August 2011
1 post
July 2011
3 posts
Awesome, Chicago: Our First Grant! →
chicagoawesome:
After much hand-wringing and consternation, we - the trustees of the Chicago Chapter of the Awesome Foundation, would like to award $1000 (in cash, in a brown paper bag) to our friends at Little Free Library!
Little Free Library sets up adorable homemade library boxes around town that…
February 2011
2 posts
i just had to reblog levi's post, below...
…because it is so deliciously of the moment. talk about BEING HERE NOW! levi is wonderful. he is writing something that is so right in the exact moment that chicago is enjoying TODAY. i hope you read it, roll it around in your head and on your tongue, and love it as much as i did. xo
I've Been Reading Lately, the Annex: In honor of... →
ivebeenreadinglately:
Blame P.G. Wodehouse, whose character the Honorable Galahad Threepwood once said of a Mint Julep that “it sidles up to you as innocent as your baby sister, then it slips its little hand in yours and the next thing you know, the judge is ordering you to pay the clerk of the court $50.” In a…
December 2010
1 post
November 2010
5 posts
July 2009
1 post
May 2009
3 posts
Remembering to remember is the hardest!
Things are pretty tough here at ChronicBabe HQ. I can’t go into details, but suffice to say, most areas of my life are problematic right now. There’s lots to think about, many decisions to make, lots to do. And I’m stressed to the max.
What happens when stress whomps us? We forget to practice. Or at least, I know I do. (I hear that I’m not alone in this!) We forget that...
Thinking back on the past month of mindfulness
This 30-day experiment has been terrific. I learned so much from trying to be mindful every day. It was a challenge to document the process perfectly (and perfection is SO overrated anyway), so after the days I didn’t write, I tried to go back and think about ways I had been mindful.
One of the things I realized pretty quickly was that by taking deliberate action to make that one small...
April 2009
31 posts
Are we too distracted? This author seems to think... →
I have to "be here now" in my bed.
Because I’m pooped, my friends. Yesterday was a terrific day, spent at the DePaul Chronic Illness Initiative annual symposium; the night before, I had a lovely dinner with fellow writers Paula Kamen and Laurie Edwards (plus I moved offices). And today, among other things, I spent three hours in studio at Flashpoint Academy recording two episodes of the upcoming ChronicBabe podcast....
today is a great day to practice mindfulness.
Or so I am told. I’m feeling super-scattered and un-centered and lots of other hyphenated negatives. But the great teachers tell us that today - like any other day - is a great day to practice mindfulness. It’s a great day to be here now with whatever emotions or experiences we’re having.
So I spent a few minutes listening to this loving-kindness meditation by Sharon Salzberg...
Can you be in love with a song? And, was I really...
I ask this question a lot, especially of my friends who are music-obsessed…I’ve never gotten a satisfactory answer, but I guess it doesn’t really matter, because I KNOW you can be in love with a song.
There are lots of songs I just melt into; others boost my mood, or soothe me when I’m freaking out…and some I can listen to over and over and over throughout the course...
A lot of "being here now" involves self care
A trend is popping up in my posts here: Many of them are about self care. Whether it’s getting a pedicure or hair color or taking a relaxing bath…so often, I’m finding time to be mindful and present when I’m doing something to take care of myself.
Hmm. Makes me think about the value of self care. When I take action to care for my body and mind, it’s a healthy move -...
Getting dumped can help you get more mindful, as...
My pal Sarah sent me this message today, which she kindly let me reprint here, because it has a great sentiment for everyone to think about:
I think your Be Here Now project is pretty cool. After I got dumped by John one of the things that I did to try to heal myself was to start taking Daily Photos - this is one of my favorites because I know the light that I captured in my photo that day is...
some cool "be here now" art →
ChronicBabe reader/Twitter follower Joanna pointed me to this page last night, and the art is definitely adorable. Enjoy!
sometimes "being here now" is more about awareness...
That’s what I keep telling myself, anyway.
When times are tough, I have a hard time staying centered, or focused on a single thing. My mind wanders to what I “should” be doing or to my troubles. So making the effort to “be here now” feels Herculean. Like, today. I keep thinking of the long to-do list and mentally preparing for things to come. It’s not easy to...
sometimes it's just nice to focus on a friend.
Today I met with my pal Matt, who (in addition to being a great friend) handles all my web design and development stuff. We talked about the new Jenni-centric site he’s going to build and make awesome, which is super exciting; I haven’t had a fresh site for my work in AGES!
One of the best things about our meeting was lunch. We closed our laptops, I turned off my bberry ringer,...
want to be part of "be here now?"
It’s super easy. Email me (chronicbabe @ g mail . com) a photo of yourself, holding a sign or some other thing that in some way says “be here now.” (I wrote it on my hand.)
This is not simply an exercise in creating a sign - it’s a great way to create a little physical reminder for yourself. I’ll post the photo with your comments on how you’re going to Be Here...
how responsible are we for our own healing? is it...
Babe Sarah sent me a link to a powerful article in Huffpo today, a personal perspective from a woman who had to undergo unexpected surgery - and the feelings and thoughts she had about her spiritual responsibility in the situation.
The questions Claire asks about her own spiritual position and the guilt she wrangles (is she responsible for the ovarian cyst that’s crowding out her developing...
