Upbeat Living: Happy National Cheesecake Day!

Tags

cheesecake, Health, health food, Kebba Buckley Button, National Cheesecake Day, pleasure, Relax, stress, UpBeat Living

© 2016 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

In recent years, health pundits would not have called cheesecake a “health food”; but today is National Cheesecake Day!  So relax and take a time-out from worrying about fats, and celebrate the pure pleasure of this family of deserts.  In fact, cream cheese is loaded with Vitamin A and fatty acids that help our health.  And a key dimension of Upbeat Living is enjoying your life!

Want to make your own cheesecake? Here is my own recipe for an Irish Cream Cheesecake, no technical skills required.

KEBBA’S IRISH CREAM CHEESECAKE

For filling:

3 x 8-oz. bricks of cream cheese, room temperature
½ c Irish Cream liqueur (Kebba’s favorite: Carolan’s, available at Trader Joe’s)
½ c heavy cream
3 eggs
3 T flour (GF if you like, rice flour or oat flour if you like)
1 c organic sugar
1 t vanilla or almond extract
1/8 t sea salt

For crust:

1 ¼ c graham crumbs + 3 T butter + 3 T organic sugar + 1/8 t sea salt
OR use 1 2/3 c honey corn chex crumbs + ¼ c butter + ¼ c organic sugar
OR use 2 frozen GF pie crusts, following package directions

If making your own crust, blend the ingredients with a fork and press into an 8” springform pan, pressing up sides.  The Chex formula can fit a 9” springform pan. (Ever try to buy an 8” springform pan?)  This may sound dumb, but wrap the bottom of the springform pan firmly with foil, as the melted butter may leak.  Now put the cheesecake on a cookie sheet.

Blend the filling ingredients.  In springform pan or pie crusts, bake at 425 for 25 minutes.  Take it out for 10 minutes and finish baking at 350 for 15 more minutes. In the pie crusts, test for firmness after 5 more minutes. Of course, note variations needed with your stove.

Chill the cake/s before serving, for 2 hours or even overnight.  Dust lightly with cocoa powder and drizzle with favorite fudge sauce, just before serving.  Next time, make 2 and freeze some.

Now sit down with your cheesecake and enjoy every bite slowly.  Savoring causes a food to fill us up sooner.  And relaxing with a pleasure is also stress-dissolving.

So Happy National Cheesecake Day, my friends!  Enjoy, and let me know how you like this cheesecake!  And that’s Upbeat Living.

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• If you enjoy this post, please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column! You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma! Due to a recent FB change, our “likes” look low.  Thanks for your help!

Energy – Peace – Meditation

• Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. She is the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition(http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc ). Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine, available through her office.  Just email SacredMeditation@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com .

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Celebrating Freedom – From Sameness

Tags

freedom, freedom from sameness, in/joy/meant, stress

©2015  Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

Today is the ultimate freedom day. 

 

Each July 4^th, we in the USA celebrate our broadest freedom:  the founding of our country, on the basis of people’s right to live as they choose.  We rightly remind ourselves that, “[F]reedom isn’t free.”  Hundreds of thousands fought and even gave their lives, here and abroad, to establish and keep the freedom this country enjoys.  Most Americans want people to live entirely as they choose.  Each American chooses how much to be the same as, or different from, other people.

In peace ministry, I saw a video scene that became indelibly imprinted in my mind.  In a community ruled by the Taliban, girls at age 11 were expected to start wearing a light blue burka with an open-weave eye opening.  One day, twenty girls looked at each other and asked, “[W]hat would happen if we took these off?”  They took them off and joyfully ran down a hill, together, celebrating their humanity, not their sameness.

Riding a train one day, leaving New York City, I helped a woman with a beautiful baby, when we were asked to change cars.  I had never before seen a baby with 6 perfect toes on each gorgeous little foot. My ideas of what is normal, same, and usual expanded that day. My mind was more free.

A priest friend of mine has a son, Christopher, who is 6 years old. Recently, she recounted this story, which I am using with her kind permission:  “Christopher came home from his 2 nights at church camp raving about the ‘coolest man who was born with only one hand!’ The fact that he was born this way delighted him and clearly expanded his worldview immensely, because it hadn’t occurred to him this was a possibility before. We may get nervous when our kids stare at someone who looks different than them, but C made it clear that differences are marvelous, exciting, and inspiring. Children are curious about people and want to celebrate the uniqueness of others which then, I imagine, makes the other not quite so other. And I am pretty sure that’s what the world needs. Thanks, Christopher.”

This great vignette illustrates freedom from sameness, freedom from believing everyone is or should be the same. When we take delight in our originality and our differences, we are free.  Celebrate your freedom, give thanks often, and let that lead your joy.  And you will easily remember that we are In/Joy/Meant.

_____________________________________________________________

• Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. She is the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition. Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. Both that book and Peace Within are available through her office.  Just email books@kebba.com. 
• For an appointment or to ask Kebba to speak for your group: calendar@kebba.com.

UpBeat Living: Roger Ebert on Remaking His Voice

Tags

Cancer, Gratitude, irrepressible, positivity, Roger Ebert, Upbeat, UpBeat Living

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Roger Ebert 2002
Photo by Andrew Sullivan

In the previous post, UpBeat Living celebrated the irrepressible, upbeat nature and achievements of Roger Ebert, who sadly passed away on April 4^th.  Today, we celebrate his final project, Remaking My Voice.

Known primarily as the most authentic and truly blunt film critic to grace our TV screens, Ebert had been a chatty communicator since at least grade school.  In first grade, he was told he talked too much.  By High School, he was a reporter serving the school newspaper.  By age 25, he was working for the Chicago Sun-Times.  He continued to work for the Sun-Times in various media until his death.  He used his voice for radio, television, and movies.

In what could have been seen as a tragedy, Ebert went on to lose his physical voice in 2006.  Cancer surgery made it impossible for him to talk.  After an apparently successful operation to rebuild his jaw, Ebert thought he was going back to work in a few weeks.  He had pre-taped six weeks of programs.  However, one day his carotid artery—the huge artery that runs along the side of the side of the neck, behind the jaw, and up into the brain— burst. His doctor said he had never seen anyone survive a carotid artery rupture. Ebert then spent a year in the hospital and had six more ruptures of the carotid.  The team gave up on reconstruction of the jaw.  His physical voice was done.  Ebert would later write: “[H]uman speech is an ingenious manipulation of our breath, within the sound chamber of our mouth and respiratory system.  We need to be able to hold and manipulate that breath, in order to form sounds.”  He could no longer do that.  But he was still sparkling, animated, and funny.

Now this dynamo simply accelerated into new forms of expression, as well as greatly stepping up his writing via blogs and Twitter.  He began “speaking” by keyboarding at a computer that spoke for him.   Saying he had always taken for granted the ability to speak, Ebert presented a TED talk in 2011 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNXOVpN8Wgg).  Sitting with his wife and three friends, they shared the narrative and Ebert finished with a joke, which he keyboarded into a laptop that spoke for him.

Ebert’s final message to those of us “listening”:  “[W]hat you see is not all you get!”  To attempt rebuilding his jaw, surgeons had harvested bone from his shoulders, which actually affected not only his shoulder profile, but also the way he walked.  Now missing a jaw altogether, Ebert had an unusual face shape.  He found that people would stare, and some would assume he was deaf, then shouting to him.  Only his physical voice was missing.  Through technology, he had found his greater voice, and he could express himself more and better than ever.  In his TED talk, Ebert did not talk about gratitude for life as such, but he expressed it, in his lively ebullience and his obvious love for communication, for his wife, and for his friends.  This was a man who truly lived.

Roger Ebert:  a voice for the ages.  Let us continue to hear him and his message.

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● If  you enjoy this post, please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column.  You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma.

 

● Kebba Buckley Button is a Master’s Degree scientist, a minister, and the award-winning author of  the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (http://tinyurl.com/abd47jr), and also Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br).  She also has a natural healing and stress management practice and is a celebrated public speaker.

 

● Your comments are welcome!

 

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

 

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

 

UpBeat Living: Two Thumbs Up, Roger Ebert!

Tags

Celebrating the good, enjoy, living beyond, positivity, Roger Ebert, The life you want, UpBeat Living

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

 

Photo by Microsoft

This column, UpBeat Living,  is about celebrating life.   It’s about accentuating the positive in our words and attitudes, in our choices of friends, colleagues and projects.  It’s about turning any negativity into constructive response.  It’s about converting “stress” into worthy choices and forward motion, turning problems into projects.

Today, UpBeat Living celebrates a man who robustly lived a life in forward motion: Roger Ebert. This famous film critic helped define that profession and set standards many are still trying to meet.  With his authenticity and ability to make his points clearly and succinctly, Roger Ebert stood alone.

It’s hard for me to remember a time in movie history when Siskel and Ebert were not on the air.  I’m sure, during the Silent Movie Days, they were there already, with closed captioning or hand-held signs, giving us their honest and well-considered opinions.  Picture them on the silent screen, sitting opposite each other, and holding a sign up with one hand, holding a thumb up or down with the other hand.  A piano would be playing in the background, urgently if they were arguing, and lyrically, if the two were in agreement.  Today, it’s silence only, for the two great movie critics.

Gene Siskel died in 1999, and Roger Ebert died on April 4th.  The two began working together, hosting a PBS TV show, reviewing movies, in 1975– a bit after the days of silent movies–  taking it to syndication in 1982.  Siskel stayed until 3 weeks before his death.  Ebert wept on air in the next episode, as he saluted Siskel and their partnership, then continued forging his creative path.

Whatever stage of life Roger Ebert was in, he went at it with gusto.  He began life as a movie critic with the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967 and still wrote for them until his death.  He would eventually author 20 books and hundreds of columns, co-create countless television episodes for film reviews, visit Sesame Street a few times, author screenplays, and give a TED talk. Even after he was diagnosed with thyroid and salivary cancer in 2002, he lived with the condition with grace.  He kept smiling, and his eyes were bright with passion.  After surgery in 2006, he finally lost his jaw, his ability to speak and his ability to eat.  Unrecognizable from the square-faced man we had seen for many years, he still seemed to smile all the time, and his eyes danced with joy.

Roger Ebert celebrated his life with his wife, attorney Chaz Hammelsmith Ebert, whom he married in 1992.  She has said their life was better than any movie.  In recent years, Roger Ebert spoke through his blog, his 800,000-follower Twitter account, and a voice-synthesizing computer.  He exuded enthusiasm, wonder, and happiness.  Once he lost his physical voice, he wrote and presented a Ted talk about the importance of “voice” on different levels of life (www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNXOVpN8Wgg).  So the man who made his name using his voice to talk about films had created his most important work, a film, without using his voice.

My review of his film:  Excellent!  Two thumbs up.  You will long inspire us, Roger!

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (on Amazon.com at (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br) , and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (on Amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/abd47jr).  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Peaceful World? Day 1 of Season for NonViolence (SNV)

Tags

Ghandi, Jr., Martin Luther King, MLK, Peacemaking, Season for NonViolence, SNV

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

If you dream of a peaceful world, but you think there is nothing you can contribute to that vision, here is great news for you.  There are actually simple ways you can contribute your thoughts, your prayers, and even your actions toward the creation of that peaceful world.  Here is a great program to consider.

The Season for NonViolence (SNV) was originated 15 years ago by the Association for Global New Thought (AGNT).  The SNV runs for 64 days each year, from January 30^th, the anniversary of Mahatma Ghandi’s death, to April 4^th, the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The SNV was created as a grassroots education and demonstration program committed to showing and growing  nonviolence as a powerful way to heal, transform, and empower our lives and our communities.

Each day during the SNV, I will be posting the thought for the day from AGNT.  I will also be expanding on the meanings of the Season.  Here is AGNT’s Day 1 meditation:

DAY 1 Jan. 30: The thought for today is COURAGE.

“I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”

-Anne Frank

When you discover that everyone is contained in you and you are contained in everyone, you have realized the unity of life, which is the divine ground of existence.  Then you are not just a person; you have become a beneficial force. Wherever you go, wherever you live, those around you will benefit from your life.  Even one unassuming man or woman in a community has the courage to lead a nonviolent life, she will make her contribution, and she will slowly inspire others to make the same contribution, because human nature responds to such an example.

When we can say, “Whatever comes, we will not be afraid because the divine Self is within us,” then this resoluteness and faith will enable us to work free from tension, agitation, and fear of defeat. The person who works in this way is at peace, because he or she is not anxious about results.
Today:  I will light a candle to symbolize my commitment to accept the courage to practice 64 Ways of living nonviolently.

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (on Amazon.com >Books>Buckley), and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (on Amazon.com >Books>Button).  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: The Oscar-Nominated Film You Must See—Five Broken Cameras

Tags

nonviolence, Palestinian, Peacemaking

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Today I saw an extraordinary film and met the brother of the filmmaker.  Today I saw first-hand footage of farmers whose land was seized by encroaching development, approved by a ruling government.  Today I saw Israeli soldiers arrest a youth, handcuff him, blindfold him, then shoot him in the leg, then take him to prison.  Today I got to sit with a Palestinian man and ask him questions about his and his family’s experience.

Today I saw a film on life in Bil’im, Palestine.  The film is called Five Broken Cameras. The film won the World Cinema Directing Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.  It also won the Special Broadcaster IDFA Audience Award and the Special Jury Award at the 2011 International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam.  Now it is nominated for Best Documentary Feature, in the 2013 Academy Awards.

The title refers to the series of 5 cameras that the filmmaker, Emad Burnat, used over the course of 6 years.  Each camera, in turn, was either shattered by Israeli military gas grenades or shot directly by Israeli fire.  He still has all five cameras.  Emad is a softspoken man who shares his narrative in an even tone.  This makes the action he films all the more shocking.  We are shown a world in which ultraorthodox Jews have decided to settle further into the West Bank, building high concrete buildings and a boundary structure that cuts right across Palestinian lands.  We see the orthodox arrive to move into the high buildings, wearing identical outfits with white shirts and dark pants, the women in white dresses.  We see and hear many angry, indignant, arrogant remarks from this group, including, “if he keeps filming, I’ll break his bones.”

A number of farmers are cut off from their property on the Israeli side of the barrier, a double fence separated by the width of a military Jeep.  The villagers develop a system of nonviolent protest, and they demonstrate peacefully every week.  The Israeli soldiers respond to the unarmed villagers, holding only flags, with teargas canisters and bullets.  At one point we see people shouting in warning tones, and the soldiers have a moment of remorse:  they have shot an Israeli girl.  They are horrified.

Armored Jeep-type Army vehicles roar through the village at night. The villagers are told, at the doors of  their homes, that “the military has declared this area a Closed Military Zone”, and therefore the Army can break into the homes in the middle of the night and arrest people at will, even children.  Children are often arrested and held as long as 18 months, with payments of often 6000 shekels ($1500-2000) required before they can be released.  The children of Bil’im have a march one day, chanting “we want to sleep”.  The 30 children are met again with gas grenades and gunfire.  People are wounded and people are killed all the time here.

Most astonishing is the peaceful manner adopted by the people of Bil’im.  Asked how they deal with the Israeli military occupation, Emad Burnat says, “it takes strength to turn anger into something positive”.  He says further, “[B]y healing, you resist oppression.  Forgotten wounds can’t be healed, so I film to heal.”

Today I talked with Iyad Burnat, the filmmaker’s brother.  He spoke with the same even tone his brother uses in narrating the film.  Today, that made the story even more shocking.  Today I was outraged.  Today I knew I must share this story.

Today you can see the trailer:  http://vimeo.com/15843191 .  Today you can buy the DVD on Amazon.

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● If you enjoy this post, please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column.  You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma.

 

● Kebba Buckley Button is a Master’s Degree scientist, a minister, and the award-winning author of  the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (http://tinyurl.com/abd47jr), and also Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br).  She also has a natural healing and stress management practice and is a celebrated public speaker.

 

● Your comments are welcome!

 

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

 

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

 

UpBeat Living: Small Kindnesses Pay Everyone

Tags

Effective living, enjoy, kindness, Share the journey, The life you want

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Desert Mission Food Bank Herb Garden
Photo by Kebba Buckley Button

Kindness to others doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming.  You don’t have to make huge cash donations, although that’s fantastic if you can.  You don’t have to start your own nonprofit.  You can generously be of service in a few moments or hours here and there, without any heavy lifting or expense.  And kindness radiates in every direction.

Today I had many chances to experience kindness.  It began with a morning ministry forum.  All of the forum members are gentle, caring people.  They support each other with generous listening and soft inquiry.  My heart was filled with their kindness, as I hurried to my next meeting, a business network.

Once a month, I pick up food bank donations from this business network.  After I damaged my spine lifting too much at Habitat for Humanity, I decided to find no-lifting ways to serve.  A food bank team urgently needed plastic bags and egg cartons, so the clients could take the eggs and groceries home; I adopted the job of gathering those bags and cartons.  Gradually, colleagues and friends have learned that wherever I am, they can give me their plastic bags and egg cartons for food ministry.  This costs them nothing, requires no heavy lifting for any of us, and it allows the community to participate in food ministry in a small way.  If they are moved to send food with me, that’s great also.  Today, the business network gave me a PT Cruiser load of bags, egg cartons, food, and clothing.  These business owners are thinking of others and sending their caring in the items they helped carry to my car.  Even our favorite waiter helped carry items out, plus he had brought a box of food.  My heart was filled with their lovingkindness, as I hurried to my next stop, the food bank.

At the food bank loading dock, I began unloading the car, and five kind people apparated from nowhere, unloading for me and sorting the donations.  We put all the clothing in the back of the Cruiser.  I noticed a new creation by the food bank staff:  an herb garden (see photo)!  New crates full of oranges also graced the dock, brought by caring homeowners with surplus from their trees.  My heart was filled with their kindness, as I hurried to my next stop, St. Vincent de Paul.

At the St. Vincent donation dock, I was blessed to be helped by the man I knew to be the easygoing and radiant manager.  He called me “darlin’” several times as he easily hefted the heavy clothing bags and wished me a beautiful day.  My heart was filled with warmth and kindness, as I hurried to my next stop, a Target store, for a prescription.

In that parking lot, a couple of years ago, on a breezy day, I got out of my car and saw a balloon flying quickly past me.  It was just several feet away.  Well off to my left was a distressed small child and his anxious father.  They were too far away and the balloon was moving fast and rising.  In my skirted suit and high heels, I took off after that balloon like someone’s life depended on it.  After a sprint, I caught it and shouted, “YESSSS!”  I was handing the balloon back to the astonished child before I realized what I had done.  Sometimes we are simply called.  The father gave me a grave look that said the moment was very important to him, as he said, “Tink yo leddy.”  The crazy blond woman in the business suit had touched that immigrant’s heart.

So today, I went to get out of my car in that parking lot, thinking of the balloon story and smiling.  My heart was full.  And walking next to me was a middle-eastern looking man with a small son, who was carrying a balloon, securely held.  I had the feeling Heaven was grinning at me.  My heart was full as I slowed down to marvel and enjoy the beautiful day.

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (on Amazon.com >Books>Buckley), and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (on Amazon.com >Books>Button).  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: What I Learned From The Golden Globe ® Awards

Tags

at choice, choices, Effective living, Enjoy the journey, happy, joy, Share the journey

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

 

It was an unusually cold night in Los Angeles, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.  Twenty million viewers sat at home, riveted to their TV sets, enthralled as the stars made their way slowly along the red carpet.  It was the 2013 Golden Globe® Awards. The men were in elegant suits.  The women wore stunning, graceful designer gowns, many reminiscent of eras past.  News teams dotted the length of the red carpet, interviewing and photographing the stars, the directors, and key industry icons.  Despite the 40 degree air, the stars walked slowly, apparently relaxed, in joyful expectancy of a delightful evening.

The Awards ceremony itself was a good-natured gathering of the entertainment industry, brought together by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).  Informal humor abounded, as colleagues kidded colleagues.  When Jennifer Garner stood to present an award, she apologized, laughing, saying her husband, Ben Affleck, had forgotten to thank two people.  She thanked them on Affleck’s behalf, then went on to present the award as scheduled.  There were a number of takeaways from the evening.

• Year-round maintenance of your skin and figure are vital.  You may need to be at an important event any time.  The stars all looked fantastic.
• Smiling is paramount, regardless of the cold, and the fact that your unspeakably beautiful designer gown would be comfortable at 80 degrees.  The stars all looked pleasant and happy.
• People are always watching your act and noticing your expression. Try to be aware of where the cameras are.  An impression may last a lifetime.  The stars all looked joyful, expectant, welcoming, friendly.
• “Of course, the best journeys are shared.” Damian Lewis said it, and I’ll quote him many times.  With whom are you sharing your journey?  Would more sharing feel good and be more satisfying?
• An evening of sharing and laughing with and celebrating your friends is one of life’s greatest experiences.  So finish your workout, get your smile on, and share that journey.

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You, and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core.  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Awards for the Best of 2012

Tags

Celebrating the good, Effective living, Living UpBeat, The life you want, UpBeat Living, UpBeat Living 2012 Awards, variety

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

This year, UpBeat Living found a number of surprisingly positive experiences in events, services, people and products.  In the face of many opportunities to feel discouraged and downbeat in 2012, UpBeat Living energetically pursues its mission to uplift your attitude, your heart, your spirit, and thus your health and your lifestyle.  The more you focus on the “Up” Beat, the better your life, health, and achievements will be.  We therefore have created the UpBeat Living 2012 Awards.  These awards are entirely arbitrary and capricious, based on pleasantness, effectiveness, quality, and inspiration.  The award categories are never final, so feel free to tell us what yours would be.  Hopefully, you will find the UpBeat Living 2012 Awards inspiring and even useful.

2012 MicroDwell
Photo by Kebba Buckley Button

Best art center exhibition—Shemer Art Center, Phoenix, “MicroDwell” exhibition of 400 square-foot homes  (with architect Jennifer Frost observing).

Best new kitchen device—one-hand-tap pump for dishwashing liquid, by Method.

Best calming moisturizer under $20—TIE—Aveeno Nightime Moisture Infusion and Shaklee’s Enfuselle Hydrating Moisturizer.

Best chaotic environment—Apple Store, Biltmore Fashion Park, Phoenix.

Best callus buffer—A scouring stick, a big pumice stone from your hardware store cleaning department.  Works dry or with lotion. 

Best margarita for two—Arriba Mexican Grill, Camelback Road, Phoenix.

Best business group meeting space—University Club on Monte Vista, Phoenix.

Best social media webinars—Sabrina Gibson.

Best FaceBook business page design workshops—Laura Orsini.

Best all-audiences fear-solutions quotes—Michael George Price, Fearless Thinking.

Best book to read to be transported—Susan Pohlman’s memoir of a year in Italy, “Halfway to Each Other.”

Best gluten-free breads & bagels widely available—Udi’s.

Best gluten-free baking mix—Pamela’s.

Luci’s Marketplace
Photo by Kebba Buckley Button

Best urban eatery/grocery/espresso bar—Luci’s Healthy Marketplace Café, Bethany Home Rd., Phoenix 

Best nail polish—OPI

Best advice after a mass shooting—TIE—Never mention the shooter’s name again, and pray for the victims, the loved ones, the witnesses, the first responders, the media, and the shooter’s loved ones.

Best blog challenge—The Ultimate Blog Challenge  (starts again 1/1/13)

Best architecture media frenzy—Phoenix home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for his son David, up for sale, sold, not sold, sold, not sold, sold.  Will it be preserved?

David Wright House
Photo by Arizona Republic

 

Best forgiveness retreat—With Fr. William Menninger at the Franciscan Renewal Center, Scottsdale/Paradise Valley .

Fr. William Meninger and Kebba Buckley Button

 

Best food bank event—Monthly free food distribution, every 3^rd Friday at 7:30 am, at 1445 W. Northern Ave., Phoenix.  St. Mary’s Food Bank provides a semi-truck load of food.  Desert Christian Fellowship provides volunteers who move the crates of food.  Have friends who need food?  No ID, no faith qualifications, just free food for those who need it.  BYOBags if possible.

International Day of Peace- UN logo

Best peace-related event in Phoenix/Scottsdale/Paradise Valley—International Day of Peace celebration at the Franciscan Renewal Center, September 21, with Interfaith Prayer Service officiated by Rev. Kebba Buckley Button.

Best smile—Brooklyn Rovello, age 7 days.  Let this smile remind you of all that is good.  You can choose to be this upbeat in 2013!

Brooklyn Rovello laughing
Photo by Nichos Rovello

So what would be on your Best Of 2012 list?  UpBeat Living wants to know.

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You, and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core.  She is also an ordained minister.

● Your comments are welcome!

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● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .