Comments for Making the mundane magical

Comment on The Nicotine Trap by jude

jude — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:45:29 +0000

Very interesting. I have been trying to give up smoking for over a year and have come to realise I’m a drug addict through and through.

Comment on The Value of Value by Bsquared

Bsquared — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:25:18 +0000

are you still looking for a new (to you) ride? my wife just mentioned a lady she works with is selling something. I don’t think its a Camry but if you are I can connect you 2 together to get more details

Comment on About by The Ole Miss Expatriate

The Ole Miss Expatriate — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:06:21 +0000

Hey, would you email me sometime.

Comment on Tension by nebula

nebula — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:15:03 +0000

This is a great post–you very succinctly state the see-saw of emotions most people go through when trying to change in any way. Trying to “force” yourself never works, as you’ve found out. The best thing I can suggest is to try to “fool” yourself into changes. For example, if you don’t like to exercise, you won’t do it. So make it almost imperceptible–you like plants and photography–go for a walk in a botanical garden or around your neighborhood and take pictures of plants–an activity which will keep you distracted from the amount of walking you do. Something like that.
You’re right–the tiny changes we make add up to great changes in the end.
BTW, that plant looks like a croton to me. (If it’s the one you actually bought.)
As for the food–if you don’t have access to junk food, you won’t eat it. Pretend to yourself that there are no more burritos–they just stopped making them. Pretend that you can’t buy anything edible from a machine. Fill your house with only healthy foods and eventually you’ll get hungry enough to prepare them, if only out of desperation. Buy nothing outside of your house. Take your lunch and snacks with you.

Comment on Bittersweet by Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:58:39 +0000

oh, this makes me want to cry- for the happy and sad reasons you mentioned. I feel the same about this- and it makes my heart feel so many emotions, but I am glad that you wrote about him.

your girl

Comment on Pace by Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:09:01 +0000

This is a great post! You describe how to find happiness in the little moments (which are the ones that usually pass us by so easily) – so even if the day is just a “blah” day, you can still find little nuggets of joy. I am trying….I am.

Of course, living with you is always joyful

your wife

Comment on Pace by The Ole Miss Expatriate

The Ole Miss Expatriate — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:18:17 +0000

I’m enjoying the blog, especially after today. I have one more day of the bar and then i’m heading to the real bar. You need to get me an email address that I can actually get in touch with you. Email me at olemissexpatriate@yahoo.com

Comment on Rant No. 1 by Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:09:27 +0000

Wow, that is offensive- I think it’s sad, and distasteful…. it’s suppossed to be funny or a joke, but to make fun of someone who worked so hard for our country is terrible.

the wifey

Comment on Politicking (Or, the Obama Factor) by butfollowtheyellowbrickroadanyway

butfollowtheyellowbrickroadanyway — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 05:17:45 +0000

If McCain and Obama are my choices-I will vote Obama because at least he admits killing babies is fun. My daddy didn’t even know McCain was pro-choice-talk about pulling the wool!

Comment on Relevant Article on Happiness #2 by buyinghappiness

buyinghappiness — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:29:49 +0000

Thanks for the reference to the article- I will indeed take a look at it.

I perhaps should have prefaced my earlier comment by saying that the rational/emotional stereotype is certainly not universal. I’ve met females who were more rational that I, and men that were certainly more emotional than any woman I’ve ever known. It’s not a constant.

That said, the vast majority of people I’ve encountered have fallen into that line. Part of that might be that I live in the Bible Belt, and people still feel compelled to match expectations. So what I read in the book matched my experiences, so I gave it greater credence.

Here’s an example from my life that took me a while to learn. If my wife comes to me with a problem, my first thought is to solve the problem. Makes perfect logical sense to me- solving the problem will make it go away. My wife, on the other hand, just wants me to listen to the problem and tell her everything is going to be alright. In my mind, that doesn’t solve the problem, but that’s what she needs to feel better.

It’s not that men “suppress” their emotions, so much as their problem-solving abilities have been more acutely developed in childhood than their emotional capacity. We obviously have emotions, of course, but they’re generally more muted- take the screaming women on the Oprah show when she gave away a free car- I’m not sure men would have reacted in such a universally ecstatic manner. I would have been happy, but I wouldn’t have jumped around and screamed like that, I can assure you.

Thinking about it, thought, part of that might have to do with the fact that I’m fairly sure I have Aspergers. But that’s for another post.

Take away the wedding cake analogy- imagine if a woman was to get a giant stain on her wedding dress before the ceremony. She’d most likely be devestated. From a male’s perspective, it’s just a stain and in no way interfere’s with the marriage ceremony. He wouldn’t be terribly distraught if he got a similar stain on his suit. But to her, the day has just gotten much worse.

Thanks for your input- you help to sharpen my focus and reevaluate my views on the subject.