Temporary

Plants and fruit, paper boxes, tins of cookies... they're not to keep for life.

Enjoy and appreciate things and times and thoughts. Be grateful for sweet memories.

SandraDodd.com/gratitude
photo by Sandra Dodd
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Dreamy

Dreamy. "Dreamy" can be attractive, or otherworldly. Dreams only take a moment, some say. "Dream big," others say. Let ideas float and flit, dreamlike, through your waking and sleeping. You don't need to catch them all.

SandraDodd.com/learnnothingday/2009
photo by Lydia Koltai

Seen and appreciated

Life is made of little moments. A good life is made of moments seen and appreciated.

SandraDodd.com/moment
photo by Karen James

Real and good

Every choice you make should be made consciously, thoughtfully, for real and good reasons.


SandraDodd.com/decisions
photo by Chrissy Florence

"I can do better next time."

If something goes wrong—car breaks down, electric bill isn't paid, yard flooded... What can be changed to help prevent it in the future?

One needs the ability to calmly look back and see what (if anything) they contributed to the failure.

I could say "Fords always break down; the power company SUCKS; my yard is stupid." But it's better to think "I should check the oil more often; paying the bill early is better than waiting til the last minute; I need to clear that drain so the water can flow out."


Spiritual/Existential Intelligence chat transcript
photo by Sandra Dodd

Natural / unnatural combo

"A big part of natural learning is absorbing ideas and letting them swirl around in the background. They clarify. They form connections. If the subject comes up again in a few months, you may be surprised how differently you're looking at what you were wondering about."

—Joyce Fetteroll

Sometimes natural and unnatural things combine in surprising ways, and that can be a fun part of the swirl.

SandraDodd.com/readalittle
Christmas cactus art and photo by Janine Davies

Layers

Many things have lots of layers.

"In-depth knowledge" is about knowing more than just the surface of an idea.

SandraDodd.com/becoming
photo by Sandra Dodd (up above the front door of my house, one day)
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