Social Media Fun

Little Pleasures… a journal writing session

Published May 13, 2013 | By Debra

Tonight’s journal writing exercise is a fun one… life’s little pleasures. Not the big stuff (or perhaps the little stuff is the big stuff…), but the little things that truly make life and daily existence worthwhile.

Writing in our journals is a wonderful chance to focus on things we love.

Remember, what we focus on grows.

What we appreciate, appreciates.

Life’s little pleasures is one of those things that just makes it all worthwhile, y’know? I even have a Pinterest Board devoted to life’s little pleasures.

What little things put a smile on your face? Little things that you look forward to? Your guilty little pleasures…? Hmmm? It’s okay. This is a safe place to share.

As always (or most of the time at least), I will start my own entry and then you write too. I invite you all to comment at the end of your post to share a few of your little pleasures. It is fun to share with each other.

Ready to start? I know I am! Let’s see…

Little Pleasures…

1. The sound of the birds singing as I sit here on my back patio writing in the early evening…

2. The smell of my roses interwoven with the honey suckles that are in full bloom right now this wonderful May evening. I am breathing the intoxicating fragrance now as I write this…

3. Going for a walk and saying hello to the friendly neighbors (I live in the South and everybody is so nice and friendly here)!

4. Being out in public and enjoying the babies and toddlers (I remember when my children were that little once and it makes me happy to remember those precious days)

5. Knowing I have a great dinner planned for my family (I love to cook)!

6. My back patio garden.

7. My first cup of coffee in the morning.

8. When we first turn off the light, melting into my husband’s arms and resting my head on “my spot” (his shoulder) that is just right.. and falling asleep…

Your turn, Dear friends. I am not by any means through with my entry. This is a really fun one. Enjoy and remember to share a few little pleasures on your list with all of us by commenting in… don’t be shy now…

Much love and peace to all of you. I am so glad we are sharing a sweet sliver of this life journey together.

Debra

Keeping a Healthy Perspective on our Social Media Use

Published February 20, 2013 | By Debra

Social media can be a wonderful place when you are challenged with anxiety and insomnia. On sites like Facebook and Twitter, you can find:

1. a positive community ready to support you
2. Lot’s of good information
3. a way to relax

I am a huge fan of Social Media. I love it for the above three reasons, it has helped me build a readership for The Warm Milk Journal, and I just think it is a lot of fun.

That said, a healthy perspective is necessary. Moderation and self-regulation is important to prevent social media use from creating more harm than good.

If we find ourselves on it too much, that is not a good thing for our well-being and sleep. The addictive quality (especially when one has a smartphone), the need for validation,etc. can get us caught up too much in it. The result will be anxiety, an ill, weird feeling that we are wasting our lives, and our relationships may suffer too.

We don’t want that do we?

To keep a healthy perspective in regards to our social media use,

I recommend:

1. Not bringing your phone everywhere

2. Don’t let virtual relationships with people you meet online replace flesh and blood relationships

3. Take a social media sabbatical once in a while. You won’t believe how much you will recharge if you take a week or at least a couple of days entirely off.

4. If you use it late at night, be sure it is only relaxing activities that you do (nothing too work related).

In Peace,

Debra

Our Top Twenty Warm Milk Journal Posts for 2012!

Published December 30, 2012 | By Debra

Yes, 2012 is almost over. It has been a great year. I wish to thank you for all of your support these past twelve months. Out site has grown so much. It is my wish that we continue to support you in our mission of:

To live a well balanced, rewarding life of our dreams by day and sleep restfully at night.

I know we have about a day and a half of 2012 remaining, but I would like to share with you the twenty posts that got the most views these past 365 days. The most viewed page was not a post, but our home page (with over 30,00 views).

Here is the countdown of our most popular posts for 2012 (not including the home page).

20. Anxiety and dealing with our fear bubbles: 3 approaches to take

19. An affirmation for insomnia from Louise Hay’s “Heal your Body”

18. Hot Bedtime Drinks

17. Top Ten Ways To Make Friends On Twitter, One Tweet At A Time

16. Morning Prayer

15. This morning’s intention and prayer

14. Lying in bed and can’t sleep? Here’s what to do…

13. A simple goodnight prayer

12. Two Evening Prayers from Marianne Williamson’s Illuminata

11. Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today- A Cherokee Proverb. Being present and in The Now to have magnificent days and restful nights.

And now for the top ten:

10. “Listen to Your Parents!”, advises Paige Wyatt of The Discovery Channel’s Reality TV show: American Guns. An exclusive interview

Wyatt PR

9. Footsteps In The Sand

8. Are you a people pleaser? People pleasing leads to anxiety, worry, and loss of sleep

7. A Prayer For This Morning

6. Tweet others the way you want to be tweeted: 15 lessons I’ve learned on Twitter

5. When it’s raining outside, drink wine (or make lemonade): Ten ideas on dealing with disappointment

4. Two Bible Verses Good For Sleep

3. Over thinking causes anxiety and insomnia. Here are seven ways to get off the over thinking treadmill.

2. A morning coffee time prayer from Marianne Williamson’s Illuminata: A New Day

The drum roll please… the most popular post for 2012 (and all time) is:

1. A short morning prayer for this new day

I hope you have enjoyed this countdown. Thank you for visiting.

In Peace,

Debra

How Twitter can help you sleep better at night

Published November 24, 2012 | By Debra

Yes, you read that right. Being on Twitter helps me sleep well at night. Before you begin to think I have gone completely off my rocker, let me explain.

First of all, like everything else in life, moderation is key. I am not advocating that we should be on our computers or posting Tweets 24/7. Nor do I believe that any communication or relationships we form online should replace real in-person contact with people,

That said, anyplace where we find ourselves affirmed and supported is a good place to be. I know I sleep better and have less anxiety when I feel supported.

For me, Twitter helps me in many ways such as:

1. Finding a place where supportive people cheer me on daily

2. If I need to find out anything, I just need to ask.

3. Find my voice and my audience

4. Connect with people of similar values and interests

5. finding something that tickles my funny bone for a good laugh

6. Network with people and businesses for The Warm Milk Journal

I am also on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram and those sites are nice too. The difference is while I may have hundreds of people with me on those other sites, I have at this writing 15,130 followers on Twitter.

If you have never tried Twitter, give it a try. It’s easy to open up a free account and get started. If Twitter is not your cup of tea, I do hope that if you have anxiety and insomnia issues, you have a solid network of support in place for yourself.

I remember when I was younger and a stay at home mom in the Seattle area, it was very important that I had those friends, family, and opportunities to get out of the house and be a part of the community. You never need to feel alone.

In Peace,

Debra

Does the use of social media cause us social media anxiety?

Published September 13, 2012 | By Debra

We are “plugged in” now more than ever before. It is not only emails that we have to keep up with. Now we also have our various social media accounts with Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and more.

Is all this time on social media good for our social lives and well being or is it becoming harmful to our mental health?

In other words:

Are we thriving or do we wish to crawl into our caves as a result of all this social media exposure?

With moderation, I believe it is the former! As many of you know, I do love it here on the internet. It has been great fun developing this site and interacting with all of you. I also enjoy my time on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. I find all of these sites to be fine platforms to connect with other people, promote your business and cause, and just simply to relax and unwind.

I can, understand, however, why spending time on these sites can give one anxiety. If we are not careful, we can get kind of “sucked in” and feel too plugged in. That is not a good feeling.

Here are a few signs that may tip you off that you are spending too much time on social media:

1. You are at the beach, park, or a romantic restaurant with your spouse and you are on your phone posting and tweeting…

2. You are getting a headache from being on the computer, phone, or tablet too much

3. You are bringing your laptop, tablet, or smartphone to bed with you.

4. You can’t just enjoy an experience such as a book, magazine article, concert, movie, or just sitting in your backyard without blogging, tweeting, or posting about it.

5. You are worrying about what you posted or tweeted and this is causing you anxiety and loss of sleep.

6. You are bringing your phone into the bathroom with you.

Photo credit monkeywong.com

Any of these above behaviors do have the potential to make you anxious, an insomniac, give you a headache and just a “blah” feeling.

How do we,then, enjoy social media without succumbing to “social media anxiety” and total burnout?

I have a few suggestions:

1. If you are the owner of a smartphone, don’t bring it everywhere with you. Yes, that means actually letting it stay upstairs in your bedroom charging while you and your family are enjoying dinner and a movie downstairs. You can leave it off during your work day and it can stay in the car when you and hubby go out to dinner….

2. Schedule times of the day that will be your time for social media. I find if I don’t do this, tweeting and posting can take over my day!

3. Don’t fret about not posting and tweeting something every minute of your day. Let your friends and followers miss you a bit (it will get their attention when you do plug back in).

4. Tweet and post things with care. Be careful if drinking or emotionally charged. Always reread for typos, etc. Always ask yourself: would I want my boss, children, mom, customers to see this? Does this communication represent me the way I want it to? Following this advice should prevent a lot of suffering, anxiety, and just plain “oops”! What have I done? (not the best stuff for a good night of sleep).

5. Social media should be fun. If you find yourself getting bored, burned out, or developing a headache.. take a break!(some of my highest traffic numbers have happened when I was out of town unplugged)

I think it might be time for a bath now…

In peace,
Debra

Using color meditation to go to sleep quickly

Published August 9, 2012 | By Debra

When you are ready to go to sleep or if you have been woken up in the middle of the night, the last thing you want is for your mind to start thinking about the events of the day or worries, etc.

A simple technique that I use is color meditation. It is easy and quite effective. When you are wanting to go to sleep, think of a color that is soothing for you.

I always use blue because it is my favorite color and I find it to be very pleasing and soothing. Enjoy images of anything of that particular color that come into your mind. I think of all things blue. If I notice my mind wandering a bit, I will even think to myself, the word “blue”.

I am asleep in no time. Try it. It really works!

In peace,

Debra

P.S. If you find the color blue soothing like I do, you may check out my Pinterest board, “A study in blue” for some blue inspiration

You know you’re a Twitter addict when… part 2

Published June 25, 2012 | By Debra

I thought it would be fun this morning to poke fun at myself and anybody else out there who is crazy about Twitter.

You know you are one of those Twitterholics if…

1. You tweet in your sleep while dreaming

2. The main thing set on your smartphone is your Twitter account (which you check throughout the day when you are not at your computer. Wait, I take that back, even when you are at your computer).

3. You accidentally use # hashtags and @ when communicating on Facebook

4. Your self esteem is measured by the amount of followers, retweets, replies you receive, and lists you are put on

5. You know more about what is going on in pop culture than your teenaged kid

6. You’re one of the first to know when a storm is coming

7. You feel worldly because of all your international tweeps

8. If you are excited about something, you tweet it.

9. If you feel sad, you seek solace and support with your friends on Twitter

10. You’re still Twittering in the kitchen at night while cooking a several course meal…you tweet between putting the chicken in the oven and cutting the vegetables. Now that’s real multi-tasking when you are…

addicted to Twitter!

Have a fun day!

Debra

4.

Creating a Prayer Board (I recommend doing one on Pinterest)

Published June 2, 2012 | By Debra

We have talked about keeping a prayer journal. Another great way to connect to God and our spiritual lives is to create a prayer board. A prayer board is a visual representation of our values, our beliefs, our hopes, our desires, the things we need help with, etc.

You can use a scrapbook, any kind of poster board, or even online. There are vision board programs out there and there is of course, Pinterest which I think is the perfect medium for creating your prayer board.

On Pinterest you can “pin” anything you want. It can be a scripture, a spiritual quote, and image that has meaning for you. You can get inspired from other people’s boards. There are some beautiful things posted on Pinterest.

I have started a prayer board on Pinterest and I find it to be a very relaxing, centering, and affirming activity. It puts me in touch with the good things in my life. I highly recommend it.

What we focus on grows!

In peace,

Debra

You know you’re a Twitter addict, Part 1…

Published May 19, 2012 | By Debra

When writing, blogging, and reaching out to others in this day and age, one makes lot’s of discoveries along the way. One fun adventure for me has been my time spent networking and goofing off on Twitter.

I just set my intentions for this day and one of them is to laugh more. In that spirit, I thought it would be fun this morning to poke fun of myself and others who love Twitter.

So here it is…

You know you are a Twitter addict if you:

1. Replace your morning newspaper time with Twitter.

2. Your kids are scheming up ways to hide your laptop, iPad, or Smartphone.

3. You begin to think of people as “Tweeple”.

4. The universe is now the “Twitterverse”.

5. You think of interesting subjects in terms of hashtags (#)

6. When you experience something interesting, you immediately have the impulse to share it on Twitter.

7. Famous quotes are constantly swimming around in your head.

8. You feel quite impressed with yourself for you know the breaking news before anyone else

9. You can compose a 140 character count message in your sleep.

10. You love Facebook but you have a secret snobby belief that “real people” are on Twitter.

That’s it for now. I can’t wait to publish this post so I can get it out on Twitter as quick as possible!

Happy Tweeting!

Debra

Collecting things we love makes us happy!

Published March 15, 2012 | By Debra

Do you like to collect things?

I’m not talking about the “packrat”, clutter, don’t throw anything away type of collecting…

But rather creating a group of special things. Treasures…

I can remember being a young child growing up on the island of Oahu and having the most wonderful seashell collection that I found myself snorkeling at various favorite beaches. There was such a great variety in these shells. I would on a regular basis dump my collection out on our coffee table in the living room and go about sorting and classifying all of the beautiful varieties of shells I had.

I also had a sticker collection, stamp collection, marble collection, doll collection, barbie doll collection, stuffed animal collection, t-shirt collection, 45 record collection, cassette tape collection, book collection, a grand jewelery collection made up of puka shells, jade, turquois, and pearls…

Although they weren’t my own I so enjoyed my little brother’s Lego, tinker toy, erector set, Sizzler cars, model airplanes, and toy parachute collections.

As an adult I continued with my collection passion: recipes, photos, journals, books, candles, plants, etc.

What is it about the cultivating and caring for collections of things that brings about so much pure joy?

I believe I know the answer.

When we are collecting something we love, our little “treasures”, we are focused on something positive that gives us delight and pleasure. We are in the NOW when we are with our collections. Our minds are calm and in the flow. We are creators. We are curators of beautiful, wondrous things…

I think that is why sites such as Pinterest are becoming popular. We love to focus on things we love. I remember about ten years ago when my kids were small how popular scrap booking was.

There is a lesson here:

Focus on what we love, what gives us pleasure. That’s it. Simple.

The more we can follow this simple advice the happier and more joy-filled our lives will be.

What can you do now in you busy adult life to focus on and “collect” the treasures that have meaning for you?

Just a few ideas to get you started (for I have no doubt you will come up with your own)…

1. Writing favorite “lists” is a terrific journal writing activity that will make us feel pretty happy very fast. Think: Favorite places, favorite movies, favorite places to kiss, favorite places to have a wedding, you name it. We love lists and there is a reason for that: lists of things we love makes us happy! Simple, right?

2. Open an account at Pinterest and start creating boards of your favorite things. It is simply irresistble. You will love it once you get started.

3. Organize your photos online or in traditional photo albums.

4. Scrapbooks can be great fun.

5. Art. Whatever you can afford, begin an art collection of pieces that move you.

6. Gardening. Grow and care for a collection of plants! Herb gardens, window box gardens, container gardens, vegetable gardens, wildflower gardens, “night time” gardens full of blooms that open and are fragrant at night, rose gardens, spring bulb gardens, etc… growing different kinds of gardens are a great way of growing beautiful collections that are alive and part of nature. This type of “collecting” will feed the soul and spirit for sure. No wonder gardening is so popular.

I will stop here for I am sure you have plenty ideas of your own. Feel free to comment here and add to the post your ideas.

In peace,

Debra

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