Good Clean Reads

“She glanced this way, I thought I saw… And when we touched, she didn’t shudder at my paw. No, it can’t be; I’ll just ignore… But then, she’s never looked at me that way before…” –The Beast

Every member of the family can view January’s Sustainable Love Movie of the Month. Walt Disney’s Beauty and The Beast (1991) is considered a classic animated film and received rave reviews from many a critic....

“Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.” -Josh Billings

I have never been very good at defining boundaries in life. The resources of time and energy were never something that I measured in terms of my ability to give or not. I remember being shocked when an acquaintance once told me that they knew they could never have enough...

The system reset button can be found in the center of an orgasm. It is a mysterious cascade of chemicals and reactions that are energetic but also biological. Think of the lucky among us who were conceived in the power of that center. I had several children arrive from the event. For many years my sex drive was often wrapped in my drive to procreate. The sex took a wild leap the year that I had...

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”-Confucius

One of the personality traits that I most aspire to is resilience. I have long admired the people who face seemingly unbeatable circumstances with some magical blend of inner confidence and an abiding trust in things to work out. They don’t worry about things that can keep some of us up at night and in...

“The only thing worthy of you is compassion -invincible, limitless, unconditional.” -Thich Nhat Hanh

A comment on a recent positivity post came to mind today when I was watching the tragic post-earthquake unfold in Haiti. A reader wrote in and said that all the positivity babble in the world won’t change the suffering in the world one iota. The positivity quest is no different than Dale...

“Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.” –George Washington

Scientific research has demonstrated that just one person’s negative energy can significantly reduce the productivity in a work group. Likewise, when one person in a couple consistently is negative, it is very difficult for the relationship to thrive. The...

“Men’s natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them.” Confucius

The habits we form in life tend to form us. Our lives and the behaviors that shape them tend to be habitual. Partly because we like consistency and because change is challenging our habits start to resemble our personalities or maybe our personalities are really just a bundle of our most dedicated habits. I have read that...

“Even if you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.” -Mary Pickford

Now that I have managed to really listen to the words I am saying, the next logical step is to listen one step back to the thoughts. Not saying the negative thing is an...

“No human thing is of serious importance.” -Plato “The Republic”

It is the small things in our days that open us to both the breakthroughs and breakdowns in positivity. I love lazy Saturday mornings when I can wake up when my body is ready and leisurely choose among the activities that I know make me feel good. This morning was easy and as I moved from exercise to meditation, gratitude and...