Category: Creative Living

Tell Your Story

- Alexis 3 Comments

My One Line A Day Five Year Memory Book, with a pen on top

I’m a big believer in the transformative and connective power of telling your story.  It’s been almost a year now since I began my practice of writing creatively on a nearly daily basis, and I have learned so much about myself in the process.  While most of what I’ve written has never been shared publicly, taking the time to reflect on the events of my life and how they’ve shaped me has been truly invaluable from a personal development perspective.  And while I was a little nervous about starting this blog and putting my thoughts and personal stories out there on the internet for anyone to read, I’ve been so moved and encouraged by the feedback I’ve received.  I love getting an email or comment from someone who can relate to what I’ve posted, and this blog has helped to deepen the conversations I have with some of the people in my life.

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“When I’m in the Middle of a Dream, Stay in Bed, Float Upstream…”

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I had planned a different post for today, but I awoke this morning in the middle of a dream and decided to write about dreams instead.  I’ve always been fascinated by dreams.  I view them as windows into my subconscious.  They often reveal anxieties of which I hadn’t been consciously aware.  I experience and remember dreams often, probably a few times a week.  After I wake, I lie in bed for a few moments and think through the details of my dream, attempting to understand it and tie it to my waking life.

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Infusing our Environments with Reminders of our Values

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A painting of forsythia trimmings in a clear vase and a blue pitcher on a table
Still Life with Forsythia, Oil on Canvas, 2015. For purchase information, please contact Alexis.

You may have noticed that in each Monday’s Quote of the Week post, I usually include a link to an item bearing the selected quotation or other words of wisdom spoken or written by the same person.  I do this not because I want to encourage you to buy things (I am not compensated for these links), but because I like to surround myself with statements of my values and important lessons.  Read more

On Books, and My Attempt to Read More of Them

- Alexis 2 Comments

Three shelves of books

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how I’ve cut back on the amount of time I spend scrolling through social media feeds and reading articles online in order to free up more time for writing in the mornings and evenings. I’m also attempting to replace mindless phone-checking throughout the day with other more meaningful tasks — things like mindful breathing, short bursts of physical activity, and reading books. My overarching goal is to use my time more deliberately instead of impulsively reacting to whatever is aiming to capture my attention. Time, after all, is a scarce and non-renewable resource. To riff off Annie Dillard, how we spend our minutes is how we spend our hours, how we spend our hours is how we spend our days, and how we spend our days is how we spend our lives.

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