Weekly Links: Company’s Coming

photo credit: HeavyWeightGeek

The cleaning, the shopping, the general air of excited nervousness… company must be coming! For everyone in the U.S., please have a happy and safe long weekend. I’ll be enjoying cocktails and conversation (and hoping my dog doesn’t bust through the fence when the fireworks go off this year). Happy Fourth!

On with the links! Here’s what else rang my bell this week:

My Super-Charged Life discussed how A Simple Life Is a Good Life. I loved this piece and found myself nodding in agreement. Sometimes our toys and leisure equipment prevent us from actually having fun. Boy, do I know that one. Great read–highly recommended.

Sharon over at Finding Simplicity talked about Riches That Really Matter. I enjoyed her list of “riches nobody can steal,” like “Seeing my children achieve their goals, however small.” Plus, she included a great Oscar Wilde quote.

Value for Your Life knows just how to get to me. 101 Things I Love About Dogs had me cracking up and nodding my head in agreement. (Roo is all about sniffing the grass, and it never fails to amuse me.) If the best part of your day is getting a big, slobbery kiss, definitely browse over to this list.

Soul Shelter discussed the intersection of creativity and commerce via a four-year-old artist. There’s a lot to unpack in this article, and it’s a very interesting read. If you want to take something personal from it, the idea that you need surround yourself with things you genuinely like for what they are and not for what they represent could be one. Or, you could just stop watching 60 Minutes.

Leo at Zen Habits talks about finding flow. We could probably all use more flow, and I found both Leo’s writing and the suggestions in the comments to be valuable. (Never underestimate the overall quality of commenting at that blog!) “Each step will take some practice, from finding a quiet, peak time for yourself, to clearing distractions, to choosing the right task.”

Remodeling This Life inspired me with the idea of wabi-sabi. But I’ll let Emily explain it… You might also check out her post on how Discontentment Is Expensive. Vacation is doing great things for that blog–I’ve been enjoying everything Emily’s been writing lately.

Jin6655321 posted a response to You Are Not Your CD Collection called Music = Life. My first counter-response post–woo-hoo! She makes the valid point that you can infer a good deal about someone through their music collection. My take is that I’m way more impressed with a person’s kindness, sense of humor, and overall range of interests. I don’t think a playlist tells the whole story, but I loved that Jin6655321 had a different take and listed her CD collection to back up her point. (Props for admitting to Ace of Base–I totally wore that cassette out!)