After having kids, we thought to try out camping about an hour drive from where we live, close enough to drive back home just in case of kids emergency. We thought one night was good enough to start with with 2 little ones. It was long overhaul for just one day and we learned a few things or two that we had not thought of. I thought of sharing our humorous experience and lesson here; If you are novice like me, you will learn and if you are expert campers, you already know this and give me lot of tips to make our national lampoon’s type camping to better one. Either case, this will provide you with some entertainment and laugh.

You can not be minimalist camper with family.

You will have to carry everything you need with you including kitchen sink plus more. I am sure some single guy will prove me wrong here, by saying they can camp with just one backpack. I will tell them to wait until they are married with kids and then tell me how much stuff those little ones seem to be need.

As a family with 2 kids, we need so many things, yes I said NEED these stuff. Those of you with kids will know, we parents will do anything, even give kid a candy if that mean having 10 minutes to drink tea in peace.

Here are some of the break down of typical stuff a family with kids need/want to take;

1. Tent large enough to fit family plus all crap that we bring
2. Bedding, pillows, blankets, jackets
3. Tarps for undercover, door mat to keep dirt away from tent (even though it will not work)
4. Clean and fresh water for cooking, drinking (Take more then you think you need)
5. Milk/soy milk, Tea/coffee/sugar, salt, spices, fruits, vegetables, knife, cutting board,
6. Can opener, Serving and Stirring Utensils, plates, cups, spoons, fork etc, Pots, Pans
7. Cleaning liquid soap, washing soap, shampoo, towels, clothes, extra towels, swim suit
8. Extra clothes, hiking shoes, regular slipper, torch, lantern, extra batteries
9. Snacks, ice, other cooking supply, cooler1 and cooler 2
10. Insect and mosquito cream, camera, video, extra batteries, radio,CD  player
11. books, fire logs, fire starter, camping folding chair, folding table,
12. extra table to keep huge food supply you brought with you for 10 people, even though you are only 4 people.
13. Extra papers, drawing supply to draw wild life which you will not get a chance to touch because your 1 year old is running around keeping you too busy to even eat.
14. Bring cell phone, laptop just in case you want to check on your blog comment, which no one cares to read during weekend anyways.
15. Toys, stuffed bears and loveys for kids as they will not sleep without it.
16. Kids diapers, back up stuff for kids plan A through back up stuff to plan F.
17. You need a huge extra caravan to fit it all.
18. You need a day to pack it all and one day to unpack it all.
19. Extra cash, just in case you forgot to pack something important
20. ATM card just in case you forgot to pack enough cash
21. Little bit sanity (which you find only after coming home for 4 days)

After you come back from your camping your own house/apartment will look luxury hotel.

1. After using those coin shower that gives you 2 minutes of extra hot water for 25 cents, you will know luxury when you use your own hot water in your bathroom and do not have to worry about time running out.
2. You bathroom is not wet all over and you can change your and your kids clothes without getting them wet.
3. You will feel your bathroom is 5 star hotel after using camping toilets
4. You do not need to wait in line at morning rush, you can be king or queen
5. You do not need to worry about insect biting you inside your home
6. You actually have a plenty supply of water whenever you need, not worrying about water or ice running out
7. You do not need to worry about batteries running out and actually enjoy listening to music without time limit
8. You are not living off suitcases/bags to find stuff
9. You do not need to clean and put away things right away, you can let dishes sit in sink for hour or two.
10. you will not to dress up on layers clothes as temperature changes outside.

Surprising things that I would have never guessed before camping;

1. You will need a jackets and fire to warm you at night, in middle of hot summer.
2. We do not know how to protect and survive if bear is outside the tent, no bear are not cute as teddy bears always.
3. You will need more water and ice supply than you can imagine
4. Without city lights, and night light, how dark it could be at night, pitch black.
5. Your tent walls are not thick enough, so you will get to hear all sounds, such as cricket, animals (if any), someone walking by (night restroom use) or next tent snoring, your own kids crying and waking others in near by area, it is all fun and embarrassing sort of way.

Final summary:

When you come back and takes you whole day to unpack and 2 days more to recharge, you will swear you will never go camping again. Then you see all these wonderful pictures and friends call you and you think why not? It was not so bad. We can improve and have fun. So the vicious circle of camping adventure starts again.

Lesson here is that do not worry about learning any wisdom from here, just go out and have fun, camping, cabin, hotels, motels, vacations or staycations. Summer is meant to be enjoyed, so we are going to go again. Only this time we are prepared to know that no one should sleep close to our tent, until little P learns to sleep through the night or we have a silencer on our tent.

Did you enjoy this story? This is real account of our recent camping and we have gained no wisdom what so ever. We are planning to do it again!

Your Turn: How is your camping experience?

Image Source: Johnson outdoors

Wisdom gained from our camping trip is a post from: Heart and Mind

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Kindergarten and school has started!: That means, I have 2 seconds of free time for life and blogging. R is starting a Kindergarten now so life has gotten lot busier! We are doing homeschooling and co-op teaching, that means I and kids are spending all day and night, learning and doing things together. It is fun, but with 1 year old in tow with us, it can get overwhelming at time. I am going to be even more slow blogger! Hopefully, my blogger friends will still support me here.

Blog consulting by Zenguy: In other good note, Zenguy who helps a lot with my blogging behind the scenes issues is ready to offer web design service and blog consulting to anyone who might interested. Services includes;

• Blog transfer or migration from one platform to other
• Plug-ins add on
• WordPress blog set up
• Theme customization
• Color changes on themes
• Logo and images
• Blog and social button setup and more

If you are interested, please use Contact form.

Good Reads from Blogosphere had many great reading articles that I want to share with you; Here are some of the one that I really liked;

Jean from Virgin blogger wrote How to get of melt down city express , which is just in time, as I feel like I am on one right now and I am not sure how I got on in first place. Some time life feels like you are in movie “Speed” with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves.

Farnoosh wrote about Making a tough decisions to break a commitment , another great post, if you are feeling overwhelm with tasks and to-do lists and things we have committed to like I am right now. It has helped a lot.

Marko, at Calm Growth wrote a detailed and beautiful post about ; how to achieve tranquility of mind . This is great read as he shows with details on how to achieve the tranquility of mind, another good read if you are feeling bit overwhelm.

Angela wrote about Would you rather have a big house or big life , this post really spoke to me as we have smaller place to live in so we can live a if not bigger, a better life.

Abubakar, aka Sunny, who lives in Pakistan wrote very touching picture post about recent Pakistan Flood damage and it’s effect on people and children there, please check it out 21 faces of Pakistan flood . Abubakar has suggestion of a charity if you like to help! I hope you all do.

Karen from Meaningful existence has just launched her first ebook 31 days to a better you , I read her older posts about 31 days challenge, if that is any indication, it will be great read.  No, it is not an affiliate, I just wanted share her big news! I am very happy for her new ebook launch.

Warren from Generally Thinking was kind enough to send me his new psychology study guide for a review, it is a great read for any one who is interested in psychology or students. Check it out at Psycholgoy study guide . It is not an affiliate link nor I make any money from it, this is FYI.

Raul aka Alien Ghost wrote about calming experience of nature in Master of your own universe , it was so calming to read it for me on one of most chaotic day of my life. You will enjoy it too.

Since last week, my life has been a blur with million things to do and no time for anything. Maybe I should take my own advice and read 7 ways of overcoming overwhelm .

Hope you enjoyed all the links and life’s tidbit.

Preeti AKA Zengirl

Image source:jdorganizer.blogspot.com

Web Design, Overwhelm and Good Reads is a post from: Heart and Mind

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I am writing a series of 101 small changes that we can make to make the quality of our life better and build and lead a more happier life that is in tune with our heart and mind. These are small changes that I have made and am working on right now, so I know they are possible for anyone to do.

If you have not read previous posts, check out a few posts on the changes from the past:

101 changes: Change 4 – Plant something
101 changes: Change 5 – Smile when you wake up
101 changes: Change 6:: Read a book – Benefits of reading
____________________________________________________________________________________________

“I wasn’t worried about freedom. I was worried about people being turned into morons by TV.”
– Ray Bradbury in 2001 talking about his book Fahrenheit 451

According to Reuters (September 22, 2006)The total average time per household in 2005-06 was eight hours and 14 minutes per day. I am sure that has increased much more in year 2010. We as a nation watch a lot of Television and that is nothing to be proud of.

Once upon a time Zenguy and I not only used to watch Prime time TV but also had cable in addition to Indian ethnic channels as well. Whatever we could not see, we used to record it to watch it later. We used to come home after work and crash in front of TV to eat dinner and watch late night show with Jay Leno or David Letterman.

We have cut down on TV watching to almost none. We occasionally watch PBS shows for kids and some times a rare selected programs for adults on PBS such as cooking show, documentary or master piece theater program or occasional DVD movie watching (without ads). Many people says that TV has a many benefits including educational and entertainment value. But, let us look at a few benefits of not watching TV.

Instead of watching TV for 4 hours, you can do following;

1. You can start a blog or part time business
2. Play with friends, children
3. Have a date with your significant other
4. Learn to play piano
5. Read your favorite novel
6. Cook delicious meal for loved ones
7. Exercise, get in shape
8. Clean up clutter, organize
9. Spend quality time with your family and friends
10. Catch up on sleep, nap
11. Relax, enjoy
12. Go out in nature, enjoy sunset, sunrise etc.
13. Garden and grow veggies, fruits, and flowers
14. Paint and create a master piece artwork
15. Learn new skills

TV watching and internet are two of time wasters in our modern lives. We have fast food, fast cars, fast services only to use up that time for watching Idiot box called Television.

Here are some of the quotes by famous people about influence of TV and Media on us.

“Do you know we are ruled by TV?”
– from the poem An American Prayer by Jim Morrison

“American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV.”
– The Kaiser Family Foundation

“You watch television to turn your brain off and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on.”
– Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer and Pixar, in Macworld Magazine, February 2004

According to Turn off your TV Website , The CDC notes that “one-fourth of children in America spend four hours or more watching television daily and only 27 percent of students in grades 9 through 12 engage in moderate physical activity at least 30 minutes a day on five or more days of the week.”

According to the CDC, lifestyle behaviors is one of the major factors contributing to obesity in children and adults. Genetics does play a role, however, many health risks have been proved to significantly diminish when physical activity increases and diet improves. One major suggestion by health officials is a reduction in “screen time.” The VERB campaign promotes a decrease in time spent in a sedentary-TV-watching position and replace it with positive physical and pro social activities.

“The average tween spends four and a half hours each day in front of a screen. This includes watching television, video-tapes or DVDs, playing video games, using a computer or browsing the Internet. Television is the medium with which children spend the most time — two and a half hours each day.

* 26 percent of U.S. children watch four or more hours of television per day.
* 67 percent of U.S. children watch two or more hours per day.
* Almost half (48 percent) of all families with tweens have all four of the latest media staples: TV, VCR, video game equipment and a computer.
* The bedroom of the 21st century child is a multimedia environment. Of children 9 – 13 years old, more than half (57 percent) have a TV in the bedroom; 39 percent have video game equipment; 30 percent have a VCR; 20 percent a computer and 11 percent Internet access.” (VERB Fact Sheet)

As we can TV can be entertaining but if you watch too much, it is not good for children or adults alike. If you can not kill off your Television completely, at least watch less or selected shows without violence or advertisements. Watching selected shows from PBS , or watching selected DVDs of movies and shows will fill the need for entertainment for many.

That is way, many of us can get benefits of educational and entertainment without the disadvantages of too much Television or Media viewing.

Check out following sites for more information;

TV Turn off week Information
TV Ratings for Family If you watch any TV, do check this out

Image Source: NewYorker Cover, Thanksgiving 2006

101 Changes: Change 7: Watch Less Television is a post from: Heart and Mind

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Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self is enlightenment;
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self needs strength.

- Lao Tzu

What does Enlightenment mean to you? One of the Enlightenment is well known philosophical movement of the 18th century that emphasized the use of reason to scrutinize previously accepted doctrines and traditions and that brought about many humanitarian reforms. See here, Age of Enlightenment for more details.

When we say “enlightenment” most of us means, enlightenment as in being aware or understand the subject. It is just like light bulb switching on, but in our mind and soul. In Hinduism and Buddhism, enlightenment means – A blessed state in which the individual transcends desire and suffering and attains Nirvana.

This article is my contribution to Eric’s Personal Development Campfire and my version of enlightenment in spiritual and religious sense and what it is to be enlightened and how we may achieve the enlightenment in our life.

I decided to write a small poem, haiku or whatever you may want to call it, here is an Ode to enlightenment!

Everyone of us united together some ways
Not surprisingly as we are same species
Loving and learning as we move along
Intuitions and gut feelings from within our heart
Guiding light that lead us in our path
Heart and mind being in harmony
Tomorrow will be better than today
Engaging us to better ourselves
New discoveries to find contentment
Meditating and calming our inner overwhelm
Enlightening our spiritual soul
Now to alleviate our mind from pain and suffering
Today is the best day to start!

In simple words, The enlightenment is the condition of being informed spiritually: edification, illumination. Enlightenment has its roots in various religions and spiritual sense as well.

Siddhattha Gautam was a prince who became a spiritual teacher from ancient India who founded Buddhism. He gave up all wealth, kingdom, his wife and child to find enlightenment to end pain and suffering he saw around him. After many years of searching for answers, he tried to find enlightenment through near total deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practicing self-mortification at point of near starving himself to death.

Once he was sitting under a pipal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India, Gautam Buddha vowed never to arise until he had found the Truth. After 49 days meditating, at the age of 35, he attained Enlightenment; Gautama, from then on, was known as the Buddha or “Awakened One.” Buddha is also sometimes translated as “The Enlightened One.”

Siddharth Gautam, commonly known as the Buddha, is said to have achieved full enlightenment, known as perfect Buddhahood. You can find more about Buddhahood click here . In many Buddhist traditions, reaching full enlightenment is equivalent in meaning to reaching Nirvana.

According to Wikipedia, In Theravada Buddhism, enlightenment refers to a unique experience which wholly transforms the enlightened individual from their previous condition in life. The Buddha, is said to have achieved enlightenment, as are others reputed to have attained Buddhahood.

In the Zen Buddhist tradition, anyone is capable of achieving enlightenment. In Japanese, kensho is the name for an enlightenment experience where one realizes the non-duality of the observer and the observed, while satori is the term for a flash of sudden understanding or awareness. These are experiences along the path to full enlightenment.

Mahayana Buddhists equate enlightenment with discovery of one’s Buddha nature. It is a state of complete emptiness, a passage beyond the material world into a thought-transcending realm of non-duality and unconditioned-ness. It is a state where the ego and self have been transcended.

In Hinduism the word moksha is similar to enlightenment and Nirvana. Moksha means “release” or the liberation from life and suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and rebirth (reincarnation). Hindus believe that many of us are reborn as a various animals, humans and insects until we gain moksha, the final stage after being enlightened.

The word ‘enlightenment’ also has parallels in the Abrahamic religions: in the Kabbalah tradition in Judaism, in Christian mysticism, particularly in Gnosticism, and in the Sufi tradition of Islam.

How do we find enlightenment in our own life right now?

While there are no simple and clear cut ways to attain the enlightenment, here are a few ways that will help us guide in the right direction to  be enlightened in our lives.

• You can not look for enlightenment, it comes to you when you are ready.
• There are no specific ways that works for everyone, there are many ways.
• Meditation, Breathing rituals can sure help start in right direction.
• Practice being in conscious state or being aware of our surrounding and lives.
• Try to be free from material world as much as possible.
• One does not need to suffer in order to find enlightenment but for a few pain and suffering has made them more conscious.
• Give love unconditionally, when your heart and mind are in harmony.
• Let go of fear and possessions in your life.
• Relax and achieve cosmic awareness of mind at your speed, when you are ready. Enlightenment will come you.

Preeti AKA Zengirl

Image Source: sacredsites.com

Enlightment: An Awareness and Understanding is a post from: Heart and Mind

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Ayo Olaniyan from Discovering Purpose who is accredited coach and counselor writes on his blog to promote and increase your level of self awareness/discovery. He also publishes Life Skills Online magazines issues.

I am pleased to announce that the seventh edition of The Life Skills Magazine is now available and more than pleased that I am one of the featured contributors for this issue!! The topic is about Relationships.

The Life Skills Magazine is collection of personal development and lifestyle articles from various personal development bloggers/writers with the aim of creating a purpose driven life.

The seventh edition contains:

Ben Lumley of 6 Aliens tells us 5 ways to improve our office relationships.

Steve Aitchison of Change Your Thoughts looks at the secret of relationships.

Evan Hadkins of Wellbeing And Health.Net talks about relationships with the head, heart and hand.

Clearly Composed of Graceful Balance focuses on the development of the intimate relationship.

Preeti Bhatt of  Heart And Mind shows you how to make time for your relationships.

Dia Thabet of  2 Achieve Your Goals tells you  how to build close relationships.

John Sherry of Real Simple People highlights why the journey is the destination.

Parker Lee of  HowToMingle.Com teaches you how to mingle

Dominique Small of 4 Walls And A View focuses on the power of relationships in Dominique’s Corner.

Ayo Olaniyan of Discovering Purpose has wrote about 40 relationship spoilers.

Check out his previous issues as well and his blog. You will be glad you did.

Wondering how to get this free and fabulous resource? Just head on over to Ayo’s site Discovering Purpose and sign up to receive yours today!!

Lifestyle Magazine’s New Issue: Relationship is a post from: Heart and Mind

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I am writing a series of 101 small changes that we can make to make the quality of our life better and build and lead a more happier life that is in tune with our heart and mind. These are small changes that I have made and am working on right now, so I know they are possible for anyone to do.

If you have not read previous posts, check out a few posts on the changes from the past:

101 changes: Change 4 – Plant something
101 changes: Change 5 – Smile when you wake up
——————————————————————————————————-

Many of us are readers without us knowing it, we read emails, news, blogs, other information sites, magazines, work related and school related books and magazines, novels and other type of reading activities such as reading to your child and so on. Reading a book enhances our imagination and our mind.

With the popularity of internet, video games, movies, TV and other online social, media has put traditional reading in the back seat. There are so many benefits to reading the traditional way and I will show why you should read more books, both fictional and non-fictional, technical and for fun.

I have been a book worm since I was a kid and love reading all types of books. There are many aspects of reading that provide many benefits to us. It does not matter what type of a book you read, there is a book for all of our interests. From comic books, picture books, drama, humorous books, romance novels, historical books, cook books, how to books, self improvement books, technical books, science fictions books, famous biographies, poems, haiku, Joke books, ebooks, travel books and much more. There is something for every stage of readers;

A few of benefits for reading:

1. It improves your thinking: By reading in general, people tend to improve their analytical thinking and exercise the muscles in their mind. There have been studies done to show that reading improves your mind.
2. Improves your speech and vocabulary: There is no doubt, the more diverse and varied books that you read, you will improve your vocabulary with words that we may not generally use or hear in our daily life.
3. It improves your writing: It may seem like a surprise to hear that reading can improve your writing but it is true. If it can improve your mind by thinking more analytically, and improve your vocabulary, it is bound to improve your writing as well.  That maybe why most Language classes made us read books. Great writers are amazing, they can show moving pictures to words that are floating around, making us visualize the characters, feel their feelings and emotions and all that will pass on to you, the reader, especially when you write after reading a master piece book.
4. Glimpse in to Past: By reading great classic, we can go back in to the past. For example, when we read Pride and Prejudice we can see Austen’s world and culture around that time, how people lived and talked and what was normal, while living in the present.
5. Glimpse in to a possible future: When we read books like Nineteen Eighty-Four we can foresee a possible future and hopefully we can take steps to avoid some of the worse situations by correcting the way we do things now.
6. It improves focus and memory: I am very bad with people’s name and driving directions and yet, I find I remember things from my favorite books, the characters all so well. One of the reason being is that unlike the small fragments of issues, a book gives a COMPLETE story which makes focusing easy and improve your memory, especially if the book is engaging.
7. You can travel around the world from your couch: No need to pack or get a plane ticket, by reading books that are set in different countries, cities, we can learn and virtually visit other places we may not otherwise get a chance to.
8. Learning is portable: You can take your book or Kindle reader anywhere as it is portable, be it doctor or dentist’s office, beach or in plane ride. Learning continues.
9. Can change your life: Have you ever read a book, that completely change the way you look at the world and those who are around you? It can make you a better person, learn a new skill, or give you hope. Not all books are created equal, but there are a few gems that just might change your life for better.
10. Most time books are better than Movies: As an avid reader and an avid movie watcher, I know 99% of the times books are always better than the movies. Take the example of the Harry Potter book series, movies leave so many things out as it is hard to put everything in 3 hours. Sometimes so much is omitted that it makes it confusing to watch a movie based on a book. Some movies are well made though such as North & South TV series by Elizabeth Gaskell

    So, next time if you find some free time, pick up a good book to read and go on a time travel journey and learn something you always wanted to.

    Some great books to start reading this summer, if you have not already done it:
    
    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

    Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

    It’s Not Just Who You Know: Transform Your Life (and Your Organization) by Turning Colleagues and Contacts into Lasting, Genuine Relationships

    Outliers: The Story of Success

    The Help : Novel

    Do you love reading? What benefits do you think book reading gives you? Please share.

    Image source: Guardian.co.uk

    101 changes: Change 6 – Read a book (Benefits of reading) is a post from: Heart and Mind

    

    48 comment(s) for this post:

    1. Angela Artemis:
       2010-Aug-10 Preeti, I'm a bookworm too. Reading is so wonderful Since I started blogging and reading so many blogs my book reading has suffered. I was thinking about this recently and decided I had to make time to read again. It's such a joy! Thank you for reminding me!
    2. rob white:
       2010-Aug-10 Hi Preeti, That is a good one. Reading is the best way to exercise and expand our mind. You can live a lifetime in a book.
    3. ayo:
       2010-Aug-10 hello preeti how are you? thanks for sharing this and i believe there's absolutely no harm in being a bookworm lol!.(or is there????) if i may add to this please, reading makes us well rounded individuals. it equips us with diverse forms of knowledge.it makes us aware of the society/community we live in, It enlightens us. It serves as a tool for discovering new ideas, formulas, programs etc. can we really do without reading? i doubt that. take care of yourself and enjoy the rest of the day. p.s. thanks for contributing to this months edition of the magazine.
    4. Jessica:
       2010-Aug-10 Hi Preeti! I totally agree with you, with all of those benefits we should definitely bring back books! Like you said, there's something for everyone, and for all those who don't like reading, I say 'you haven't looked hard enough!' Keep up the great posts!
    5. ZenGirl:
       2010-Aug-10 Angela, I am glad to know other book-worms. I know how life can be with 20 millions things in our to do list. I still try to 2-3 books every month, sometimes new, some time old favorites. I hope you find some time to relax and read! You hard working gal!

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    ]]> http://www.happyheartandmind.com/2010/08/10/101-changes-change-6-read-a-book-benefits-of-reading/feed/ 48 http://www.happyheartandmind.com/2010/08/10/101-changes-change-6-read-a-book-benefits-of-reading/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/happyheartandmind/XVpz/~3/oXoeP_TEI7c/ http://www.happyheartandmind.com/2010/08/05/heart-and-mind-does-blogging-report-what-not-to-do/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:49:02 +0000 ZenGirl http://www.happyheartandmind.com/?p=1704 Heart and Mind does Blogging Report : What not to do is a post from: Heart and Mind
    ]]> I have never done a blogging report before and had no reason to it, until now. Although, I have been blogging at with my own domain and hosting with Happy Heart and Mind since only about 4.5 months however, it was about a year ago that I wrote my first blog post. I first started blogging on free blogger platform on July 27, 2009 with no expectations or goals for growing my blog. Surprisingly I survived (barely) blogging despite having made many mistakes.

    I often read blog report card posts by famous blogger like Glen Allsopp or Pat Flynn, so I thought I will also show my one year blogging report on my anniversary. The only difference will be their reports shows how you can be successful and this post will show you what not to do for being a successful blogger.

    Okay without further ado, here is the analysis for the Heart and Mind blog.

    Overall Traffic Pattern

    

    This is Heart and Mind's actual traffic pattern for month of July 2010

    This is actual traffic on Heart and Mind for the month of July. First traffic peak is when Rachel from Small Notebook mentioned my No Spend Month challenge on her blog, second peak is when Some nice soul(s) stumbled my post and third peak is when I did my 3 guest posting. Thank you! In general weekend are always low traffic days for me, I am assuming like most of you. (If you have more traffic on weekend, let us in your secret!)

    My traffic pattern is low, because you see this .com site is only 4.5 month old (since Mid March 2010), not since my blogger days, okay?

    Analytic

    Overall Visits: 4862 Visits
    Page Views: 18,832 Page views
    Bounce Rate: 36.5%
    Avg. Time on Site: 6 Minutes and 21 seconds

    This 4862 visits came from 78 different countries, with USA bringing in most visitors.

    I am quite pleased to see my bounced rate is low as it can generally be assumed that people are liking to read here as they spend average of over 6 minutes on site. Or, I am making such a terrible writing that people have to stay 6 minutes plus to understand what I am saying.

    Top Referring Websites

    1. Google Organic
    2. Direct
    3. Small Notebook
    4. Feedburner/feed
    5. happy-heart-mind.blogspot.com (My old blogger account)
    6. Earth Vegan Blogspot
    7. Stumble upon
    8. Rowdy Kittens
    9. Google.com
    10. Feedburner/email

    I am not on twitter, facebook or any other social media nor I have bookmarked my posts on digg, delicious or stumble upon hence there are no traffic from these social bookmarking sites, unless other friendly souls have done it.

    Subscriber count

    On March 18th, 2010: Big Zero (Being new site, lost old subscriber from blogger)
    On August 1st 2010 : Increasing slowly

    Other Statistics: (Year)

    Total Posts: 81 Posts
    Total Comments: 823
    Spams: 329

    Money Spent on site: More than I could afford

    Time Spent total: 2339 hours and 47 minutes (estimated)

    Money Made: $0.00 (Exact)

    When you start to get spams, that is a good sign that your blog is getting visible to other people who want to spam you as well. Sadly, not many will try to read commenting policy .

    Top referring Keywords

    I know little about keywords and have not made much effort in to it, nor I have professional helper in this matter so these results were quite a surprise to me. Your Google search number may vary depending on location a little but hopefully not too much. Please let me know any correction if you find during your Google search.

    Zengirl : 1st page #3 position, (Apparently there is Zengirl fitness in NY outranking me)
    Happy Heart and Mind: 1st page, 1st position
    Heart and Mind blog: 1st page, #3 position
    Heart and Mind: 1st page, #7
    101 changes: 1st page, #2
    Preeti @ heart and mind: 1st page #3 (My 2 comments on other blogs outranking my own site)
    Irony of recession: 1st page, #1 (I am shocked as you are about this one)
    Happy Heart quotes: 1st page, #5
    Slow blogger Zengirl : 1st page, #1 and #2
    Finding your core values Keyword used to find my site according to G. Analytic
    Simple harmony in life Keyword used to find my site according to G. Analytic
    Successful blogger Zengirl: Ha ha I do not rank for this, just wanted to see if you are paying attention.

    It is funny, that my name is such a common Indian name so other Preeti Bhatts are outranking me by long shot, who knew? As you can tell these keywords does not mean much, unless someone knew my blog and read here but it is still interesting to see what can be achieved when you are not even trying to rank for the keywords.

    How can you help Heart and Mind

    Without my readers my blog will not exist. I really appreciate your support. Thank you.

    There are a few ways, you can help and support me and Heart and Mind website.
    
    1. Subscribe

    If you like what you read here, join like minded people and subscribe via email or RSS (Google reader)

    2. Comment on Posts

    Please comment as I learn from you all as much as you learn from me. Comments makes also lively conversation and we get to know each other better. I would like to know more on, what you liked, what I can improve and what type of articles would you like to read here.

    3. Tell others

    I am not on social media and I blog between my kids’ naps, tantrums and family schedule, so I can use your help in spreading word about this blog. If you like what you read here, please tell others about it. You all are my marketing department.

    4. Bookmark the articles

    If you like to share any post on social media and other internet site, you can do easy click at the end of post article. I think it is happy compromise that may work for now.

    Has Heart and Mind has been mentioned in other sites?

    I hardly do any marketing for my blog, I am not on twitter, face book nor I stumble or digg my post ever. Some kind people have done for me and it has helped, Thank you. Here are a few places Heart and Mind was mentioned. Every little mention from small blog or bigger one is same for me; I really appreciate all the shout outs and mention from my online blogging community.

    1. Holy Cow, Earth Vegan Blog
    Heart and Mind has been mentioned in my favorite cooking blog Corn Pattis with tomatoes I am very proud of it as Vaishali of Holy Cow, earth vegan blog is my favorite cooking blog, where she writes about her passion for cooking and animals but she does not believe in mixing the two.

    Here what the she said;
    “Need more zen? Head on over to Zengirl’s blog, Heart and Mind, where she shares great tips on topics like celebrating holidays meaningfully and simply, reconnecting with your community, and making small changes to improve the quality of your life.”

    Thank you Vaishali for the wonderful and my first shout out.

    2. Rowdy Kittens
    Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens blog, where she writes about simple and car free living, included my We are what we eat article at Simple living news updates where she posts great many interesting links from various blogs and web.

    Thank you Tammy for the link love.

    3. Halfway Point
    Belinda Munoz writes beautifully about positivity at her blog, gave shout out along with other people to my comment on her previous article Learning to say Yes , where I wrote: “Yes to life, laughter and, no to sad and dreadful tasks.” 50 ways to say No . Belinda wrote: “My blogging buddies Patty, Nicki, Sara and Zengirl cheered alongside me for shining a light on the potent and life-giving qualities inherent in a yes.”

    Thank you Belinda for the shout out!

    4. Carbon capture report
    One of the reader recently told me about this link, I was not ware of it till now that this blog was mentioned about writing environment friendly article, along with many other blogs and professional sites. It is long list of information out there. I am surprised and honored to be part of such a post. Check out the long post at Carbon Credit News .

    5. Talk thrifty to me
    Betsy Bargain who writes at “talk thrifty”, mentioned one of my post on 12 ways to help your unemployed friends on her article called Each one – reach one

    Thank you Betsy for shout out and being loyal reader and supporter since my early days.

    6. Life Lessons Series
    
    Abubakar Jamil has life lessons series where many personal development bloggers participated. My 10 life lessons post was included among the post. To view it, check out here Life Lesson Series .

    Thank you Sunny for the starting a wonderful series on Life lessons and putting my article in the series post.

    7. Small Note book

    Rachel writes at Small Notebook from simple ideas from home keeping, simplify, saving money, and organizing ideas at her wonderful and popular blog. She was the inspiration my No Spend July Month that I am currently doing, spending $300 for the whole 31 days of July. She mentioned my blog experiment with others on no spend money journey, check it out here What to eat on Beans and Rice Budget, besides rice and beans.

    Thank you for the shout out and being an inspiration for my starting this July No Spend experiment.

    8. Musing of a Midlife Mom:

    Sharon who writes her daily musing at Musing of a Midlife Mom blog, mentioned me in her recent post while we were doing No spend month challenge together. Here is the link the the post Day 19: treading water , where she wrote “ Zengirl just posted some great ideas on how they’ve avoided spending money this month.”

    Thanks Sharon for the shout out and being part of No Spend July Month Journey.

    9. My first guest post at Holy Cow, Earth Vegan Blog

    Check out my very first guest post How to stick a Vegan Pantry at Holy Cow! Earth Vegan blog. I have love cooking and working on being a vegan so this was fun to write. I am thankful for Vaishali to being a generous host to my post.

    10. Soulful Body and Mind

    Ali Myers from Soulful Body and Mind has made a shout out to my 7 links here. Thanks Ali for the shout out.

    11. My Guest Post at Virgin Blogger Notes

    Jean was kind enough to host my post 10 Plugin to Boost Your Blogging where she shares many great tips for blogger who are new and experienced. I tried to write a bit of humorous tone post like Jean, and I failed. Thank you Jean for the opportunity, I had fun doing the post and even more fun answering the comments to her avid readers.

    12. My guest post at Make it Happen

    Arvind and I talked (Okay, so mostly I did the talking) about doing a guest post at his blog for quite sometime, but it finally happened, please check out 5 Quick ways for you to be happy right now . Thank you Arvind for hosting me.

    If you have mentioned Heart and Mind and if I missed it, please let me know. Thank you.

    Mistakes I made and still making right now:

    1. I started on blogger platform, while many successful blogs are hosted there, I did not get the visibility until I moved to word press and hosted account after 9 months of blogging.
    2. I did not know anything about feed burner and subscriber button, so I blogged for 6 months without one. I finally got subscribe button on blog spot however when I changed the hosting, feed URL had to be changed and so I started with zero subscriber on March 2010 due to new Feed URL.
    3. In my early days of blogging, I have read blogs without commenting, and I commented on a few ones and did not properly put my links (Don’t ask me why, I have no valid reason for it).
    4. Every blogger is told to have a niche, I did not have one and still do not. I like variety of subjects from personal development, to cooking, health, saving money, finding balance, reading books and movies, social, family and slow life. Any expert will tell you that is suicide in terms of blogging when you do not have a focus. Well, I am not scatter brain, I really like many subjects that generally fall under Life improvement categories.
    5. Blogging blueprint will say, post every day when you are new blogger and be consistent. I am neither. I blog about 1-2 time a week on average and I do not have consistent days where I post. Again, this is not due to lack of discipline but lack of time with 2 little kids and other life’s stuff happening.
    6. Many experts including top minimalist and simplistic blogger also say that twitter is one of necessary evil for being a successful blogger. I am not only not on twitter but any social media right now. It is not because I do not care to be successful one but I will do not want to spread myself thin by being so networked. Has it made difference in bad way? I am sure of it.
    7. Many expert blogger will tell you to connect and comment on same niche as your blog for better exposure. I did not, I commented on cooking blog, psychology blogs, homeschooling blogs, crafts blogs, parenting blogs, math blogs and movie blogs (everything I like in my real life) despite not being on my niche.
    8. I wrote under pen name of Zengirl for 10 plus months, until I finally wrote under my real name for various reasons as pointed out in coming out of shadow post. Maybe writing under my name for the beginning would have made difference.Although I do like and use my super hero name Zengirl a lot.
    9. I found connection with a couple blogger at the start but I felt pretty much a lonely blogger for long time until recently, I have connected with some cool blogger who I think are my (online) friends. Treat other blogger like you want to be treated, seem to work for me.

    In addition to recent posts, please check out following links for more information.

    Asked questions and answers
    Best of Heart and Mind

    This was unusually detailed and long post. I hope you have learned what not to do to be a successful blogger. Thanks for reading!

    Heart and Mind does Blogging Report : What not to do is a post from: Heart and Mind

    

    40 comment(s) for this post:

    1. Saving Savy Pinkey:
       2010-Aug-05 I liked this report style. I am definitely going to try this. And yes, by the way, I am your new regular visitor, and I liked your blog that I have added you in my blog roll too.
    2. rob white:
       2010-Aug-05 Thanks for sharing to openly, Preeti. I love that you are sharing your mistakes so we can all learn. Seems you are right on track and correcting you course as you go... the path to success is a series of miss-takes and re-takes :)
    3. Alien Ghost:
       2010-Aug-05 Hi Preeti, Your honesty and openness is beautiful! Also you really did a throughout analysis of statistics of your blog. I’m sure your results so far are very common among many bloggers; in fact we have many things in common: -The monthly income -No specific niche -No twitter, Facebook, etc -The lack of time to be more consistent When started (March 2009) I made the mistake of following to close the Gurus advice and got nowhere and simply abandoned my blog for several months, until decided that this is a personal thing and we cannot follow exactly, but rather create our own process; so restarted the blog in my terms in November 2009. Being oneself and honest might make things more complicated or go slower, but then our blogs can truly reflect us and allow us to connect with people and, as you mention, develop wonderful friendships. I hope you consider me one of your “digital” friends :) Keep going at your pace and doing things as your heart and mind dictates…that’s what we like to see here and keep us coming back to you :) Raul
    4. S. Ali Myers - Soulful Body & Mind:
       2010-Aug-05 Preeti, What an insightful report. You share so much of yourself with us - it's refreshing. It really is nice to see someone without a veil or disguise who let us inside to view your world. You continue to amaze! Peaces!
    5. Jean Sarauer:
       2010-Aug-05 Preeti, you are my definition of a successful blogger. Why? Because you are learning as you go and putting good things out into the world. That's what it's all about. This report was great, by the way!

    Write a quick comment | View 35 more comment(s).

    ]]> http://www.happyheartandmind.com/2010/08/05/heart-and-mind-does-blogging-report-what-not-to-do/feed/ 40 http://www.happyheartandmind.com/2010/08/05/heart-and-mind-does-blogging-report-what-not-to-do/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/happyheartandmind/XVpz/~3/fJ597RaSUmw/ http://www.happyheartandmind.com/2010/08/01/no-spend-month-challenge-update-and-take-away-from-the-experiment/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 13:40:10 +0000 ZenGirl http://www.happyheartandmind.com/?p=1679 No Spend Month Challenge: Update and Take away from the experiment is a post from: Heart and Mind
    ]]> Now that August is here, here is a recap of our No Spend Month Challenge with its final update and lessons and take away from this No Spend experiment:

    This July we did No Spend Month experiment to see if our family of four, living in Northern California can survive with only $300: For groceries, eating out, cleaning, gardening supply, entertainment (books, movies, etc), Gas for cars, Any repairs, clothing and accessories and other items.

    31 days

    4 people

    $300

    To see recap on what is No Spend month and with Monday’s weekly updates on how we did, check out the posts below for more details.

    No Spend Moth Challenge: Introduction $0
    No Spend Month Challenge: Update 1 Money Spent 1st week: $104.73
    No Spend Month Challenge: Update 2 Money Spent 2nd week: $33.72
    No Spend Month Challenge: Update 3 Money spent 3rd week: $97.15
    No Spend Month Challenge: Update 4 Money spent4th week: $18.50

    Last week spending update:

    Gas for hybrid : 27.71
    Groceries: $ 17.85
    Total for last 5 days: $45.56

    Here is total breakdown for the whole month to compare where did the money go?

    Our Total expenses for the No Spend month Details:
    
    Gas for both cars: $158.79
    Groceries: $82.70
    Snacks, Food outside: $25.67
    Entertainment: $22.50 (Yosemite Park Fee, Books, Raffle ticket)
    House hold: $10 (Used high chair)
    Total for the month: $299.66

    As you can see, we barely made with 44 cents left over from our $300. Phew!!
    Edited to add: We did not pre-stock gas for the cars or groceries prior the the no spend month experiment. Also all expense from cash and little on credit card are included here (even though CC bill be due next month).

    Highlights and Analysis of this month:

    1. Gas prices are highest in the nation in Northern California, cheapest unleaded gas price is around $3.20 per gallon here. Except for our long Yosemite drive, we did not drive much and walked. Gas we had to fill in every other week, our normal gas expenses are much higher. This was consciously done.
    2. We had once had guests over for dinner and once we had to bring a potluck meal for 40 people. Our groceries expense is under $100, because we mostly used up our pantry, frozen and canned food supply this month. We still have a few cans and little frozen food left but most of food supply is used up. We were also were able to donate some goods that otherwise would have expired before being used.
    3. We did not eat out except for coffee and snacks once.
    4. We did not spend any money on repairs, clothes, cleaning supply or diaper this month as we used vinegar and cleaning supply from home for it. Zenguy repaired one chair by himself. And we used gift card (from last Xmas) to buy some diapers and we supplemented with cloth diapers for little P.
    5. I did little splurging like buying used books ($1.50) or used high chair ($10, actually needed) as Little P was growing out of his bouncer which we used as a feeding chair till now. Although we did not spend much money this month, we still were able to manage life and have fun.
    6. Both kids have no idea that we were in no spend month last month or had any budget issues. They were happy as usual. Our life style is mostly simplified anyways.
    7. Knowing we did not have money to spend, we stayed out of malls, bookstores, clothing stores and un-necessary grocery trips. We visited library more often and read books and movies from our own collection.
    8. We cleaned up our yard, organized our Gazebo, took out weeds and planted some more plants and flowers in our yard. We went for walking to near by parks, caught up with neighbors, watched movies from our small collection for entertainment.
    9. My breakdown point came around day 25th of this No Spend Month. I was feeling down, blue and bit childish as I wanted freedom to spend and not count everything before we buy stuff. It is like food fasting, which is good for day or few days but if you keep doing it always, it is not good for your health. Money fasting is similar in a way, too long of it might would have created deprivation.
    10. I learned a lot about myself and my family and our strengths and weaknesses. My family always supported me, even though this was my decision, Zenguy also curbed his spending and motivated me when I was bit down last 5 days. I also kept busy with my guest posts and commenting there to keep my mind off from my budget and it worked well.
    11. I also re-learned that we do not need money to be happy, we had a lot of good times during this month as a family. I got to see my creative side to make new meals from left over food. I was able to complete the No Spend Month challenge despite giving up hope during last week.
    12. There are many people who made this happen for me. I could not have done this challenge without support of Zenguy and my kids. I learned this concept of No Spend month, from Rachel of small notebook and I was honored to be mentioned in her post about this challenge  along with others What to eat on beans and rice budget, besides beans and rice . Also I got to know other ladies who were also in same journey and Sharon mentioned my update on her post Diary of No spend Month: day 19 too. Thanks Rachel and Sharon for the shout outs and support.
    13. I am thankful to Betsy Bargain , Vaishali and Ali sharing their money savings tips during this month. And to all my readers despite coming from various background supporting my challenge and commenting on update posts, kept me going.
    14. This challenge was not about winning or losing, this challenge for me was to make a conscious spending decision. I always thought of my self very frugal but this month made me realize I have quite a way to go and things to learn. I am more appreciative of people who live on very little every month, not because of any challenge, but because they have to.
    15. I learned that simplifying life and spending less has enabled me to stay home with both the kids and survive even with zero salary as Zenguy is between projects right now. Money may give us illusion of (temporary) happiness but happiness comes always from within.

    These are my take away, analysis and lessons learned for the whole No Spend month Challenge. I am glad I did this challenge openly despite being scared of failing in front of others.

    Your turn: What did you think of this challenge? Do you spend money consciously, regardless of how much money you have?

    Image: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

    No Spend Month Challenge: Update and Take away from the experiment is a post from: Heart and Mind

    

    41 comment(s) for this post:

    1. No spend july month : Update 4 | Heart and Mind:
       2010-Aug-01 [...] out final update here No Spend Month Challenge: Final Take away . Image Source: weblogs.jomc.unc.edu 3 I like [...]
    2. S. Ali Myers - Soulful Body & Mind:
       2010-Aug-02 Bravo! Woohoo!! You made it! I love #11. You do not have to have money to have fun. This is something that people need to take to heart. Too many times we settle for doing nothing because money is "funny" but you can do many things with a creative imagination. You proved this with your challenge. I can see why you got antsy and "childish" towards the end. I would've been that way 1/3 of the way through! This was seriously a great feat, in my opinion. My better half is so high-maintenance that I know it would be a difficult task for my family. I'm not even going to try it now. But, it was great watching you and yours kill this challenge! BTW: Thanks for the mention(o:
    3. Sharon:
       2010-Aug-02 Amazing, simply amazing...Great job Preeti!!!
    4. rob white:
       2010-Aug-02 Great Job Preeti, Consciously spending Money is essential for having a great relationship to money (my last blog is exactly about this :)) My consciously spending allows me to use money in ways to, conserve natural energy, help to clean the polluted environment, and to educate rather than foolishly spend.
    5. ZenGirl:
       2010-Aug-02 Ali, Yes, money is not essential for having fun, people and experiences are. Money sometimes adds an easier way to things to do. Yes, at the end, last 5 days were hard even as constant counting and barely making it was little tough but I am glad I stuck by the challenge and finished it. I am now lot happier. I thought you better half was good at coupon cutting, how can she be high maintainance also? You seem like a conscious spender type of guy to me with cutting your own hair and all. Thanks for reading my journey!

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