Greetings from Alison Wiley here in Portland, Oregon. I'm a writer/doer/thinker who lives happily by putting people, nature and God ahead of accumulating more stuff. Read more →
Where do you find joy in your life, as opposed to fun? Fun is defined as pleasure or amusement, while joy is defined as intense or exultant happiness. This isn’t a trick question; it’s designed to help us prepare for the holidays, with the long Thanksgiving weekend starting in a few days. Speaking for myself, I like [...]
Tags: football games·happiness·joy·TV·writing
Today’s post is a follow-up to my fifth most-read post, The Poverty of Hyperindividualism. Incidentally, this autumn marks the fifth anniversary of Diamond-Cut Life! Many thanks to my readers who have posted more than 750 comments on 490 posts, and made my writing a rich, joyful thing. If you subscribe (to your right) you might win the drawing [...]
Tags: baby.walrus·friendship·happiness·hyperindividualism·Maureen Gill
I am flawed in oh so many ways. I am impatient, intense, I don’t write to my invalid mother as frequently as I should, and while I no longer binge on Haagen Dazs ice cream, my sweet tooth is such that my husband terms my coffee a vehicle for sugar. In my favor, though, I [...]
What does President Obama’s suggestion we curb our national oil addiction share in common with the premise of the cool book I’ve just now added to my book recommendations? The belief that change and transformation are possible. And, the underlying belief that we can cultivate happiness, a sense of sufficiency and ‘enoughness’, without always chasing [...]
Tags: change·happiness·oil·President Obama·Smart Energy·time poverty
I’m writing from Chicago, where the BlogHer conference I’m attending will start tomorrow. My run on the lakeshore last night took me to Millenium Park, where I had another of my little ecstatic, falling-in-love experiences, between the gardens, the symphony orchestra playing in the outdoor pavilion, and most of all, the unique fountain and wading [...]
Tags: Bill McKibben·BlogHer conference·carbon footprint·Chicago·chickens·climate change·culture·Deep Economy·Detroit·fun·global warming·happiness·Millenium Park·papalars·urban farming
We have a winner of the contest for the best new link for our Resources For Good Living page. A reader named Allison (same first name as mine, but spelled differently) receives a $50 gift certificate to Powells Books (or other non-chain store of her choice) for suggesting we add Perelandra, a site on nature [...]
Tags: consumption·contest·happiness·Machelle Wright·nature intelligence·Perelandra·Powells Books
If less is often more, then haiku is one of my favorite ways to practice that happy discipline. I wrote these yesterday afternoon while camping on the Fourth of July. Fourth of July at Moss Creek Campground Fireworks, begone. The piney air penetrates My limbic brain-stem. Intoxicated On The Fourth Tipsy on pine air I [...]
Tags: Camping·Fourth of July·fun·happiness·independence·Little White Salmon·Michael@NW Lens·Moss Creek·Oregon·outdoors
Staycations in lieu of travel vacations let us have fun while living within our means and not racking up any credit card debt. Plane trips, especially for whole families, quickly run into thousands of dollars, not to mention the way restaurant meals cost double to ten times what you’d spend cooking at home. Plus, any [...]
Tags: carbon footprint·email·family·fun·green living·happiness·ktylerconk·long-distance relationships·phone conversations·relationships·staycations·thrift
My sidekick Hanmi Meyer and I are pleased to be posting this morning our new page Resources For Good Living. It’s a set of links, well-labeled and organized, to cool sites that help us increase our happiness and lower our consumption. While this opening date is a bit behind schedule (the summer solstice had been [...]
Tags: bicycling·carbon footprint·consumption·contest·energy conservation·family·fun·gift certificates·green living·happiness·life·links·Oregon·outdoors·religion·renewable energy·resources·thrift·water
Yesterday afternoon I alit at the Amtrak station here in Portland, heavily laden with my laptop, book-bag and purse. It would be quite a trudge to where I needed to go. What should conveniently appear at the curb but a pedicab, pedaled by a lovely young woman named Margaret? Margaret, who leases her pedicab from [...]
Tags: bicycling·carbon footprint·cars·Cascadia Pedicab·fun·green living·happiness·Oregon·outdoors·pedicab·technology
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