Snooping Sarah

Listeners never hear any good of themselves.

That's what my mum always used to tell me. Which is why I haven't signed up to Google Alerts, tempting though it might be to find out that the whole of the blogasphere is talking about me, me, me...

However, a friend passed me on this link about the Sarah party because it's got a mention of the piece I wrote for the occasion, here (and unlike the US Christian housewives site who sent me a link to the worse review of Tell Me Everything I've seen saying how they knew I'd just love to see it, I trusted my friend). It still felt like I was snooping, but I LOVE how the radio programme and subsequent publicity have treated the whole party in exactly the way it was intended, a bit of fun but also the chance to come together spontaneously and celebrate just being alive. What other excuse need there be for a party? Go go Sarah Pletts.

And then, because I'm nosey (nosy?), I investigated the 365 Ways blog a bit more, and my mum got it a bit wrong. See, listeners aren't always listening out for themselves. They're listening for new information, new routes to go down, new ways of thinking. And so, this blog has joined my top blogs I read regularly to make me think about being alive. They are ...


1. 365 Ways Blog. As well as celebrating Sarah-ness, it brings together all the initiatives you always suspected were going on but couldn't be bothered to find out (ok, I couldn't be bothered...) - Zero Rubbish Week, supporting insect life etc etc.

2. The Happiness Project. Greta sums up exactly one of the reasons I love America. She spent a year test-driving her own happiness project, and now she wants to help us set up our own. There's something very British in me that immediately responds with a flinch and a 'thank you very much, I'll think about it', but hey, why not be happy?

3. The Daily Mind. Subtitled Making the Daily Grind Meaningful, which isn't a bad description. I loved the recent post on how to tell your Meditation practice isn't working - this story made me laugh out loud because it felt so true ...

I once used to hang out at a little Buddhist Center in Australia and got to know the people there. One day I went out for lunch with a lady whose partner was one of the more “senior” meditators at the center. She was a little upset so I asked her what was wrong and she told me how her partner had yelled at her while he was meditating the day before. “What happened?” I inquired.
“Well,” she said. “I was watering the plants outside his room and all of a sudden he screamed out ‘Would you SHUT UP I am trying to meditate!‘ and then slammed the door.”

BUT as far as I know, and maybe I just haven't been invited and so am outing myself as nobby no-mates here, there's no party blog. One you can visit every day and just have a bit of a dance, drink too much and then be sick in a flower pot. Oh wait, perhaps that's why I'm not invited ...