On the Bright Side

"Signs, signs, everywhere are signs.  Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind. "Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the signs?” This was one of my favorite songs growing up. As a very young girl it was just a catchy folk song on the radio. As a teenager, the rebellious lyrics appealed to me. In college it was an easy song to learn on the guitar and a fun sing-along during my I-wish-I-were-a-hippie-but-I-live-inthe-eighties days, when my friends and I would make road trips to Woodstock (astonished by, and a bit envious of, the candle vendors who attended the concert in 1969 and never left... but I digress). As an adult, I have altered my interpretation of the lyrics to fit with my enlightenment-in-progress self. Clearly individual freedom is at the core of this song. Signs like, “Anybody caught trespassing will be shot on sight,” cause the protagonist to jump right over that fence to confront such a hoarder of Mother Nature. But the signs, to the singer, are getting i...

I went to see Roger Waters perform his opus, The Wall - Live, in June.  It was truly high art (no pun intended!).  I went thinking I would revisit my youth, rock out to some good music and leave with my ears ringing.  I got so much more than I bargained for!  The show was even better than the original.  Waters has stayed true to his Us and Them posture, but he has added thirty years of bricks to the Wall, keeping his message as relevant today as it was back then - if not more so.  Just as my own wisdom informed my experience, the show has evolved with Waters.  One of the most riveting aspects is the graphic images shown on the Wall as it is being built during the first half of the show.   Waters is an outspoken critic of war and the issues that drive us to such depths.  On his website, he asks people from around the world to upload photos of loved ones who’ve been killed as a result of war.  Honoring these lost souls, he projects their ...

I have been toying with the idea of going back to school for a doctorate.  I called a Philosophy Professor friend of mine and asked him to meet me for coffee so I could pick his brain and try to establish some sort of direction.  I have to say, Existential philosophers make great Life Coaches. Before we got into planning my future, we chatted about our current curricula and the courses we dream of teaching one day; if only we could run the world and teach for the pure delight of enlightening and inspiring young minds and not so much to compete in a global marketplace.  Our shared idealism inspired me to be true to my passion.  Of course the goal of higher education is to create global citizens who will strive to lead full and productive lives.  But there is definitely a place for infusing the Humanities into any any academic program, from the physical sciences down to the arts.  I couldn’t feel stronger that people who study history become more well-roun...

Life`s a Beach By Jonna Shutowick. M.S. Ed.   My inspiration this month comes from the Starfish Story. Before I begin, let me recount a version of the story here for you, just in case you haven’t heard it before:  A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement. She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!” The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference to that one!” - Adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley After my first year a...

It is ironic that the earliest known civilizations began in what is now known as the “developing” world. The political structures and economies of the developing world are considered emerging, but it is actually more accurate to consider them recovering. I think of it as though our great (great, great…) grandparents suffered from a malignant diagnosis (colonialism) and after many centuries of fighting they are getting their lives back. While we young bucks are busy leading the modern world, is there not something we should garner from our wise ancestors before they toss aside their old ways and get on the industrialized band wagon? What if, in their efforts for material gain and progress, the cultural richness of indigenous peoples could be preserved and even “exported” to the west. Studies by the World Values Survey (worldvaluessurvey.org) indicate that most people in Africa do not report feeling less happy than people in developed nations, despite being the poorest people on the plan...

Meditation is hard work! Turning off the mental chatter could be an olympic event if it could be measured (and if meditation was not, in spirit, non-competitive!). Interestingly, I recently trained for a half-marathon and I can honestly say that in many ways, the physical exertion of the half-marathon was easier than sitting still. The key to both running and sitting is mastery of the mind. When running, I use thinking to distract myself from the physical exertion. Distraction helps one mile turn into the next while you temporarily forget what your body is doing. In meditation, the key is to let go of thinking; to let everything go and exist in a space where being is the only action. My thoughts have become more or less exercise equipment. I can pick them up and use them as a distraction, or I can put them on the shelf when they are not useful. Last weekend I ran ten miles with a list of premeditated subjects that I would focus on as needed to get through the distance. When...

I am learning how to create space between stressful situations (human) and my reactions to them (being). This is not an easy process. It takes a level of awareness that even under normal circumstances is largely dormant or unconscious. Add a charged emotional state and awareness becomes even more elusive. Let’s face it, on a daily basis we experience stressful encounters. Under duress, defensiveness is our go-to guide and the sign reads: “Danger, Beware!”. To beware means to be wary; to be careful. In other words, expect danger. Uncomfortable conversations with people who make us upset create anxiety and our participation in the interaction is rooted in fear; fear of being wrong, fear of being embarrassed, fear of being disappointed. Being aware, on the other hand, asks us to simply have awareness, taking expectations out of the equation. We must be aware to be wary, but wariness is not a prerequisite for awareness. Awareness can be viewed as wariness without the anxiety. ...