A humble ending

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HUMILITY - The quality or condition of being humble; imitate Jesus and Socrates. [Humility week begins here. Click for this week's Bliss Initiatives.]

*** Click here for the Gratitude Hop Giveaway!***

Yesterday, we spent the day in San Francisco. We do that sometimes, my hubby and I like to go and do very regular stuff, go to a farmers market, walk around town, get a cup of coffee and generally walk around acting like we still live there. Paying homage to the part of our selves who would still like to do so. We love that city and while our suburban lifestyle is much better suited for our family life we do miss it! 

While we were hanging around the farmers market we were entertained by acrobats and musicians, The girl enjoyed dancing, chasing sea gulls and grabbing fresh samples from all the colorful vendors. We had to buy a bunch of carrots with the greens still attached and a softball size peach because Sweets had already appropriated large bites out of them before we could move on. I can imagine how hard it is not to think all that beautiful food ay her perfect eye level isn't there just for her taking!

At one point, I decided it was time to distract her so my Sweetie could get some real shopping done so we looked in other directions for distraction. A drum trio and a mariachi band provided a small distraction but then we hit pay dirt! A most fascinating man was sitting  atop a milk crate in the middle of all the activity furiously typing on a very small typewriter. Of course my girl had never seen one of those and Zach, the typist, was very sweet to show her exactly how it worked. Mesmerized by his frenetic pace, we watched for a moment and then I read the sign he had posted next to his seat which said that  Poems were written on the topic of our choice would be written for a donation of our choosing.  When we happened upon him he was working on a wedding poem for someone.

What fun! Of course humility was the topic I was interested in exploring so I requested a five dollar poem on humility. Since we were there with him and he was at an impasse on his wedding poem (needed the last name of the person requesting the poem) he took out a piece of paper, rolled it into the typewriter and began to write our poem with the same earnest pace we had already seen demonstrated. A few short moments later he economically tore the paper on which our poem was typed out of the typewriter and signed the small parchment.

human

 will it to be

  must think advance

   forward guarded and

    given many at the 

     moments noticed

      in totality is

       obviously so

        much bigger

          with sun and

           trees and

            continuously 

             existing what

              we think is 

                physically

                 in context

                  quite humbled

                    to be the mere

                      matter of fact

       Z Houston

How enjoyable!! What a fun way to end the week! You can find Zach Houston on line here. 

"My academic focus is primarily on language and trope. I operate a performance/literature/business/art piece referred to as The Poem Store, a project that consists of exchanging free verse poetry about anything you want, composed on a manual typewriter, in exchange for a donation." 

As usual my humility experience has left me wanting... unlike my other virtues which seem to benefit from being amplified every time I look at humility I am left feeling as if I may never actually grasp it. I can definitely see why Ben Franklin felt the need to study it his entire life! I will give myself a 4 out of 10 on my weekly scale and award no bliss boosts. My appreciation has definitely been improved but I really can't say that I have identified any upsurge in my experience of Bliss as a result of it.! 

How did Humility week play out over in your world?

Next post: Surprise week and the announcement of the Gratitude Giveaway winner!

(don't forget today is your last day to enter!)

My 13 bliss virtues are 

joy, order, creativity, passion, whimsy, serenity, inquiry, community, 

romance, gratitude, moxie, humility, and surprise.



This week we are studying Humility. Next week it is Surprise.

In my (not so) humble opinion -take two-

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HUMILITY - The quality or condition of being humble; imitate Jesus and Socrates. [Humility week begins here. Click for this week's Bliss Initiatives.]

*** Click here for the Gratitude Hop Giveaway!***

Today I am doing a repeat post. I have decided to re-post something from a prior Humility week for a couple of reasons. First, and probably the real reason of the hour, is that I just spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME on a formatting error (still not fixed either - ready to quit blogger at the moment... but the learning curve of something else.... ack!) over on my other blog and it has totally sucked the energy out of me. Even more then this however, I have been thinking that I have a lot of stuff in my archives now and it might be interesting to do a "Flashback Post" once in a while.... to see what I was thinking about in earlier versions of the virtue weeks. Have my observations changed? Have I grown or am I in the same place as before? Many of you weren't around when I began this project so an old post may very well be NEW to you anyway...  in any case I hope you enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

humility is the most difficult of all virtues to achieve;

nothing dies harder than the desire to think well of self.

t.s. eliot

Funny how each of my virtue weeks pose different sorts of conundrums. Last week Moxie seemed to be demanding a very aggressive (thanks Jingle) approach and this week Humility seems to cry out for the complete opposite. Aggressive Moxie sounds like a ton fun but aggressive Humility sounds downright blasphemous. You can never have too much Joy or Creativity but once Humility gets over used somehow it starts to feel cheap. 

Take as an example the phrase "In my humble opinion."  I don't know about you but whenever I hear it I am immediately on guard for an inflated ego. Don't you just love how it usually precedes a statement that is far from humble? As the urban dictionary compares it, much like "no offense" precedes an offensive comment, "in my humble opinion" usually indicates ana**hole comment is forthcoming.

Years ago, I had a boyfriend who seemed to think that by putting this declaration in front of anything he said it somehow made him look smarter and/or more qualified to comment. "In my humble opinion, that is never the way to go..." It used to drive me crazy. I told him it didn't add anything and mostly just put people on guard for hearing what foolish blow hard thing was going to come out of his mouth. O.K. I didn't quite say it that way when we were dating... if only I had the chance now! He really did think he was an expert on everything! LOL

Anyway, I digress...

I do realize that this phrase has become so common it often is a "throw away" in the context of any dialog (or now texting conversations, IMHO) but I think it should just be dropped from the vernacular all together. How can we actually be serious about being humble if we bandy the word about in this total disrespectful fashion? Even if your intent is not to become humble I think rampant misuse of a word denigrates its meaning.

I know that our English language is a living language and change is expected over time but Humble is a nice word. It has been around since the mid thirteenth century (from Etymonline: O.Fr. humble, earlier humele, from L. humilis "lowly, humble," lit. "on the ground," from humus "earth.") In my anything but humble opinion it should be allowed to stay pure and lowly and if we take a gentle, rather then aggressive approach, I just might have a chance at grasping it!

*********

And for a little bit of Whimsy (because whimsy week is still a way off and I miss it) go to Urban Dictionary and type in your first name. I think you will find it enjoyable as I did:
Kathy is a word to explain one amazing person.the shiz net of all friends. One of the most beautiful and gorgeous people. also one of the kindest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you used "In my Humble Opinion" in jest and/or reality?

Next post: Humility week wrap up

My 13 bliss virtues are 

joy, order, creativity, passion, whimsy, serenity, inquiry, community, 

romance, gratitude, moxie, humility, and surprise.



This week we are studying Humility. Next week it is Surprise.

Intellectual Humility and Listening

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HUMILITY - The quality or condition of being humble; imitate Jesus and Socrates. [Humility week begins here. Click for this week's Bliss Initiatives.]

*** Click here for the Gratitude Hop Giveaway!***

Intellectual Humility: Having a consciousness of the limits of one's knowledge, including a sensitivity to circumstances in which one's native egocentrism is likely to function self-deceptively; sensitivity to bias, prejudice and limitations of one's viewpoint. Intellectual humility depends on recognizing that one should not claim more than one actually knows. It does not imply spinelessness or submissiveness. It implies the lack of intellectual pretentiousness, boastfulness, or conceit, combined with insight into the logical foundations, or lack of such foundations, of one's beliefs.     From CriticalThinking.org

An aspect of humility that I haven't covered so far is that of Intellectual Humility. This area actually partners very well with one of my other Bliss virtues, that of Inquiry. Recognizing that we don't know everything and that our particular point of view can actually keep us from seeing all aspects of things can be very important and even a little freeing.

Earth teach me caring…as the mother who secures her young

From Deaf Pagan Crossroads

In my early thirties I was shocked to find out how pervasive and limiting my lack of humility really was. I was participating in The Landmark Education Forum and I was introduced to the concept of "my listening" and the effect it was having on all of my relationships, particularly with my mom. I learned that I approached almost every interaction with her already KNOWING how she was going to react. As you may have guessed my bias was not a flattering one and because of this we had a very argumentative relationship. I learned that I actually listened for things to disagree with and it really didn't matter what my mom was trying to tell me, listening that way allowed little room for anything but a contentious interaction.

I would love to report that I am a totally changed woman and that I have changed all my interactions with my mother but of course that wouldn't be the truth. I still struggle with the pervasiveness of believing I already KNOW how things are but when ever I can give that up I allow for something else.

Having my own child also helped me to try on a different point of view regarding my mom. When I first held my little girl I couldn't help but think that my mom had done the very same thing and very likely had a lot of the same thoughts and dreams, like wanting only the best for our child. What I had come to see as controlling and annoying was really my mom's way of loving and trying to protect me. I can't agree with all of her methods but her intention was always the best. 

Now if I approach conversations understanding the intention and not reacting to the style we can have really nice conversations and enjoy being with each other. When I notice myself getting upset with something my mom or anyone else says I try to ask myself, "How are you listening to this?" and invariably I can see where my point of view could actually be getting in the way of hearing anything else. This concept also works well when considering different political or social views and almost without fail there is something more I can learn and doing so makes a huge difference.

Where in your life could you give up KNOWING something and possibly allow for an unexpected outcome?

Next post: Humility Resources

My 13 bliss virtues are 

joy, order, creativity, passion, whimsy, serenity, inquiry, community, 

romance, gratitude, moxie, humility, and surprise.



This week we are studying Humility. Next week it is Surprise.

WoW I'm a BON! Can a girl have humility in the face of recognition?

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HUMILITY - The quality or condition of being humble; imitate Jesus and Socrates. [Humility week begins here. Click for this week's Bliss Initiatives.]

*** Click here for the Gratitude Hop Giveaway!***

"Humble Gift" by Marielliot

(Reprise of a FAVORITE Image)

Welcome Wow visitors! I am truly delighted to have you stop by. You have landed in the middle of my year long experiment to encourage more Everyday Bliss in my life. In order to do this I am playing an Everyday Game in which I explore what I am calling the 13 virtues of Bliss. Each week I concentrate on one of the virtues, create games to play and report my success or failures here. I am almost 3/4 of the way through the year long game as I write this and you have landed here during one of my Humility weeks.


When Pam and Sandy of Words of Wisdom informed me that TODAY was going to be my BON (Blogger of Note) day I initially thought I might ask them to move my day to next week sometime because somehow it didn't seem all that humble to be creating fan fare about the place. Then I decided it was perfect.  Humility does not mean one isn't worthy of accolades, it just requires that you get out of the way and allow the light of your work shine.  Which, as it turns out, is exactly what Words of Wisdom is all about!


If you had arrived here during surprise week I may have set off fireworks, during whimsy week I might have sent every visitor a fancy tea cake, or during romance week you may have been treated to a love poem...  every week has its own flavor. Which has made it really difficult to choose only THREE of my favorite posts as a way to introduce my blog. Are you interested in politics or religion? Do you want to laugh or do you just want to know more about me?  It is really is hard to choose!  Here are the three I came up with:

From Serenity week, a reality check: 

Jungle Lessons: Giving up Perfection as a Path to Serenity 

From Gratitude Week, a real favorite:

Anticipating Gratitude or Christmas Morning kind of Living 

From Whimsy Week, comedy for my foodie friends:

Kitchen Whimsy

For those of you who haven't heard of Words of Wisdom before I do recommend a hop over there. Pam and Sandy came up with a remarkably sane idea to recognize blogs for their content rather then flash or style. To be honest I was worried Everyday Bliss might not make the cut because I do giveaways (in fact you can click here for the Gratitude Giveaway Hop in progress) and sometimes I can't write a coherent sentence to save my life. Thankfully, Pam and Sandy looked past these flaws to my intent to inspire and amuse if not provoke a deeper thought from time to time. 


I truly am honored to have a chance to be today's featured blogger and I hope that you enjoy your stay. I look forward to returning the visit and getting to know all of you as well!


Next Post: A study in humility

My 13 bliss virtues are 

joy, order, creativity, passion, whimsy, serenity, inquiry, community, 

romance, gratitude, moxie, humility, and surprise.



This week we are studying Humility. Next week it is Surprise.

*** The Big Gratitude Hop Giveaway *** Win a Baccarat Heart Pendant *** Win a Pig ***

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The Gratitude Game!! A return to gratitude with a humility twist!

Welcome to my special Gratitude Giveaway post. Recently I wrote about Courage and Moxie traveling in tight circles. Well, Gratitude and Humility also travel similar roads. Often when getting in touch with either and the other is inexplicably there.

This is what you can win!

I am grateful everyday that I do not have to worry about food. I sometimes allow myself to get stressed out about what to prepare but I NEVER worry that there isn't going to be something. Not everyone on the planet is as lucky as I am and for this reason I have decided to play the following gratitude game. This game will be a combination of a giveaway for you (The Baccarat Heart Pendant) and the gift of a pig (given in my winner's name) to Heifer.org. Another intention of this giveaway is for anyone playing to take a moment and get present to all the people, places and things for which they are grateful.

Also, given in your name to Heifer.org if you win!

This is how the game will be played...

There are no special hoops to jump through to be the winner of this giveaway. There are multiple ways  to enter and you are encouraged to enter often!

One chance will be awarded for every comment left on this post in which you state what you are grateful for.  (If you entered in my previous attempt at this game your comments from that game will be grandfathered in as well.) You are allowed one grateful comment per day. If you don't have an email address associated with your blogger profile please make sure you leave me a way to reach you!

One chance will be awarded for every person, place or thing you add to the Gratitude hop below. You must notify me of the item/website you entered into the Gratitude hop. (You can do so in a comment or by email... EverydayBlissSpot *at* yahoo.com ) There is NO limit to the number of things you add to the hop but you must tell me that you added them AND that you are grateful for the person, place or thing you do add. Links added without a follow up comment or email will be deleted. All items in the old Gratitude Hop will be grandfathered in if you send me the email or comment letting me know which ones are yours!)

Receive 5 chances for visiting a place in the gratitude hop that is NEW to YOU and tell me that you have done so. If it is someone's website consider leaving them a comment letting them know how you found them.

Finally you can receive 10 chances if you link to this post and encourage others to come on by and play. Share the gratitude!!! (Please let me know you have done so to insure you get your 10 chances!)



This contest will end at Midnight Pacific Time Sunday June 20th and I will announce the winner on June 21st to kick off Surprise week. Good Luck to everyone!!!

Next post: Back to Humility week!

My 13 bliss virtues are 

joy, order, creativity, passion, whimsy, serenity, inquiry, community, 

romance, gratitude, moxie, humility, and surprise.



This week we are studying Humility. Next week it is Surprise.

Walk lightly upon the earth -- Humility week begins

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HUMILITY - The quality or condition of being humble; imitate Jesus and Socrates.

I was over at the Spirituality and Practice website getting some inspiration for my foray into Humility this week and I read the following.

Walk lightly upon the earth. The words "humility" and "human" both come from "humus" or earth. With humility, we accept our place as one among many others. When we recognize that we are no more important than those others, we take no more than our small share. We approach even the most menial tasks joyfully. We accept that we are only here to be of service to God's great creation.

I LOVE this! Getting to the root of words is always so enlightening. Thinking of  humanity, humility and the earth all coming from the same root meaning really helps me to grasp them all.   Humility has previously felt so lofty, something only great men like Jesus and Socrates could ever fully attain. I know this is in complete opposition to what either of them were teaching but their legendary ability to live this virtue always made it seem supernatural to me. Kind of like a super power. If you are Jesus you can wield this one, but mere mortals you are destined to struggle with this! 

I find it easy to think of myself as a part of the earth with no more or less importance then anything else. Starting from the earth, and returning to the earth when greed or pride rear their head can put me in my place pretty quickly. The earth offers her gifts freely to everyone without regard of social standing. My path to humility is to follow her lead. Take no more then I need and do my best to share and be of service whenever I can. It isn't lofty at all. It is actually pretty simple.

 This week's "Bliss Initiatives" are color coded in purple for quick identification. They are specific things that you too can try, if you want to play along with me. However, because as Earl Nightingale says, "you become what you think about," even if you only follow along, and never take on any of the bliss initiatives, I expect some positive results. I will be exploring and encouraging HUMILITY this way:

• Study Humility - I will take my usual trip around the ether and see what inspiring things I can find about humility and I'll share what I find here.  If you are playing along take your own tour and please share your insights on the Everyday Bliss Facebook page or on the blog in the comments.

• Practice Kindness Anonymously - Each day, make a point of doing something kind, without taking any credit. This can be in the form of an anonymous donation to a charity or a kind deed.

• Give Up Trying to Change Other People - If your husband leaves the cap off the toothpaste just put it on without berating him. If your mom insists on bringing food even when you asked her not to, say thank you and resist the urge to complain. Pass over the mistakes of others and accept being slighted, forgotten, and disliked.  Let's give up trying to force our will upon others (even when we know it would be good for them!)

• Second Guess Yourself (this great idea is from Be Inspired Everyday) - Today, second guess something that you believe you know to be true. Ask what other people believe about that idea. Then, ask God for clarification and take time to silently meditate on that belief. You may find that you will gain a new and refreshing view or you may further solidify your belief. Either way, wisdom and humility will be gained.

How will you practice humility this week?

Next post: Coming a bit later today a gratitude Giveaway!

My 13 bliss virtues are 

joy, order, creativity, passion, whimsy, serenity, inquiry, community, 

romance, gratitude, moxie, humility, and surprise.



This week we are studying Humility. Next week it is Surprise.

Chocolate bunnies and the Humility week tally

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HUMILITY - The quality or condition of being humble; imitate Jesus and Socrates. [Humility week begins here. Click for this week's Bliss Initiatives.]

Bunny from Moonstruck Chocolates YUM!


Yesterday evening my husband, daughter and I went out to dinner in a little near by village. After dinner we happened into a fun candy shop where my almost 3 year old was allowed to pick one treat for dessert. She chose a small chocolate rabbit. As we left the store there was a little girl having a total meltdown on the sidewalk. The girls parents were doing their best to keep the screaming thrashing child out of harms way. Jessie was not phased by the girl's tantrum and walked over to her and asked if she wanted her chocolate. Apparently this is just what the girl needed. The interrupt stopped her cold and while she didn't want Jessie's half eaten chocolate she calmed down considerably. 


I was so proud of my girl. Willing to part with her chocolate, wanting to help someone in need. It was pretty terrific.  Now I'm not sure I want her to run into the line of fire of every incident she sees but I love that her instincts to try and help were there. And if humility actually equals doing what is needed she is well on her way!


I on the other hand am still struggling. This week ended up being a lot of religious introspection for me rather then a purer study of the virtue itself.  When I wrote that post about my relationship with Jesus I was hoping to reach a point where Jesus could be considered as a model for humility without the religious trappings associated with his personality. Instead I think I just stirred up a bunch of religious feelings that may have gotten in the way of discovering the virtue as intended. To avoid this trap, next humility week I think I will try concentrating on Socrates as my expert!


On to my score for the week: I did a passable job of considering each of my bliss virtues so I will give myself a 5 out of 10. In considering my overall increase of Bliss I will give my self two bliss boosts. My introspection got a little heavy but I do think it has me poised to take next humility week by storm! That is if the virtue can be considered a tempest. Anyway, I am looking forward to what the next Humility week will hold.


Thank you to everyone who jumped in and played this week. I enjoy my little game but I totally adore it when I know you are out there following along and I really appreciate all the lovely comments. Keep 'em coming! Next week I am coming up on the six month anniversary of my project so in addition to my usual banter on the virtue at hand, I will be recapping my overall results so far and (hopefully -- still working on it!) revealing my new scoring system. It is SURPRISE week so there should also be more then a few unexpected treats for you.


Next Post: SURPRISE!!!

My 13 bliss virtues: joy, order, creativity, passion, whimsy, serenity, inquiry, community, romance, gratitude, moxie, humility, surprise