Happy Father's Day

Our cactus blooming in May 2013

... appreciating the beauty in everyday things, noticing the sacredness of everyday life, is something we need to cultivate in our lives. It requires some willingness, and a good deal of practice. (Sue Bender in The Power of Small Things in For The Love Of God by Shield and Carlson, p. 121) 16 June 2013

Are You In The Race?

If you race around in the world, you won't have any quiet time. 

(Sheild & Carlson, The Love Of God, p. 67)

2 June 2013

Negative Thoughts

... Start to notice how many negative thoughts you have about things, situations, people, (including yourself), and how you feel at the end of the day. (Barbara De Angelis, Ph. D. in An Invitation To God, quoted in For The Love Of God by Shield & Carlson, p. 66) 30 May 2013

It's Enough

Who I am is enough. What I am doing right now is the best I can do - and it is enough. (Sue Bender in For The Love Of God by Shield & Carlson, p. 124) 29 May 2013

Find Your Own Way

... those who direct us too exactly based on what has happened to them rob us of surprise and wonder, restrict us by their frames. (Marsha Sinclair in For The Love Of God by Shield & Carlson, p. 162) 22 May 2013

The Problem With Life

Photo: Neptune Plaza at the Library of Congress

It may seem painful to think and reflect, but bringing your own intelligence to bear on everyday experience can add an essential dimension that gives its own kind of pleasure. (Thomas Moore, Dark Nights Of The Soul, p. 31)

Spare time happens now, through conscious choices and decisions. ... Remember: we don't find spare time; we create it. (Doreen Virture, Ph.D., I'd Change My Life If I Had More Time, p. 3)

What is important in knowledge is not quantity, but quality. It is important to know what knowledge is significant, what is less so, and what is trivial. (Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar Of Wisdom, 14 November)

For though we are made especially for the sake of one another, still each of us has his own tasks. Otherwise another's faults would harm me, which God has not willed, in order that my happiness may not depend on another. (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (paraphrased))

That is the problem with life. If we are not here, if we are not in the present moment, fully ourselves, we miss everything. (Tich Nhat Hanh in Shield & Carlson, For The Love Of God, p. 154)

We must all band together and treat people as dignified, and any efforts to divide people by class, nations, religions or any boundaries is strongly resisted by those who think in holistic ways. (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Skies The Limit, p. 113)

You can tell a lot about which direction your life is heading by looking at the people with whom you've chosen to spend your time and share your ideas. (John C. Maxwell, Leadership, April introduction)
17 May 2013

Cancer

So a cancer in my body 

and a 

cancer in society 

are 

essentially identical.

(Dr. Wayne W. Dyer 

in 

For The Love Of God 

by 

Shield and Carlson, p. 28)

16 April 2013

What's Your Message

How can I give a full response to this present moment unless I am alert to its message? (Brother David Steindl-Rast in For The Love Of God, by Shield and Carlson, p. 93) 13 April 2013

Do You Have A Program?

The bottom line is that authoritarians have no room in their internal circuitry for middle positions, for operating in the gray areas where almost all human activity occurs. (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Sky's The Limit, p. 66)

"Rigidity of thought" has many meanings, but for authoritarians it generally implies an unwillingness to entertain any thoughts that conflict with their own preconceived ideas. (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Sky's The Limit, p. 67)

Dissolving your ideas, your habits, and your images is a way to cleanse and purify. All the many assumptions that keep your life fixed break apart as you take time to reflect and have serious talks with friends and maybe a therapist. (Thomas Moore, Dark Nights Of The Soul, p. 62)

One of the reasons for so much contemporary depression and ennui is the inability to see ourselves connected to something greater and more important than our own puny egos. (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Power Of Intention, p. 123)

The particular means one uses does not matter, but to have a method, a plan, a specific spiritual program is very helpful. Simply begin with your heart, look deeply into it, and trust what you feel. Practice knowing and you will know. (Hugh Prather, in For The Love Of God, by Shield and Carlson, p. 176)

... smart men make an effort to simplify their lives, streamline logistics, and most especially, to weed out of their datebooks, as much as possible, people who are pains in the neck. (Gail Sheehy, Understanding Men's Passages, p. 163)

You have the right to say, "no" to time-robbing people and situations. (Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., I'd Change My Life If I Had More Time, p. 127)

Refuse to accept negative ideas about what you can't accomplish or what's impossible. Don't even talk to negative people while your dreams are still in the fragile incubation stage! (Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., I'd Change My Life If I Had More Time, p. 28)

I'll follow a daily program of reading which will help me to understand my problems and improve my outlook on life. (after One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 23 January)

3 April 2013

Mistake

When you realize you made a mistake and sincerely regret it, your regret means you're willing to change your actions or your perspective so it doesn't happen again. (Rev. Michael Beckwith in For The Love Of God by Shield and Carlson, p. 52)

******

There was a tragic nightclub fire in Brazil over the weekend.  Around 230 people died.  There was only one entrance/exit open. Fire extinguishers were inadequate. The band used pyrotechnics. Road flares in Brazil cost about one dollar. Flares that possibly could be used indoors, if someone wanted to take a chance of setting a building on fire cost, about $35.00 each. News reports this morning indicate that the cheaper road flares were used. As usual, in these nightclub fires, anywhere in the world, there is no lack of stupidity on the part of the club owners and the band members and the fire marshal.

Yesterday I repaired another of the books I'm reading each day, Leadership, by John C. Maxwell. The first ten pages were falling out of this one. I applied a thin stream of Elmer's glue and piled some boxes on top of the book.  This morning when I checked the project it appears to be a success.

I continued to add more information to HenthornFamily Wiki. Yesterday I made available a PDF of Recollections and Comments About Jackson Genealogy by Albert Geddes Macdonald.  It pleases me to be able to once again share some of the projects I accomplished in the past.

Mr. Dickie

30 January 2013

Emotional Drama

... often people don't feel alive unless they're experiencing emotional drama. (Rev. Michael Beckwith in For The Love Of God by Shield & Carlson, p. 53) 23 January 2013

Jump Up & Down

[Get up, get on your feet, jump up and down.] While you are jumping shake off bad habits, bad feelings, bad attitudes, and don't forget [to include] people who may have a bad influence. (Iyanla Vanzant, Until Today! 11 November) 19 November 2012

******

On Sunday night, 18 November 2012 I watched the first two-hour episode of the Ken Burns PBS program - The Dust Bowl.  The rest of the program will be shown in another two-hour segment on Monday night.  I thought the program was excellent, shocking and very moving. I always enjoy anything that Peter Coyote narrates.  During the years of the Dust Bowl my parents were in their thirties and living in central and eastern Nebraska.  My maternal grandfather, John Carlson, was the owner of a hardware store in the little town of Mead in Saunders county.  During the Great Depression he suffered business losses from which he never recovered and which impacted all of us.

Mr. Dickie

19 November 2012

Social Networking

Today keep an open mind in all matters. (Helen Steiner Rice, From The Heart, 7 January)

******

I'm upset with myself because I made several errors the last few days while typing or trying to share some genealogy information with friends. The errors weren't serious, just annoying because they seem to indicate the inability to pay close attention to what I'm doing. As I say sometimes, "I need a proofreader to check my proof reading."

In the last week I've made several new Facebook friends. This is always exciting because time must pass before we know what both parties will get out of the social networking. I particularly like getting back in touch with some of my friends made through the genealogy hobby over the years.

I created a private Carlson-Hagstrom family Group on Facebook. The new group configuration allows more than two people to be in the group chatroom at one time. I'm hopeful that the eighteen people I granted membership will experiment by posting to the group and trying out the chatroom.

Mr. Dickie
11/Jan/2011 9:56

Setting Up A Facebook Group

Devotional reading is designed not simply to inform the mind, but to fire the spirit. (Selwyn Hughes, Every Day Light, p. vii)

******

Setting Up A Facebook Group

Yesterday I created a Facebook Group, using their new group format. Membership in the group is limited to members of the Carlson-Hagstrom family. This is the maternal side of my family. I included eighteen Facebook members in the initial group membership. This "secret" group will provide us with a place where we can post photos, post on The Wall and comment, create documents and comment, share links and videos, and hold group chats with more than two people in the chatroom at a time. The possibility of holding group chats is particularly appealing to me.

During setup I discovered that all uploaded photos will reside in the same photo album. This means that making use of photo captions and tagging will be important. Apparently photos must be uploaded from your computer rather than from one of your own Facebook albums. I think tagging someone in a photo who isn't a member of Facebook is somewhat difficult.

I was able to make people members of the group without discussing this with them. If someone doesn't want to participate they must visit the Group and click on "Leave The Group" on the right side of the screen. Note that "Leave The Group" probably doesn't mean, sign-out of the group for now.

I'm hopeful that family members will be willing to actively participate in the Carlson-Hagstrom Group. The amount of fun will be dependent upon everyone's willingness to actively post and comment.

Mr. Dickie
8/Jan/2011 9:05