How to Handle Difficult People

You may be getting my posts delivered for the first time in quite awhile as I accidently didn't have my delivery service connected for the longest time....😌

Below, at the bottom of this post, is one of the most powerful and helpful podcasts I have ever listened to. It is also available JUST ON AUDIO HERE  if you'd like to drive and listen to it or go for a walk etc. 

Talk about a profound ability for change.

The Election

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A 103 Year Old Doctor Shares Her Wisdom

This is one of the most inspirational things I have listened to in a very long time.

The Importance of Connection

Everyday it seems the world is getting harder, far less connected and less loving. David Brooks, author of How To Know A Person, was recently interviewed on PBS and he has a wonderful message to share:

The Let Them Theory

 

If you haven't yet listened to Mel Robbin's podcast titled "THE LET THEM THEORY", seriously don't miss it, the next time you are cleaning up the house or out for a walk etc.

I have thought about it so many times and use it to redirect my thoughts to a better space always, as it has for the people that I coach as well.

There is a reason 15 million people can't stop talking about it.

Also, if you know anyone struggling with ADHD, the documentary called THE DISRUPTORS is fabulous too. It is a strengths based piece on ADHD and people of all ages and different walks of life, chime in on the gems of living with it. Dr Hallowell, whom I coach for is in it, as well as many other knowledgeable people in the field of ADHD.

If you aren't familiar with ADHD, it is a neurological imbalance, where the brain doesn't have enough dopamine. One of the secrets to managing it, is to do things we love to do, because the dopamine fuels our brain with what it is lacking. Exercise and sleep is also hugely important.

Hope y'all are having a nice summer, even amidst the rain and global chaos.

My heart goes out to so many people & places right now,

xo, Louise

Garden bouquet and photo by Caroline Fernandes.

The Joys ( and challenges) of Sex After 70

Happy New Year my dears. Life has been crazy but I at least wanted to hop on and share this GREAT ARTICLE. If interested, it's available on audio as well. Appropriate and helpful for all ages. In my experience, orgasms and and exercise are a true gateway to more happiness. 

Not a bad thing to begin a new year!

Louise

The Best Years of His Life

I swam the 50-yard-freestyle this past weekend and was beat by a 73-year-old very inspirational man. Not as inspirational, however, as 100-year-old marathoner, Mike Freemont, who shares his story below.  If interested to hear more of his tale about beating cancer 30 years ago, when he was given only 3 months to live, CLICK HERE.

Worrying About Our Bodies

 

If you haven't seen Good Luck to You, Leo Grande with Emma Thompson it is a very interesting movie about a widowed woman who has never had an orgasm. This is interesting in itself of course, but in her interview with Stephen Colbert, she discusses how critical all women are about their bodies. 

She poses an interesting question- 

How many women can stand naked in front of a mirror, without trying to improve the way we look?

I certainly can't.

I wonder how often men stand and inspect themselves when they are naked? 

I bet it's a lot less often then we do, and I imagine that when it does happen, not nearly the amount of negative thoughts run through their minds, as they do for us.

The Untethered Soul

I've been directing some of my coaching clients to a really good interview with Michael Singer, who is the author of the above quote from The Untethered Soul and also the author of The Surrender Experiment. He speaks in part about noticing our negative thoughts and allowing them to drift by, instead of ruminating on them, as the brain likes to do, which is such a waste of both time and energy. 

Our thoughts are not us, they are just thoughts. A hard concept to grasp but it’s true!

When we boil it all down, negative thoughts and worrying are simply stories that we tell ourselves. 

I love what LOUISE HAY (author of You Can Heal Your Life) has to say about this as well:

"The thoughts we choose to think are the tools we use to paint the canvas of our lives."

If you'd like to listen to an interview with Michael Singer while you drive, walk or fold laundry etc,  you can enjoy it HERE

Also 52 of Michael Singer's quotes and his interviews with Oprah are HERE.

And lastly, I highly recommend The Untethered Soul Guided Journal, which is very quick, readable and full of great spiritual support and advice.

The quote below isn't Michael Singer's but from the Course in Miracles. Also a very good one.

A special thank you to Lines of Beauty readers who send me lots of good things to post.

Sending love & hope out into the world,

Louise

Jane Goodall at Age 87

Beautiful as ever at age 87, Jane Goodall continues to share her wisdom and hope. Still working 300 days a year pre-pandemic, she wants to spread her message, while she can, to advocate for a more sustainable future. She shares that whiskey soothes her vocal cords and her daily walk, soothes everything else. What a force. I love her.

Chani Nicholas

 

If you haven't ever read Chani Nicholas's astrology, she is an incredible, very insightful and spiritual astrologer that I have had my eye on for years. She writes beautifully and is also frequently very accurate. 

She suggests that we read not only our sun sign but also our rising sign. If you're interested, have a peak for what is in store for you this week HERE (go to the bottom of this link for your horoscopes).

Happy summer and love to all,

Louise

Talking about Sex Like It's The Weather

I tend to get hooked on things for a time, like a certain spice, a song or a scent.

I imagine your can relate.

For quite awhile, I've been hooked on KIM ANAMI, who is a sex therapist. I like her especially because she is into Tantra and energy, which is like adding lighter fluid to the mind, body and spiritual experiences of our sexuality.

For years I've wondered- why is discussing sex so taboo when it can be so great and so very good for our health?

For instance, we may delight in a fabulous recipe, a great band, the ballet, a massage or an exquisite sunset. We discuss how these things move us, uplift us, make us happy and make us feel soooo good. 

But discussing sex? 

Not so much.

In the 60s, marijuana and the sexual revolution began to break the ice a bit on the subject, and of course, the younger generation has made talking about sex a much more open discussion.

So much more open. Wide open!

Like they have blown the roof off the Vatican.

But for our generation? Sometimes I feel like I am the ring leader.

And yet I retreat. Because I don't want to make people feel uncomfortable.

But this week, I introduce Kim Anami. What I like about the video below of hers, especially, is that she discusses the importance of sexual release for everyone, single or partnered and how so many good things flow from having it in our lives.

Pleasure is our birthright and we all deserve it.

And it's free ❣

The Blow-Up Bra

In celebration of our new administration this week, I bring you a little humor and a true story.

Yes, a blow-up bra, inflated with something as simple as a straw. 

No bike pump needed.

Below, 94-year-old Betty Jenkins, tells her story about how an inflatable bra, that her mom gave her to wear, actually blew-up, in a most inconvenient place.

Imagine if they had something similar for a guy. 

I also love this animated version of her story:

The Blow-Up Bra (a handmade animation by Manual Cinema with audio story provided by StoryCorps) from Manual Cinema on Vimeo.

Pandemically Challenged

Photo by Carin Ingalsbe. Iron Mt, another beautiful spot.

First of all, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all. It was one, I believe, that many of us will never forget, as we continue to be pandemically challenged. I love this term, that I've borrowed from someone who I am in a relationship with. You'd think it would be all over the web but when I googled it, I hardly found any mention of it which surprised me.

Recently I celebrated the one year anniversary of fracturing my 5th vertebrae, trying to move a stackable washer & dryer. I know :-( But I am well healed with the help of my great chiropractor, CARMEN GOULET and committing to strengthening my core thank goodness.

Secondly, I've been continuing to swim at beautiful WALDEN POND, where I have been swimming since early May, because of pool closings. The only thing is, now the water temperature is struggling to reach 50 degrees. If anyone had told me, before the pandemic hit, that I would ever be swimming in water this cold, I would've said, "Absolutely not!" When my kids were little, they could barely get me in the water, unless it was a steaming hot day. 

And now, this crazy cold water swimming that I am doing...

and LOVING....

(Did I just say that?)

....is crazy good! 

It is scary, euphoric and exciting (with a head-to-toe wetsuit on of course)

And it's made me very curious. I've been going down the rabbit hole and reading all I can about the HEALTH BENEFITS of cold water swimming (and showers), which includes, reducing inflammation.

I don't know how much longer I can do it but I do know this- I don't want it to end.

People swim Walden all winter unless it freezes solid. Last winter, pre-covid, they even cut a swimming channel in the semi-ice, through the middle of the pond. I was like WTF?

But this was before we all became pandemically challenged and changed up our reality. It's interesting how this has happened, for all of us, in different ways, as we continue to gather and instill coping strategies.

I hope this post finds you and your loved ones well. 😘😷😘

  

Happy Full Moon

And Happy Halloween!

Hopefully we are in the dawn of a new era in just a few shorts days. I imagine most of you have seen this music video that Barabara Streisand made about Trump in 2018, way before Covid hit and we saw more of his true colors.

A president who lies AND doesn't care about people. It can't get any worse then this.

Also this week, I wanted to share this funny, but not so funny, anti-Trump ad, that is much better entertainment than many of the things I'm seeing. Click HERE if you'd like to see it.

Sending love out into the world as always, WITH FINGERS CROSSED!

Louise

Beautiful Aging Souls Are We

As I continue to let my hair gray, sometimes I catch my reflection and think "Who is this older woman?" Usually I celebrate her but also, in some moments, mourn my younger self, while loving the arrival of my gray and the new, more real me & authentic, natural beauty.

It's a lot to put together this whole aging thing isn't it? Even though, in simpler terms, it's as natural as getting our baby teeth. 

Lately a friend questioned whether she should dye her gorgeous gray locks while looking for a new job. I suggested that she doesn't. I questioned if she really wants to work for someone who might judge her ability to be a good employee partly by her age and hair color. 

It’s unfortunate that we even have to consider this question. Women certainly more than men. 

The whole ageism culture we live in is exhausting head trash. I desire, at least in some small way, to change people's perceptions of the aging process. 

My wish for everyone is to age more peacefully, like the generations of women who aged before us. 

How lucky we are to be able to age?

So lucky, especially as of late, with the boogie monster of Covid all around us.

So in this light, I have two things to share with you this week. The first is my PINTEREST BOARD that is full of gorgeous, wrinkly, beautiful, aging souls.

Eye candy. Truly.

The softening of all of us. 

We are all works of art.  

The 2nd is a PODCAST with Brene Brown and Sonya Renee Taylor, the author of The Body Is Not an Apology- The Power of Radical Self -Love .

SONYA'S WEBSITE is also fabulous and has a free download on 10 Tools For Radical Self- Love, on the right hand side of her homepage.

Chow and love for now, my aging beauties. 💜

Natural Highs

In Covid, many more people have naturally been struggling in one degree or another with depression. It's a crazy ass world we are all walking in. I was telling a friend lately that we all just need to keep walking each other through the mess.

Literally and figuratively.

I believe that most of us are searching for a grounding cord in a very big way.  

The good news is that our bodies are a reservoir of chemical resources that we can tap into at any time to feel better and we sometimes forget about this. We're all natural chemistry sets that don’t cost even a dime.    

However, on the other side of the coin, is that it is often helpful to just allow ourselves to feel blue. Putting our arms around the darkness helps us to move through it, rather than trying to push it away. A mental health day on the couch isn't a bad thing.

Also this week, a short Covid article that helped me to better understand why I like to talk to people, even strangers and people I barely know.:

THE VALUE OF TALKING TO STRANGERS.

Have a good weekend my friends.

💗

Comic Elixir

Thank you Agent Orange impersonator, SARAH COOPER, for helping us through this nightmare.

Keep it coming, you're fabulous!

The Great Realisation

Happy Mama's Day and love to everyone.

Whether you are a mother to your own, or a mother figure to someone in your life, or even a mama to a beloved animal, we all certainly know the role of being a mother in some way.

I was thinking how since the new world of covid has arrived that many of us are experiencing mothering in new ways. Especially those who are caring for ones that are sick or in need of help or those giving extra love to people on the front-line in the medical world, so that they can get up everyday and do their heroic jobs in an unprecedented way, in this unprecedented time.

A shoutout of gratitude to all the helpers big and small!

 Enjoy the beautiful video above on this day.

Louise ♥️

When This Will All End