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the original kStyle blog.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Dear blog friends,

What advice would you share to the world? What accumulated wisdom would be your gift? Please share it in the comments and I'll share mine here.

I certainly haven't figured out most of life, but there are a few things I think I get right. Here they are, as my best tips on life I can give my friends. Yes, I'm getting sappy. I'm trying to cure some of my cynicism of late with a little sap.


  • Buy your spices from the Indian grocer. They are cheaper and such better quality.
  • Seek beauty, be it a concert, art, a book, flowers, nature, whatever is beautiful to you.
  • Preferably seek beauty with free passes from the library.
  • Keep a well-stocked birdfeeder. The birds enjoy it and you get to enjoy them.
  • A cat can be one of your best friends.
  • Keep your cat friend away from the birdfeeder.
  • Be sincere.
  • Real maple syrup only. Only!
  • As Thich Nhat Hanh says, go for refuge in the island of self.
Cheers
'Style

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. Try to find something to like in everything you're doing.

2. Collect quarters. Everybody always runs out of quarters.

3. Approach work -- both the for-a-living kind and the extracurricular kind -- as an opportunity to confront challenges and practice your own particular skills.

3. Taking medication for brain malfunctions is not immoral or unhealthy.

4. Banish all bad thoughts and worries from your bed. Once you're there, allow only good things into your mind.

5. "Exercise" is not synonymous with "high school gym." Try ice skating or yoga or weight lifting.

6. Start out with the assumption that you won't have kids rather than the other way around. That way, if you decide to become a parent, you'll know it's because you want to and not because you think you should.

8. Remember that you're in control of your own life.

7. Embrace nuance; celebrate complexity.

4:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

10. Proofread...

4:18 PM  
Blogger Larry Jones said...

1.) Find out who you are.

2.) Be that person.

I am charmed by your wisdom, and Ann's.

4:19 PM  
Blogger Narya said...

1. Open your senses and enjoy them. Revel in them, even.

2. Don't eat crap. Life's too short for bad beer, chemical-laden food, or artifically flavored anything.

3. Enjoy your body. Remember that mind/body is a package deal.

4. Apologize for your mistakes, and try to fix them. But remember that guilt never made anything better.

5. Be honest. First and foremost, with yourself. (Which is a variation on Larry's wisdom, which is quite good.)

6. Remember that you are not in control of your life, despite illusions to the contrary.

7. However, this is no excuse for not planning and organizing.

8. Don't expect other people to clean up after you, literally or metaphorically. Learn how to clean up after yourself.

9. Breathe. Deeply.

10. Say things like "Thank you" and "I'm sorry" and "Please," and mean them when you say them. It will feel awkward, maybe, because our current culture does not deal well with the notion of responsibility (which is different from guilt & blame), but most people will appreciate it.

11. Remember that everyone has problems.

12. Ask people questions and listen--really listen--to their answers.

13. As Buckaroo Banzai says, "Wherever you go, there you are." That is, be present.

14. Be willing to be passionate about something.

15. Irony is overrated. Sarcasm is not. And they're not the same thing.

9:43 PM  
Blogger Narya said...

Also: taste transcendence. Sex, drugs, rock and roll--whatever works. Don't lose yourself--you really must be grounded to transcent, I believe--but be willing to let go of yourself.

I'm not putting this one well, but I suspect you guys know what I mean.

9:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

And: the golden rule really is a good rule for life.

--narya (at work again)

11:19 AM  

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