When I first realized this many years ago, I was quite shocked by the truth of the statement. As human beings, it is our job to assign emotion to everything and everyone in life. The connection of emotion is what makes us human. Our emotions filter our interpretation of truth and fact. If I was to say: the sun was a bright pinky-yellow this morning as it rose, many of you would conjure some type of emotion associated with a past sunrise that you encountered, thus your interpretation of past sunrises is painted with your version of the truth of those sunrises.
It’s pretty harmless to have your own filtered version of a sunrise, however, where we can get in to trouble is when we take life affecting moments, immersed in emotion, and consider our emotions around those moments’ facts. It is easy to get in a 
cycle of over-thinking about a person, event, or issue when there are a lot of conflicting or overpowering emotions involved. We get sucked in to thinking our reality-filtered by our emotions-is fact. Our reality is not necessarily the reality we should be taking in to account. Our emotions tug us in the direction of a heart’s desire or a financial need or a family burden. The need or want attached to those things give us a distorted version of what is. Our minds trick us in to thinking the feeling-filtered perception is fact because that is easiest to believe. Face it, as humans we are very attached to our feelings and we are all, to a degree, egocentric. “My ideas, ways of doing things, beliefs are the best…” If we didn’t buy in to our own beliefs and patterns we would be wrecks.
What do you do then, when you may be in a cycle of over-thinking or uncertainty over some emotionally charged issue? You aren't sure what is fact and what is your emotion-induced fiction, swaying you in the direction of your heart? You journal. Get out your Traveler Notebook and start writing down the emotions you are feeling, the raw facts you know for sure, your perceptions of the facts, and any feedback you might garner from close associates. Add it all up, sum up the information, write from a third person perspective, dispassionately with neutral observations, then take a step back. Leave it, walk away, let the thoughts settle. Ponder them on a long walk, over a hot cup of tea, remember to believe in your own best self and return to your written words. You will, I promise, have gained a perspective. Write it down, the unfiltered perceptions and why your emotions tugged at you so much. Remember however, even though feelings are not facts, they are what make us gloriously human, so beautiful and fragile, and each emotion is worth feeling and savoring.
goodies you need to take with you on the road. It has a cool light blue interior and it is an excellent size, just right at appx 13 x 11 x 4. You can access supplies without going in to the actual main compartment which is nice. It has a cross shoulder strap and handles as well. The bag comes in gray, black and tan. At $80 it isn't cheap but the quality and workmanship ensures you are going to get the most bang for your buck! You can find it right 
Notebooks there are two kinds of people, those who like simplicity and minimalism and those who like color, busy, lots of details….and may cram ten inserts in to a cover with two elastics….you know the type…I’m the second type and one thing I LOVE is washi tape. Washi tape is essentially rice paper with adhesive on the back and the tape is repositionable which I like. It is an easy, fun way to add color and detail to insert pages, covers, etc.
40,768, that is the number of hits if you search washi tape on Etsy…my go-to place for it. I decided to search for my pick of top ten shops that sell washi samplers (and other things)…more on that in a minute. It is problematic to carry around washi tape in spools or rolls. I have two cardboard pieces with my favorite washi’s rolled on them and I keep them in my bag. I think most people who like to have portable supplies go this route. Washi can be expensive when you start adding it up, so a really convenient way to accumulate different tapes is to purchase samplers. I searched the Etsy shops. The shops that made the list have nice variations of samplers, and shipping charges aren’t how they are trying to make their money (you know what I mean). There are lots and lots of shops that sell washi, I barely scratched the surface and I know this. If you have a favorite please list it in the comments..share your favorite with everyone else! There are also three honorable mentions..so ok I guess this is top 13, but 13 is my lucky number. :-)
t starting out I can't give away Instagram Cameras and TN Covers...but one day....I just love giving stuff away. This giveaway will consist of 
"Fauxdori." There are a lot of Faux's out there and many have rightly earned their own names and own fan following because of the high quality of workmanship that goes in to each one. Almost all of the Faux's are made by hand, one at a time, and often customized by the creators. I don't actually know of ANY genuine leather Faux's that are not made by hand, hence the cost of the cover which, depending on size, can run anywhere between $30 and $100 and higher depending on how much customization you want to your cover.
What sets 'Dori's apart from other types of planners such as Filofax, Erin Condren, Cocoa Daisy, etc is that the 'Dori is very versatile in how you choose to use it and set it up. There are literally no limitations when it comes to how to use it. The basic principle behind the 'Dori is this: it comes with elastic bands down the spine that hold your inserts inside. The inserts can be changed, moved around, and you can make your own inserts. Midori original fans call them refills....
Near the small village of Montignac, France is a complex of caves called Lascaux. The walls of these caves have amazing primitive artwork dated to over 17,000 years ago. The artwork is primarily large game known to have lived in the area at that time. The artists 'signed' the paintings with their hand prints...extraordinary hand prints, reaching through time to tell us they were there and created the depictions. The hand prints
a zibaldone or hodgepodge book. Some of you may also know these as commonplace books. I've always been rather fond of the idea of leaving a 'memorial' to my children, a snapshot of who I am, my daily life, my hopes, dreams, passions - and the zibaldone was the perfect way to accomplish this.
hardcopy, of your life - quotations, thoughts, inspiration, poems, pictures, recipes, article snippets, life observations....each book is unique to it's creators perspective on his or her life.
to reach
through time and show them who I was, what I was about, how much I loved them and thought of them, those books will be my hand print.
If you are reading this, hopefully you have done the exercises in Part 1 of this series because we are going to use those steps now. The very first thing I asked you to do was write your goal down or your dream…that thing you want to do, that your heart is aching for you to do, it’s that thing that if you get to do it, you will never feel like you have to work another day in your life because you love doing it so much. If you aren’t sure what that is then here is a simple exercise you can do to figure it out. Go back through your life and find the things you were most passionate about doing, those things that fed your soul, that made you lose track of time, that have been a consistent theme in your life. List those things in your Goal section.
Just thought I would share a little technique I share with class participants that helps people refocus when they are caught in a cycle of obsessing about something or they know they have a 'button' that gets pushed. "Pocket Therapy" is a loose term, obviously it is NOT therapy but it is fun and mine has actually worked for me the couple times that I have pulled it out and looked at it.
The idea is simple, take a small matchbox of some sort. You can decorate your matchbox any 
way you like. On the front you are going to put the word or action that you get stuck in a cycle in....see my pictures of mine. On the inside you are going to write your 'therapy'...your quote, your thought that gets you to stop and refocus your mind. I also put a quote on the back of my box that was relevant to my issue - which is over-thinking 
something. I keep my box in my bag that I carry every day to and from work. Will it 'cure' a big issue or solve all your problems? Of course not, but sometimes all we need is a little reminder that our thoughts are not facts and refocusing can be a simple step to finding inner balance again.
r inserts you use. We are SO excited about this and we think it is going to be simply amazing. Actually, we have SO many ideas for TN's that we are creating a company to encompass all our ideas....our company is called Muji-Muji. I won't say much more than that but when our first product rolls out in a few weeks, anyone who is a follower of my blog will get a VERY special deal on it...because you have been there from the very beginning, inspiring me, appreciating my words and thoughts and musings. I will keep you all posted. Share the blog, let people know so they can get in on it. I promise all of you, you won't be disappointed. Tomorrow will be part two of Oseola and Achieving Your Goal. We will review the tasks from the first post and I will give you some new ones....now I need a cup of coffee.
ither in the middle or on the edges and that drives me crazy. Her's are perfect. Check out the 
erent spreads and she has different sizes as well. If you haven't taken the leap in to printables and want to, I really urge you to try hers out, I don't think you will be disappointed. Her shop is 
creen sharing with my son in Los Angeles who is going to help me with Google analytics and working on increasing traffic to my blog and getting my blog out in 'internet land'. Instead here I am, on a public network, feeling very naked and exposed.
So this internet problem and my technical challenges brought me to decide to spotlight a shop on Etsy that I love...
life to be thankful for...none of it having to do with monetary riches or amassing possessions but of the simple stuff that our lives are built on.
Life moves pretty fast these days. Everyone is in a huge hurry to get somewhere, get something done, eat fast, talk fast, communicate faster...5G phones anyone? In the race to amass and succeed, slow down, slow down and think about the stuff that your life is made of. Start trying to make mental notes throughout your day of things, moments, people that you are grateful for and say a silent thank you. At the end of your day, pick up your Traveler's Notebook and write down in it, three things you are grateful for that happened during your day. They do not need to be spectacular at all. Yesterday my three things were an email with my son, dinner with my sister, and the good laugh I had yesterday at work with my co-worker. I can promise you, the more you find to be grateful for in your life, the more joyful, amazing and richer your life will become.
