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Welcome! If this is your first visit or if you’ve been here before but haven’t had a chance to subscribe, would love to have you as a part of the Thought Changer community which has moved to Substack! Just sign up in the box to the left. You’ll get a welcome email from me at Substack. Don’t forget to click the confirmation link. Thought Changer looks at everyday life metaphors. We explore new ways to think about what we do, improve our mindset and live more consciously. And, if something moves you, please share! Thank you and enjoy this Thought Changer.

Some thoughts, and perhaps thought changers, on one my least favorite places to be: Indecision. Indecision is the enemy of spontaneity. Indecision is the enemy of the artist. Indecision is the downfall of the parent. Indecision is the downfall of fruition. Indecision is a self-imposed prison. Indecision is the enemy of invention. In fact, indecision cripples invention. It cripples marriage proposals, cripples IPO’s, cripples education, cripples war. And, peace. The very nature of indecisiveness stunts the very nature. Where would we be if Mother Nature couldn’t make up her mind? Would an apple tree become a river? Would an ant be dissatisfied with being an ant? Would an albatross wish it were a hummingbird? Would a sunflower decide to stay in bed? If Mother Nature waffled and just couldn’t make the definitive decision that everything in nature has its predetermined role to play, where would we be? Where would we… Read more →

I often a word card to focus my daily journaling, and many times that then leads to a blog post. The word recently was Efficiency. So apropos, particularly lately as I find myself sometimes scattered in my writing commitments. Efficiency: to be efficient, to work tidily, concise, linear. Okay, there was probably a divine hand intervening as I chose a card this day! As a creative, living in her right brain world, I often ponder the notion of efficiency. It can be a challenge in there, inside my right brain dwelling. Some rooms, if you will, are more colorful, whimsical and intricately imagined than the one before it. And, then many of the rooms are partially furnished, need paint on the walls and proper lighting. Some are dimly lit, or even completely dark. Sometimes the right brain is like Hearst’s Castle – winding staircases that lead to staircases on the… Read more →

I’ve been spending a couple of days at the ocean, in a place that takes a few u-turns to find. There’s not much here, but oh how I love it. After being in a space of disconnect of late, I could not have picked a more apropos location to reconnect. There’s something about the sound frequency of ocean waves that reignite my engine. In fact, research shows that the frequency of ocean waves connects with your brain waves to create a restorative sense of calm. And, we hear ocean waves via ultrasound waves, but we actually feel the vibrations in our bodies via infrasound frequencies generated by the ocean, vibrations that connect to the body’s chakras or energy points. My solar plexus hums, creating the base for my body’s symphony. There’s something very foundational about it. Ah, a plethora of melodies, chords and dissonance that when fully tuned and in… Read more →

Do you ever feel like you’re walking through molasses – or worse yet quicksand – as you progress toward a goal? I know I have. Things never seem, at the time, to be happening fast enough. For me, it’s been a steady, at times stop-and-start, mind bending (or blowing), deepening, maddening, gratifying and continual path toward making a full-time living as a writer. When I allow the frustration that it’s not happening yet to creep into my work and consciousness, it always stops the flow, even if it’s just for a moment. I saw this quote the other day and it filled me with peace. “Profound commitment to a dream does not confine or constrain: it liberates. Even a difficult, winding path can lead to your goal if you follow it to the end.” – Paulo Coelho The winding path reveals more truth. It hit me that I’ve always followed… Read more →

By Cindy Yantis Real isn’t always nice. I saw a friend recently and she told me she saw a change in me, that I was more grounded. “You’re more real, not so nice.” And, I got it. When I was about nine, growing up in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, there was a neighborhood club called, “The Nice Club,” run by a group of girls my age. And, no matter how hard I tried they wouldn’t let me in the club. I was my nicest nice, but it clearly wasn’t good or nice enough. Turns out the nice club wasn’t so nice. And, I’ve spent the good part of my life trying to get into that damn Nice Club. Ha! No more. Letting go of nice leaves room for more real. Niceness many times covers up a fear of the truth, which in turn hides fears of being rejected, or not being… Read more →

“Stop editing.” It’s what I tell myself constantly as I write, or speak. I have such an internal editor. I’m an editor, a slicer, a cutter. It stops the stream of consciousness. I stop myself. I stop. The invisible door slams in front of my words or thoughts. I slam the door. I slam. No chance of a stream that flows. What does a free stream of consciousness look like? Feel like? It’s a river full of everything. At its mouth, it’s a cold dam bursting over with trash and fabric and sand, jumbled questions and scrubbing bubble answers, gasoline and olive oil, body parts and brain matter, war and peace, warm peaches and pomegranates, silk and lambswool, and diamonds. But, it’s not until the stream is steady and crystal clear that the diamonds appear, tumbling over the rapids of genius. Through the clear flow, valuable gems appear on the… Read more →

Who Am I? This is one of the big questions I pose every morning as part of my meditation and journaling ritual. Some days the question is the only thing I write down and the only query on which I meditate. It’s a lot to contemplate. Or not. This week as I asked the question, my pen poised over the page, nothing came. It’s not that my mind was blank, it’s that my mind was racing, as happens most days when I start to meditate or gather my thoughts. Can you relate? Mind chatter is non-stop. If it’s not about our to-do list, it’s about a conversation we had or want to have. If it’s not about the email we need to answer, it’s about how we’re judging ourselves. About everything. If it’s not about the ache in our back or knee or shoulder, it’s about the movie we watched… Read more →

I started a 30-day cleanse this week. It’s a fairly intense protocol with two shakes a day along with supplements and a healthy meal. So, for the next month I’ll be shaking it up. A lot. Getting rid of my body’s toxins and getting healthier. It got me thinking about other ways one can begin shaking things up. A great start is to form a group to share and support, other shakers who are equally committed to bringing on change. That’s exactly what a few of us are doing together with this 30-day challenge. Our collective ideas lend themselves to more than just a nutritional cleanse. Maybe some of them will spark ideas for doing a little shaking of your own. Make a commitment – Take one thing, like a cleanse or a new skill or fitness routine or social venture and become a little consumed. Make room in your… Read more →

ThoughtChanger of the day… If you enjoyed this Thought Changer, please click the little green button below this post and thank you for sharing! And, please visit us on our Facebook Page: Facebook.com/ThoughtChanger Cindy Yantis is the Thought Changer Blog creator & curator. She is a freelance writer living in Los Angeles. For more info: CindyYantis.com Read more →

Re words rock! But, one that we can all live without is regret. Someone asked the question over the holiday, “Do you have any regrets in your career?” I immediately felt for the person who was left to answer this question. Certainly it is a common query and one that, no doubt, can plague the mind if it’s allowed to. But, the word regret is so yesterday. It conjures up feelings of disappointment, sadness, guilt, self-judgment and missed opportunity. Who needs that? Seriously, there’s nothing good about regret. Certainly, we all have things in our lives we’d like to have another crack at, opportunities we’d have tapped if given another chance, lapses in judgment we’d like to take back, etc. A recent article in Scientific American Mind by Josie Glausiusz says that focusing on regret can lead to constant ruminating, rehashing and over analyzing what went wrong or what could… Read more →