My Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life

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January 23, 2011
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“A Lifetime Can Well Be Spent Correcting and Improving One’s Own Faults Without Bothering About Others.”

Edwardweston

“A lifetime can well be spent correcting and improving one’s own faults without bothering about others.”
– Edward Weston, Daybooks, February 4, 1928

I love Weston’s photography, and I love reading his written work. If you want to learn more about Weston, a fascinating, gorgeous book is Edward Weston: The Flame of Recognition (Aperture Monograph).

* A thoughtful reader sent me the link to Crazy Aunt Purl — “the true-life diary of a thirty-something, newly divorced, displaced Southern obsessive-compulsive knitter who has four cats. (Because nothing is sexier than a divorced woman with four cats.)” Funny stuff!

* Join the happiness discussion on Facebook. Lots of interesting conversation there.

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  • Peninith1

    I count this as one of the MOST helpful truths I’ve ever learned. In the twelve step world this is known as ‘taking your own inventory [of faults and unproductive behaviors] before you take anyone else’s.’ A way of implementing it is to agree with yourself to accept that 50% of any problem in a relationship is your contribution, and work on whatever you can manage to perceive as falling into your ‘half.’ If you don’t waste time figuring out whether you contribute 5% or 85%, but just work on whatever you can improve, you would be astonished at what can happen. Hard to do? Yep. But totally worth it.

  • Jimbenvie

    26. O SON OF BEING!
    How couldst thou forget thine own faults and busy thyself with the faults of others? Whoso doeth this is accursed of Me.

    (Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)

  • Timaree

    There are so many ways to say this. Walk a mile in the other person’s shoes and so on but we keep forgetting this lesson or at least, I tend to. A reminder is always good.

    I’ve read Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair and enjoyed it thoroughly.

  • http://www.mind-meditations.com Rachel

    So true! But I guess it’s ‘human nature to find it easier to fix other people’s problems than to fix our own.

  • Meghan

    I LOVE that you linked to Crazy Aunt Purl! Her blog is one of my top 3 – along with yours and Ivyleagueinsecurities.com

  • http://twitter.com/jenzings Jen Zingsheim

    Crazy Aunt Purl is one of my favorites too. Her book/blog and your blog helped me a great deal when I was going through my divorce. You’re both awesome!

  • http://nomorefrump.blogspot.com Annie Petersen

    I’ve discovered that when one seeks to correct the faults of another, it’s often that “fault” is reflective in that person too. Similarly, the parts of our parents we dislike is often the parts we don’t want to take on ourselves, but have whether we like it or not.

    This Crazy Aunt Purl sounds fun. I have a friend who doesn’t have a blog but she calls herself Aunt Maxine. A Christmas card picture, for fun, one year had her on a front porch in a rocking chair in a bathrobe, holding a box of wine, making a snarly face… in the snow. It cracked me up.

  • http://AdriansCrazyLife.com Adrian

    I spent about an hour going through the affirmations in the Happiness toolbox. I picked the ones that had the most meaning for me and pasted them into a Word document. I ended up with about 50 of them and I found some of them extremely helpful.

  • Gail

    I have no idea if anyone else has said this to you before: You are providing cognitive therapy for the masses. I think it is wonderful. Unfortunately only people who are ready to take it will be able to do so but that is a lot of people. Such a great accomplishment from one human being.

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