Take a Break: Celebrate the Pumpkin

 There are many different and wonderful ways to carve pumpkins, but it’s a bit early to be carving a pumpkin and besides there are lots of websites that can offer tips and stencils for this activity. Today’s Halloween take a break is about making a pumpkin and using real pumpkins or pureed pumpkin to make a special dish.

• Make a Pumpkin from canning Jar Rings 

• Marshmallow Pumpkin: Take a large marshmallow, dip it in warm water and then roll in orange sugar/sprinkles. Use a piece of pretzel stick to be the stem and make a green leaf from fondant or use a spearmint leaf candy. Don’t like spearmint, go for green fruit leathers and cut out a leaf shape.

• Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pumpkins: These directions call for orange colored white chocolate, which you can buy in stores. However, don’t hesitate to use white chocolate and food coloring with a little bit of oil. 

• Felt pumpkin

• Pumpkin Vase: Hollow out the pumpkin. Insert a vase and fill with flowers.  

• Pumpkin Whirligig 

• Pumpkin Peek A Boo Cake 

• 37 Pumpkin Recipes: You’re sure to find something you’d like to make for breakfast, lunch, supper or snack. Did you know that you can use ¼ cup canned pumpkin or squash in place of an egg? You’ll need to add ½ tsp baking powder to provide the leavening the egg would have provided. 

Invest in the Process of Healing

Invest in the process so everyday is a good day. I’m not sure if this is an actual quote or if I merged two ideas together and wrote it down while I was listening to the TED Best of the Web talk of Srikumar Rao, the creator of “Creativity and Personal Mastery.” Whatever way, it’s been one of those “I get it!” moments for me. 

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to watch many people with various types and stages of illness go about the business of healing. Some become fixated on outcomes (cure) only-they will only allow themselves to be happy if and when they have achieved a cure-while others recognize that a cure is the direction they are moving towards, but embrace the process of healing first and foremost.

There is the nagging knowledge we all have that the final outcome of life is death. Still we want to know that we’re “cured” of a particular disease. The reality is that we have no control over our ultimate outcome. However, we do get to decide how we wish to proceed through life.

At the moment I’m writing a grant that isn’t as straightforward as I had hoped it would be. After listening to Rao’s talk, I decided to just embrace the process of writing the grant and not become obsessed over the outcome. That shift in attitude changed everything. While I certainly hope the grant will be funded, if it isn’t, I’ve learned so much from the process that my life is far richer for the experience. There is also the possibility that I can probably achieve the results I want but in a completely different way. Maybe most important, the process has been recharged me in ways I hadn’t thought imaginable.

There is something very freeing about living life from the perspective of process versus outcome. It certainly makes living with a chronic condition a bit more manageable. To that end, I reread Healingthe Whole Person: Ways to Increase Well-Being, which is the handout I give to people that I’m working with. I realize that it’s all about process, but I just haven’t called it that. Isn’t it amazing how reformatting an idea changes everything?

The bottom line of this post is simple-Focus on outcome (be it cure, remission) as a direction you are heading towards, but do not invest in it. Instead invest in the process. Check out the Healing theWhole Person post for ways to do that. You might also find Rao’s talk interesting as well. 

I found an interesting quote, which is a good way to end this post. We enjoy the process far more than the proceeds. Warren Buffett

Take a Break: Halloween Leaves or not

It’s the first Wednesday in October. Instead of becoming totally obsessed by the fact that Halloween is four weeks away, I’ve decided to pace myself this year. If I start doing a lot of Halloween stuff now, by Oct. 31, I’m sick of looking at it.

Today’s take a break is all about fall leaves. Yes, they can be decked out for Halloween or they can be turned into a beautiful bowl.

Step 1: Go out and enjoy what I hope is a beautiful fall day where you live.

Step 2: Pick a variety of leaves. Maybe collect some acorns while you are at it.

Step 3: Select a project with leaves and have fun.

• Rustic Halloween Bunting made with leaves that spell out Happy Halloween. Love the directions for preserving leaves using melted crayons. 

• Leaf Bowl: Using polymer, Crayola brand or even a clay you make yourself, roll it out to about ¼ of an inch thick. To get an even thickness, lay chopsticks on either side. Take a large leaf and lay it vein side down.  Roll over the leaf several times to make sure it imprints in the clay. Use a sharp tool, can be a knife, nail file or even a paper clip, cut around the leaf. Smooth the edges. Cover the inside of a bowl with cling wrap-best if it’s one you don’t use for food-paper or plastic bowl is fine. Now place you leaf inside the bowl and gently press it down until it takes the shape of the bowl. Let dry according to the clay you are using. Then paint or decorate. You can use a series of smaller leaves and have them overlap.

• Leaf covered candles  

• Leaves made from Mod Podge: If you don’t have mod podge on hand, you can make your own by mixing equal parts water and white glue. 

• Leaf card: Use the leaf as a stencil. Find some small leaves and lay them between heavy books so they lay flat. Tape them to card stock, or colored scrapbook paper,  vein side down. Double sided tape works well. Don’t use glue as it can leave a mark. Carefully paint around the leaf. You can always make it darker after the first layer dries.  Once dry, carefully remove the leaf. Using a small paint brush- a toothpick will work-and put in the veins.