Anne's Note today shows how you can be Living in EZ Wherever You Are. The Main article, Conscious Consumption for EZier Living, explains how we can make our lives EZier by consuming less and recycling more. The Healthy Living article, Recipes for Happiness, provides some simple ways to bringing happiness into your life. Today's Anne Talk is Light Meditation. Take a few minutes to relax with a guided meditation into the light of who we are. The Featured Product this month highlights Anne's Four Books. Click here to learn about Anne's newest book, Words Make a Difference.

The EZ Mantra: "Everything can be EZ or at least EZier." – Anne Sermons Gillis

Living EZosophy, January 24, 2017
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

Phone: 281-419-1775
Email: anne@annegillis.com

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  A Note From Anne

Living in EZ Wherever You Are

Dear ,

We have finally found six days to play with our RV. We are in Galveston State Park on the shoreline, listening to the waves and enjoying living in a tiny house. I’m lumping our 26x10-foot RV into the “Tiny House” category. Tiny living and tiny houses are making a huge flash in today’s world. From providing homeless people with a small, dry abode to meeting the needs of those who want to simplify their lives. It looks like tiny living is no longer a fad; tiny living is here to stay. We had planned to live in our RV for a while, but since our house didn’t sell, we now have two homes. It looks like tiny house living is down the road for us.

Today is yet another day to live in EZ. We are at choice, though not really prepared for our good. Let’s prepare for our good. It’s time to drop the guilt and to give up the suffering states passed down from our ancestors. Our good is out to get us. Will we meet it half way? “Secure yourself to heaven. Hold on tight; the night has come. Fasten up your earthly burdens. You have just begun.” (Indigo Girls Lyrics – Okay, I don’t like the lyrics for the rest of this song, but I love the music and the chorus.)

Anne

  Main Article

Conscious Consumption for EZier Living

People who have been hypnotized by the more is better advertising of retail America are waking up from the trance. Stuff is becoming more of a liability than an asset. Everywhere I turn, I hear another friend talking about cleaning up, clearing out, and giving away. People are recognizing that simple is scrumptious. Simplicity, lightening the load, and ease now light the way to a new and better us. It’s the us that no longer has to spend all our time managing, cleaning, and maintaining our stuff.

We are called to lighten our load and also to consciously chose how and what we buy. We can make a difference.

Take the Conscious Consumer Pledge

“I will buy only needed items. I will recycle or gift all things I no longer want or need. I will reduce my plastic consumption. I will not buy Styrofoam items, not only is it a health hazard; it is an environmental nightmare, too. I will reduce my carbon footprint. I will research major purchases to be sure I am making a sound investment. I will buy fair trade items when possible, especially coffee and chocolate. I will support local businesses that give back to the community. I will support the businesses of my friends and family. I will work toward a simpler, EZier life.”

Taking the Conscious Consumer Pledge does not mean we have to do everything perfectly. We more than likely won’t bring personal take out containers for our leftovers when we eat out; we’ll walk out with Styrofoam. We can’t avoid purchasing plastics and items packaged in plastics, but we can refuse to buy plastic gizmos that will land in the garbage within six months of purchase. “Only 4 percent of the world's children live in the US, but Americans buy (and throw away) 40 percent of the world's toys. Buy fewer toys, opt for second-hand versions, and pass down the toys you purchase to others.” (Mercola) Taking the pledge means that we will pay attention to what we are doing and realize that everything we purchase has unintended consequences. The garbage islands of plastic in our oceans are an unintended consequence of buying stuff. No one wants polluted oceans. We aren’t bad people; we just don’t know that what we do and what we buy has such a potent consequence.

This is a new year, and there’s no better way to feel empowered than to make a difference with our purchasing and our refusal to purchase. We vote with our money, and we simplify our lives every time we refuse to drag home stuff we don’t need. Why be a collector? Why not stand before a tree or a rose and drink in the essence, rather than giving in to that brief high we receive when we spend money? Almost nothing, that we really didn’t need, but we bought anyway, six months ago, is something we cherish today. We’ve probably forgotten what it was – a piece of software, a necklace, an extra handsaw we purchased at a knock out price. It’s tough to receive our good when we are so busy consuming our lives that we leave little time to live our lives.

We prepare for our good by creating a mental, emotional, and physical vacuum. Let’s use 2017 as a turning point for a simpler, EZier life and make choices that not only support ourselves, but that support others and our planet. It’s about time. (John Denver song – It’s About Time, one of my favorites.)

Anne

  Quotes

Affirmations for EZier Living

Financial blessings flow everywhere I go.

My mind is an ever-expanding repository of creative ideas.

Quotes

"Unfortunately, a number of our useless activities arise from the erroneous belief that we must do something all the time and that, if we are not busy, something is wrong with us. Yet the practice of silence is a more powerful cause of results than many of the activities we see about us that have no principle."
-- Catherine Ponder

"The lesson is forcibly taught … that our life might be much easier and simpler than we make it; that the world might be a happier place than it is; that there is no need of the struggles, compulsion, and despairs, but the wringing of the hands and the gnashing of the teeth; that we miscreate our own evils. We interfere with the optimism of nature ... we are begirt with laws which execute themselves."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"One of the reasons there is much emphasis on living in the present moment is in part to counter arrogance. In this moment is what is and not what arrogance might want to dictate. Seeing this moment for what it is, without conceit or assumption, is challenging and fruitful. In this moment is the urge to learn and to participate – both of which will break down the barriers of fear which support and perpetuate greed. In this moment is the energy outside of the egoistic inflexibility of arrogance. It’s tough because you will need to ask yourself to live with uncertainty and ambivalence. There are no magical set of steps to follow on your journey which guarantee. Instead, you have the truth of your heart in this moment, here, now."
-- Cheryl Marlene

  Featured Product This Month

Anne's Four Books

Words Make A Difference

Standing in the Dark

EZosophy: The Art and Wisdom of
Easy or At Least Easier Living

Offbeat Prayers for the Modern Mystic

  Healthy Living

Recipes for Happiness

Who doesn’t like to be happy or want to be happy? We love happiness. It’s delightful - magic. We often take on huge projects that we think will make us happier, but the kitchen remodel stresses us out, while life steps in and squashes our plans for happiness. The ego tells us happiness is complicated and won’t show up until some unspecified time in the future. But suppose happiness was simple, ordinary, and easy to access? Happiness is close and we can access it anytime.

Here are some ways to do that:

• Take one arm, wrap around someone you love. Wrap the other arm around them. Hug them. Tell them you love them. If there’s no one at home to hug, be sure to take advantage of social situations and get those hugs. 12 hugs a day make a happier person. Contact with living things makes us happy. Hug your dog or cat.
• Pick up street or road trash with a group of people. It’s fun.
• Play hooky in the middle of the work day and go to the movies (Only do this one time – don’t push it. This is easier if you are self-employed.)
• Put on some of your favorite music from your youth and dance around the house. When done on a regular basis, this stops, and, in some cases, reverses biological aging.
• Serve food to the homeless. Don’t feel sorry for them when you do it; feel gratitude for all you have, and get involved with ending homelessness in your area.
• Practice gratitude.
• Write a future dairy. Write 30 entries for 30 days of happiness. For example, March 1, 2017 – Today I felt more relaxed than I have in a long time. Without much effort, I accomplished a lot more than I expected. I received some unexpected praise from my (husband, boss, friend). I exercised and ate good food today. I met a very interesting person today. I think we will be friends. Write a new world into existence.
• Work in the yard on a sunny day.
• Buy and use essential oils.

Anne

If you have any healthy living tips for the newsletter, send them to me at anne@annegillis.com.

  Anne Talks

Light Meditation

Today's Anne Talk is Light Meditation. Take a few minutes to relax with a guided meditation into the light of who we are. It's short but powerful. Time: 9:24.

  Anne Art

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  Anne's Schedule

All times here are Central Time
unless otherwise specified.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017
5:30-6:45 PM
Words Make a Difference
lecture and book signing
Unity Bookstore, 2929 Unity Drive
Houston, TX 77057
713-782-4050

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You may reach Anne by phone at 281-419-1775 or click the button below to contact Anne by email. Anne is also available to officiate at weddings and funerals.