Happy Monday!
I was just reading through the new comments on yesterday’s ‘life question’– what a great way to start the week. I am constantly inspired by the journey that you share with me on the blog!
I also appreciated that some of you voiced your honest opinion of the book. Some of you said that you couldn’t get through the book and you didn’t like how the tone/message changed after Italy. I got about 1/3 of the way through the India book last night and I did notice a shift. The tone got more serious and Elizabeth really delved into meditation, yoga and the history behind it. While I did find a couple parts have been slow in India, I found the part about where she struggles with meditation absolutely captivating as I have struggled with meditation and quieting my mind for a long time. I found that I was taking a few notes for myself and I hope to re-visit meditation in my own life (I will blog about it!). It will be interesting to see how my opinion of the book changes as I read through India and Bali. I hope I will enjoy it!
I told you last night that I would be sharing with you this fun raw cookie recipe that I made yesterday! They are so yummy, I hope you will enjoy them as well.
Raw Energy Cookie Bites
Inspired by That’s Fit.ca’s Raw Seed Cookies.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup of almonds
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 9 medjool dates, pitted
- 4-5 dried apricots, chopped
- 2 tbsp cacao nibs
- 1/2 tbsp pepita seeds (pumpkin seeds)
- Pinch or two of sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Directions: Place pitted dates and almonds into a food processor and process until the mixture is ground up. You can leave a few larger pieces if you prefer. Remove mixture from the processor and place into a medium sized bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well with your hands. Form into mini cookies or balls. Makes 8 mini cookies.
Nutritional information (per mini cookie): 136 calories, 4 grams fibre, 5 grams fat, 2 grams protein.
I am in love with these mini energy cookies! So delicious and packed with so many healthy foods.
You can also double the recipe and pop them in the freezer for quick snacks!
Here is another quote that I loved from Eat Pray Love, page 115. Elizabeth is talking about pleasure and how our society typically feels guilty for pursuing pleasure in our lives. In this quote she speaks to a ‘glimmer of happiness’ that she started to feel after being in a deep depression for a couple years. She was on the path to ‘mending her soul’.
“It was in a bathtub back in New York, reading Italian words aloud from a dictionary, that I first started mending my soul. My life had gone to bits and I was so unrecognizable to myself that I probably couldn’t have picked me out from a police line-up. But I felt a glimmer of happiness when I started studying Italian, and when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after such dark times you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until it drags you face-first out of the dirt– this is not selfishness, but obligation. You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.
I came to Italy pinched and thin. I did not know yet what I deserved. I still maybe don’t know fully what I deserve. But I do know that I have collected myself of late- through the enjoyment of harmless pleasures- into somebody more intact. The easiest, most fundamentally human way to say it is that I have put on weight. I exist more now than I did four months ago. I will leave Italy noticeably bigger than when I arrived here. And I will leave with the hope and the expansion of one person- the magnification of one life- is indeed an act of worth in this world. Even if that life, just this one time, happens to be nobody’s but my own.”
I thought that was one of the more powerful quotes in the book so far. I absolutely loved this quote ‘you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until it drags you face-first out of the dirt’ it gave me such a great visual and helped me understand her sentiment. I also agree that sometimes happiness comes from the little things in life. I think many of us get overwhelmed by assuming that we need to do all of these huge and crazy changes to be happy, but sometimes happiness comes from a small decision to just pursue something that you enjoy- even if it has no practical purpose.
For me, my glimmer of happiness was starting Oh She Glows. On October 31, 2008, I started Oh She Glows. It was one of the most difficult times of my life and I was struggling with my career and graduate school. I was depressed and I cried in bed so many nights. The blog was my glimmer of hope each day- a distraction from the unhappiness that I felt with my career choice. It was something so simple as writing a few words each day and hoping for that connection with others to help guide me though.
Little did I know that something as simple as writing a blog would have been the thing that gave me the courage, confidence, and desire to seek out happiness, not just for a few moments every day, but for my entire day. Sometimes, these little glimmers of happiness can be the seeds for amazing change and transformation in our lives.
I also loved her analogy about ‘putting on weight’. When Elizabeth went through her divorce she lost about 25-30 pounds and was skeletal. Putting on weight was not just a representation that she was getting healthier, but it was a metaphor for the growth that was happening on the inside of her as well. I thought it was so interesting because so many women denote weight gain with a negative emotion or loss of control, but sometimes weight gain represents a time in your life when you are enjoying the pleasures of life and just…happy.
I appreciate hearing your own thoughts on this quote…Do you have any ‘glimmers of hope’ in your life right now? Have you ever experienced any small pleasurable activity that got you though a difficult time, like the blog did for me? Are there things in your life that you could do to create these small bits of happiness in your day?
I’m struggling to find my glimmer of hope, and trying not to give up. If I do have a glimmer of hope, it’s knowing that such beautiful, kind, intelligent and happy people like yourself were once engulfed by the dark depression monster, too. You give me hope…
L-
Sometimes hope is all we have. I don’t know what you’re going through, but there are always people around who have been in similar situations who have found the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s not easy when it only looks like a flame on a candle, but I think eventually the light gets bigger. I struggle with good and bad days and it just helps to know that people care about me, whether they’re friends, family, or strangers.
Stefani –
Thanks for your supportive words. My biggest struggle is having the courage to neglect keeping up with what society deems I should be and start realizing my own passions and “glimmers of happiness.” I find flickers of your “candle flame” right before I get tossed out into long hours of work, commute, and other daily monotonous tasks.
But, what I need to keep reiterating to myself — is how many fabulous people such as yourself, Angela and many of the other ladies following this blog have been there or are there. We can pull through together. There is so much this life can offer — and I look forward to the day I’m brave enough to let myself enjoy it.
Thanks, again, for your caring thoughts.
Hi L and Stefani, thank you both for sharing and being so supportive of one another! It really made me happy to see these encouraging comments. L, I wish you all the best with your own discovery. Just chip away at it one day at a time.
I love when happiness surprises us. Last night my fiance and I were thrown a surprise engagement party. It’s such an amazing feeling to know how much your friends love and support you. We felt so shocked that they came together like that and planned the whole thing – something to honor us. In a way we felt a little embarrassed – isn’t that funny?
I love this comment. One of the funniest wedding stories I ever heard was from my boss. A good friend invited him to a party he and his girlfriend were having and insisted that he come. The night of the party he decided he was too tired and would rather hang out on the couch. Turns out the surprise was on all of the guests – the couple were actually getting married at the party! His friend still gives him heaps about it to this day. What a fun surprise for you guys and how great that you have family and friends who would do something like that.
Angela, great question! Honestly, hope has come to be a permanent fixture in my mind and life, ever since I undertook the difficult and necessary work of learning to love myself. I know it sounds corny, but hope is much more tangible and sustainable when it comes from within (as opposed to seeking it out in exogenous forms). Sometimes reading books and hearing songs seems to get the hope flowing – so to speak – but I consider hope as essential an ingredient to healthy living as good food or clean water. I can’t wait to read some more of the responses!
I LOVE your comment! It is so true, you have to really get deep down inside yourself and accept and love who you are. There is never going to be the perfect you (thinner, more successful, etc) those things are superficial and really will not bring you happiness. I’ve had to struggle with this myself, and I’ve had to really work at accepting who I am today.
I couldn’t agree more. Thank you for sharing!
I started to find my glimmer of hope about a year ago. My parents divorced just before I left for university, and I spiraled into a depression for my first two years of school that I only realize the extent of now that I’m out of it. I was apathetic, angry, stressed, sad, and much heavier than I wanted to be.
I think that in the way that putting on weight helped Elizabeth, taking off weight helped me. I learned how to let go of all of the negativity, pain, and anger I was loading myself down with while at the same time I was literally removing weight from myself. About a year and a half ago, at the beginning of my third year at university, I think something just clicked for me. I realized that I was selling myself short, and that I was the only person in control of my future. I was lucky enough to have amazing people in my life who gave me unending support and encouragement, but it wasn’t until I claimed happiness for myself that any real changes were made. Once I made the shift, weight started coming off, my grades went up with my spirits, and I started feeling light again, both literally and figuratively.
I just graduated from university in June, and although I’m taking a detour at home to take my GRE’s and apply to grad school, I’ve never felt happier or more in control of my future. It’s so great to read blogs like yours – you’re so inspiring and it’s wonderful to hear how others have successfully claimed their lives. Thank you for sharing yourself with us!
I feel like we are in a book club now because I am at just about the same spot in the book as you are. I just read this part two days ago. I really loved reading through Italy and I didn’t think I would be able to connect much with India and Bali, but so far India has been really moving to me and many of the things she shares are things that I have felt or have been feeling. This quote really touched me and I truly understand her feelings here. I think my glimmer of hope is my little one bedroom studio guesthouse that I’m living in. I know it sounds odd, but I love it because it’s mine. It’s where I can escape to after a rough day. I can be alone or I can have a friend over. I can cook all night long and not disturb anyone. I can play loud music and dance around for no one to see but myself. But the best part of it is that, when I don’t want to be alone, my family and friends are only a few miles away, and they are my other glimmer of happiness.
My glimmer of hope right now is that I am moving next month. I have lived in San Diego my entire life (minus one year away at school) and I have never liked it. My boyfriend and I decided we were ready to get out of here so I did some research and am now transferring to a school in Oregon. We are leaving at the end of August and it seems that everything is just leading up to the day where we leave!
For small amounts of hope and happiness in my day, I look to my kitten. Yep, I am a crazy cat lady! She is about 3 1/2 months old and so full of love and happiness. It makes me so happy to have her snuggle up against me, I can really feel the love and devotion. She is the first pet I have ever raised from a baby and it is so much more rewarding than I could have ever imagined! She does as much for me as I do for her.
Never underestimate the power of pets! Somedays the only thing that keeps me going is knowing I get to come home to 3 hairy little creatures that love me no matter what I look like and can’t wait to stick their little doggie tongues up my nose!
Animals are pure joy and love to me as well.
Yes, the book does shift through the 3 sections and because Italy was so “fun” we want to hold onto that, but this book is about her life and the transformations so inevitably the moods and tones will ebb and flow like a tide. There is still humor, but more contemplation. Bali has a whole different voice yet. You’ll get annoyed with her, love her, respect her, get frustrated with her and tell her to go back to Italy. But in the end, the book becomes a gift. A gift to you to be all of those things she goes through and all of the things that make you unique on your own journey with various moods and tones.
Wow what an awesome comment! You summed it up so well. Thanks :)
I’ve struggled with meditation myself and was really upset when I came to realize that I wouldn’t be able to stay with the Zen Centre I had been frequenting due to time constraints. Going to the Centre every week, I was taught so much about quieting the mind and honouring the present. I think people get too preoccupied with “not doing it right” but no one, absolutely no one, can quiet their mind right off the bat. It’s just like any other exercise, consistency and practice are the way to go. Be diligent in practice and after a while, although you will still have to work to quiet the mind, you’ll be able to quiet it for longer and longer periods of time.
I think being in the kitchen is my glimmer of hope. I never thought I’d say that and even now, when it popped into my head, it surprised me but it’s true. I don’t HAVE to cook the meals I do, I can just as easily make quick meals that take no thought but I enjoy the time I have in the kitchen. When I have a few extra hours to myself (so rare these days) I immediately figure out what I want to make in the kitchen. I may not be the world’s greatest cook/baker but I love making food from scratch. It offers me time to create, to make something that others enjoy as well as myself and to unwind. It consistently reminds me that there *is* time to do something so simple as cook a meal and make it amazing.
I’ve just started picking meditation back up and what a difference I feel! I agree, there’s no “right way” to meditate and it takes a lot of practice. I can only do it for about 4 minutes and then I get antsy. There are days where I’ll attempt it and my mind keeps wandering to what I have to do that day. But even if I only meditate for a minute, it seems to make a world of difference. I found too that when I do start getting into the swing of things, I can ease my mind down in a stressful situation. This is sort of weird, but if I’m stressed at work, the only quiet place is the restroom, so I go in a stall and just sit quietly for about a minute with my eyes closed and focus on my breathing (hopefully there’s no smell in there!). It really helps center me.
I used to escape the the bathroom or sometimes the stairwell at work for a moment to myself. Im glad I am not the only one!
The cookies look so good! Do they taste like only dates? I don’t mind dates but I hate that Larabars only really taste that way…to me at least. :)
They do taste a lot like dates!
i’m totally making my own glimmers of hope right now, but it’s coming right along! i would say that finally being able to write again has been huge for me. that and learning to love my camera. those things make me happy and excited about the future, which is something i lost for a while there!
also, if you don’t have chia seeds could you sub flax seeds instead?
Oh yes I am sure you could!
Most of my “glimmers of happiness” come from flying (flight lessons). After each lesson, I feel rejuvenated, excited, tired (in a good way), proud. . . but the effort required to maintain lessons in the course of a hectic life schedule is tremendous. I have to remind myself over and over of my personal goals, loves, and interests – else the pace of the rest of my life overwhelms the brief exuberant moments.
I find that hen going through a rough time, it can be really hard to have hope that things will get better. But just one small good thing can make you see that the future can be better.
When I got kicked out of my house in October (my mother had a new alcoholic boyfriend and changes a lot), it was very difficult for me to find some way to be happy. I think it takes time to adapt to a new situation, but it is always possible to find some good aspects to a new situation. I was actually more depressed living with two alcoholic parents than by my own and I see that now. And I still have hope that the future will be better for her too.
I’m sorry to hear of this difficult situation you are in. I hope that you are able to find bits of happiness — and of wholeness — as you move forward! Hugs.
I too am sorry to hear of what you are going through, my heart goes out to you and I hope that things improve for you. Keep the faith!
I’ve been reading your blog for the past month and I just want to say what an inspiration you have been to me. I have been struggling with many of the same health issues you struggled with and it’s been refreshing to read you stories of how you turned things around. I am just at the start of my journey to live a healthier and happier lifestyle and your stories give me such strength so thank you!
Thank you Amanda :)
I have had a very difficult spring and early summer where both of my parent have been diagnosed with illnesses, but for once I didn’t keep all of this to myself like I usually do, I shared it with my friends and was met with such an outpouring of love and support that it almost makes it hard to breathe when I think about it, because it really took me by surprised how much love there was set aside for me. And if all of that love exists for me, then think about how much love there must be in the entire world? That, right there, is a glimmer of hope for me.
That is a great way of looking at it. It reminds me of a quote from the EPL book where Elizabeth comments that she was technically ‘alone’ on New Years Eve (in India) for the first time in her life, but she certainly did not feel alone being surrounded by all of the ‘strangers’ at the Ashram.
Thanks for sharing the excerpts from EPL- I had no interest in reading it, previously, but I think I’ll check it out now!
Also, those energy bites are right up my alley. I would make them into a sammich with nut butter in the middle! Can’t wait to try ’em
mmm nut butter I didnt think to add that!
I’m struggling right now, too. My glimmer of happiness is knowing I’ll be able to go home in two weeks. We live far away from my family and friends, and I’m so lonely where we live now. We’ll hopefully be moving back for good in a year or two, but I try to hold on to the little things–emails from friends, trying to recreate foods I love–to pull me through.
I have this vision right now of us, two years from now, buying a home close to family and friends, getting another dog, maybe trying for a baby–and I’m so anxious to get to that point, it’s hard to enjoy what I have now. I don’t really have a solution, I just try to grasp whatever I can that makes me happy these days and hang on for dear life. Thank God I have a wonderful husband and animals that make me smile!
What a great quote. You’ve been posting so many inspirational things lately, thanks a lot! They really put many minimal “problems” into a greater perspective.
I think it is very important to see happiness and joy in even the slightest of things. I often let go of my worries even while I walk to work (the irony) and listen to the trees’ rustle and tweeting birds. Cooking also helps me mend my soul when things aren’t going right or I’m not feeling well–it’s like I’m taking the time to create little bits of nutrition for myself so I can nourish my body. Maybe I should try and have more moments like this, only with myself, just to let go of everything and *be*.
I haven’t read the book yet and I’m worried I’m not going to like it because I’m not really the kind of person who loves “popular” books, I’m more a classic literature nerd, but I am enjoying your impressions. That section you posted resonates with me as well. I’ve dealt with depression my entire life and in recent years it’s become so bad that I literally could not ever be happy in my own environment – I always needed to get out, chase new things and new adventures (you know, wanderlust), and every time I came back home I would crash and burn and be lower than before. The worst was this past September; I’d just returned from spending 7 weeks in Thailand and I felt completely at a loss, rootless, directionless… A few weeks into this period of lethargy I decided to go to a Pilates class for my first time and I fell in love. Most days it was the absolute best part of my day, and I started going 4 or 5 days a week. Everything else was just miserable. Eventually I started to fall more and more in love with Pilates and realized it was a direction I absolutely would love to go with my life, and that changed everything. I felt like I woke up. My life was SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT, and only because I would go to Pilates every day because it made me feel good. It’s only been about four or five months since that revelation but I feel like a completely different person from who I used to be.
As far as meditation, I think different people meditate differently. Some people really respond well to deep relaxation and calm, others (like me) find zen in absolute chaos and noise. I do my best ‘meditation’ when I’m surrounded by noise and people, or when I’m in the kitchen baking. I don’t think meditation always has to be “sitting silently and delving deep into the mind.
I love that quote! I haven’t Read Eat Pray Love but after reading that passage I really want to.
For me my “glimmers of happiness” are cooking and exercising. They may not be all that original but they make me happy. When I’m in the kitchen and I make something I cam totally from my head not a recipe. In the kitchen you follow your own rules, if you don’t lie cilantro you just leave it out, if you think some lemon juice would brighten up your dish you put it in. Its your dish, you kitchen, you stomach, and your tongue and that’s all that matters. And I love making something and then seeing the happiness it brings my mom (my only tester) when she eats it and cannot stop telling me how good it is!
Exercise is different but the same in many ways too. Its not always as joyful as cooking. Sometimes I’m hot, or tired, or I just feel lazy, but the fact that I normally still get myself up and go for my run or go to kickboxing despite how I am feeling makes me proud. And there is nothing like the feeling of an amazing workout. The kind that wipes away all the stress of whatever else happened that day or whatever could happen. When you feel like you could fly because your body feel powerful and strong. That feeling is definitely a feeling that nothing can replace. Or when you finish a particularly hard workout and are amazed at hoe much farther you pushed yourself than you even thought possible. Exercise has taught me so much about my body and myself and the confidence it has brought me is irreplaceable, and makes me so happy.
The weight gain really depends on the person. A different woman may gain 25-30lb of weight during her divorce because of stress eating. In that case, her weight gain would be just as unhealthy as Elizabeth’s weight loss.