Lili Dauphin

For the past two years, a friend of mine gifted my books to his family as Christmas presents. Three weeks before Christmas, he called me, and asked if my new book was out yet. I had nothing. “What, you decided to do away with the tradition?” he asked disappointedly. I made a few lame excuses and then he interrupted me, “Please, you’ve got to do one, I’ll help out.”
His transparent generosity and the gratitude I felt knowing that someone valued my work so much soon inspired me to come up with a unique book idea. The idea came so easily because it was an expansion of the animal allegories I had blogged on a website, allegories that already had sparked laughter, online debate… and favorable ratings. I figured why not a whole book of one page allegories and thus inspire that much more laughter and debate: what the lesson, the moral of the story? A particularly popular allegory was about a cow which loosed some cowpats and didn’t think to clean up after herself, hence the ironic book title “The Thinking Cow.”
With “The Thinking Cow” as a template, an impish demon possessed me and 75 allegories channeled through me during an interminable night of writing. Even I didn’t know what the proverbial morals of the stories were… and that I figured was the overall moral of my vignettes. Get people of all ages and sensibilities talking and writing about my allegories, about morals, and thus the world according to them: what their myths?
Before I proceeded with the edit of the book I collected an eclectic group of friends, a few with their children, all eager to help, to read, to listen, to discuss… well, certainly eager to eat my piquant chicken, rice, and beans, replete with a “lili pie” that mischievously tried to upstage my new book it was so scrumptious.
When my friends finally started patting their bellies instead of feeding them it came time to read my allegories. All my friends took turns reading until one dear friend just sounded too much like “PBS special” narrator, too well breathed life into the stories, and became the designated reader. Most stories evoked laughter and spirited discussions which showed all my friend’s different colors. Though, true, a few of my stories were met with a collective HUH!?? Thankfully I got the notes I needed to polish these little gems. Before leaving the party a friend said, “Lili, you may have started something very interesting.”
That’s all I needed to hear. I held the first polished copy of the “Thinking Cow” on Christmas Eve. I hope my book will delight you and yours, reader, in this new era of hope. I hope that something of the spirit of the rice and beans party will imbrue your reading of “The Thinking Cow.”



I asked a friend about her New Year resolutions, her reply was: “I want to lose weight; I want to be happy; I want a new career; I want to get married; I want to travel; I want my own business; I want to be more assertive; I want to cry more; I want to learn how to cook; I want to learn how to dance; I want to go out on dates; I want to buy a house and I want to make ten babies.”
“That’s a long list for one year,” I laughed.
“I want them all,” she enthused.
“Impossible,” I said.
“What would you do?” she asked.
“I would do the following:”
I would first find a resolution that’s significant to me. Many of us have too many resolutions. There aren’t enough hours in the day to make ten babies in one year.

You can possibly do more than one if you want to but it may not be practical. You might spread yourself too thin.

Pick one resolution that you feel is important to your life. It’s best to focus on what matters the most to you. List your top three and focus on those.

1) REMINDER: Once you’re sure of the main resolution, write it down in big letters where you can see it daily.

2) STEPS: Write down the steps you plan to follow in order to satisfy the resolution. If your goal is to get organized, where do you plan to start and how.

3) RIGHT APPROACH: Have self-confidence:” Yes, I can do it.” Don’t look at it as a sacrifice. “Oh poor me, I just have to pass on this huge, juicy piece of pizza today.” Look at it as a benefit to your life. Every time you make a small step to fulfill your resolution, go and celebrate. Don’t forget to remind yourself that you’re doing great.

4) KEEPING MOMENTUM: Do something everyday - even small - to keep the momentum. Once you go for weeks without making an effort to achieve the goal, you might lose the energy.

5) NO DEADLINE: If you give yourself a deadline then you may not enjoy it as much because it will become a task. Do your best until you have achieved your goal.

6) MAINTENANCE: Once you reach your goal, you should not go back to your old ways. Keep doing a little each weak. For instance, if your goal is to be organized, don’t allow papers to take over your desk again. Clean your desk at least a couple of times a week.

7) CELEBRATE: Do something good for yourself. Buy some candies or treat yourself to a movie because you’ll know you deserve it. You must remind yourself how good it feels to fulfill your goal.

If by the end of the year you have not reached your goal, don’t feel bad. You know at least you tried and that’s a lot. Keep in mind that no matter what be positive and try to achieve a part of your goal everyday.