On the Bright Side

Definition: gnews [nyooz] noun: good news; information presented about positive things happening in the world. The thing about news is it no longer means what it was meant to. The term “newspaper” derives its meaning from the idea that each day new events around us were reported to us. There is nothing really new about news today. Sure, the headlines change, but there is nothing fresh about the stories on any given day. Even the most prudent reporters hardly offer us an objective picture of what is truly going on in our world. We learn only about what goes wrong. It would be great if the media felt they had an obligation to report what happens in our world, not just what goes wrong, but news is big business, and the 24/7 news cycle has only exacerbated the “if it bleeds it leads” mentality. Ironic, really, because it would seem that more time to fill would bring more variety to the news space. This has not, however, been the outcome. Thirty years ago, a research group ...

“There’s a light at each end of this tunnel You shout ‘cause you’re just as far in as you’ll ever be out And these mistakes you’ve made, you’ll just make them again If you only try turning around.” (Anna Nalick, Breathe) To celebrate our 20th anniversary, my husband and I booked a trip to Italy with friends based on a New York Times article we read entitled, “Thirty-six Hours in Cinque Terre.” It was truly a vacation to remember, not just for the gastronomical delights and the sensory overload, but for what we’ll call the “thirty-sixth hour” in Cinque Terre. On our last day, after hiking about twenty miles the day p r i o r t h r o u g h vineyards, olive groves and lemon groves, and dining on the fresh catch of the day in each of the five medieval towns, we decided to find the “secret beach” that only the locals know about. The Times article directed us to hike down behind the train station and “walk through the 10-minute-long path to a private vineyard overlooking two phenomenal beach...

“ Wherever you go, there you are” - Jon Kabat-Zinn You know those days when nothing is going right? No matter how hard you try things just go from bad to worse? In the throes of those moments it would be awesome if we could keep a sense of humor about us and marvel at how many of Murphy’s Laws we could check off in one day. Yet, on those really bad days, it is sometimes easier to wallow in the misery of being a schleprock and pray for tomorrow to come early. But escape is merely temporary avoidance if you are putting off the inevitable. Fast forward and rewind do not exist for us in the real world. The only place we can be is right here, right now and hope that we are where we are for a good reason. Then, if we are “lucky,” comes what my girlfriends call the Flower Pot Moment . This is when things have been “happening” to you a lot (think of these as messages from your higher self). And on that really bad day, those messages are saying, slow down... it is out o...

Parkland Lifestyle JUNE 2011 - Digital Edition

The recent triple disaster in Japan has once again taught us that in the throes of tragedy, our possessions mean nothing. There have been amazing stories coming out of the region. Journalists, poets, songwriters, and artists have been tapping into the raw emotion of it all and the common thread of many of these stories is the importance of human connection and really nothing else. People who have lost everything are managing to focus on their gratitude that they were somehow spared and acknowledging that, while losing literally everything (and even everyone in some cases) is incredibly painful and traumatic, it brings you back to the core of who you are as a human being and what is important to you. In times of despair people come together and often the best traits in us emerge. I have read stories of heroism, kindness, generosity, selflessness and in each one the person sharing their story expressed in some way their gratitude for the recognition that material things do not matte...

It seems overly simplistic when I put two and two together and realize that the emptier I feel inside the more “stuff” I try to ingest, but it is the truth. From too much food to too much fun, I find the more I chase a feeling of satisfaction the more it eludes me. I suspect you are familiar with this cycle, especially this time of year. The “all in” mentality that typically accompanies the holidays is reinforced by that little voice in the back of our heads deluding us into believing that, come January first, we have a new lease on life. The reckless abandon of the past month that racked up the pounds and drew down the bank account, becomes our motivation to take on the world with a whole new fervor. In many ways I am grateful, albeit amused, at this cyclical ritual that defines our consumer culture. I equate it to a collective case of spiritual bulimia. Initiating with Thanksgiving, where we stuff ourselves full of food as a symbol of our gratitude, followed by Black Friday, our nati...