Day 6 Of Finding Empathy

On the weekend, most of us want to kick up our feet and relax. We deserve a break from the weekday hustle. It's understandable and necessary for us to tackle Monday with a clear head.

However, what if this weekend we took on a DIY project?

Something new.

Something we have never done.

Something that will stretch us.

Like baking bread, sewing socks, taking photographs, drawing sketches, playing guitar or making something that makes us think. Do you think we will find creating something new is harder than it looks?

Yes! 

Last weekend, I made a planter stand out of wood. Scrolling through social media, the headline "Simple Plant Stand DIY" caught my eye. I was looking to get me out of my creative rut, and this project seemed like a simple and straightforward way to make something fabulous.

Well, "Simple Plant Stand DIY" took me all day Sunday, some of Monday and half of Thursday. I almost cut off my thumb, twice. I am still picking wood glue from jeans, and the plant stand is only "standing" because it's being held together by a tiny previously used IKEA screw and a bit craft of paint. One slight breeze and this DIY is going to look like a stylish bit of kindling sitting on my office floor.

The whole process was frustrating, exhausting, and humbling.

Notice Anything? I Forgot The Drill Bit.

To top it all off, after the plant stand was complete, I realized I needed a plant to go to the plant stand. Which became a whole additional problem. Luckily, ProFlowers has a simple solution to picking the perfect houseplant; a "House Plants Flow Chart." 

Here is some great insight from ProFlowers on how to pick a great plant:

"Fresh houseplants are the perfect addition inside a home in desperate need for some color and a splash of fresh decor. A carefully selected houseplant can help fill out an empty corner or pull together a plain-looking room. Plants range in shape and size and have different criteria for care.

There are a handful of things to consider when selecting new plants. For example, how often will you be home?  Are you planning to put your plant in a sunny or a shady spot? Do you have any pets? With all of these things to consider, how can you know what plant will be the best for you?

If you’re looking for a more entertaining way to answer this question, take a look at this fun flowchart ProFlowers put together to help you find the best houseplant for you!

Image: ProFlowers

While I am glad this DIY project is over, it did make me empathize and think deeply about people who make things everywhere and every day. Even when something seems simple, it takes a dedicated and thoughtful hand to create something valuable.

Hold Your Breath Or This MIght Topple Over...

Good luck with your DIY and until soon friends.

Are we alive? Are we breathing today? Then we need to celebrate life now. It doesn't matter if it's a milestone, a birthday, or a holiday, today we should make something, eat something or do something to toast our lives. It's a damn miracle that we are born and even more of a miracle that we are still here.

One way that I love to celebrate is by making something fun, festive and jolly. Something you should know about me is I can't help but make a piñata every once in a while. I love a good piñata. Nothing says "Let's Celebrate" more than a sculpture made of paper, glue, copious amounts of candy that needs to be whacked open with blunt force trauma.

If a piñata is one of the great joys in life, making a homemade piñata is a party in the making. Check out this great tutorial from eHow "How To Make A Donkey Pinata." It will get anyone on a path to creating a fiesta worthy of our being.

Whatever you decide to do today to celebrate, make it big, make it colorful and make it a celebration. At the end that's all, we've got.

Until tomorrow friends.

We find many things to avoid in our lives and places to not to park our moments. Taxes come to mind, estate planning, cleaning out the freezer, and then there is working out. No one LIKES to work out. Even the ever fit and fabulous 40-year-old celebrities of the world have troubles getting off the couch from time to time. It's just hard to get the body moving as we age.

However, it has come to my attention the older we get, one of the most important things we can do for our body is strength training. Apparently, it helps keeps bones healthy and our minds sharp. As I sit here typing up this post, I am dreaming that weight lifting would include the motion needed to get ice cream from a sugar cone to our lips. However, as we age, our muscles require a lot more flexing than ice cream moment can provide. We need to weight train, do push-ups, flex the abs, take a power yoga class or just get our muscles crunching.

Only then can we scream for ice cream. 

So, let's turn up the tunes today. Get the 40 year-old-bod going because as we age ice cream is going to get harder and harder to shake off the old rump. More importantly, our bodies will thank us when we can still eat ice cream and twerk well into our 50's without breaking a hip.

Until tomorrow Muscle Pumping Grey Haired Maniacs.

As we get into our 40's, the seriousness in the world can be overwhelming. It can be downright depressing. The weight of the world can press down on our shoulders at times and the pressure so great; it feels like we will break. We could just give in, give up and walk away but then we wouldn't know what's next. More importantly, we would have to give up the fun of it all.

The older I get, the more I realize it's important to look at the lighter side of things. It's also good to make something fluffy, colorful and playful to lighten the heaviest of times.

These tissue paper flowers are just about the best thing a dollar can buy. They can be given to a friend, brighten a doorway or used as something to smash when times get stressful. Here is a link to that contains the steps to make these happy little darlings from The Crafty Mom On YouTube:

How To Make Giant Tissue Paper Flowers

Remember to have fun today and see you tomorrow friends.

They have a way of creeping into our lives. Each day we confront them as we push through our day. At times, they can help us filter the world and make our day more efficient. Sometimes they can create wrinkles and bring texture to our lives. To see them, we need to take the time to look carefully, sit still and observe.

We may find by the time we are 40 years-old, some patterns may have worked their way into our lives like wallpaper in a room. They have become so ingrained into who we are we hardly notice their offensive presence. We may not even know how woven these patterns have become and they might even be affecting the way we interact with the world. It's time to stop.

When I was a kid, I was pretty positive and happy. At ten or eleven-years-old, I remember waking up and realizing things weren't as rosy as they were the day before. It was as if my childhood happiness had just vanished in the night. Nothing tragic happened to me other than I suddenly felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. From that day on, I started being cynical about life, especially when the world didn't add up, and things didn't go my way.

Until now, my pattern is to see the cup half empty. I like to tell people I don't see myself as a pessimist but a realist. However, thinking this way is a pattern getting the way of success. Let's stop a pattern and start a new one. Let's empty out our cups today. Only then can we become full.

Until tomorrow friends.

In our youth, we might have idealized a certain way of looking or a body type. Back in the 90's thin was in and Kate Moss and Cindy Crawford were the ideal hot bods. We might have gone on diets, pushed our bodies to the brink with exercise, and assaulted our mind to live up to an unachievable ideal. Whatever we did; we aspired to look like the people in the magazines, on television and at the beach. 

Well, trying to live up to an ideal is a whole hell of a lot of work. As we become 40, we realize there is so much more joy in just having a plate of pancakes.

After all, why shouldn't we have something amazing for breakfast? We are 40! Well, the bad news is most pancakes make our blood sugar drop a few hours after consumption. Throw in the butter and syrup required to make the fluffy clouds delightful and a pancake is going to make our bodies and minds feel pretty crummy throughout our day. In short, we need super fuel to keep our body, mind, and spirit going. We need an amazingly healthy breakfast.

The good news is a batch of nutty, sweet Spelt pancakes just walked through our kitchen door. They are a better-for-us option. This recipe contains no eggs or dairy and is full of whole grain goodness. Delightfully delicious with a marriage of sour and sweet rhubarb sauce, we are going to think eating breakfast at 40 is pretty fabulous in every way. Without further blabbering, introducing...

Spelt Rhubarb Pancakes

Makes approximately 12-4" pancakes

Rhubarb sauce (can be made a day ahead)

• 3 cups chopped rhubarb
• 1 cup frozen organic strawberries
• 3-5 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon corn starch

Step 1: In a small saucepan, combine the rhubarb, strawberries, honey and vanilla and place on medium heat for 10 min stirring frequently. Add the cornstarch and cook for 5-10 minutes or until thick.

Spelt Pancakes

• 1-1/2 cup spelt flour
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup coconut milk from a box, not a can. The fat content is greater in the can and won't work.
• 4 tablespoons sunflower oil

Step 1: In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes.

Step 2: While the batter is sitting, heat a large non-stick pan or griddle on medium to high heat. To test if the pan is ready for the batter, place a few drops of water on the surface of the heated pan. If it sizzles, it's ready. Drop 4" circles of batter onto the skillet. Once bubbles form all over the top of the batter, flip the pancake and let cook for another 1-2 minutes or until golden brown.

Step 3: Pile up 2 pancakes to a plate. Add a few tablespoons of rhubarb sauce, and an amazing breakfast is ready no matter what age.

Any leftover pancakes can be frozen in an airtight container and rewarmed at a later date.

Until tomorrow 40-year-old Healthly Bods!

Judd Apatow had a good mind to make a movie about turning 40 years old. It's a hurdle that we all want to achieve, but once there we can lack the stamina or enthusiasm to jump even an inch to the other side. We just gingerly try to slide over knowing where we are headed isn't exactly Disneyland. So our 30-year-old-self gives us a body slam to the other side, and just like that, we say goodbye to our youth.

When I was a kid, I remember thinking 40 was "so way old" and that 40-year-olds did stuff like "own a home and make pickled beets." When my youth was on my side, I imagined that by the time I was 40, I would know who I was and what I wanted to be. I'd have life all figured out.

Nope. Not yet.

In one way, turning 40 it's bittersweet. We see our life far behind us all the memories spread out like old faded polaroids. However, our life ahead is underdeveloped snapshots that may never fully appear. When we are young, time didn't seem important, and the magic of life would just keep on coming.

Then the first friend gets cancer; we make hard decisions about our aging parents, our dream job turns on us, and we start talking about things like sciatica. The list of "one day I will do..." in our 20's and 30's turns into "this is never going to happen" in our 40's. We realize life isn't a dress rehearsal anymore. 

However, while we could say "this is never going to happen," we could say "It's time to take action."

I'm not going to take on the 40's lying down. I'm going to punch back and try to create myself into the person I have always wanted to be. I'll use the next 40 days to transform my life in mind, body, and spirit. Like a caterpillar from a cocoon, let's change into the people we envisioned in our glassy, no crows feet youthful eyes. Go ahead and follow along by making your own list.

Let's see if our best 40-year-old selves can put our 20 and 30-year selves to shame.

Until tomorrow friends.

It will only take a few seconds from our day. If we do one thing today, it should be to create a more beautiful world by cleaning up the planet. It gives us so much love after all and well, oxygen. So, let's stop, look around, and pick up one piece of trash today.

The planet needs us, and we need it.

Until tomorrow Great Ecologist.

Some of us might be running on a few hours of sleep today, and it's killing us. No one needs to tell us that less sleep equals more mistakes, more accidents, and more of a chance for sickness. We all have felt the effects of not getting enough shuteye. We drag through the day, need copious amounts of coffee to make it to dinnertime and feel an all day crummy slump.

However, how many of us have eaten an entire cheesecake for breakfast, used our car keys to try to open the refrigerator, placed a dozen eggs in the cupboard, put a dirty diaper on your six-month-old and brushed our teeth with hemorrhoid cream instead of toothpaste all because of a crappy nights sleep?

Oh, please tell me these moments have happened to you too. 

Let's create some laughs today. What was your funniest moment induced by a lack of slumber?

Until The Laughs Start Friends.

What's all over social media, changes color, is slightly elusive and will only be around for a few more days?

The Unicorn Frappuccino! 

Only in a great while does something come along that demands and requires our full attention. I'm not one to be persuaded by marketing, but when a photo of this giant sugar bomb popped up on my Instagram feed, it was time to head down to Starbucks. 

First, it is important to note:

1. We all need to see this enigma in real life.
2. This will go down in history as marketing wizardry.
3. It should be shared with a friend. It's a health nightmare in a cup.

With that said, no words can describe this giant fluff of magic. From the color changing dust sprinkled on top of a pile of whipped cream to the way the baristas smile coyly as they take an order to the neon pink and blue swirl that radiates from each layer, it's clear this product has changed the creative game. Yes, the taste reminds me strangely of the summertime in the 1980's. 

What can be said after having the first sip? We believe. 

Until tomorrow Magical Whipped Grandes.

The art of storytelling goes back to the beginning of human time. From the campfire to the movie theater, tales for our human existence abound. When someone tells a great story, we all listen and filter it through our unique set experiential moments. Once we have processed the story, we can start to emphasize and feel compassion from the narrative. However, something has come to my attention about the stories we tell. They are quite often told from a male perspective and male eyes. Jude Kelly talks more about this in her TED talk on "Why Women Should Tell Stories Of Humanity."

As a woman, this was a light bulb moment as I often have felt like an outsider for most of the stories present in my life. Why don't more stories about humanity come from women and the female voice? 

We need more women to create, tell and spread the stories from their perspective. It is the only way we can empower a better tomorrow for all of the humankind. So, ladies, what's your story? 

Until tomorrow friends.

Having a break no matter how short or long can provide perspective. There is something about being away from it all and then coming home that is a powerful catalyst for self-improvement. Perhaps where we go, and the travels we experience rewire our brains for the better. Maybe the time away is like a three-way mirror, and we see what how life was, is and could be? Whatever thought, when we get home, we want to be better people because the world offered us a filtered opportunity.

And the world also offered me a delicious date shake on a trip to Palm Springs. 

I'm still thinking about that delicious creamy date shake. 

However, no matter how delicious, the date shake was fleeting in its joy. It wasn't brimming with good for us anything. The ingredients while a nice jolt of quick sugary energy was junk. On vacation, it's great to indulge however comprised of 4 scoops of vanilla ice cream, milk and dates the date shake isn't going to win any "good for your body" awards.

Coming back from my trip, the perspective that I have acquired is, I don't treat my body well. The human body is a miraculous self-healing genius machine. It can ward off disease, keep itself alive without thought and mend a wound in just a few days. I, however, feed it things void of nutrients such as chips, candy, and milkshakes which equate to putting maple syrup in a car's gas tank.

The time way made me think how I could make better food choices so my body can keep being miraculous. In enters, this version of a date shake. It is creamy, smooth, and guaranteed to make us happy and healthy. It's also damn delicious.

Date This Shake

makes approximately 2 - 6oz shakes

• 3 Medjool dates pitted
• 1/2 cup 2% Greek yogurt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons sun butter or nut butter
• 1 banana
• 6 - 8 ice cubes

Step 1: Place the dates, yogurt, milk, sun butter/nut butter and banana into a blender and pulse until smooth.

Step 2: Add the ice to the blender and blend until creamy smooth.

Enjoy the date shake and let's say cheers to good health.

Until tomorrow Healthy Friends.

It might be a special holiday today, or perhaps we are at a super cool music festival. Whatever the event, it's important to inject a little style into our lives. Style can seem elusive and intimidating, but style tells the story of who we are or who we want to be. Sometimes by putting on something as simple as a hat, we can change the story of ourselves and the story we tell the world around us. Where would Easter be without the bonnet? Where would the Coachella music festival be without the flower crown or Fedora? What would the world look like without the baseball caps, (Go Cubs!)? The British without their fascinators? The cat without his hat?

Each tells a different story and creates meaning for ourselves and the world around us. That's pretty powerful and makes the top of things extra special.

Happy everything today and top off your day by wearing a hat.

Until tomorrow friends.

When we travel, it can be thrilling to explore a new place. It's exciting to dig into new cultures, especially through food. Jim Gaffigan, the comedian, has a humorous stand-up bit about going on vacation. He says, "A vacation is just eating at a place you have never been."

And man alive, I do love to go somewhere and get something to eat.

Trying new foods is like going on a first date. It's exciting, interesting and a complete crapshoot. I still remember ordering a giant plate of cherry french toast with a huge pile of whip cream on a trip to Wisconsin in 1988. The the first greasy bite of New York pizza in 2002 is still fresh in my mind. The warm apple croissant devoured outside Poliâne in 2006 makes me dream of Paris. The perfect glazed Duck Donut picked up in The Outer Banks in 2008 calls to be from the West Coast. The lean Texas brisket gobbled down with pickles in 2011 was dang delicious.

And the date shake slurped delightfully in Palm Springs 2017 was a slice of heaven.

It doesn't seem like the desert wouldn't provide sweet temptation. After all, it's hot out there in the desert. Really hot. However, that's when the finest date that a person could ask for swirls into our lives and whirls us off our feet. In my book, the date fruit is an overlooked delight. Growing up, dates were something old people kicked back at the holidays or used as a vehicle for caramelized bacon. However, the desert has brought to attention the date is one of the true delicacies of life.

Let's talk about a couple of fast facts about dates. They only grow in hot dry climates. The date palm plant needs hand pollination as the plants are either male or female. Dates are one of the most healthy foods available. They can contain more potassium than a banana, are a good source of dietary fiber and brim with vitamins such as niacin.

Now back to the real reason we are here, the date shake. Like most things in life, date shakes are simple. There are variations but typically contain Medjool dates, ice cream, and milk. Many places in Palm Springs and the surrounding desert offer up a date shake but after some exhaustive research, on the way out of town, I stopped Hadley Fruit Orchard . 

Well, a date shake is seriously creamy, delightful and delicious. The cool flavor lovingly tempts the taste buds with its 100% smooth texture and delightful sweet aromatic flavor. This one is going down in the vacation memory books. It's hands down the best date I've ever had.

It's funny how creating an adventure can be as simple as something we eat. What other vacation memorable foods have you had?

Until tomorrow Foodie Friends.

Flowers or nature for that matter can tell us about ourselves. In a way, a landscape is a biographical storybook for us to walk through. It's seems important to take note of each lovely word the land offers as it can be a reflection of us. 

Take for instance California's super bloom. For a great many years California waited for the thirst of the land to be quenched. It was a in a great drought. It was brown, dusty and the landscape on the verge of being nothing. We can feel like this sometimes. We wait for something to happen. We sit not dormant working tirelessly for the rain to come but time isn't right.

Then the rains come. It pours from the sky. The landscape has flourishes and a funny thing happens.

There is a super bloom.

A super bloom offers a perfect time for our ideas to pollinate and a overabundance of places for our ideas to travel.

We just need to bring the rain.

Until tomorrow Desert Flowers.

It's funny when we write things down and rely on our imagination. Sometimes we think we are being smart only realize we don't know all the details. Today I came to the desert only to find their are pink cacti everywhere. In other words, they are not the rare breed that I had imagined in my mind. Granted they aren't the bright magenta cacti illustrated in yesterday's post but they are pink. 

When we get out of our heads, sometimes we become aware the world is more amazing than we could possibly imagine. We don't have to pull over. We just have to take in and experience the wonder our lives offers.

With gratitude and until tomorrow friends.

Some of us are superb at finding our way in this world. They can spot the thing they want more than anything, go for it, grab it, and make it work for them. They seem to have a unique knack for knowing where to look for a pink cactus and knowing when to pull their car over just in time to grab an opportunity. In other words, they have outstanding luck.

However, more often than not, it isn't luck. These people have built and put a lot of work into looking for a pink cactus. They hone their skills, develop relationships and foster growth through constant learning. More importantly, they don't let fear stop them from jumping in the car and saying "Let's Go!"

Luck seems to be more about paying attention, hitting the road and seeing the landscape when the rest of us are still in the parking lot.

I'm going to look out for a pink cactus today. Who's ready for a road trip?

Until tomorrow friends.

It's hard to find time to do things that are important to us. We let life come first and dreams come last. What happens when we take 5 minutes each day to move something important to us forward? I'm using my 5 minutes to write this post. What will you do with your 5 minutes?

Until tomorrow friends.

A few years back, I had a baby. It came out a boy. Having a boy was a surprise, after all, I was confident that I would have another girl. My daughter needed a sister. It is hard to communicate how desperately I wanted another girl. The future seemed to hold such female promise, and I wanted another girl to fill that future. However, Rolling Stones said it best:

And what I needed was a boy.

Boys can be confusing. They seem to have different priorities. They think in an entirely matter. As a girl, it can be overwhelming, confusing and maddening. However, four years ago I was gifted with a boy, and yes, he is very much an amazing gift. He came out fast, furious and six weeks early. The day he was born, I remember staring at him, holding his tiny hand and helplessly thinking I have no idea how to raise a boy. 

After lots of sleepless nights and days roaming wide open places looking for sticks together, I have realized the magic of getting what you need. He filters the world differently, and that means I get to see the world differently. I wouldn't know the magic of bugs, see the coolness in trucks or how speed is a pretty amazing skill to hone. I wouldn't understand that spicy, sweet and a whole big bunch of mischief makes life more interesting.

However, that's the thing about not getting what we want. When you try, we might find that we get something that helps us grow. We might need something that is so good it hurts. At first, a shuttered start-up, a failed book deal, a ruined relationship or twist of fate seem to be all unmet expectations. These moments however hard, offer up an opportunity for us to create something more powerful. They can provide a chance to change a part of us and in turn make our lives better.

Until tomorrow Rolling Stones.

It's that time of year again when we can fall in love. There is something about the spring that brings a particular inspiration to everything in our lives. It's a time of newness, hope and most importantly rhubarb. Yes, rhubarb. Some of us might not be familiar with the vegetable. It can be described as tart, red celery. It only pops out this time of year, and it makes a damn fine filling or topping to just about anything. Yes, anything.

When I was a kid when spring rolled around, my mom would bake a strawberry rhubarb pie. It was some damn fine pie. Perfect in it's sweet and tart flavor it made every taste bud light up. That pie made it amazing to be a kid. The only thing that would have made spring better as a kid was if my mom would have bought us pop tarts. She never bought us pop tarts, ever. 

Years later, I still dream of rhubarb and pop tarts. Today, I have brought the two together for a delightful, flaky nostalgic bit of heaven. I hope you enjoy these little delights. They made me feel like a kid again, and after making these, I hope you do too.

Rhubarb Pop Tarts

• 4 cups fresh rhubarb cut into 1/4 inch thick pieces 
• 1 cup frozen organic strawberries
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 (11 ounce) package refrigerated pie crust
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• sprinkles

Step 1: In a medium skillet set over medium heat, add the rhubarb, strawberries, butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice to the pan. Combine, cook and stir until the rhubarb is soft. Turn off the burner and set the pan to the side. Let the rhubarb mixture cool.

Step 2: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, unroll the pie crust. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pie crust to 1/8 inch thick. Square the edges and cut each crust into 8 equal-sized rectangles. Place approximately 2 tablespoons rhubarb on 4 of the rectangles. Spread the rhubarb out to within 1/4 inch of the edge of the pastry rectangle. Top each with another pastry rectangle. Use a fork to crimp the rectangles together and seal the jam inside. 

Step 3: Place the pastry on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake the pastry for 10- 12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

Step 4: In a Medium bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla extract and lemon juice until smooth. Spread approximately 2 tablespoons glaze on top of each pastry and decorate with sprinkles.

Enjoy the rhubarb and the nostalgia.

See you tomorrow kiddos!