This is a heartfelt quickie on my way out the door.  I don’t care what religion/faith/belief system you subscribe to - I guarantee you will get something out of Gil Fronsdal’s audio dharma talks.  Some of the great things about Buddhism (for the uninitiated) are that you don’t have to believe in it to get something out of its ideas, you don’t have to go anywhere to practice it, and you don’t have to know anything about it to understand its main ideas - it really operates on a human scale, and is the same for laypeople as it is for those who are “more advanced”.

Anyhow, I’ve been listening to these talks in the car all week and I’ve been sharing them with absolutely everyone.  I highly recommend two of his recent ones, “Effortless Effort” and “What can you let go of?” - I strongly doubt anyone will find these offensive (but feel free to prove me wrong).

I think a big part of happiness is having your life at the right scale and using your energy in a way that is efficient and well-prioritized.  Many people I know who are unhappy spend a lot of time on things they couldn’t care less about, or on things that they know make them unhappy.  Why not edit these things out of your life?  Why hang on to ideas and objects that make you unhappy or keep you from being in your ideal situation?

Just try to answer that - I dare you.  In the meantime, enjoy his free talks.  I’ll be back soon to rehash my birthday and give the lowdown on my new favorite shower products (courtesy of Continental, who routed our luggage through three extra cities).

I have debt.  I went to a good college, I attended an expensive graduate school (briefly), and I’ve been 95% financially independent since I was 16.  Sometimes, I think (know) that I should be putting every extra cent I earn toward these debts - it’s a strong vote for my future, and every penny I can pay now is worth a penny plus 5-12%….

But sometimes things come along that you can’t resist.  I’m not talking about material urges that strike at any shopping mall, or a need to keep up with the Joneses. These are rare, beautiful, quality things that fill a need in your life, even if it’s not quite an essential, air-water-food type of need.

These Dolce & Gabbana Sunglasses filled that need in a way that words can barely describe, but I will do my best.

I used to eschew names and labels, especially “designer” ones.  I avoided anything with a logo and convinced myself that there was no more style, elegance, or quality in a name brand product than there was in a generic one.

 Obviously, I was wrong.

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