Posts from the ‘Personal’ Category

Which State Matches Your Personality?

Here is a fun little quiz which may indicate which state of the United States purportedly best matches your personality and attitude.

A 13 year study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, was an exhaustive one, including nearly 1.6 million survey respondents from the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia.

When the returns were tallied, the country broke down into three macro regions:

New England and the Mid-Atlantic states — the researchers termed “temperamental and uninhibited;”

The South and Midwest were labeled — “friendly and conventional;”

The West Coast, Rocky Mountains, and Sun Belt, described as — “relaxed and creative.”

Additionally, below are a few fun facts:

-Wisconsin is the most extroverted state.

-Vermont is the most introverted state.

-Utah is the most agreeable and least neurotic state.

-West Virginia is the most neurotic state.

-Washington, D.C., is the most open-minded state.

There is no shortage of historical and geographical explanations for why the regions break down the way they do, but migration is the biggest piece of the puzzle.  

Pioneers who moved West were, by definition, people with open, curious, flexible temperaments, traits that become part of the settled regions’ DNA and were passed down through the generations.

The researchers found a creative way to conform this theory, comparing the state the 48 surveyed states became part of the union with their relaxed and creative profile.  The result: the later a state joined, the higher its score turned out to be.  That very openness and wanderlust stays with native-born residents of these regions, often impelling them to keep right on moving.

Source: science.time.com.

Which state did you get?  I got South Carolina — at least I am living on the right coast!  Take the quiz here, and leave your answer!

Happy Wednesday!

Autumn: Favorite Time of the Year

Autumn is not only my favorite time of year, but autumn has a symbolic significance.  This time of year signals the coming of the next phase.  It is about restoring so we can prepare for what is to come.

This excerpt from Parker Palmer’s contemplative piece, Autumn as Metaphor, really resonated with me.

“Autumn is a season of great beauty but is also a season of decline: the days grow shorter, the light is suffused, and summer’s abundance decays toward winter’s death.  Faced with this inevitable winter, what does nature do in autumn?  She scatters the seeds that will bring new growth in the spring — and she scatters them with amazing abandon.

In my own experience of autumn, I am rarely aware that seeds are being planted.  In the autumnal events of my own experience, I am easily fixated on surface experience, I am easily fixated on surface experiences–on the decline of meaning, the decay of relationships, the death of a vocation.  And yet, if I look more deeply, I may see the myriad possibilities being planted to bear fruit in some season yet to come.”

Palmer goes on to describe challenging life situations that, at the time, seemed hopeless but actually provided the opening for new opportunities: “On the surface, it seemed that life was lessening, but silently and lavishly, the seeds of new life were always being sewn.”

The cycle of life provides for endless transformation.

Below are some reasons why autumn is my favorite time of year!

1. Changes in the Leaves: I love the color change in leaves — they are so beautiful.  It is fun to go on a drive when the leaves are at their peak in color!

2. Cooler Temperatures: I love the cooler temperatures that enables me to wear warm sweaters; and I love sleeping with the windows slightly open to let in cool fresh air!

3. Pumpkin Patch: I love going to the pumpkin patch and picking out pumpkins to carve — well, Doug does all the carving and I “assist!”  You can see an example of one of Doug’s pumpkin carving masterpieces shown below — a sheltie pumpkin!  (Doug can also carve a panda pumpkin as well!)

4. Halloween: I love dog costumes — they are so much fun!  Shown below, Biscuit tolerated us putting him in a panda costume during the two Halloweens that we had Biscuit with us.

5.  Anniversary: We got married in the fall and we have fun celebrating our anniversary!

6. Chimney Smoke: For some odd reason, I like this smell!

7. Apple Cider: I love warm apple cider along with an old-fashioned donut from the orchard!

8. Thanksgiving: There is always something to be thankful for and it gives me a reason to make my sweet potato casserole!

9. Candles: I love burning autumn scented candles!

10. Walks Outside: I enjoy walking and I really like walking outside in the cooler temperatures while enjoying the fall foliage!  We are looking forward to walking Victory all around our new neighborhood!

Happy Thursday!

There are times to dream, and times to savor

Dreams are so important.  Without them, life would be pretty boring and I believe that it is positive and healthy to have goals and strive to achieve them.  In fact, I made a vision board of my dreams that I update regularly!  However, sometimes, though, we get wrapped up into what is next that we miss out on the now, the present.  Biscuit taught me this important lesson.  Biscuit was always so acutely attuned to the present moment not worrying about the past or the future.  In fact, Biscuit was so present that, without fail, he always knew what time dinner was supposed to be served — no matter where we were!

I am learning that it is ok to stay right where you are, savoring it.  There are times to dream and times to savor.  I am learning this really important piece — that sometimes we get caught up in creating new dreams for ourselves, or thinking that we should be dreaming, that we forget that it is perfectly ok to savor the ones that are currently living and breathing in our lives today without even the thought of the next dream, the next path.  So simple, yet so true.  I thought that I would pass this on because there is so much power in simply resting inside our lives and dreams as they are today — to really savor every second.  There are times to dream, and times to savor.

Happy Friday!

Progress on the Home Front

Doug and I are virtually unpacked and organized in our new home a little over a week since we moved!  It has been a lot of work to say the least!  We made a to do list for our move, and we have been checking items off as we go!  We still have some items that we need to purchase for our new home and we can begin to decorate — the fun part!   I am excited to hang our art and images on our walls.  It has been like Christmas opening our packed boxes with our belongings that we have not seen in over a year — since we started packing last year when we received a contract on our former home.  It is nice to have some semblance of order now as we have been getting our home ready to welcome our new furry family member, Victory!  We will be meeting little Victory very soon so please stay tuned!

Fortunately, Doug has been really helpful during our packing and unpacking process — these are not my favorite tasks to complete.  Two moves within nine months during the time since we sold our last house and waiting for our current home to be built has been a lot of work, more work than we anticipated, but it is well worth it!  We feel very grateful to have this new house, which is nice and peaceful.

While unpacking, I found and put up my quotable magnets on the fridge!  I love quotes.  (Some of my quotable magnets got ruined at our last house, so I plan to replace them — I have had fun collecting them over the years!)  We also decided to place Biscuit’s special stone in our foyer, pictured below.  We originally planned to place Biscuit’s stone, which states the name of this blog, outside on our porch; however, we did not want the weather and elements to ruin his stone.  It is a constant reminder of our precious little Biscuit.  His images adorn our home.  We both miss our precious Biscuit very much.

Kintsukuroi — The Beauty of Being Broken

Sometimes life flows seamlessly from one perfect moment to the next, but often times we face struggles, insecurities, and set-backs that leave us broken.

And we wonder what will become of the pieces.

When I discovered the Japanese art of kintsukuroi, “to repair with gold,” I immediately fell in love with the beauty of being broken.  This type of art work is a wonderful metaphor for life.

Additionally, the book entitled, Broken Open: How Difficult Times Help Us Grow, by Elizabeth Lesser, is a good read in line with the concept of Japanese art of kintsukuroi.