Tag: ink ripples (Page 2 of 2)

November #inkripples Continued: Gratitude Isn’t Just for Thanksgiving

November 23, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

In this special bonus #inkripples post for the November theme of Remembrance/Thankfulness (see my original post “Where Did My Memories Go?”), I wanted to talk about something I’ve been trying to incorporate into my daily life: focusing on gratitude.

Turns out one way to be happier in life is to be grateful (see “Giving thanks can make you happier” and “The Neuroscience of Why Gratitude Makes Us Healthier” by Ocean Robbins). You don’t even have to express that gratitude to anyone in particular. Merely thinking about it and feeling it garners benefits, like boosting your mood and giving you a better sense of connection.

Ways to experience gratitude include actually, ya know, thanking someone and showing appreciation for them (in person or in writing), writing down or making a mental list of things you are grateful for, and praying or meditating (with gratitude in mind). It’s okay to keep it simple by noting the simple blessings in life.

I’ve been trying to take one moment each day and think about some of the things I’m grateful for. Building it into a daily routine makes it easier to incorporate into your everyday life. I like to do it in the shower. 😉

I gotta say, writing this post has actually made me feel good, and I’m not even thinking about anything specific that I’m grateful for. Maybe all you need to do is type the word “grateful” enough times and it will be true.

So what I’m saying is don’t reserve your thankfulness for that one day a year when you sit around the table eating turkey. Do it every day. And if your old Aunt Mabel is acting particularly grumpy on Thanksgiving, go ahead and suggest everyone take a minute to think of something they are grateful for. It might just bring a smile to the old bat’s face!

Have you joined the #inkripples movement yet? Ripples in the Inkwell is a monthly meme created by Kai Strand, Mary Waibel, and Katie L. Carroll(me!). On the second Monday of each month, we post on a particular topic. The idea is that we toss a word, idea, or image into the inkwell and each post is a new ripple. There’s no wrong way to do it and we’d love for you to participate (full details here). Be sure to provide a link to your own #inkripple in the comments! Look for details on next year’s ink ripples topics in December!

November Ripples in the Inkwell: Where Did My Memory Go?

November 9, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

November’s Ink Ripples topic is remembrance/thankfulness, and I’m taking up the latter for my post this month. I have a really good memory, at least I did until I had kids. I had heard that being a mom messes with your ability to remember stuff, but man, I didn’t expect it to mess with me so badly.

I am now the type of person who needs to keep lists in order to remember anything, like anything at all. And all those precious moments of the kiddos that at the time I thought I could never, ever forget…yeah, if I don’t have a picture of it or if I didn’t write it down, it’s gone…forever!

I’m not sure what it is about motherhood that has fried my brain. Maybe it’s the lack of sleep. Maybe it’s because I primarily hang out with little ones who have the attention span of, well, a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old and it’s rubbing off on me. Maybe it’s that I’m now keeping track of two other people and have to remember all their stuff for them.

Did so-and-so go to the bathroom lately? Did we brush teeth this morning? Who needs to get dressed today (probably me!)? Is it bath night? Who has a doctor appointment this month? And now that The Boy is in school, there are a whole slew of other things to keep track of. Pretty much the only thing we never forget is eating. No one forgets to eat around here!

I’m told that eventually my brain will regain its former glory of being able to remember something for more than five seconds. I’m skeptical but hopeful…

Wait, what was I talking about again?

Inkwell meme green Have you joined the #inkripples movement yet? Ripples in the Inkwell is a monthly meme created by Kai Strand, Mary Waibel, and Katie L. Carroll(me!). On the second Monday of each month, we post on a particular topic. The idea is that we toss a word, idea, or image into the inkwell and each post is a new ripple. There’s no wrong way to do it and we’d love for you to participate (full details here). Be sure to provide a link to your own #inkripple in the comments! Look for details on next year’s ink ripples topics in December!

Totally Random Ripples in the Inkwell Post: Dog Days to Buttercup

August 10, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Have you joined the #inkripples movement yet? Ripples in the Inkwell is a monthly meme created by Kai Strand, Mary Waibel, and Katie L. Carroll (me!). On the second Monday of each month, we post on a particular topic. The idea is that we toss a word, idea, or image into the inkwell and each post is a new ripple. There’s no wrong way to do it and we’d love for you to participate (full details here). August’s topic is dog days and/or things that drag you down.

I’m going with the dog days part and I’m gonna see how many different ripples I can include in this post because this is honestly how my brain works. I think of one thing, then it leads to another, then it leads to another, until I come out the other end with something totally unrelated, like a game of telephone (do kids still play that or is that a very out-of-date reference?). So here goes:

Whenever I hear the term dog days, I immediately think of the song by Florence + The Machine called “Dog Days Are Over.”

But of course, dog days actually refer to the hot summer months (which are July and August in my part of the world). They are called the dog days because at one time they coincided with the rise of the star Sirius, the brightest star in the sky (it’s really a binary star, but it appears as one star, not two, to the naked eye). Sirius is part of the Canis Major constellation and is known at the dog star.

But when I think of Sirius, I think of Harry Potter’s godfather, Sirius Black (who doesn’t). I watched all the Harry Potter movies several times before I realized Gary Oldman is the actor who played Sirius in the movies.

In fact, it was only after watching The Dark Knight for like the hundredth time that I realized Sirius (Gary Oldman) is also Commissioner Gordon. The Dark Knight is one of those movies (along with The Shawshank Redemption and Clueless, among others) that I always watch when it’s on TV.

The Dark Knight is one of my husband’s favorite movies (and probably one of the last ones we saw in the movie theaters together because since having kids we hardly ever go to the movies, that and movies are crazy expensive these days). It’s a fitting favorite for him because he is affectionately called Batman by some of my family members.

This started back when my oldest nephew (who is now 16 years old) was a baby and couldn’t say my husband’s name very well. One day he said it and it sounded just like “Batman” and the nickname stuck.

Unfortunately I don’t have any cool superhero nicknames, but I was once dubbed “Buttercup” by some of my soccer teammates. They got this crazy idea to wear these hideous tuxedo shirts with ruffles as jerseys (it was a co-ed team and it was the guys who thought this would be fun). So they printed up numbers on these shirts and put silly names on the back. I was the only person who fit into the yellow “Buttercup” one, and then the team would sing The Foundations song “Build Me Up Buttercup.”

Totally random post, right? And so far removed from dog days at the end there. Did you notice, though, that I managed to bring it back full circle to a song? So some semblance of order amid the chaos.

Hopefully you’re not drowning in all ripples. And I’d love to see you add your own ripple this month. Make sure to link to it in the comments so I can check it out, and don’t forget about Mary’s and Kai’s posts.

July Ripples in the Inkwell: Patriotism

July 13, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

It’s the second Monday of the month and that means a new Ripples in the Inkwell post! Even though here in the U.S. we’ve already celebrated Independence Day with fireworks and barbecues, it’s never a bad time to talk about patriotism. And that’s what Kai Strand, Mary Waibel, and I talking about for our July theme. We’d love to read your posts on the theme; find out how to play along with the monthly meme HERE. And be sure to stop by Kai’s and Mary’s blogs to check out their posts.

I can’t say I’m a particularly patriotic person in the sense I think it has come to mean for some people. That is I don’t fly an American flag out in front of my house or on my car and I don’t dress myself and my kids in red, white, & blue or make themed desserts for flag day or the fourth of July. (Not that there’s anything wrong with doing these things!)

I do vote in every single election; I write letters to my elected officials (local and national) on matters that I feel strongly about; I pay attention to what is going on in my country and stay informed (from reliable sources); and I do love my country (even when I’m terribly frustrated by it). I believe in the principles my country was founded on, even if they were created by flawed people and even though they aren’t always executed in a manner in which I agree.

For me patriotism is about fighting for what you think is best for your country, even if that’s maybe not the popular sentiment. And no, I don’t fight like soldiers do for their country, but I try and stand for what I believe in and voice that opinion in my own small way.

What does patriotism mean to you? And do you consider yourself a patriot?