Tag Archives: Spark & Muse

Abandoned Farmhouse Hunting in South Dakota

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I was in South Dakota for my 30 year high school reunion this summer. My Mom and I took an afternoon and went old farmhouse hunting. I did this years ago when my twins were taking a nap in the pickup and found some extraordinary places. To me there is a certain beauty in the textures and decay, but to my mother who was a farm girl there is a real sadness in seeing these places. She could see what I could see and since I grew up kicking around the farmhouses of her youth I could see the sadness as well. My Dad assured me that with a few phones calls before I come home next time that friends of his could arrange some other tours. I hope you can see both the beauty and sorrow in these photos.

happiness is a choice

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After a wonderfully dense four hour conversation this morning with two very smart thoughtful friends over coffee, pastry and strawberries I learned of the book: The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky. I wanted to give you a quick visual for the basis of the book. I personally need to use this pie chart as a quick visual reminder for my own happiness and choices.

“But what precisely can we do to hasten or bolster such increases in happiness? The answer lies in the pie chart theory of happiness. Recall that 50 percent of individual differences in happiness are governed by genes, 10 percent by life circumstances, and the remaining 40 percent by what we do and how we think-that is, our intentional activities and strategies.” Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside

OUR HAPPINESS IS WITHIN OUR POWER TO CHANGE not an entirely predetermined way of life. Let that marinade in your brain a while OR put that in your pipe and smoke it. Whatever resonates more for you. It might sound ridiculous, but some little changes could net big gains in your happiness level. Maybe worth a shot, huh?

Here’s the link to the book:

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