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Thread: New Year's Resolutions, anyone?

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    Serious Left-Static Negativist Eliza Thomason's Avatar
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    Default New Year's Resolutions, anyone?

    I would like to hear about people's new Years Resolutions, if they have them.

    For me, some years have vague resolutions and some years I feel I am due for an complete overhaul. The latter is one of those years for me. Today, consulting with my Naturapath, he strongly suggested I read Get Our of Your Mind, And Into Your Life. He said he and his partner have done this (it's a workbook) and now his kids (I think they are high school-ish age) are doing it in their home school and also finding it strongly helpful. He thinks everyone would find it so. And so far, all the things he has discovered and told me about have been spot on and highly efficacious. So, I just ordered it on Amazon. When he told me about it, I was struck by the fact that its title puts into words the very direction I have strongly felt since early December that I need to be taking. Action, not more mind-stew. So I just ordered it on Amazon. This is one reason why I have not been back to 16T forum now that Christmas is over; I do not feel I am enough into "acting" yet... I'm just thinking about acting... and for me, writing here is a lot of me being stuck in my mind - the very thing I am trying to turn myself around from at the moment. I like it in my mind, its a safe interesting place to be, but doing so, I avoid being in my life, and I want to make things happen now. The book is based on principles of ACT therapy, which I had not heard of.

    The other thing I am doing next week towards that goal is have a Psych-K session, after extensively reading about it this fall and watching many videos on it. I am wary of healing therapies so I feel I need to have full understanding before I venture there. I think this really is a breakthrough in therapy, for affecting real change, going beyond just understanding yourself and your problems. It is effective like nothing else for addictions, like alcoholism. It heals the origin of the problem, quickly and forever. My personal goal is to get over being stuck, or plateauing, which, feels like where I have been awhile, and Psych-K is known for shoving people out of that.

    Having read about it extensively i will explain here what it is, though poorly, I am sure. You can watch Rob Williams (founder of Psych-K) videos if you want to understand more.

    We all have subconscious beliefs, and, what is surprising, is that they are set in us before age 7 -almost all of them. And the vast majority of those come to us while we are in our mother's womb! Some from our grandmothers wombs! These beliefs are in our genes, before we are born! It is biologist Bruce Lipton who explains it in his book Biology of Beliefs, how it is actually in our genes. If you want to understand that and you don't like to read, he has lectures on youtube. So even if we consciously believe a thing, and even if we feel strong in that self-belief because maybe we have had lots of affirmations for that - if we have a conflicting belief in us we were born with, that's in our genes, we are always going to have trouble in that area. And example of a gene/from-birth, inherited belief, may be, "I can't be happy unless I am drunk." So, a person may struggle his whole life with being sober, while never really being happy sober, because who wants to not be happy? But he can heal that subconscious belief in minutes, ending the reason for the addiction, forever.

    That goes along with what Scripture says about the sins of the father visiting the next generation and the next. However, when you change your subconscious belies through Psych-K, you break that inheritance thing because you change your genes! (You have to read/listen to Bruce Lipton to see how that works; I didn't study it.

    Well, its late, I can't explain it all now. But I have a list of subconscious beliefs i want to get rid of, and I am going to try Psych-K next week. I have confidence in the effectiveness of the session, so I have hope for change. I don't know what that will look like or feel like, but I am expecting something....
    "A man with a definite belief always appears bizarre, because he does not change with the world; he has climbed into a fixed star, and the earth whizzes below him like a zoetrope."
    ........ G. ........... K. ............... C ........ H ........ E ...... S ........ T ...... E ........ R ........ T ........ O ........ N ........


    "Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the Church, is often labeled today as fundamentalism... Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along
    by every wind of teaching, looks like the only
    attitude acceptable to today's standards."
    - Pope Benedict the XVI, "The Dictatorship of Relativism"

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    Humanist Beautiful sky's Avatar
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    I started a blog so my new year's resolution is to contribute to that a little more. I am considering exercising more.
    -
    Dual type (as per tcaudilllg)
    Enneagram 5 (wings either 4 or 6)?


    I'm constantly looking to align the real with the ideal.I've been more oriented toward being overly idealistic by expecting the real to match the ideal. My thinking side is dominent. The result is that sometimes I can be overly impersonal or self-centered in my approach, not being understanding of others in the process and simply thinking "you should do this" or "everyone should follor this rule"..."regardless of how they feel or where they're coming from"which just isn't a good attitude to have. It is a way, though, to give oneself an artificial sense of self-justification. LSE

    Best description of functions:
    http://socionicsstudy.blogspot.com/2...functions.html

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    back for the time being Chae's Avatar
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    Self-acceptance! Everything else will align.

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    Cosmic Teapot's Avatar
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    I decided to be more self-confident in order the get the career I want.
    I had my very first job interview yesterday and I successfully imitated a fully functioning human being
    (means: I did not stutter myself to death)

    And I wanted to eat healthier...
    Last edited by Cosmic Teapot; 01-20-2017 at 07:34 PM.

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    c esi-se 6w7 spsx ashlesha's Avatar
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    i never make resolutions but this month ive happened to notice myself leaning into positive things instead of negative things in small ways and i wanna try to build momentum and cultivate that, and since its the new year and all i might as well take the concept of a fresh start as motivation.

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    I don't make them. If I need to change something I will change something about myself when I am ready to. I don't think people really make changes unless they are actually ready to do so and make the effort. New Year's Resolutions just tell you what you already thought you should be doing but still haven't.

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    Serious Left-Static Negativist Eliza Thomason's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chae View Post
    Self-acceptance! Everything else will align.
    Chae, that goes along with the theme of what I am trying know more deeply.True self-acceptance.


    Quote Originally Posted by Horatio View Post
    I decided to be more self-confident in order the get the career I want.
    I had my very first job interview yesterday and I successfully imitated a fully functioning human being
    (means: I did not stutter myself to death)

    And I wanted to eat healthier...
    Glad for your successful interview, Horatio! Even i you don't get the job, a good interview really ups the confidence! And. I am spending time thinking abut eating healthier, too!

    Quote Originally Posted by lungs View Post
    i never make resolutions but this month ive happened to notice myself leaning into positive things instead of negative things in small ways and i wanna try to build momentum and cultivate that, and since its the new year and all i might as well take the concept of a fresh start as motivation.
    Aw, I will pray for your help with that! I know - watch less news. Its so negative and divisive.
    "A man with a definite belief always appears bizarre, because he does not change with the world; he has climbed into a fixed star, and the earth whizzes below him like a zoetrope."
    ........ G. ........... K. ............... C ........ H ........ E ...... S ........ T ...... E ........ R ........ T ........ O ........ N ........


    "Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the Church, is often labeled today as fundamentalism... Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along
    by every wind of teaching, looks like the only
    attitude acceptable to today's standards."
    - Pope Benedict the XVI, "The Dictatorship of Relativism"

    .
    .
    .


  8. #8
    Serious Left-Static Negativist Eliza Thomason's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maritsa View Post
    I started a blog so my new year's resolution is to contribute to that a little more. I am considering exercising more.
    The blog sounds cool, Maritsa. Is that the beauty blog?

    "Considering exercise" - oh, I am really excellent at that! So good that I am never really done considering. It keeps me so occupied! So you can see how that work book I mentioned above, called, "Get Out of Your Mind, and Into Your Life" really does sound like it was made for me at this point in time. I just got it in the mail today and am reading the intro and explanation. I do not typically like workbooks, but since I need to do "action", I am going to move out of my comfort zone a bit and get with the program.

    The book coincides amazingly with a book given us free at church at Christmas, which I did not expect to like but, but it not only really instantly resonated with me, but seems to be of the same theme for change that I am really feeling called from diverse directions. That book is called, Resisting Happiness - and wow, it really goes along with this theme I feel called to, of moving into action. Here is what Kelly says of his book:

    "A true story about why we sabotage ourselves, feel overwhelmed, set aside our dreams, and lack the courage to simply be ourselves... and how to start choosing happiness again!"


    Actually, Maritsa, I think of you as I begin the workbook. I am going to set aside a regular time to work on it. I will share my progress. It really does seem that God is guiding me to this theme in multiple ways. If you look at the link I gave of the book, and want to do it yourself, Maritsa, we could communicate about our progress. Its how to move ourselves forward being who we want to be. I am saying this to you especially, Maritsa, because I care about you and you have wrote of sadness and depression, and I have prayed for you and will continue to. So, here is more from what that workbook says its aim is:

    - Learn why the very nature of human language can cause suffering
    - Escape the trap of avoidance
    - Foster willingness to accept painful experience
    - Practice mindfulness skills to achieve presence in the moment
    - Discover the things you really value most
    - Commit to living a vital, meaningful life


    And if anyone else on 16 types wants to try this, we could have a thread to share what we want to share of any progress we want on it. Because, actually, honestly, MOST of us here need some kind of psychotherapy. Take it from me, one of actual "Psychologists" of the Socion, who has been reading her for several years now: y'all need some psychotherapy. And here is a cheap, and I believe effective, way to do so.

    Just below in orange is a quote I am copying from the Intro chapter I am reading today. And I truly believe God is sending us, here on His earth, new helps in psychotherapy today, because we are all pretty messed up in our society. And God knows, and He sends help. And I want to point out to my Christian fellow believers: here is a Word from God Himself:


    "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." -James 1:5


    See? James says if any man asks wisdom. Not just a Christian person - any. Other Christians will understand this: I started with my four years ago Naturapath a little nervously and skeptically, because he is not a Christian (besides the fact I start with everything rather skeptically). But I could see my naturapath got in his field because he was a man driven to seek wisdom; he wanted to help people get well. And he had learned, like I had, how ineffective and destructive our medical/pharmaceutical modality is! But I remembered that verse from scripture, and realized, if he was seeking wisdom, he likely got it, as God promised. God has no caveat's - He wants people who want wisdom to have it. I believe fully that that includes people who do not have the wisdom or knowledge to know to Whom they are asking, but are asking, in their own way, of the One Who is Wisdom.

    So, in these times, when we are practically ALL messed up, and all wounded and stumbling, God sends help. He wants us to be whole. Even if we are fools Who will not yet admit to His obvious existence! He loves us all dearly, probably especially, or more, the lost ones, and wants us all to be whole. So that help I believe is coming in the form of new modalities in therapy - and I NOT talking about the many spiritual healing, MANY of which are the work, instead, of the one who wants ruin for us. Not that voodoo. I am talking about science-based bio-neurology modalities of healing, like this is.

    Here is the aforementioned quote from my reading today that I am taking too long to get to. Basically they are explaining how the book is based on new, scientifically-based psychotherapeutic modality" known as ACT, based on RFT (look that up if you want). :

    "...This research suggests that many of the tools we use to solve problems lead us into traps that create suffering. To put it bluntly, human beings are playing a rigged game in which the human mind itself, a wonderful tool for mastering the environment, has been turned on its host."

    Some serious words, that strike me with their truth. *

    So anyway, Maritsa, I am feeling this restlessness for real change and real direction in my life, real action towards my own goals, and my anxious readiness for this change is reminding me of another big turn-around time in my life, when I thought big change was called for, and I took big steps for it, and made big changes. It was back in early college years, after a couple of failures were a catalyst to my feeling a need to make a significant turn-around and progress in my life in a new way. At the time, I used Alan Lakein's How to Manage Your Time and Your Life book, which begins with setting and creating your life goals, and shows you how to begin them and manage your time to make progress in them. It was highly effective, and from the reading on other similar, newer books on time and life management, which I did when I wanted to order a new copy of that book because I had lost my old copy and was looking to buy another, but first researched the topic to see what is new - I found there not any real news - that this book is considered to be the "gold standard"; nothing new and superior has come along on the topic. So I bought another for a penny plus shipping. I might end up going back to Lakein but I think I have issues to address first, and I feel called at this time to use tools I am discussing here.

    Its interesting that I feel I am cycling back to a time so many years ago, feeling a need to remember the reasons for choices I made then. But turns out I had new impetus to think through that era... a couple weeks ago an old boyfriend from those early college years contacted me, and other than a short series of conversations a few short years years after the breakup, just when I married, we have not talked or met since. Some years! (my son is 20...). This guy I dated was my"jump master" (means instructor) back in parachuting days... and we have been catching up on where our lives have gone in the meantime, and I was interested in piecing together what I was doing in those days - when's, what's and why's from my memory and his reminders. I really wanted to understand that time because like I said, it was a time of taking control of my life, a big turnaround in how I acted and prioritized, a time of action - all very much mirroring the sort of place I am now - on the brink of change. Okay, at that time, it took me some months to implement the major changes I was stewing about then, but hopefully it won't take me so long to get moving because I have been stewing on this for a while!

    ______________________
    * Everything I have skimmed or read so far in the book has such a ring of truth. So, I looked up a bio on the author, and see he died an untimely death in 2001. But what a life! A good man, clearly intelligent, and interesting - i was impressed. I love to read a life of am and who clearly blessed everyone he touched in his life. A life of service and truth seeking. Here is what I read for anyone who is interested [and look, Maritsa - he is a fellow Californian!]: http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp...PersonId=67230
    "A man with a definite belief always appears bizarre, because he does not change with the world; he has climbed into a fixed star, and the earth whizzes below him like a zoetrope."
    ........ G. ........... K. ............... C ........ H ........ E ...... S ........ T ...... E ........ R ........ T ........ O ........ N ........


    "Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the Church, is often labeled today as fundamentalism... Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along
    by every wind of teaching, looks like the only
    attitude acceptable to today's standards."
    - Pope Benedict the XVI, "The Dictatorship of Relativism"

    .
    .
    .


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    I've always wanted to be less humble.

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    Serious Left-Static Negativist Eliza Thomason's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Within View Post
    I've always wanted to be less humble.
    Seriously? Its a high trait!

    Please let me talk about that trait, since its one I often think about, as I am often later aware when I have acted out of its opposite: pride. That one will have you stumbling, as "pride goeth before the fall".

    My husband is humble. Which I admire in him, but, also, sometimes I wonder if there is something in what he calls humility that is actually something else... I can't explain exactly what that else is, but I know that the graces of God have helped reduce my pride through praying The Litany of Humility. Praying this prayer at a difficult time in my life (when I was being hit with debilitating humiliations) has blessed me so much. So, I suggested to my husband to pray it (since he is a praying man), and he said, "I don't need any more humility! I have lots!' And I don't believe him... I feel we all need more, so I said, "Maybe there is something wrong with your humility and its not what you think...

    Because, like for example, humility is not in place of self-esteem. (We all need a healthy dose of that). I am not sure exactly what I meant by that when I said it to him, but he can handle my unprocessed thoughts about his possible flaws. Because he is humble! Among other things!

    Here is a nice article someone wrote on why that Litany has empowered him: http://www.chastitysf.com/humility.htm I see also his link, "Four Steps to Humility" is a very wise one - the author seems a very wise man...
    "A man with a definite belief always appears bizarre, because he does not change with the world; he has climbed into a fixed star, and the earth whizzes below him like a zoetrope."
    ........ G. ........... K. ............... C ........ H ........ E ...... S ........ T ...... E ........ R ........ T ........ O ........ N ........


    "Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the Church, is often labeled today as fundamentalism... Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along
    by every wind of teaching, looks like the only
    attitude acceptable to today's standards."
    - Pope Benedict the XVI, "The Dictatorship of Relativism"

    .
    .
    .


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    Quote Originally Posted by Eliza Thomason View Post
    blah blah
    Thanks but no thanks.

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    Serious Left-Static Negativist Eliza Thomason's Avatar
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    Default The Difference Between Humility and Masochism

    Well I needed to understand this. I have never met an actual "too humble person", nor a humble person who found humility a burden to be shed. So, what could it mean? That article helped - I get it now. Basically, if someone feels "too humble" what they might actually be feeling is "too masochistic". In a nutshell:

    The Difference Between Humility and Masochism

    To live in humility is to live always in total confidence of God’s love, protection, and guidance and therefore to have no concern for yourself when others insult you—or praise you. Secure in God’s love, you don’t have to base your identity on whether or not others acknowledge you.

    In masochism, on the other hand, you invite others to insult you because, as a psychological defense against the pain of deep emotional wounds, you take unconscious pleasure in being demeaned in the secret hope that you will somehow, someday, earn someone’s admiration for your willingness to endure painful abuse.
    "A man with a definite belief always appears bizarre, because he does not change with the world; he has climbed into a fixed star, and the earth whizzes below him like a zoetrope."
    ........ G. ........... K. ............... C ........ H ........ E ...... S ........ T ...... E ........ R ........ T ........ O ........ N ........


    "Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the Church, is often labeled today as fundamentalism... Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along
    by every wind of teaching, looks like the only
    attitude acceptable to today's standards."
    - Pope Benedict the XVI, "The Dictatorship of Relativism"

    .
    .
    .


  13. #13
    escaping anndelise's Avatar
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    I have goals and "projects" planned for this year but for me to consider them resolutions is laughable,

    This winter has been a lower carb lifestyle, I am down 10% of my weight. I had hoped it would be more, but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen. I'm also continuing work on releasing bound up fascia, which thereby relieves much of my pain. And I'm doing a last massive declutter session, slowly but surely. I won't have to do another mass session unless I move into something significantly smaller. I'm happy that my stuff is finally starting to align with the kind of life I'd like to have. But I've been working on all this since September.

    I'm also currently forcing myself to address aspects of my fiction writing that have held me back from the beginning: addressing the physical aspects of setting, body language, and the all-around external world. If I can't find a way to add those to my writings, then I need to let go of this dream. I've resorted to a grade school writing program where the creator directly addresses those issues and simplifies it to concrete nouns, active verbs, and senses using noun-verb phrases.

    I'm also going through a workbook for creating a garden design and plan. It's so far a simple enough workbook that I can just focus on one step at a time. Whether I finish it or not is questionable.

    The warming weather my attentions will be on implementing the first few steps of the garden plan, building a better chicken coop (and a quail coop), add quail keeping to my lifestyle, either continue practicing writing craft or turning that mental energy to learning tabletop game designing, improve my cardio fitness, and possibly increase foraging like activities and preserving the extra foods for winter.

    And the cooling cycle will be aimed at continuing writing/game designing practice, improving my strength while continuing to work on my fascia, some organizing/refining of notes, possibly learn some cooking skills, and doing some cleaning and reorganizing of household interior.

    Basically, I'm focusing on improving my physical health, improving my resource availability, aligning my lifestyle with what I'd like it to be (aka finally LIVING my life), and developing potential ways of earning money that's compatible with my disabilities.

    I feel mentally clearer this winter than I ever have in my life. So I'm feeling calmly confident that I'll make at least some of the improvements listed above. And if I don't, the goals/projects will change/alter. And I'm OK with that. Even better than OK, as I won't be having someone else trying to force me to contort myself to conform to their own needs/wants/expectations.
    IEE 649 sx/sp cp

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    Serious Left-Static Negativist Eliza Thomason's Avatar
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    Hey, @anndelise, I see some similar goals to mine. You have a lot of interesting things going. I especially like anything to do with homesteading-type things, so the chicken, quail, foraging, putting up food, are all things which I would love to add to my life eventually, Lord-willing, so all sounds extra interesting to me. I want to know about your garden design workbook! Is it veggies, or flowers and paths, or what? I want to plan the latter soon for our yard, and want to find a good book on it - or website - to give me direction to start planning with. And, some day, I endeavor to do "square foot gardening"* (I have a book on that) in our sunniest patch. ( I also have a book on root-cellaring, also something else I want to do. (When we get a root cellar. s).

    *Will require some serious fencing-in. We have occasional deer, and plenty of other critters (bear, skunks, raccoons, rabbits, crow, pheasant, the usually bird and squirrel population) who all consider our yard their personal picnic area, as we put all food scraps out there for them). I don't want to go to the trouble to set up a food garden and have it ravaged. Do you have to protect your veggies? ...Where I get farm eggs, they have had a loss of chickens this year due to a fox or something...
    "A man with a definite belief always appears bizarre, because he does not change with the world; he has climbed into a fixed star, and the earth whizzes below him like a zoetrope."
    ........ G. ........... K. ............... C ........ H ........ E ...... S ........ T ...... E ........ R ........ T ........ O ........ N ........


    "Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the Church, is often labeled today as fundamentalism... Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along
    by every wind of teaching, looks like the only
    attitude acceptable to today's standards."
    - Pope Benedict the XVI, "The Dictatorship of Relativism"

    .
    .
    .


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    escaping anndelise's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eliza Thomason View Post
    Hey, @anndelise, I see some similar goals to mine. You have a lot of interesting things going. I especially like anything to do with homesteading-type things, so the chicken, quail, foraging, putting up food, are all things which I would love to add to my life eventually, Lord-willing, so all sounds extra interesting to me.
    I'm finally accepting that I'm not going to be able to do all that I want to do for homesteading. For starters, I don't have the right kind of lot. I've decided that if I can do nothing else, then at least i want to raise my own eggs (chicken/quail), poultry meat (quail), and go to pick-your-own farms. I hope to be able to get a couple of small fruit trees in, and eventually some perennial food plants so that I'm not having to constantly plan, plant, weed, etc. But who knows, my ideas always change. I just know that I'm going to be limited in what I can do and what I can grow. And that's been difficult to accept, but I'm tired of trying to make the near impossible possible.

    I want to know about your garden design workbook! Is it veggies, or flowers and paths, or what? I want to plan the latter soon for our yard, and want to find a good book on it - or website - to give me direction to start planning with. And, some day, I endeavor to do "square foot gardening"* (I have a book on that) in our sunniest patch. (
    The book I'm using is: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-You.../dp/1580173152
    It's mostly for flowers, perennial groupings, decorative kind of thing. It can be used for fruits and veg, but there are better books for that. (square foot gardening is a pretty decent one). This book covers
    * setting and prioritizing goals for the garden (I have 4 garden/yards to plan for: deck, 'front', 'main', 'chicken'),
    * figuring out a budget including time, effort, and money that you are willing to spend on each goal (including for maintaining the garden), and
    * planning out focal points, and framing it with other plants (basically the whole visual designing kind of thing).
    The book is $20, but I wouldn't buy it for that much. I mean, it's an ok book, but I've only done the prioritizing goals and figuring out a budget for the next 3 years. My answers aren't very detailed, but trying to answer the questions given let me know that I seriously needed to scale down my ideas, and no wonder I was having such a difficult time trying to get anything done in the yards. My next step is doing an assessment of each of the yards. I've been procrastinating that...

    (I also have a book on root-cellaring, also something else I want to do. (When we get a root cellar. s).
    I would love to be able to do some root-cellaring. I've tried finding something that we could do here, but I'm not seeing anything realistic and cost-worthy for us. We get way too much rain for most things, and this house is too tiny. I even considered maybe making a hole in a bedroom floor to make a little one under the house (mobile home), but I'm not likely to really do that.

    I did discover this summer that I flat out don't trust my canning. I'm not organized enough and I'm easily distracted, so I can't trust that I did things properly. I've had to throw out everything I've ever canned, because I just don't trust myself. So, I'm sticking with freezing and dehydrating. Though dehydrating causes other concerns, as we've lots of moisture in our air. So my dehydrated goods get tossed into the freezer as well (at least they're taking up less space, though).

    *Will require some serious fencing-in. We have occasional deer, and plenty of other critters (bear, skunks, raccoons, rabbits, crow, pheasant, the usually bird and squirrel population) who all consider our yard their personal picnic area, as we put all food scraps out there for them). I don't want to go to the trouble to set up a food garden and have it ravaged. Do you have to protect your veggies? ...Where I get farm eggs, they have had a loss of chickens this year due to a fox or something...
    We have deer, raccoons, skunks, opossums, hawks, owls, cougar, coyotes, and unleashed dogs in our area. And an enormous amount of slugs and snails...everywhere. You almost can't walk without stepping on at least one. *insert absolute grossed out and horrified face!!* In ground gardening was a pain because the slugs and snails would eat the flowers, the softer fruit/veg, leave slime trails on leaves and heartier veg, etc. Deer are usually too scared of the dog to jump into our yard. But the dog is getting old, and she rarely goes outside anymore. So I expect more deer this summer onward, especially if I decide to put in a fruit tree.

    The chickens have dramatically helped with the slugs/snails and spiders. I've been absolutely gleeful seeing the chickens eating those nasty critters.
    But chickens bring their own problems. One went broody so I bought her 4 fertilized eggs to hatch. Only one chick hatched, and it's a naked neck chick (no feathers on neck nor crop). The momma hen almost rejected it because of it's difference to anything she's ever seen. As it got older, two of the other birds tried killing it (I think they thought it was a mouse or such), so I sold those two off. And now even though it's much bigger and they know it's a chicken, two other birds are attacking it, rejecting it from the flock. (chickens are "featherists"...basically rascist, according to feather color and body size.) So I built another style of coop for the mom and 'baby', but then last week we had 4 raccoons show up next door, killing a wild bird right at my fence line, and not being scared of me. I've tried a few protective measures, but my nerves are now shot, worrying about the coons getting to the mom and baby and not being able to put ALL my chickens into the predator proofed coop. ARGH!! Frankly, I would give it all up except that I REALLY like having fresh eggs that I know how the hen was raised and fed. And I REALLY want to not have to buy chicken/poultry meat at the grocery stores anymore. And eggs and poultry meat take higher priority for me than having a regular annual vegetable garden. If they can just survive a few more months, then it'll be nice enough weather to make the much needed improved predator proofed coops and I can relax a little.

    Anyways, all that to say something like Yeah, homesteading skills are valued, but it's so freakin hard to do all that!!
    I did come across a video series where the guy uses the term SustainAgility: you don't have to be sustainable in everything, but at least be sustainable in one thing (you can gradually add on skills as desired). So that helped me too. Eggs and poultry meat are my prioritized one thing, and dehydrating/freezing is my second. Anything after that will be icing on the cake.


    Good luck with your resolutions and goals this year.
    IEE 649 sx/sp cp

  16. #16
    Serious Left-Static Negativist Eliza Thomason's Avatar
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    @anndelise, i really enjoyed your post! You have a wonderful host of critters! Slugs, ug! Its barefoot in the yard for us so, oh, how disconcerting! I have dealt with slugs when I have had hostas, which I do not have here. Yet. Chicken drama! Featherists! Critter danger! all reasons why the chickens are only at the "endeavor-to" stage at this point... because such challenges to my efforts at this point would be more than I could take. But after more work on the house this year, I hope to yard-scape (hence I would like to plan, as you are doing now), leaving room for someday square-foot garden, and chicken areas ('cause I desire one of those wheel-it-about coops) (not sure how practical that is when you still have to fence it, but I will research when I am closer to it). We hope to complete house exterior goals this spring/summer/fall (working on interior finishing this winter) so that is the focus now. Like you, a focus now is more culling and organizing. We, too, have a small house (tighter than others I have lived in), and I want to not have piles anywhere, but a real place for everything, making the house breathe and not seem tight. I do revel in the challenge of that. I just asked Dh consider redirecting goals and bumping out a tall shallow closet-of-shelves for bathroom stuff, across from the main 2nd floor bathroom door, borrowing from a deeper-than-necessary desk/shelf nook in the guest room behind it... I never had a lack of bathroom storage like we do here, and while linens have found other homes, but do not like other bathroom stuff dispersed everywhere... and he is considering it!

    Right now we are working together on a really cool creative project that was my idea - a belated Christmas present to his brother and his wife, a small to-scale balsa wood model of their house! They have lived there a long time and its special to them. We made detailed to-scale plans! We started cutting the carefully measured wood pieces. Its a tricky house - challenging roof lines and jut-outs and additions and porches! But its coming along. I had to order more balsa. Dh has done all the math and most of he scale drawings. I will do all the detail finish paint; I love that detail work. They will be totally surprised and I am looking forward to the day they see it.

    Maybe your someday-canning will materialize when my some-day chicken raising does... To me its not intimidating because I once did a lot of it. Really, fruit jam, like strawberry jam, is super-simple and its a great place to start when you do, since its pretty hard to go wrong with that. I used to make super-easy canned grape juice for several years, big batches to last all year. This also is pretty hard to fail at. My neighbor showed me after I sampled her awesome recipe. Its the easy method, enough for a year (because we had nice vineyards nearby a the time to pick tons of grapes at). That recipe uses a lot of sugar, but its super easy and the grape juice is so awesome. But my friend uses a Swedish steamer-juicer, to make juice from their family's vines, which is the healthier way to do it (not all the added sugar) Come to think of it, I started canning when a neighbor had me over to make strawberry jam.. that might be the key for you, too (when the time comes to try it again) - let a canning friend walk you through it. [Canning veggies and meat is the more challenging thing, as you need a pressure canner, and also more precision to your method.]

    Exactly what my juice batches looked ike, in huge 1/2 gallon glass jars, big batches like this: You strain the grapes when you serve... Its been some years since I did this, but I endeavor to do that here, too, eventually. Must be picking vineyards around here somewhere.)
    Oh, here it is: http://newlifeonahomestead.com/canning-grape-juice/ except I did a 1/2 gallon jar recipe.

    _________________________
    P.S. I am interested in the sustainAgility videos!
    Last edited by Eliza Thomason; 01-25-2017 at 04:02 AM.
    "A man with a definite belief always appears bizarre, because he does not change with the world; he has climbed into a fixed star, and the earth whizzes below him like a zoetrope."
    ........ G. ........... K. ............... C ........ H ........ E ...... S ........ T ...... E ........ R ........ T ........ O ........ N ........


    "Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the Church, is often labeled today as fundamentalism... Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along
    by every wind of teaching, looks like the only
    attitude acceptable to today's standards."
    - Pope Benedict the XVI, "The Dictatorship of Relativism"

    .
    .
    .


  17. #17
    Serious Left-Static Negativist Eliza Thomason's Avatar
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    I just want to say, since I talked about it the OP, that I had my long-anticipated Psych-K session today. For the curious, I am explaining. It was all done by phone. My Naturapath uses Pscyh-K statements from my Phyto hand scan - besides the tons of other health-related things it checks in the body, it also checks the subconscious for responses to 400 common subconscious "obstacle" statements.. and then reveals a list of about 5 statements that are a current obstacle-problem/stresser for you.

    These are statements that you consciously believe, but your subconscious is in disagreement with you, and all the understanding and positive affirmations in the world are not going to touch your subconscious beliefs, which you have had since your babyhood - in most cases since the womb. Then you go through a process - simple, really, specific steps, to release your sub-conscious mind of each of the statements that represent a conflict that presently deters your growth, well-being. This "Psych-K" is all scientifically researched, so, you have to do some learning if you want to make a judgment on it. I did, and it sounded true to me, so I did it. I felt a sense of peace and well-being all day today, afterward. And a sense of anticipation to start on goals.

    I want to say I have had three scans over the last 4 years, and each had the statements, but none of them seemed a problem to me, so I never looked into these Psych-K thing (ther is a lot else to deal with on the scan). But that's the thing - these are subconscious beliefs that your conscious is not aware of, but subconscious is strong and about impossible to consciously override. I finally understood that this fall when I began to learn online in youtube videos about Psych-K.

    So the statement previously obtained this month on my annual Phyto Hand Scan that my Naturapath uses to checkout my entire physical system, again, today, tested as a problem for me. So one at a time we went through a simple process of "reprogramming" those subconscious beliefs to now agree with my conscious ones, and afterwards each tested clear. (Some clients have to go through extra steps to clear them, but I did not, because I think I was so motivated). My Naturapath uses devices on his end, related to kinesiology, to check for subconscious/conscious agreement to the statements, and he can see when they are done and cleared. Here are a sample of three of the problem statements (problem = my subconscious believes something opposite/other than these statements) that I cleared today, which, while I believed them consciously, apparently I have been in battle with my subconscious over them, causing me to have trouble progressing in ways I want to progress, in spite of much effort:

    - I express myself with confidence and clarity to others

    - My Body is healed, restored, and filled with energy

    - My body is a temple of God

    Don't make fun - you have embedded trouble statements, too! The latter two should directly relate to my fitness goal, now that they are aligned with my conscious beliefs. So, we shall see, in time, if my resolutions make more progress than they have in other years. I think they will.

    Everyone has these obstacles, these inherited subconscious beliefs. So if you have something you are battling but can't get beyond, even though you really want to and have really tried, like, addiction, or completing something important to you that you are procrastinating, and you feel like you have already tried everything, then this is worth looking into (youtube videos by Rob Williams explain Psych-K, Bruce Lipton explains the biology behind it). Its a real breakthrough in therapy - how to get beyond understanding (which is important) and into change/action. And unlike most therapies, this is a simple, fast remedy. My appointment took about 45 minutes because I cleared 10 statements instead of the usual 5. Usually its 20 minutes! And once they ae cleared in this short session, its forever!

    I think this will change my life. I feel it must. However, I cannot say how, only time will tell. What I hope from it is serious turnaround, serious progress in areas I have not had success in moving forward in. Areas which are in my mind but I don't want to explain here, but I will be happy to explain after some time for progress has passed. I will report back at any rate in about 3 months to report my progress or lack of thereof, for the curious.
    Last edited by Eliza Thomason; 01-25-2017 at 04:17 AM.
    "A man with a definite belief always appears bizarre, because he does not change with the world; he has climbed into a fixed star, and the earth whizzes below him like a zoetrope."
    ........ G. ........... K. ............... C ........ H ........ E ...... S ........ T ...... E ........ R ........ T ........ O ........ N ........


    "Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the Church, is often labeled today as fundamentalism... Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along
    by every wind of teaching, looks like the only
    attitude acceptable to today's standards."
    - Pope Benedict the XVI, "The Dictatorship of Relativism"

    .
    .
    .


  18. #18
    Saoirse's Avatar
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    My original New Year's resolution was to quit watching TV except for on social occasions. It was pretty easy in and of itself actually, but I think it made some other more important goals harder, so I'm switching it to quitting sugar. I really eat too much sugar. I love exercise and do it religiously, but I wish my body type reflected that more. Sugar is overall unhealthy anyway, so.

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