Lyrics: Can you surry, can you picnic, whoa? Can you surry, can you picnic? Come on, come on and surry down to a stoned soul picnic Surry down to a stoned soul picnic There’ll be lots of time and wine Red yellow honey, sassafras and moonshine Red yellow honey, sassafras and moonshine Stoned soul, stoned soul, whoa Come on, come on and surry down to a stoned soul picnic Surry down to a stoned soul picnic Rain and sun come in again And from the sky come the Lord and the lightning And from the sky come the Lord and the lightning Stoned soul, stoned soul Surry on, soul Surry, surry, surry, surry There’ll be trains of blossoms (There’ll be trains of blossoms) There’ll be trains of music (There’ll be music) There’ll be trains of trust, trains of golden dust Come along and surry on, sweet trains of thought, surry on down Can you surry, can you surry, can you surry? Surry down to a stoned soul picnic Surry down to a stoned soul picnic There’ll be lots of time and wine Red yellow honey, sassafras and moonshine (Red yellow honey) Red yellow honey, sassafras and moonshine, moonshine Stoned soul, yeah Surry on, soul Surry, surry, surry, surry Surry, surry, surry, surry Surry, surry, surry, surry
“Perhaps loving something is the only starting place there is for making your life your own.”
Alice Koller (American Writer and Academic; September 13, 1925 ~ )
“It should be straightforward, this knowing what we love. But it seldom is. After decades of letting other people influence us—…The only opinion that counts from now on is your own.”
“Be open to authentic aspirations.”
“Remember this is the year for asking questions. The most essential one we can ask is: what is it I truly love?”
“Trust that your authentic life will unfold naturally and with grace.”
Sea Turtles off the coast of Cristobal, Galapagos (2026)
“I got my resume done and applied for both positions. I reached out to my connection for a referral/recommendation. I feel accomplished.” (Heather Houston (2-2-26)
“Knowing what you love or what your style is comes with exposure and time. I didn’t grow up on a household with matching furniture, that was for those with privilege. I didn’t have sisters to chat and share my interests with. I have found that practicality wins most of the time. However, I have lately been feeling the urge to expand myself into my self expression with what I wear. I think visiting a clothing store might be in my cards in the next few weeks. I intend to begin assembling a few pieces that speak to who I am and the style I enjoy.” (Heather Houston 2-2-26)
–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 36-37 of 501.
I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.
“I am thankful my husband reminded me to begin the days with alternating hot and cold packs on my biopsy site. Amazing how this helps the circulation and lymph system clear the bruising.” (Heather Houston 2-1-26)
“I am grateful we got our Costco shopping done earlier in the day so we could relax the balance of our Sunday together.” (Heather Houston 2-1-26)
“I appreciate my husband helping break up the proteins we purchased into meal sizes so we could freeze them for future use.” (Heather Houston 2-1-26)
“I am blessed to live in a time with readily access to food items from around the word. Affording us an opportunity to create delicious exotic meals. It is my little way of traveling without leaving my kitchen.” (Heather Houston 2-1-26)
“I am thankful my husband’s imagination in the kitchen tonight made a yummy pizza for dinner. He used his famous ‘green sauce’ as a base and it came out fantastic.” (Heather Houston 2-1-26)
“I am grateful for the laughter between myself and my swimmers as I egged them on to start their workout in the freezing pool water🥶. I’m a sadistic coach.” (Heather Houston 2-1-22)
“I appreciate my partner listening to me as I vent stress of my uncertainty and ongoing “To Do” list. He is so patient with me.”♥️ (Heather Houston 2-1-22)
“I am thankful for a light dinner of bao dumplings and beer.” (Heather Houston 2-1-22)
“I appreciate the movie alignment with my partner as we watched Gandhi…again. Just love this flick!” (Heather Houston 2-1-22)
“I am blessed to have drifted off to sleep so quickly last night as I was wiped out.” (Heather Houston 2-1-22)
Lyrics: When I think about the good love you gave me I cry like a baby Livin’ without you is drivin’ me crazy I cry like a baby Well, I know now that you’re not a play thing Not a toy or a puppet on a string As I look back on a love so sweet now I cry like a baby Every road is a lonely street I cry like a baby I know now that you’re not a play thing Not a toy or a puppet on a string Today we passed on the street And you just walked on by My heart just fell to my feet And once again I began to cry When I think about the good love you gave me I cry like a baby (Cry like a baby) Livin’ without you is drivin’ me crazy I cry like a baby (Cry like a baby) I know now that you’re not a play thing I cry like a baby (Just like a little bitty baby now) As I look back on a love so sweet now I cry like a baby (Just like a little bitty baby now) Every road is a lonely street I cry like a baby (Cry like a baby) My heart just fell to my feet, you know I cried like a baby (Cry like a baby) You left the water runnin’ now (Cry like a baby) I cried like a baby (Cry like a baby)
Walter Whitman (American Poet, Essayist and Journalist; May 31st, 1819 ~ March 26th, 1892)
“Creative excursions are regular solo rendezvous with your authentic self designed for this purpose. In the beginning of any intimate relationship the best gift you can offer another person is the investment of quality time together. So it is with your authentic self.”
“When you embark on creative excursions, your authentic self will lovingly reveal to you the beautiful mystery that is you. This occurs spontaneously as you make the pursuit of personal growth a sacred endeavor.”
“Creative excursions require an investment of time, not money.”
“…once we realize that nurturing our imaginations and developing a relationship with our authentic selves is an investment we can no longer afford to put off.”
“Well, wouldn’t you know it, I did it again. Putting off what I should do. UGH! No more. Working on my resume now!!!” (Heather Houston 2-1-22)
“I have added a weekly creative excursion to my calendar on Fridays so I an reconnect to my authentic self and pay amends to her for not nurturing this part of her deep desire. This could be anything that will dedicate time to my authentic self…small or large…alone or with my husband. The point is to take time each week to acknowledge and feed my soul. It feels a bit selfish, and I am learning to put myself first after a lifetime of placing myself last or not at all. I am blessed my husband supports me in this general idea of filling my cup first before filling others. Part of this commitment will include rewatching or watching for the first time films throughout my lifetime. I think rewatching these films will bring up fond memories of times in the past as well as seeing them newly with my new outlook on life.” (Heather Houston 2-1-26)
–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 35-36 of 501.
I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.
“I appreciate my husband committed to feeding Genevieve or sourdough starter so I could use a portion of her to make buttermilk sourdough pancakes for breakfast.” (Heather Houston 1-31-26)
“I am thankful Arsenal beat Leeds in today in the EPL. Go Gunners!” ⚽️(Heather Houston 1-31-26)
“I am blessed to have a family who connects with me in meaningful ways.” (Heather Houston 1-31-26)
“I appreciate the green sauce my husband made for our steak dinner tonight…scrumptious!” (Heather Houston 1-31-26)
“I am thankful my husband has a similar sense of humor and gets me.” (Heather Houston 1-31-26)
“I am thankful I got all my monthly reports submitted…on time.” (Heather Houston 1-31-22)
“I appreciate the banter my swim athlete had with me at practice. It added to our relatedness as coach and athlete.” (Heather Houston 1-31-22)
“I am thankful for the young soldier who waited to hold the door open for me at the gym. Very polite gentleman.” (Heather Houston 1-31-22)
“I am thankful for a partner who will hear me bitch and complain about a frustrating work scenario. He supports me through thick and thin.” (Heather Houston 1-31-22)
“I am grateful to my partner for helping me review, test drive and potentially purchase my first car ever. Daunting experience, but with him in my corner, I feel confident.” (Heather Houston 1-31-22)
Lyrics: Young girl Get out of my mind My love for you is way out of line Better run, girl You’re much too young, girl With all the charms of a woman You’ve kept the secret of your youth You led me to believe you’re old enough To give me love And now it hurts to know the truth Woah, oh, oh Young girl Get out of my mind My love for you is way out of line You’d better run, girl You’re much too young, girl Beneath your perfume and make-up You’re just a baby in disguise And though you know That it’s wrong to be Alone with me That ‘come on’ look is in your eyes Woah, oh, oh Young girl Get out of my mind My love for you is way out of line Better run, girl You’re much too young, girl So hurry home to your mama I’m sure she wonders where you are Get out of here Before I have the time To change my mind ‘Cause I’m afraid we’ll go too far Woah, oh, oh Young girl Get out of my mind My love for you is way out of line You’d better run, girl You’re much too young, girl Young girl Get out of my mind My love for you is way out of line You’d better run, girl You’re much too young, girl Young girl Get out of my mind
“Almost always it is year by year the complexities of this spinning world grow bewildering and so each year we need all the more to seek peace and comfort in the joyful simplicities.”
Woman’s Home Companion (December 1935)
“As we become curators of our own contentment on the Simple Abundance path, one of the great payoffs is that we start to seek peace and comfort in the joyful simplicities. Little things begin to mean a lot to us. Joyful simplicities nourish body and soul by engaging our senses. They teach us how to live in the present moment. Life comes together when we seek out the sublime in the ordinary.”
“To keep our daily round from being all drudgery, we’ve got to savor the art of the small: discovering diminutive delights that bring us peace and pleasure.”
“Don’t you see how we have to seize the essence of life? We have to embrace every moment.”
“People need joy quite as much as clothing. Some of them need it far more.”
Margaret Collier Graham (California short story writer; September 29th, 1850 ~ January 17th, 1910)
“Today, make discovering those joyful simplicities that bring you personal comfort and a sense of well-being one of your highest priorities.”
“I am procrastinating lately. My soul is screaming for me to nourish it with my creative expression in my blog, while my revamp of my resume sits in waiting. UGH! I am caught up on my blog and feel complete. I choose now to focus on my resume to market myself for the positions I want to seek. It is funny, today I was chatting with my co-worker, Dave, and shared with him some insight on our current contract salary. Between the 3-year and 5-year contract, we only received a .5% raise. So, if we assume COLA is expected, by the end of the cumulative 8-years, we will be making 29.5% less than when we started 8-year prior. Really is upsetting. Enough procrastinating…onto the needed work on my resume. I am committed to creating abundance in my life.” (Heather Houston 1-31-26)
“In the present state of the US, it is imperative to stay employed if possible. These are very uncertain times. I have come to learn to not drudge my daily tasks. Instead, I look forward to them and checking them off my list feeling productive and complete. Most tasks are associated with keeping the household running and because I love my partner, completing tasks like these are a loving gesture to us both. Reframing how you look at things you get to do (Tasks), is a genuine pleasure of being alive. The alternative is not so pleasant. Stop waiting to live…LIVE NOW!” (Heather Houston 1-31-26)
–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 32 of 501.
I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.
“Grateful for my husband encouraging me to stay home from work to further recover from my biopsy. Just completely worn out. Thanks babe!”❤️ (Heather Houston 1-30-26)
“I appreciate my supervisor’s response when I notified him I needed to take a sick day. ‘I’m glad you’re taking time to rest and heal. Please don’t worry about any of the meetings, and no apologies necessary. We should build a culture where we start with the value of taking care of ourselves and each other, and everything else will get done.’l (Heather Houston 1-30-26)
“I am so very thankful my biopsy histology results came back negative for cancer. I’m so relieved!” (Heather Houston 1-30-26)
“I appreciate celebrating the news of no cancer with a dram of Laphroaig Quarter Cask Single Malt Scotch with my love.” (Heather Houston 1-30-26)
“Thankful for a husband always in my corner loving me HARD!” (Heather Houston 1-30-26)
“I am thankful to sleep in with my partner on a lazy Sunday.” (Heather Houston 1-30-22)
“I am blessed to have a partner as goofy as myself. He woke up and said “I’m hungry, let’s have French Dips for breakfast.” BRILLIANT!!!” (Heather Houston 1-30-22)
“I appreciate our walks to the store together with our dog Kiva. I feel so European to walk to the market and shop for the dinner meal.” (Heather Houston 1-30-22)
“I am thankful that I found my reusable shopping bag as I dropped it at a crosswalk on the way to the market. Remarkably, it was there when we walked back.” (Heather Houston 1-30-22)
“I am grateful for my partner indulging me on my desire to make a chicken dish from another random country. Today was Mussakhan from Jordan. It was absolutely beautiful!” (Heather Houston 1-30-22)
My Distilled Life 