Stop Rejecting Tailor-Made Gifts

Posted on 01/05/2020 by n2n

I have been rejecting tailor-made gifts all my life! This revelation came from latest of these dumb moves.

Though I’ve been practicing using pendulum everyday for a while, I still get so frustrated at times. I just wanted to be as skilled and reliable as the experienced dowsers I know. I wanted my results to be accurate and reliable NOW so I can actually solve problems with efficiency.

But I was only seeing the forests, other people’s forests. I ignored what it takes for each tree to grow from a seed to a strong and sturdy tree. Even each ring in a tree trunk is an indispensable part of building an impressive forest. And I have been discounting many of my “rings” all my life.

The pendulum had led me to several random and unrelated pieces of information that only after research and talking with knowledgeable friends I learned how relevant they all were to one particular problem. They were the tailor-made signs to show the progress of my efforts and I chose not to accept them as my rewards because they weren’t the grand prize I wanted.

In the end, the obstacle of my pendulum problem, as well as in other areas of my life, was me! But no more! I am hanging each “ring” under a spotlight, celebrate it, then accept it into my being with gratitude.

Day Dreaming: Don’t Do What I Did

Posted on 09/10/2019 by n2n

Visualizing a desired future with all senses and emotions is a key element for manifesting and I have never been good at it. One day when I was chatting with a friend. The awkward pauses in the conversation gave me pause.

A Typical Example

Friend:	I want to have my wedding at the Grand Floridian in Disney World.
Me:	Why? It’s so muggy there, you’re going to be miserable in your wedding dress. Can’t even imagine how the guys are going to survive in their tuxes.
[ — 1 micro pause — ]
Friend:	I will just have the wedding in the winter. Their holiday decorations are legendary, even a life-size gingerbread house.
Me:	Well, you better start saving your money now. I’m pretty sure Grand Floridian is the most expensive resort there. You and your guests will end up spending 10x more than other destination weddings.
[ — 2 micro pauses — ]
Friend:	By that time, my future husband and I will be very successful, each doing what we love. We’d have enough to take everyone with us on a vacation!
Me:	How are you going to find that husband? You just started this job, you don’t even have time to date.
[ — a very long pause — ]

This is the point the friend would change subject. Mind you, I would know 100% that she was not really wedding planning but I just had to inject real world considerations. In the process, I destroyed the excitement and dampened the potentiality of her having an amazing husband, a great career, and a wonderful nuptial celebration.

The Troubles of a Realist

Though I was never that bad, I did take the fun out of day dreaming for everyone, myself included. After some contemplation, I think I might have found the first two bugs in my visualization process.

Being practical = attachment to the outcome

Attachement and control hurt the manifesting process — Letting go = vision to reality

This is a big no-no for manifesting as you may already know. Being a realist ties your vision firmly into the known world in which your vision can only ever stay a vision.

The act of surrendering detaches your vision to the existing energy configuration, allowing your vision to first take shape in the energy field, arranges “coincidences” that eventually lead you to your manifested vision.

Being practical = being a control freak

Most of us tries to control how things go in our lives and while it’s crucial for a functional life, it prevents your dreams from manifesting.

To me, this control smells more like the fear of loss and failure. We want so much for the vision to come true, we can’t help but confine ourselves with “reality”. That backfires because we don’t yet know how the Universe works, this control builds the impenetrable walls that box in what is and keep out what is possible.

I am so grateful that my enlightened friends for not dumping this dream crusher and I am happy to report that there are no more pauses while we day dream together.

…I am visualizing myself day dreaming away, soaring free, and the sky is no limit.

Stupid Spring

Posted on 03/29/2019 by n2n

Stupid spring
Stupid songs

Urges to love and be loved
Sprung a stupid spring

Love makes one stupid
Contending my religion

Plugging the spring doesn’t work
Spewing back at my face

Basking in spring doesn’t work
Attachment harbors a pending doom

Stupid spring!
Stupid spring!
STUPID SPRING!

Soul’s Work, Happy Work

Posted on 01/27/2019 by n2n

For all who are searching for the right way.

Binge watching
            singers compete 
Spreading love of music 
Doing soul’s work 
Losing became secondary

In a flash, realizing

Writing posts
     trials and errors
Sharing answers from curiosity 
Doing soul’s work 
Ranking comes last

N2N 2.0

Posted on 01/03/2019 by n2n

This is a declaration and a future self reminder for the new direction of Needs to Note.

Changing for A Better Me

Starting in 2019, I am changing gears for many areas of my life. I am no longer pursuing sci-fi/mystery writing. During 2018, I have been devoting most of my time in being healthy, mind, body, and soul. And even reading mystery has becoming a point of stress since I didn’t have the time nor energy to finish the books before they were due back at the library.

In the process of becoming a better me, I have been:

Reading/learning about alternative thinking and the science behind it
Reading/learning about alternative and natural healing methods
Finding products that works best for me (little annoyances accumulate into stress)

After a wise source pointed this out, it’s now seems natural to shift my focus in these areas.

So instead of scattering my energy on both fiction writing and getting healthier, I have let go of writing a novel. “Wouldn’t that be squandering all your past efforts?” someone said and I replied “No, because I can perhaps present non-fiction in an interesting way that would be easier to understand and absorb.” I was surprised by my reply, I didn’t realize how ready I was to make this change.

Changing for A Better Whole

I often find myself linking several different fields and combining them to maximize the effects, it’s a whole is greater than the sum of its parts kind of a thing. Though it might evolve into its own form, this is where I’ll start.

I am still treating N2N as a personal notebook and in the process if I can provide a reader something helpful then it would be an extra blessing to me, mind, body, and soul.

I thank you, reader of the past, present, and future, with appreciation for the seeker in you.

Without Trust, I Lose

Posted on 10/14/2018 by n2n

Discounted Love

Whenever this new friend tells me that she could talk to me forever, “yeah, right.” echoes in the shadowy part of my mind. It’s not because I think she has an ulterior motive, all the facts told me she had done much for me and never asked for anything back.

To me, it is unbelievable that someone with their own free well would think that about me. I can’t say that I hate myself or feel like a fraud but somehow I just don’t feel that can be true.

A heart-felt compliment often leaves me stuttering, unable to accept and reply gracefully. I’d think, they are just being nice, it can’t possibly be true.

It’s sad, really, reading what I just wrote…
How am I so cruel to myself when I would never do that to others?

Without trust, I’ve discounted the love I get.
Without trust, I’ve discounted the love I give.
Without trust, I lose.

Discounted Me

Often when I couldn’t finish my to-do list, I would ask why I can’t do more, faster, and better like other people. I ignore all that I have done, I give myself no credit.

It’s horrifying, reading what I just wrote…
How am I so terrible to myself when I would never think that of others?

Without trust, I’ve discounted my efforts, my talents, my potential,
Without trust, I’ve discounted my future, my life, my self.
Without trust, I lose.

Discounting Discontinued

To the suspicious part of me,

What if I just choose to believe what my friend said?
What if I just choose to see the good in myself as I would in other?
What would be so bad about that?

So, as of now, all discounts have been discontinued.
I deserve 100% of me.
And yes, that includes you.

I’ll still need you from time to time if a real danger comes.
Meanwhile, please enjoy your long overdued rest.

It’s time to let Trust take over,
because without trust, we all lose.

To Be KonMari Clean (Day 0)

Posted on 09/29/2015 by n2n

A Stranger at The Bar Made Me

Forced to sit at the the bar because there were no other seat, my next stool neighbor chatted up with me and the barkeep. The barkeep was about to get married and they both had to downsize.

The bar neighbor, Ron, made us promise to read this book. “It will change your life!” He was so passionate about it, I agreed and got on the waiting list at the library.

Awaken by Synchronicity

Months passed, right when I was dealing with super heavy workload and personal responsibilities, it became available to me. (Have you noticed many good things often show up just when we are ready for it?)

I opened book tired and needing a nice break but it woke me from my self-imposed slump of material prison.

Unstuck Myself

For many years now, I’ve been complaining about never having enough time, I can never catch up with people’s demands. “Why are you wasting my life?” I often wanted to shout.

When I read that the author, Marie Kondo, was angry with her family members for not keeping the house clean, I knew how she felt. Then she realized things didn’t change because she still had things in her room to tidy away.

OMG! Exactly why I am still spinning my wheels in my own mud.

I was stuck because I blamed everyone and gave away my power to fix things.

What you don’t love (in your room) hurts you

Marie advises us to visualize the end result before we even touch a thing.

A flash of myself in a corner of my room jumped out at me and I am readding in a cozy sofa chair with my feet on a matching ottoman. And on the wall next to me has a large Zentangle drawing I did myself.

Then I knew why I have to leave my house everyday. It’s not only because I don’t want any distraction when I write, it’s because I have no place to be by myself in my own house. My room is by no mean stuffed to the ninth but it’s still oppressive all the same.

I don’t even have a place to just sit and day dream in my room and that is detrimental to a writer.

I am so tired all the time because my things are sucking the life out of me. Why on Earth do I think I am a minimalist? I was kidding myself. No wonder I don’t have the energy to pursue my dream of writing novels.

Operation KonMari Clean

Tomorrow, I’m staring with clothes as Marie stresses that the order of the process is VERY important. Here a few notes though…

Work by sub-category

To avoid family members from “repurposing” things (i.e. into their slumps) I need to pile the clothes in my room when I sort them. I already know I have way too much to pile everything piece of clothing into my room and still have the room to sort them. So I’ll have to do this by the sub-category. Tops being most of what I own anyway, I am sure I will still be horrified by my pile.

No radio, no music

When I was recovering from a near breakdown last year, I found myself turning on the radio or TV then ignore it. One day I decide to keep my car radio off while I ran errand, my irritation went down, I became a better and more caring driver.

So, silence only for me while I ask “does this spark joy?”

I can’t wait to get started! I don’t remember the last time I wake up all excited about the day to come. May my inner spirit guide me well on this journey.

Be A Better Writer by Reading Less?

Posted on 04/02/2015 by n2n

Okay, I really mean reading less of what you don’t like.

Halfway through a thick dystopian novel I thought…

Why am I wasting my life? It is not a textbook for a class I’ve paid for. I won’t flunk life or even novel writing if I just stop.

But I’m half way through, the effort of reading those pages will go to waste.

Wrong, SELF, it has already cost a part of your life, finishing it will just cost your more. Forget it and move on.

I am not sure. It feels like giving up.

No, it’s called getting better with time management. Don’t you want to top your 2014 reading record in hope of catching up with Stephen King (70-80/yr)?

I do.

So, I returned the epic dystopian the next day.

Dear fellow writers,

Life is too short and many intriguing books await. If you promise never forcing yourself to finish a drag of a fiction. I promise I will stay away from thick dystopian books.

Better yet, I also promise to never try to finish another book just because I read the first 25 pages.

p.s. There’s nothing wrong with dystopian tales, it’s just not for me.

The Rosie Project: More Than A Book Review (3 of 3)

Posted on 03/18/2015 by n2n

(continued from part 2)

How will I change after meeting Don Tillman?

Acknowledge my own improvements
Don always notice it when he did something better or new and I hope to do the same for myself.

Instead of feeling anxious and guilty when I can’t work on my books, I will give myself credits for every book I read and every piece I wrote, project related or not.

Being someone who could not pass English in junior high, anything I do in English is an achievement.
Changing in behavior is not equal to changing as a person
I don’t yet know how to implement this but realized it as something crucial for interpersonal relationships.

100 stars out of 5

Who’d ever thought reading a rom-com would change my life more than any self-help book. (This is how I want my book to do for my readers, by the way) I learned more about myself, about the Asperger’s syndrome and not having to be drenched in sadness and conflicts but in the interaction and growth between the in the characters. All the while being carried along by the romance and the mystery.

100 stars for The Rosie Project, given as a human being and as a writer.

The Rosie Project: More Than A Book Review (2 of 3)

Posted on 03/18/2015 by n2n

(continued from part 1)

What I learned from Don Tillman

Later on in the book, Don began to adjust to the change by shifting to a “new mind configuration”, like from the scheduling mode to the adaptability mode, and that is how he is able to experience a fuller life.

As a super nervous traveler, trips is full of the unknown, I am encouraged to shift into the “fearless adventurer mode” for my next trip. I want to use my energy to enjoy the time with my companions and not waste it on my irrational worries.

And for things I did not plan for… How will I know I’m in the wrong mode? When I feel frustrated.

I’ve known it’s not helpful to add negative emotion during problem solving. With this method, it is now a concrete step to help me execute the solution with efficiency and without the self-imposed turmoil.

That means things may change but I now know how to shift into peace.

Other traits I share with Don Tillman

(Don Tillman wouldn’t think of writing this review without at least one list)

I value directness
Though I might be better at reading social cues and capable of using flowering language, I much rather not having to guess or having others guess the meaning of what’s said. It seems a waste of time and energy.
Socially challenged
In 6th grade, my classmates called me weird. I was aware that I am not like others but never thought it was a problem. Come to think of it, I did not have many friends then.

In junior high, by accident, I became the class clown on several occasions.
My intensity is misinterpreted as mania
I am curious by nature and love asking people unusual questions. Sometimes my intense interest scare people away.
Solving issues by books/research
I, too, tend to go for books or do research when I encounter a problem. Even when it’s related to spirituality and mental wellbeing which might be better solved by going through experiences.

Over the years, I was lucky enough to add intuition and self awareness to my toolbox.
Living by projects

When I have a goal, I plan the steps necessary, then set out to finish each no matter how long it takes. I didn’t not know before reading this book but I was living by projects.

Right now I have:

A book project (a soft sci-fi fiction)
A metaphysical project (for evidence of a Buddhist belief that mind creates all and as related to the “observer effect” in quantum physics)
Cooking projects (retry on various steam buns and thin-style dumpling skin)

(more reactions to reading The Rosie Project)

Needs to Note

Quests to Satisfy My Curiosity, Metaphysical and Otherwise

Category Archives: Musing