3 X 5's: Index Card Wisdom from Best of Books

LOST LETTERS Susanne O'Leary (2022). The Lost  Letters of Ireland. This is the 5th book in O'Leary's starlight cottage series set in the coast of modern day Ireland. Edwina, a socialite from Dubline, buys and refurbishes the starlight cottages, with the financial help of her mother Pamela, also a socialite...she gets to know and eventually marry Shane, the local doctor...the lost letters refer to a letter in a bottle that Edwina found on the beach near the cottages from Pearse who is longing for a girl that returned to the states...part, but not all, of their story is revealed. lesson: failure of a big project (the original plans for modern renovations of starlight cottages due to the construction company going bankrupt) turns out to be a blessing, as the new renovations are more modest, more in keeping with the style of the local village, more in line with their budget, and Edwina and Shane are able to buy and live in one of the cottages. practice: how might you downsize y...

GRAVITY HABITS Joan Vernikos (2011). Sitting Kills, Moving Heals Vernikos has a PhD in pharmacology and worked at NASA as a research scientist and director of multiple programs for over 30 years...her research focuses on astronaut health Research shows a suprising similarity in the negative effects of lack of gravity for astronauts and those earthlings who have seditary lifestyles, especially those that sit a majority of their day (e.g., office and white collar work at computers, students sitting in classrooms) and those confined to beds (e.g., those in hospitals or those homebound that are confined to a bed) including: DECREASED bone density, muscle mass, growth hormone, heart output, balance, immune response, and sleep... all of the negative effects can be reversed with GRAVITY HABITS throughout the day, especially postural shifts (e.g., as simple as moving from sitting to standing many times a day..."Every time you stand up, the body initiates a shift in fluides, volume, and ho...

CREATIVE MEDITATION Jack Schwarz (1978). Voluntary Controls:                                             Exercises for Creative Meditation. Schwarz has no formal educational degrees...he developed some of the techniques in a Nazi concentration camp before founding the Aletheia Foundation in 1958 which as of this writing in 2026 has a website (aletheiaheart.com)...Schwarz is self-taught with no teacher, guru, or formal religions/spiritual affiliation...he realized at age 9 that he could put his hands on people and heal them...he was tested by scientists like Elmer Green on his abilities such as being filmed inserting a knitting needle through his bicep with no bleeding or significant changes in heart rate or brain waves...this is what he calls "voluntary control" Learnings: the most important idea is to trust yourself, your inner voice, your intution...ta...