Peaceful Places - Find Your Own Place of Peace

Living a simple life does not mean living a slow, sluggardly one.  For instance, no one lives a life more simple that the Amish - and they're busy from 5 am to bedtime.  (By the way, lots of good info on the Amish has been collected by Amish,Net though the Amish themselves, of course, aren't on the web.)

Living a peaceful life takes some work.

There's the daily check on what's going on -- strife can sneak in when you least expect it.  Letting go of anger, forgiving those who've done wrong to you (which doesn't mean you're a doormat allowing repetitive abuse, by the way), overcoming frustration, are all things that are continual tasks when you're trying to move forward in life. 

Having a personal spot, a place of peaceful surroundings, can be a great big help. 

Long ago, back when I was living the Materialistic Lifestyle, if you'd asked me about a peaceful place I would have responded that for me, it was the beach and that I went there a couple of times a year.  A good friend felt the same way, but the answer was the Rocky Mountains. 

In stressful times, having these vacation spots as the only place that you can find a peaceful spot isn't enough  because they are too hard to reach, too far away.  You need to know Your Place of Peace in advance of a Stressful Time (because, Dear Reader, they are periodically guaranteed), that you can access almost immediately.  You need a nearby place of peace that you can incorporate into your routine.  

What's a Personal Place of Peace?

As a Christian, I obviously include prayer as one of the big things that happens in a place of peace.  However, it's more than a prayer spot. 

A personal place of peace is an oasis from everything else in your life where you can get some distance, mentally as well as spiritually, and hopefully, some perspective. 

It's a place where there is no additional input -- other than beauty -- which allows you to gain control over your emotions, get a stress break, and put a halt to running from problems or reacting instead of being proactive about things.  You're there alone, by the way -- a golf game or a drink at a bar are NOT places of peace. 

Also, it needs to be close to home or work, where you can reach it within 10 to 15 minutes by car or foot.  Sometimes, your place of peace can help you just by knowing you have this Secret Oasis nearby -- imagining it during a meeting, a traffic jam, or a family fight can really, really help. 

What You Take With You

Maybe you take a Bible, maybe you bring a Journal.  Maybe you listen to music (but it needs to be appropriate, not distracting).  Books that bring you encouragement and supportive thoughts can be helpful (from Joel Osteen to Erma Bombeck to Shakespearean Sonnets, this is a personal thing).  Sure, you can have something to drink or eat (if you're there awhile, this may be a prerequisite, or all you'll be thinking about is how great a cheeseburger sounds). 

Where do You go?

Ah, the big question.  You, Dear Reader, have to go FIND your personal place of peace.  Consider yourself on a mission.  It can be a public park, a garden, a museum, the rooftop of a skyscraper ... it could be the zoo.  I have a friend who has a zoo membership, and regularly leaves his office to walk the zoo just to think and pray and get "re-grounded."

How he can eat there (he brings a snack) is beyond me because the wild animal poop smell cannot be escaped no matter how great the San Antonio Zoo is about keeping things tidy. Which just goes to show, one person's place of peace is another person's place of distracting smelly elephant poop. 

Worthy of note: this is a man who is a position of tremendous power, a Big Kahuna guy, and he makes a lot of jokes about how he escapes one zoo by going to another.  It works for him.

Drives are good, they may start out with that fantasy of just driving and driving until you hit a Coast, East or West, but for peaceful places they aren't the best because you do have to be safe while driving a vehicle that weighs around 3500 lbs.  A place of peace can involve crying, or yelling, the release of emotion -- and you need to be free to allow those things to escape you without being worried about Big Rigs on the road.  Better: a pretty drive that leads you to a pretty place.  Maybe a great view -- you can stay in the car, just don't keep driving forever. 

Places of Peace are Private.  One last thing, Dear Reader -- when you've found your place of peace, don't blabber about it to everyone.  Keep it your secret oasis, it's part of its power: knowing that you're in a safe spot for a mental and spiritual breather where you won't be interrupted is important.  Plus, it's fun to have your own SECRET PLACE in the world. 

Image:  Female African Bush elephant (named “Duchess”) at Paignton Zoo, Paignton, Devon. Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Beer Really Is Good for Your Hair - The Monthly Beer Rinse

It's true! Using beer as a rinse will help you hair shine more, and according to some, it also helps heal dry and damaged hair as well.  My experience has been that while beer is not a miracle worker all by its little self, I can tell a difference - in shine, especially. 

And while some say do this once a month, I've been doing it twice every month for the past few months, and I'm sold on leftover beer as a beauty tip. 

Why? From what I've read, the hops and the malt contained in beer are comprised of proteins. These proteins can bond with the individual hairs, strengthening them. 

How do you use the beer for a great hair day?

First, you want flat beer. Some folk suggest that you choose something will less beer smell than others, but after I rinsed the beer out of my hair, I couldn't smell any festive beverage remains so I'm not sure that matters. Your choice, Dear Reader.

Second, after you shampoo your hair as usual, take the can of flat beer and pour it on -- make sure all your hair gets its fair share of the brew (I left a can open on the counter overnight, so it was nice and lukewarm on my scalp).

Third, let it set there for a minute or two.  (This process works best in the shower, because while you're letting your hair soak up that Beer Rinse, you can make sure the excess beer gets rinsed off your shoulders, arms, hands, etc.  This isn't the neatest process I've tried.)

Fourth, rinse out the beer thoroughly.  Now you blow dry or air dry or whatever you usually do.  Done!

For more info:

ChagrinValleySoapandCraft has some recipes for beer rinses that sound good -- adding in jojoba oil, or the scent of rosemary, you get the idea. 

HowStuffWorks reports that a beer rinse can remove residue from hair.  CBSNews reports the same thing.  Good to know. 

Hairpedia reports that beer not only adds shine but volume as well when used as a hair rinse.  (They've also got the skinny on using vinegar, avocado, eggs, and mayonnaise in your hair care regimen -- fascinating stuff.)

Daylight Saving Time Begins on March 14, 2010

Daylight Saving Time always sneaks up on me.  It always seems like the minute that I've adjusted to the new time, I'm moving the clock backward or forward. 

Maybe it's a family thing:  I remember visiting my mother's Great Uncle Billy (my grandmother's uncle, he was an old guy) when I was very little. On this one visit, which must have been shortly before Easter that Spring, Uncle Billy had made a Major Life Decision which was twisting my mom and her cousins into knots. 

The Origin of Billy Time

Uncle Billy just decided he'd had enough, he was retired and he wasn't going to change the clocks anymore.  He'd just go by "Billy Time" in his house.  He didn't care that Gunsmoke would be an hour off.  (He loved him some Marshall Matt Dillon, this was thought to be a powerful argument advanced by my mother.)

The more they argued, the more he chuckled.  I still remember that chuckle with a smile -- coming from a jaw with white and grey stubble covering it, because Uncle Billy didn't always shave in the morning.  I remember that he became quite fond of "Billy Time," the phrase became part of the family vernacular (and not always in a good way) and to this day I always remember that we fall back to Billy Time and spring forward from it.

So, here we are leaving Billy Time tomorrow night - only to return sometime next November.

By the way, there's a neat article over at About.Com written by Matt Rosenberg that gives all sorts of background on DST.

I learned that it's "Saving" not "Savings" - who knew?  I also learned that it all began back when we were fighting World War I, so factories had more sunshine time to churn stuff out - saved energy costs back then (guess the theory is that it still does).