Avocado Affirmation

Let's not take ourselves too seriously! Find something today to make you smile!

The Invitation [Poem of the Week]

It doesn’t interest me

what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream

for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

(Source: http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/)

Unfinished Business [The Zeigarnik Effect]

Greetings all!

Let me pose 2 seemingly unrelated questions:

• Do you ever procrastinate? 
• Do cliffhanger endings in TV shows make you impatient to see the next episode? 

What do these questions have in common, you might ask, besides the procrastination being on occasion the direct effect of binge-watching TV?!

Image from https://www.flickr.com/photos/venditti_min_min-venditti/28265593683

Enter the Zeigarnik Effect! A psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik developed a theory in the 1920s that we tend to remember incomplete tasks better than completed ones. She observed that waiters in a restaurant were able to keep track of orders and unpaid bills but could not recall the information after the bills were paid. She then did several lab experiments to support her hypothesis. Later studies were mixed in terms of replicating this effect.

For me, the Zeigarnik Effect does seem to hold true. Incomplete tasks loom much larger in my mind than the ones I have crossed off my list. Maybe the brain encodes unfinished business differently. Maybe the mind literally just gets “stuck.”

How do we get un-stuck? How do we learn to procrastinate less? This is what works for me:

1) Make a list and break a large task into smaller steps - then it will not seem that intimidating.

2) Just start. Do one thing and not only you will be a bit closer to completion, you might actually find your flow!

3) Take breaks. Some studies suggest that interrupting your work will make you mentally return to the unfinished task.

Sources:

• https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/procrastinating-how-to-stop-zeigarnik-effect-phenomenon-at-work-now-a8247076.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeigarnik_effect

What did you think? Drop me a line!

Thought of the week - Here and Now

Greetings all!

Here is an inspiring thought for the upcoming week (from http://www.deeshan.com).

Hope you have a great week! Drop me a line!

The Mind Palace [How to Sharpen Your Memory]

Greetings all!

Every day we are bombarded with information - seemingly endless stream of news, data, facts, gossip... How can we keep our memory sharp to remember the things we do need to remember? Here are some tips from Caroline McKenzie as read in the March-2019 issue of Real Simple magazine!

1) Get Moving

Medical research suggests that short, brisk walks might be good for short-term memory, whereas regular moderate exercise helps with forming long-term memories.

Doing an uncommon gesture before certain tasks might also jog your memory. For example, hopping on one foot before placing your keys on the desk might help you remember their location.

2) Visit the “Palace”

Image from https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018ttws

The memory palace is a visualization technique where you mentally place objects in an imaginary path. If you are going to run multiple errands, imagine the dry cleaning by the door, checks to be cashed on the desk, etc. Then you mentally go through this path and pick up images you laid there earlier. 

MY NOTE: I think the memory palace is a great technique to learn another language and in general to keep our brain active. This method is also known as the mind palace, memory journey or the method of loci. Sherlock in the Sherlock BBC series favors this technique and there was a great episode in which a blackmailer stored juicy tidbits in his mind palace, without putting anything on paper! 

3) Make It Weird

Turn your day-to-day essentials that you need to remember into bizarre pictures in your brain. If you need to pick up milk, imagine “your car stuffed to the gills with cartons and milk gushing out the windows.” Your brain might remember unusual images better. 

MY NOTE: OK, I think I will continue with making lists for errands but I can see how this might help with remembering the name of a person you just met or enhancing your vocabulary! 

4) Put It on Repeat

Repetition is great for learning a language or, in the author’s article, remembering a recipe.

5) Catch Some Z’s

A good night’s sleep is essential for our health, including brain health and memory retention. Research shows that napping might also bolster memories.

Many of these ideas come from “Remember It!” book by Nelson Dellis, which is going on my library list - I think my mind palace is busy enough without adding another book to it!

Which one is your favorite? Drop me a line! 

Easy Gazpacho [A Chilled Soup on a Hot Summer Day]

Greetings all!

Summer is officially here, and a chilled gazpacho soup is perfect on a hot summer day!

Image and recipe idea from 

https://blog.hipcooks.com/chill-out-hipcooks-gazpacho-on-a-summer-day/

 INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds tomatoes, de-seeded and halved
• 3 medium cucumbers, de-seeded and roughly chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, de-seeded and chopped [MY NOTE: Green bell peppers might add bitterness]
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• Water
• Balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil
• Salt, pepper
• Tabasco sauce (optional)
• Parsley for garnish (optional)
• Feta cheese for garnish (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Finely chop a little of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, and pepper – set aside for a garnish
2. Blend half of the vegetables with ½ cup of water
3. Add salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar
4. Taste and see if you need to adjust
5. Then blend the second half
6. Add a splash of olive oil and a bit of Tabasco for spiciness
7. Chill
8. Garnish with the vegetable mix from step one, parsley, and feta cheese
9. Serve in a traditional bowl, a shot glass, a cucumber cup or a bell pepper

Stay cool and Bon Appetit! Hope you like it!

My Breath Is Free; My Mind Is Free [Breathing Technique]

Greetings all!

Do you feel that we are constantly in a hurry and our minds are always busy? Is it any wonder that we do not have time or energy to be creative or, even worse, no time or energy in general!?

Try this breathing technique as described by Margaret Townsend in the March-2019 issue of Real Simple magazine. I love it!

“Slowing your breathing rhythm can be a calm way to ease tension and quiet your mind. We can then be freer to have more inspired, creative thoughts. Inhale to the count of four (one thousand one, one thousand two, etc.) and then exhale to the same count of four. Feel your ribcage and belly gently expand as you inhale and soften as you exhale. Repeat four times.

Now let go of the counting and allow yourself to breathe in the pace that feels good to you in this moment. As you are breathing, you might try saying to yourself, “my breath is free; my mind is free.” Notice the pace in which you move into the next moment and the rest of your day.”

Slow your breath and quiet your mind! 

What did you think? Drop me a line!