Words from a “lost” generation
Only 1 minute 44 seconds, so watch the whole thing:
(Thanks to Brenda for the submission!)
Are you ready to stretch?
You know I’m a big advocate of going outside your comfort zone. If I hadn’t done that myself, I wouldn’t have the great life that I do…wonderful husband, a home that we love, busy acting career, my own web design business, and good health (made better by becoming an adult-onset triathlete). But how do you know when it’s time for a stretch? Career and life coach Stefanie Zizzo gives the following advice:
I think of our comfort zones as a space or structure we build/create that surrounds us and is filled with all that is familiar. They vary in shape – some as solid as a brick wall, other are more permeable like a balloon that can stretch. They also vary in size from small to vast. Our comfort zones are safe places that help us feel grounded and secure in the world. Yet there are times in each of our lives when we outgrow our current comfort zone. Here are some clues to let you know when you are at the edge of yours, ready to step around, over or through the one you have created.
You are restless
You may like where you are but lately have been feeling an “itch” to do something new or shake things up a bit. You have the sensation of fidgeting or being easily distracted by the unimportant.
Action: take a class in something that you have either always want to explore or that has recently piqued your curiosity
You are seeking or searching for something
You are curious. You may be thinking there has got to be more to life than this – but you are not sure what that is. You find yourself imagining what it would be like to be doing something else – you start noticing what others are doing and wondering what it would be like to do it too.
Action: informally “interview” people whose life and work you find interesting, asking questions that help you see how it would fit your personality, needs and desires.
You are bored
What was once interesting is now boring or static. Your passion has dimmed, sparks are missing – and perhaps you are somewhat drained. The “life” is missing from your life. You go through the motions but your heart is not in it.
Action: Grab a friend and brainstorm how you could add some fun into your life, perhaps activities you could do together
You are in a rut
You realize you have been doing the same things the same way for a long time. There has been nothing new or different in your life. Your comfort is starting to feel and be limiting.
Action: Change how you do what you do – from the route you take to work to any of your regular routines.
You are feeling a pull
There is a sense of yearning, desire and excitement or anticipation for something you want to be doing. You have ideas or know exactly what you would like to do, experience or be – it is so close you can see it and feel it.
Action: write your vision for what you feel pulled toward. Be as descriptive as you can be.
Opportunity is knocking
You receive invitations to the same type of opportunities, ones that are out of your comfort zone. Maybe you are asked to volunteer for something you never tried before or friends suggests a new activity or career path.
Action: say yes to one of these opportunities to test the waters
You are questioning
You are wondering what you are doing with your life – wondering how you got where you are. You are wondering what’s next for you, or questioning the impact your life and work is having on you and others around you.
Action: Think about what impact you want your life and work to have.
Several of these clues may fit for you right now. Whichever resonate most, remember that your stretch, and actions, can take many forms, this was just a taste. The key is to take some action now!
Are you ready to stretch?
Hippo and tortoise
This true story has been going around the Internet for years, but it still makes me smile. More proof that differences don’t have to matter.
NAIROBI (AFP) – A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said. The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him. “It is incredible.. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a ‘mother’,” ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP. “After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately , it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together,” the ecologist added. “The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,” Kahumbu added. “The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years,” he explained.
(Thanks to Betty for the submission!)
Mysterious Letters on Kickstarter
I recently ran across Kickstarter.com, a website that provides “a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers…”. Propose a project, and if you’re lucky enough to make it onto the site you can promote your project and bring in pledges from site visitors. Bit by bit, dollar by dollar, projects are successfully funded every day. A pretty cool concept.
A lot of the projects are what you’d expect: books to be published, movies to be made, bands who want to “come play in your town”. But here’s a wacky one that caught my eye: Mysterious Letters, a project by two artists in Ireland who want to send a hand-written letter to everyone on the planet. So far they’ve covered one town in Ireland (see the video on the website) and raised $1,518 towards their $2,000 goal. But my favorite part is what you get for your pledge. In particular:
Pledge $5 or more: You will have your name written in calligraphy on a list that will be read in a reverential tone of voice into the letterbox as we post all of the letters. (Specific accents requestable.)
…
Pledge $24 or more: You will receive a unique hand-written postcard composed whilst we were sober, clear-headed and utterly focused on the task.
Pledge $25 or more: You will receive a unique hand-scrawled postcard written while we were drunk, which we’ll regret horribly by the time it arrives.
Not surprisingly, the highest number of pledges are in the $25-or-more category.
This project not your cup of tea? No worries, there are plenty of others to choose from. Your pledge could definitely improve someone’s day!
Psychiatric hotline typography animation
Typography animation is a cool computer arts technique that creates animated video art using primarily typographic characters.
OK, not sure that really made sense, so let me show you. Here’s a fave:
(Thanks to Betty for the submission!)
What are you so afraid of?
For me, it was drowning. Well, swimming, actually. Despite growing up in Florida, I’ve never been a strong swimmer. And it’s a fear that’s kept me from participating in so many fun times with friends and family–they go swim in waterfall pools, I stay on the rocks. Need a day-improver? Need to conquer that fear.
For me, it took the idea of a friend and the final nudge of my wonderful husband to give me wings (or, in this case, fins). So I signed up for a triathlon. No Ironman, just super-sprint distances (still pretty challenging if you’ve never done it before)…but obviously it starts with a swim. Yes, over the past six weeks, as part of my triathlon training, I’ve relearned to swim–actually, we figured that I’ve probably swam more in the past six weeks than I have in my entire life. And not only have I not drowned, I’m kinda loving it!
Which is a really long way to say that a great day-improver comes from doing something you never in a million years thought you would or could do. In mid-October I’ll hopefully post that I’ve just finished my first triathlon. In the meantime, however, I’m celebrating all firsts–like swimming in a waterfall pool with my husband and our two great friends, Eric and Chrissy, up in the North Carolina mountains. That first picture up above is the actual waterfall…here’s the proof that I actually plunged myself into the freezing depths and SWAM in it with people I love:
So what are YOU so afraid of, and what’s it holding you back from? Time to take a little step out of your comfort zone and experience something new. It’s the ultimate day-improver, not just for the day you do it, but for all the days after!
(Thanks to Eric for finding the path down to the pool, to Chrissy for braving the cold with me, and as always to Paul for knowing I could do it…next step, triathlon!)
Kiss someone’s forehead today!
I hereby declare today (and for that matter, every day) International Kiss Someone’s Forehead Day. As you can see, it’ll make you BOTH feel better!
(Thanks to Nick for the submission!)
New depressant drug
Good news for those whose days don’t ever need improving, from the Onion News Network (“Making You Seem Better Informed”). Cool beans!
(Obligatory warning: some strong language)
(Thanks to Betty for the submission!)
Biophilia = good nature-lovin’
My husband recently gave me a book that I absolutely LOVE, The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner. In it, the author visits several different countries to see why they are considered among the happiest in the world. Things like outlook, attitude, positive politics, and of course free health care figure into the mix, but one thing comes up again and again (especially in countries like Switzerland): biophilia.
Social psychologist Eric Fromm first used “biophilia” (literally, “love of life or living systems”) to describe our tendency as humans to be attracted to all that is alive and vital. It’s probably rooted in our biology, since a positive emotional response to living things makes us want to protect them, thereby ensuring their survival. In other words, our natural love for life helps sustain life. It also helps explain why ordinary people care for and sometimes risk their lives to save animals, why we keep plants and flowers in and around our homes, and why some people (and I’m definitely one of them) love to be immersed in nature. Not only does it make us feel better, it’s part of being human.
It seems that nurturing a connection to the outdoors is especially important for children. In the 2005 book, Last Child in the Woods, author Richard Louv lamented that, thanks to indoor electronic diversions, restricted access to outdoor areas, and overprotective parents, children are spending less time outdoors, which is leading to all kinds of problems. He called it Nature Deficit Disorder. Now, I’m not a big fan of inventing disorders to make us feel even worse about ourselves, but the theory behind this one is pretty interesting.
Louv spent 10 years traveling around the USA reporting and speaking to parents and children, in both rural and urban areas, about their experiences in nature. He found that thanks to sensationalist media and good old fashioned paranoia, parents are keeping children indoors in order to keep them “safe” from danger. As a result, those children are losing their ability to connect to nature.
Electronic media is also a culprit, and we’re all guilty of spending too much time at the computer (even this website relies on you spending at least some time with electronic gadgetry). Adults tend to balance this with time outdoors near nature (we still need to run errands, buy groceries, go to the bank), or at least by keeping a plant on their desk. Children, however, tend to become so immersed in their video games and television shows that they not only don’t go outside, they stop being aware that there is an outside.
According to recent studies, positive effects of nature on children include: increased respect for the environment (vital for its survival); decreased childhood obesity; fewer attention disorders; stress reduction; better attention span; higher creativity; better cognitive development; and a developed sense of wonder and connection to the earth.
So get your children out into nature, and don’t forget to nurture your own human connection to other living things. At the very least open up your curtains and take a look outside once in a while. Better yet, take a walk. Throw the ball around (your dog will especially appreciate it). Water a plant. Listen to the birds. Even if you’re in the middle of a city, get out of the building once in a while and find one of those little tree wells.
Feel the love. Feel the biophilia. Your day will be much improved for it!
Loving kindness…pass it on
You may be familiar with the Loving Kindness meditation, developed from the Buddhist concept of Metta:
May you be filled with loving kindness
May you be well
May you be peaceful and at ease
May you be happy
Stated simply, Metta is the wish that all beings (regardless of social, religious, racial, political, and economic status) have welfare and happiness. Developing Metta through loving-kindness meditation can make it easier to replace feelings of bitterness, resentment, and animosity with more positive feelings of benevolence, sympathy, and love. Sounds good, right? And it is.
Basically, here’s how it works: You start out by saying the meditation a few times to yourself, “May I be filled with loving kindness…”. After that, visualize your loved ones and say it to them. After that, visualize a mentor or someone who has influenced you in a positive way and say it to him/her. Then visualize someone who is challenging to you and say it to them (tough, I know, but bear with me here). Finally, branch out to saying the meditation to your community, country, and the world. Wish happiness for all beings.
Try it a few times, you’ll see that it really can make a bad day better! And if a visual way of thinking helps–or you just want to relax for a few minutes–check out this video (bonus: in addition the trippy music, there’s some really beautiful photography):
(Thanks to Betty for the submission!)
