It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green

Kermit the Frog shared with us forty years ago just how awesome it is to accept ourselves unconditionally, and he encouraged us to see the rest of the world through those same tolerant eyes. Kermit is green and he at first is unhappy that he is the same as the trees or mountains, unhappy that he can blend in so easily with the rest of the world to be potentially passed over.

There are days when all of us feel green, in the sense of this concern with being ordinary, but in the end Kermit accepts that being green makes him the perfect version of who he is. Enjoy your own green today!

Appreciating the Little Joys

I took these photos almost six years ago when Matt and I were driving along the Pike (better known as Route 90) on our way out to western Mass. Looking at them reminds me how small I am compared to the great big open sky but that I am not insignificant in this world where everything is connected.

The Muppets Sing Coldplay

This morning I found out my bloggy friend Kate named one of her fish Beaker and I started thinking of how much fun the Muppets were as a kid. There was nothing quite like taking off for a world of fantasy and fun where creatures of all types lived together and enjoyed each other’s company. Turns out we do not have to be kids to enjoy the fun of these furry and talented creatures. I think Beaker does a fine job of singing the song Yellow by Coldplay. Hope this video brings a little joy to your day!

Here Comes the Sun

Part of the environment is how we feel. When hope is prevalent and feelings of happiness abound we all tend to sigh in a collective smile. One of the simplest ways we can feel happiness is through color. I have discussed color before as it relates to Green and our associations to it from a psychological stand point but when I use words like sunshine, cheerfulness or joy what is the first color to come to mind? If you answered yellow you are not alone.

I need to get a little personal for a second to explain something a little bit odd but something that happens to me a lot. Frequently I have very vivid dreams, in my own estimation I dream in color and most mornings I wake to remember something, if not everything, about my dream the night before. It can be a song, person, feeling, location or a myriad of other things. I truly believe these things are meant to guide me in some way, just like when I am driving down the street and see a sign. I consider the dream symbols I remember to be telepathic "signs" if you will. Yesterday morning I awoke remembering buttery yellow. Nothing more; I do not remember why or in what realm the color was used, it was just the thing I remembered from my night in cozy dream land.

Tonight we watched our first episode of Forecast Earth on The Weather Channel and upon coming home I decided to check out their website to see if there might be something cool to post about. On the front page, I came across an article about yellow being considered as one of the hottest colors for 2009 as reported by Pantone it made me shake my head and chuckle.

Clearly even I was in touch with getting a little hope and cheer in the new year!

Based on Sensational Color:

Yellow shines with optimism, enlightenment and happiness. Shades of golden yellow carry the promise of a positive future. Yellow will advance from surrounding colors and instill optimism and energy, as well as spark creative thoughts.

Well that sounds pretty great to me so how about -- paint a room in sunny yellow, wear a pair of yellow pants or just draw a big smiley face on a yellow post it note for our monitors in order to remind ourselves that positivity and exuberance are not outdated concepts!

“The Present…

…is the ever moving shadow that divides yesterday from tomorrow. In that lies hope.”
~ Frank Lloyd Wright

There is no moment like the one we are living right now and we choose to live it in the best way we know how -- as the grateful and generous people we have become! This video is just under nine minutes but it includes such soothing music and wonderfully inspiring quotes from so many interesting people it flew by faster than I would have expected. The quote I liked best came in at about 7:30, so true! I hope everyone takes a few minutes to relax and enjoy this calming but uplifting video during such a go-go-go weekend of shopping, and please feel free to come back to it anytime the time is right to be quiet and reflect. Have a wonderful weekend full of smiles everyone!

Slowing Down To Appreciate It All

This will be one of those times that people who know me might be tempted to leave comments like “Is this a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ type of situation?” and I can understand why they would feel that way because I am typically a person who never stops and it may seem that I fly through life not noticing the little things but truthfully I do allow my overworked mind to absorb these moments and it makes every day that much sweeter.

For the past few months (especially during the last few weeks of mass production for yesterday’s craft fair) there have been times when I purposefully stopped my work-centric brain from spinning to take notice of some of these joys.


Saturday night dinner with our closest friends has become a regular occurrence and it is fantastic. We generally just hang out and chat over food and drink, relishing in the small time we get to enjoy each other’s company. There is something amazing about knowing there are people in this world who are always there for each other no matter what.

Recognizing how the seasons operate here in the northeast has been fun -- fall rain and wind is essential to bring all of those flaming colored leaves down, blanketing the land to prepare for the winter layer of snow and ice that will help to compost those leaves into the soil of spring so we can have even healthier, sturdy green trees in the summer. Winter is not my season of choice but it will be nice to watch snow collect on these trees from my “heat rises” third floor apartment window this winter.

Attempting to get back in touch with some of this stuff has brought the connection back to my relationship with Matt. If nothing else just having fun with each other again, embracing romance, laughing a lot, creating our own inside jokes, being supportive of each others achievements and remembering why we got together in the first place -- because no one else out there could really understand the dorks that we are besides each other of course! Well that and we both understand the importance of how rare it is to witness clowns not fitting into clown cars.

Yesterday in my email I got an update to one of my YouTube subscriptions, the official channel for Jason Mraz. I did not watch it until this morning and I have to say at first I though wtf? Five and a half minutes of a camera zoomed in or out on his face, sometimes breaking into a smirk, sometimes very serious looking, and at the end he simply says “You did it”. It seemed a little strange at first (watching a five minute crash zoom to the face of one of my favorite musicians was somewhat odd) but in the end this video is what inspired me to write today’s post.



In a busy world it is important to remember to take the time to slow down, even if just for five minutes, to recognize and truly appreciate all the things in life that bring us joy!