Ensure Yourself A Lovely Week With The Help Of The Internet!
[ 5 November 2007 ]
I know there are lots of superb ways to improve your week, but when you’re stuck at a desk 5 days out of 7, it can be a bit tough to remember to breathe deeply, splash on some nice perfume or to muster the energy to go to yoga class. But never fear, because the internet is here to help! Here are some things I suggest doing today, so that you have a whole week of treats ahead of you.
Set iCiNG as your homepage!
If you haven’t yet had your fill of my ridiculous mug, that is!
Sign up for Note From The Universe
I know I’ve said it before, but since I last said it, I’ve gained a lot of new readers — who I don’t want to miss out, either! Note From The Universe is a wonderfully inspiring email that arrives Monday to Friday. It’s very encouraging & always makes me feel like I am heading in the right direction. Even the littlest nudges of support have impact! I really look forward to reading mine, & often feel that they are uncannily in sync with what’s happening in my life at that time. Plus, I think Mike Dooley is a good egg!
Create a Twitter account
Even if you don’t use it much, it’s fun to watch people’s lives scroll by in small instalments. I use a little program called Tweetr which sits beneath iTunes on my desktop, & it’s like watching a miniature soap opera. I really like it, & it’s a good way to distract myself when I’m feeling a bit bored or restless.
Sign up for Cupcake
Cupcake is my weekly mailing list, sent out on Thursdays (Australian time). It’s like being part of a secret little club — I share details about my life that don’t make it to the front page of iCiNG, as well as linking to the best articles of the week, blabbing about my current obsessions & sending you the juiciest part of a fortune cookie: the fortune! It’s a fun little thing to receive & lots of people say it is the highlight of their email week, so don’t be shy, sign up today!
Join a restaurant group on Facebook
I’m a member of “Melbourne Restaurants”, & while I barely ever contribute anything to the conversation, I often take their recommendations & have had some fantastic meals because of it. If there’s no local restaurant group for your area on Facebook, then create one & start some conversations! Maybe after perusing the group for a while, make a list of the places that appeal most to you, & make a resolution to eat at one a week/fortnight/month. Turn it into a special treat. Life is so much better when good food is part of it.
Make an uplifting Youtube playlist
...& add in all your favourite clips that make you smile, giggle or feel that everything is right in the world. Then bookmark it & keep it in mind anytime you’re feeling sad or frustrated. It’s incredible the way that a little clip can make you feel so much better.
Sign up for Free Will Astrology
I love Rob Brezsny & his horoscopes are magnificent. They are delightfully eccentric, quixotically realistic — they implore us to be the best that we can be, on our own entirely irrational terms. The best thing about his horoscopes, though, is that even if you don’t believe in that Aries rising Virgo moon stuff, the words that spill from him are applicable to pretty much everyone. When I was working in my last soul-sucking office job, Rob’s emails were, literally, the highlight of my week.
Participate in HugNation
Every Tuesday at 1pm West Coast Time, people across the world tune in to HugNation’s webcast to hear Halcyon speak & then give themselves a hug. It’s a lovely thing, so very positive. Where’s the harm in hugging? As Halcyon says, “Think of it as a sort of prayer — a communal expression of compassion. It is a weekly reminder that we are connected and we all far more similar than we are different.” Love it.
Sign up for SARK’s e-letter
SARK, for those of you who don’t know, is the author of some of the best self-help books I’ve ever seen. She seems to have had the most amazing life, & lives in a magic cottage in San Francisco. Every month, SARK sends out a super e-letter, full of colour & vibrancy & juicyness! It is always inspiring, with fantastic insights into her life & work.
Keep up with Cary Tennis
...The best advice columnist this side of, well, anywhere. I LOVE him. He has a fantastic ability to slice right to the heart of any problem, which is so refreshing because most people only offer surface solutions. Cary writes very regularly — make reading his work part of your daily routine.
Use Google Reader to follow your favourite websites
...& use my recently updated links page to help find them! I really don’t know how I managed to keep up with anything without an RSS reader. It is one of the cleverest, most useful things EVER!
Add your piece to Things I Love Thursday
Gratitude is a marvellous thing. I used to try to make a list of things I appreciated every day in my Moleskine, but often I would come to the end of the day & either forget to do it or neglect to make time for it. I think maybe it was a bit of a tall order! So instead, I created Things I Love Thursday, a fun routine of praising everything I like that you can get involved in too. It makes me feel great & it’s even better to read everyone else’s lists!
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, & creates a vision for tomorrow.” —Melody Beattie
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala
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I’m already feeling brighter! :)
I’m actually incredibly guilty of having the link to your page on that toolbar on Firefox. Eek, I don’t know what to call it, actually, but I click it about 20 times a day just in case there is a new update. I am such a geek. So with that said, hello new frontpage!
Fabulous post, Gala – thank you! You are so good at this, and your website is absolutely my Total Favourite. :-D
Ooh, yay! I just signed up for Cupcake and am signing up for Google & Twitter right now.
This will keep me entertained for hours! ;]
I’ve already signed up for most of the things u
have mentioned! & ur right they really do brighten up your day :D
And im also guilty for visiting your page many a time during the day so i think the homepage idea is luvly
xx strawberri kisses x
hey!! i get all those newsletters delivered to me too.
and holy guacamole! i’m listed in your links! faint
you were already my homepage!
Elizabeth — My bookmark toolbar is: livejournal, facebook, flickr, gmail, last.fm, myspace, google reader, twitter, ebay watchlist, & then a whole lot of iCiNG links. I always click on them when I’m bored, so I understand!
Nadine — Aw, big kisses!
Miri — Yay, glad to be of assistance!
EmmaRose — I wish I knew of more things like the ones I’ve mentioned, but it’s tricky to find things which are consistently positive!
gilda — Of course you are daaaarling, I love your blog!
brody — Awwwwwwwwww! Coo! Blush!
Gala I have the best reply to this ever cse i have been there so amny times i am the “ she keeps falling for bad boys gorl!!!” but can you send me an email telling me how to email you cse im not qutie sure?? do i just put it as a comment or what do i do??? i would love to help this girl cse i have just gotten out of that cycle and found myself a nice boy!! (its in the early stages but hey!!!) but i was in that cycle for about 5 yeasrs and really know everyone can find a nice boy eventually but i have so much advice to deal with the whole how do i show him to my parents thing!!! anyway can you just let me know how get the advice to you???
Cheers pet,
Hannah
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Wow, I already have a bunch of the links you mentioned favorited. and I’m glad you mentioned Hugnation. I just discovered Halcyon and all his sites and he is one of my new role models. and because of you I signed up for the Notes from the Universe and they usually make me smile and some get me really thinking. Hugs!
Great list, Gala. I have so many Notes from the Universe saved in my Inbox, it’s insane…they’re so inspirational. And I made a Twitter account a few days ago, but I thought it would end up being pointless. Now I’m excited to use it! :)
BTW, your Cupcake newsletter is awesome! I DO feel like I’m part of a secret club, LOL! Well, it’s not so secret anymore…anyways, I know you’ve mentioned this before, but I’m dying to know what happened to your “who is your inspiration” Cupcake contest. I was so proud of my entry! :P
Hannah Rose — Just comment on the entry it pertains to, honeypuff!
Mandy — Halcyon is totally awesome, I have been watching his progress for years & he has come so far, it’s really impressive.
Valerie — Ugh, I’m so sorry to tell you this but the contest was for a line of merchandise which is no longer in production! BLARGH! It was taking a really long time to come to fruition, & the girl I was working with lost interest, & then she gained interest again & I lost it! Which sucks so much, because it was going to be really cool. We finally killed the idea about two weeks ago. I should probably add that to a Cupcake broadcast so people know. I feel so bad about it :\ Argh! I have learned my lesson though, which is that you should never announce anything until you have it in your hand, because if it gets screwed up somewhere down the line, you just look like an unreliable dork… :\
So Australians use the phrase “West Coast Time?” What am I missing? The USA is not the center of the universe! Hee hee. (I’m from the USA myself, so I’m allowed to say that, right?) What about the Australian West Coast? Not to be picking nits, but this is really of interest to me! Do all you lovelies of the world just know what West Coast time means?? I guess I am just not very international.
thanks 4 the Google Reader tip, it changed may life
Thanks Miss Gala, first time I have left a comment!!! I think your fantastic….just signed up for ‘cupcake’ and Twitter…oohh the hours of fun!
For some reason I didn’t know Cupcake existed until now! I have just signed up, and I’m so looking forward to getting the weekly emails. You always just make me feel so positive about myself; I can’t get enough. :D
Hey Gala!
Do you know how to make those, umm… newsletters{?} into RSS feeds for Google Reader. I am pretty sure that it’s possible, but I can’t figure out how. Thanks!
BTW: I <3 Google Reader. I have been using it for awhile & it changed my life too, D!
Awh thanks Gala, I feel better already! And I’ve had a pretty terrible weekend (read my blog). So, muchas gracias bonita!
here is an awesome community on lj that i’ve recently fallen in love with, if you’d like to check it out:
http://community.livejournal.com/lovely_living/
it’s soo helpful and calming :)
p.s. i love freewill astrology!
Google Reader is SO good :-D
I’ve only been using it for a week or so and already have NO IDEA how I lived without it!
i lurve google reader! and i just joined your mailing list.. yey! x
Your blogs always make my day :]. Thank you for you!
I already Twitter like there is no tomorrow and have following you for a while now (oh god, Twitter makes everyone sound like a dirty stalker).
How great is Halcyon?! I used to see his occasional pink-haired pics on the LJ Pretty in Pink hair community back when I had neon locks.
P
x
I so enjoyed this post, Gala. I’m not signed up to the majority of what you’ve suggested so I’m going to have a great time following these links. After all, internet distraction is my favourite hobby!!
Aaah! Even more goodies from the internet! Thank you for all the tips! :-)
i signed up for notes from the universe and just got my first email from it. it was scarilly true and related exactly to a problem im facing right now – IM FREAKED OUT!! :O and excited to see what comes from it for the remainder of the week.
You guys CUTE ME OUT!!! AHHHH!! Hearts all round!
If anyone is a Mac-user (as I know Gala is g): Install Leopard!
It is an absolutely breathtaking thing, a delight for every designer, a brilliant step towards easygoing work and sharing things easily with friends. I love it!
Everything works much faster, so I can spend much more time on galadarling.com :)
And as much as youtube is concerned, search for “cat man do” and “kitty cat dance”.
These two videos always make me happy and will do for you too.
Hugs for everyone!!!
Nelly
Thanks to emily for posting the Lovely Living site – Its so gorgeous. I’ll certainly add it to my daily reads.
Gala, your site is the second I click on (my homepage is google, I check my facebook and then it’s straight to you bah-bee!) and I have found so many inspirational links here – photographers, designers, life advice, fashion and just things that are good for the soul.
I also have to recommend searching for groups on Flickr – groups like moleskinism and notebookism are truly inspirational.
PS: I just bought two moleskins on Ebay due to your influence. I am so looking forward to getting them!
Thanks for all the lovely, lovely links and suggestions! Since I work from home right now (and am really hoping to continue to), I like to find little things to distract me occasionally and make me feel a little more connected to others around me. :)
Hope you’re having a lovely Monday, Gala! :)
I signed up for cupcake because you’re just about one of the most splendiforous things on the internet, no doubt!
I think you’ll have to go in my heroes on myspace now…
you lucky devil ;)
xxx
Signing up for Notes from the Universe and Cupcake. (yay!)
I use Bloglines.com as my RSS feeder. It’s nice because you can clip the blogposts you want to save.
Hehe, I’m already signed up to most of those. I’m reluctant to join Twitter, because I think it’ll be a bit one-sided, no-one will want to stalk me!
hey Gala, do you read michigirl?
if you dont already I think you’d love it. Everyday you get a wonder-filled email with Melbourne’s weather forecast, a beautiful Kat McLeod illustration, Michi’s incredible wit and a must-buy item!
http://michigirl.com.au/
gah! signed up for note from the universe//
best thing i ever did/
thank you, Gala//
I have no words to thank you for this, Gala! This has been, by far, one of the most stressful weeks of my entire year. My bosses left on a trip and pretty much buried me in work (phone calls, errands, e-mails…)! It’s hard to pay attention to the beauties life has to offer when you’re trying to juggle 10 different things at the same time…
I subscribed to the “Notes from the universe” newsletter and so far it’s been great, THANKS AGAIN. ;)