I hit my knee on the sauna door.

Just like in a cartoon, the bump grew bigger and bigger - so big that I thought it was going to explode.

Even though I hit my knee, it didn't hurt. 

Within the first 24 hours, my knee looked horrible, yet it didn't hurt. 

Thankfully, where I hit my knee didn't prevent me from going to yoga, jogging, swimming or walking. 

Bottomline - even though I hit my knee, I didn't see it as a negative or bad experience.  Sure, my knee is a bit sore to the touch, yet for the most part, it's great.

What's a "negative" situation in your life that can be flipped to the positive?  How can flipping your perspective support you?

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries. 

Tuesday Quote to Ponder

"Extraordinary people visualize not what is possible or probable, but rather what is impossible.  By visualizing the impossible, they begin to see it as possible."  --from the book Power, Passion & Purpose:  7 Steps to Energizing Your Life by Ann Roulac

Operation: Apartment Beautification

I jumped for joy when I received the green light to become the resident landscaper at my apartment. 

For years, the vegetation has been lacking and I've longed for the opportunity to take action. 

As much as I'd love to cut down and take out all the diseased and dying vegetation in a few days, I must pace myself.  The trash pick-up is Monday and Thursday mornings and I have to leave room for the other residents to put their trash (or else I'd go on a chop-a-thon). 

I'll be posting the before, during and after photos so you can see my progress. 

Much like the idea that it has to get worse before it gets better - yes, the building may start to look a bit bare, yet it will be worth it when the new sprinklers are installed and I can begin planting in the fall. 

My fellow tenants requested that I start on a diseased cypress beside the hall gate. 

After about 4 trash collections, I had removed the top portion of the cypress and then spent about four hours digging out the root of the cypress (not too bad) and removing the thorny vine growing next to it. 

The vine's root ball took two of the four hours to remove, while I only spent about an hour on the cypress root. 

I felt triumphant as I removed the final pieces of the root.

Sure, it might look a bit bare and not too appealing, yet in the coming months I will fill the space with healthy and colorful vegetation. 

Cypress flowerbed before:   

Cypress flowerbed after:

Even though the cypress in the flowerbed looks green and pretty - that's just the outer layer.  The inside was dead and diseased. 

I found the following items in the cypress as I removed it: 

• pair of boxer shorts
• a mini Coke can
• a bottle - possibly beer
• a broken bottle
• candy wrappers
• one quarter and one dime
• a flat razor blade
• three rocks tied together with string
• an old sprinkler head
• bottom half of a light bulb
• cup from a fast food restaurant
• a bolt

Who knows what I'll find in my next cutting. 

I found that working in the flowerbed supported me to rejuvenate, clear my head and be outside and enjoy nature.  What bliss. 

How does patience show up in your life?  What would it look like to take one of your goals and create a plan with "micro" steps?

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries!

Do You Stop to Smell the Roses?

While depositing money at an ATM early one morning, I saw a not-so-common site. 

After the woman next to me finished her transaction, she disappeared. 

She didn't disappear literally - I just lost site of her. 

As I turned to resume my morning jog, I spotted her again. 

The woman stood in the middle of the bank's flowerbed smelling the roses.  Her face had a glowing look of peace and she savored every moment of her connection to the rose. 

What bliss it is to see another finding pleasure in the every day gifts around us. 

Where would you like to stop and "smell the roses?"  How does this moment support you?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and discoveries!   

Sing Your Puppies to Bed

I'm not one to forward emails and I'm usually the last to know when it comes to the latest YouTube video, however, this particular video shows something pretty darn spectacular. 

As the saying goes, You Can't Teach an Old Dog a New Trick - however - no one said that you can't teach a puppy to fall asleep to a song. 

How do you feel when you watch this video?  What is it about this video that interests you (or not)?  How can you take that element and incorporate into your life today?

I'd love to hear you comments and discoveries!

Are You a Money Magnet?

When I jog, I often find various coins on the ground.  I stop, pick them up and say, "I am a money magnet!"

Lately, I've been noticing more and more ways that I am attracting money. 

Attracting money doesn't have to result in actual physical money.  I've won several drawings for services I would otherwise have to pay for - coaching, theta healing, etc. 

I've also been attracting money through non-traditional ways.  I received a letter in the mail asking me to be a participant in a survey (completely legitimate - I know the organization) that will pay me for my time. 

I've also been given things - like crystals, healings and services - without me asking for them. 

My water aerobics class doesn't have an instructor for Tuesday and Thursday (days I usually go), so as a result, I get to go to the pool and swim - for free!  I am a money magnet!

While digging out a cypress tree in a flowerbed at my apartment, I found a quarter and a dime.  I am a money magnet!

Other opportunities - like alternative ways of earning money - have also come my way.  I am a money magnet. 

As my awareness increases around how I am attracting money (in all of its forms) the more money comes my way.

I am a money magnet!  Are you?

How many different ways do you attract money?  What does attracting money look like for you and what can you do to expand your opportunities and awarenesses?

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries!

Rate Your Password

I found something interesting that I'd like to share - a password checker.

Now this password checker doesn't decode or create a password for you.  What it does do is measure how easy it is to figure out your current password and rates it from easy, medium, strong and best. 

Check out the Password Checker to figure out how your passwords rate.  There's even a link that shows you how to create a stronger password that is more challenging for others to hack. 

Worried that you won't remember this "best" password?  The link gives you tips - like taking a phrase or sentence that you know and using only the first letter of each word. 

Take the phrase:  Those that do not study history are doomed to repeat it.  Your password might look like: ttdnshadtri - pretty challenging to hack - yet easy to remember (for you).  Throw a few numbers and capitol letters in the mix and you've got a rockin' password.

How does breaking away from the "comfortable" support you to take risks?  What would it look like to add one additional risk to your week?  each day? 

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries!