The Zone
The Addiction Zone
By Tom Evans
Many addictions start off as routines and the first level of addiction can be relatively harmless or even beneficial.

So for example, I wrote each of these chapters immediately after morning meditation and before answering emails. This is a habit I find hard to break nowadays so you could say that I am addicted to doing it this way. Read more »

Hop, Skip, Jump
Your Mission Paintment
By Marney Makridakis
The phrase “If you build it, he will come” holds a lot of energy in the Hop phase. In the film Field of Dreams, it was the voice that Kevin Costner’s character heard whispered whenever he visited the field. It was the voice he listened to whenever he faced doubts.

When you think of “If you build it, he will come,” what is your “it”? What are you building? Organizations, companies, and businesses have mission statements to clarify what they want to build. Contemporary personal development books encourage us to write a mission statement to encompass who we are and what we want to create. Read more »

Words and Images
Practicing Patience
By Cynthia Staples
It happened on a Saturday. I was at home, hungry, walking toward my last pot of nasturtium. I planned to pick all of the dark green leaves for a final salad. A tasty conclusion to my summer experiment. You see, throughout the summer, I had grown nasturtium plants from seed. A first time endeavor for me as an indoor gardener. Read more »

Magic Crayon Journal Prompts
Ring in the New Year with INTENTION!
By Patricia Mosca
Happy New Year! Bring out the horns . . . the hats . . . the noise makers . . . RING THE BELL . . . for the NEW YEAR!

Let's take a moment to reflect on last year. Did it bring you what you most desired? Did you stick to the resolutions that you made?

Most of us start out strong at the beginning of a new year. We make our resolutions and we begin with a "hop on the train . . . full steam ahead!" attitude. But, sometimes something happens along the way and as the train rounds the bend and into the final stop, those resolutions are either in the caboose or not on the train at all anymore. So what do we have to do to keep punching our ticket for 365 days? Read more »

Hop, Skip, Jump
From Plato to Play-To
By Marney Makridakis
One way to define a meaningful life at its fullest is expression in action. It happens when you take something from inside and create it on the outside. This is true even if nobody else sees what you manifest. If you want to have better dental hygiene, it’s not enough to just get the idea. You need to adjust any beliefs that stand in the way; you need to try a few different ways to do it; and you need to start using the right brush, floss, or Waterpik and stay motivated to keep using them. It doesn’t matter if anyone else ever notices (though I imagine your dentist and your significant other would) — you have taken an idea from the inside and expressed it on the outside. Read more »

Writing Wild
Writing Wild: Wild Instincts
By Tina Welling
How much does our outer world mirror our inner world? I am not promoting a way of life that leans on outer symbols as divination about our inner selves. I do promote living an alert life that accepts comfort, assurance, even guidance into our inner explorations from chance encounters in the outer world. Living a life that’s sensitive to chance events and encounters carries the same benediction for one’s happiness and welfare as driving at night: may you stay awake, watch out for wild animals, follow the light. Then write about it. Read more »

Nurturing Young Imaginations
My Student Just Did Something Creative... Now What?
By Abby Connors
That inner “Wow!” That tingle of excitement. That feeling of “Yes! That’s what it’s all about!” That’s the moment that makes me so thankful to be a teacher of young children — when a child spontaneously, unselfconsciously creates a song, a way to play a musical instrument, a new dance move. That’s the moment that shows me that I’ve created a safe place to share ideas, and that the child’s imagination is active and thriving. Read more »