A lot of my previous posts were the result of a grad school assignment - resulting in a wild flurry of activity, and a slipping back into mothballs when the course ended.

But now I'm back.

Oh, this doesn't mean my posting will be all that frequent ... at least not right away. But I am Having Some Thoughts that I might want to put out here for examination, like insects with their bodies and wings and appendages staked out on a board on display.

Of course, I may be the only one examining them, as I'm not sure anyone knows I have this journal - except my grad school professor. And, he's probably stopped looking, now that the course is long over and I've grad-jeeated and everything.

Think The Opposite.

That's the title of an interesting little book my partner picked up a couple of years ago, written by Paul Arden, the author of "It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be."

He's a former executive with Saatchi & Saatchi, and considered a legend of British advertising.

One classic from the book:

Beat This.

A young man worked as a runner in an advertising firm. One day he said to his manager, "I'm leaving. I'm going to be a drummer." The manager said, "I didn't know you played the drums." He replied, "I don't, but I'm going to."

A few years later that young man played in a band with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce, and it was called Cream, and the young man's name was Ginger Baker.

He became what he wanted to become before he knew he could do it.

He had a goal.

Excellent!

So, as I said in my previous post, I've done a lot of reading about the brain, and emotions. And I know that one of the things that happens is that Something Occurs, and the memory of the Something is recorded in the brain, and with it emotions about the Something. So, a baby has a good experience of Something, and the memory is recorded in the brain with happy emotions, and the Something now has a "this is a good thing" record on file in the brain. If the baby continues to have the same experience of the Something, accompanied by happy emotions, this becomes an even stronger record, and the Something is now filed away as being "definitely a good thing." Later, if Similar Somethings are experienced, the brain compares them to the Something memories on file, decides they are closely related, and good emotions ensue. Present responses are influenced by the brain's ability to recognize patterns and similarities with past experiences. So, that's how memories/emotions in the past influence experiences/emotion in the present.

What about ideas? Where do they come from? Are they the result of the brain unconsciously processing Past Memories/Emotions and moving beyond the present to project them into the What Could Be? Could there be a connection between a person's ability to recognize and process these past patterns and the amount of creativity they possess?

*pondering*

One of the reasons why I was so fascinated by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's presentation at the TED conference is because I have had my own fascination with the brain and how it functions. I especially find it fascinating to learn about how the brain is the source of all emotions, and what their purpose has been in the survival and evolution of the human race.

One interesting hold-over we have from our earliest history is how the lizard brain (the brain stem) works. Now, the mid-brain is actually more related to emotions, but there is one way in which the brain stem still plays a tremendous part in our emotions and the way they have helped with our survival -- and that is in how the sense of smell can trigger memories -- especially memories that are laden with emotion. The sense of smell is the only one of the five senses where the nerve impulses go directly to the lizard brain -- all the other senses filter their data to the emotional brain first.

This week, I have been living with a very nostalgic brain. It's been like watching my life flash before my very eyes ... one sniff at a time.

I wasn't feeling really great this afternoon, and ended up being taken from work to the emergency room with unexplained chest pains. Some nearly four hours later, I left the emergency room, still with unexplained chest pains (though reassured I was not having an immediate cardiac emergency) and a directive to start taking a baby aspirin each day, and to follow-up with my doctor for cardiac stress testing.

This has served as a wake-up call for me. Life is too short. We must make of it what we can.

Carpe diem.
"Seize the day, lads."

~ John Keating, Dead Poets Society

The First Moments Of The Day

The moment during the day when we very first open our eyes and come into consciousness is a precious opportunity. It sets the tone for all that comes after it, like the opening scene in a film or novel. At this moment, our ability to create the day is at its most powerful, and we can offer ourselves fully to the creative process by filling this moment with whatever inspires us most. It may be that we want to be more generous, or it may be that we want to be more open to beauty in our daily lives. Whatever the case, if we bring this vision into our minds at this very fertile moment, we empower it to be the guiding principle of our day.

Sometimes we wake up with a mood already seemingly in place, and it's important to give this feeling its due. It can inform us and deepen our awareness to what's going on inside us, as well as around us. As long as we are conscious, we can honor this feeling and also introduce our new affirmation or vision, our conscious offering to the day. We may want to decide before we go to sleep what we want to bring to the next day of our lives. It could be that we simply want to be more open to whatever comes our way. Or we may want to summon a particular quality such as confidence. Then again, we may simply call up a feeling that perfectly captures the texture we want our day to have.

We can reaffirm our vision or affirmation as we shower and eat breakfast, as well as recalling it at various times throughout the day. We can write it down and carry it with us on a little slip of paper if this helps. Simply by being aware of those first moments, we set the stage for a more conscious, enlivened experience, and we become active participants in the creation of our lives.


This article is printed from DailyOM - Inspirational thoughts for a happy, healthy and fulfilling day.
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The First Moments Of The Day
© 2004-07 DailyOM - All Rights Reserved

I've found another of Danny Schmidt's songs that I like. Remember, he's the guy I mentioned a couple of days ago, who wrote "Company of Friends."

This one's called "This Too Shall Pass." It seems oddly appropriate that I found it today.

For today was a crazy day at work, between number-crunching and audit work I'm doing to prepare for a major certification visit later this year, and trying to help my assistant correct a rather bizarre affect of having our HRMS system mapped over to our payroll system, and trying to figure out various and sundry other issues.

Anyway, when I was listening to this one tonight, there was a bit at the end that struck my fancy:

"The story goes
Or the way that I was told
There was a king that always felt too high
And then he fell too low
And so he called
All the wise men to the hall
And begged them for a gift
To end the rises and the falls

And here’s the thing
They came back with a ring
It was simple and was plainly
Unbefitting of a king
Engraved in black
It had no front or back
But there were words around the band that said
Just know: This Too Shall Pass"

And tomorrow is another day.

You know, this is kind of absurd. It's not like I'm going to have to pay additional taxes ... so why is it that I'm likely to be one of the people driving by the Oakland Postal Distribution Center near midnight tonight to mail off my tax returns?

I did benefit from waiting this time, though. It gave me an opportunity to do some financial planning, and I finally got around to opening an IRA - which meant I was filing on a 1040-A this time around, instead of a 1040-EZ. If I hadn't been checking on the differences and benefits of filing that way, I would never have discovered the Tuition & Fees deduction. That meant a significant change to the amount of my taxes.

Bigger refund! Woo-hoo!!!

Had two really good laughs today.

Things were crazy busy, so I didn't have a lot of time for lunch. I decided to run through the drive-thru at Jack in the Box, and when I was sitting at the window, waiting for my food, I noticed I kept hearing a whole bunch of little chirpy peeping noises. When I started to ease away from the window, I suddenly noticed why.

There, in a strange little swarming group, was a young mother duck and her 15 little fuzzy ducklings. FIFTEEN! They were so cute, too. They took their sweet time waddling and swarming their way down the drive-thru lane. I was going to just drive on back to work, but then I noticed the mama leading them to a corner of the parking lot that was headed in the direction of a really busy street out in front of the shopping plaza. I parked my car and ran over to shoo them in a different direction. I noticed there was a culvert with water running under the road, so I imagine she was trying to figure out how to get them down there. I had to go back to work, but I wondered (and worried) about them all afternoon.

The other funny thing was hearing one of my employees tell the story of one of her volunteers and her dog. (We have volunteers who are part of the PAWS for Healing program.) The dog, Toby, is a fluffy friendly Golden Retriever who really loves to play with tennis balls. Their first assignment was going to be out at a home where the residents are often trying to use walkers for assistance -- and the rubber tips of the walkers are often covered with --- tennis balls! She was describing how they had to take one of the walkers home to practice with Toby so he wouldn't attack the residents' walkers.

OK, so it was funnier when I heard her describing it. Probably because I had this mental image of comedian Tim Conway turning this into a skit.

We've had friends in from out-of-town this weekend, which is part of what prompted our trip into the city yesterday.

Funny thing is, we never take our friends to the typical touristy spots in San Francisco. If you're looking for Fisherman's Wharf and cable car rides, we're definitely not the tour guides for you. But, if you want to go into the nooks and crannies of the city, we're so there.

Of course, Chinatown is considered a tourist attraction, and we do often drop in there. But we avoid the little knick-knack shops as much as possible.

And we will take friends to the Haight -- after all, we're part of that generation. One of our favorite places to shop for oddball bits of garb is located right at the corner of Haight and Ashbury, in fact -- Aardvark's Odd Ark. You never can tell what you're going to find in there, and it has turned out to be a boon to our costuming efforts for Dickens Christmas Fair - especially when trying to put together Victorian outfits for two kids that keep growing. Talk about having to get creative!

Food-wise, we tried to give them a chance to experience the diversity of the city. Tajine's for Moroccan yesterday for lunch, and Brazen Head Pub for dinner. Sam Wo's in Chinatown at lunch today. Sam Wo's is ... well, let's just say it's an authentic SF experience. Not especially known for its ambiance, but definitely unique.

They can't say they didn't eat well while they were here. I'm still stuffed.

And sleepy. I should have just typed all this into my blog while I was working on school stuff, but I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open. Let's just hope I can decipher these scribbles when it's time to put this in my blog.

Bed early tonight, hopefully.

I'm glad I carried my little pocket notebook with me today. It's giving me a chance to catch little thoughts as they pop into my head.

As I walk around the streets of San Francisco, and I'm reminded all over again why I moved to the Bay area:

Walking around one city block can sometimes feel like you've walked around the world.

When I worked in the Financial District, one of the things I really liked a lot was being able to come up from the BART trains to the sound of a classical string quartet playing in the station. What a wonderful way to start the day - with music to make the heart sing.

I also liked that there was a florist's stand right there so I could, on a whim, pick up a bunch of fresh cut flowers to brighten my office. I drive my car to my current workplace, so there aren't as many serendipitous opportunities like that anymore.

I love this city.

Elsewhere, net-wise, I read a reference to a songwriter named Danny Schmidt. Specifically, it was a reference to a quote from one of his songs, "Company of Friends." There are several bits of the song that really speak to me.

Starting with the first stanza:

"When I die, let them judge me by my company of friends
Let them know me as the footprints that I left upon the sand
Let them laugh for all the laughter
Let them cry for laughter’s end
But when I die, let them judge me by my company of friends."

and then the second:

"When I die, let them toast to all the things that I believe
Let them raise a glass to consciousness
And not spill a drop for grief
Let the bubbles rise at midnight
Let their tongues get light as thieves.
And when I die, let them toast to all the things that I believe"

and finally, the very last two lines:

"I believe our book is written
By our company of friends."

I wonder ... what would my friends write in my book? If they were to raise a toast to the things I believe in, what things would they toast?

His lyrics read like a personal manifesto. If I were to write my own manifesto, what would it say?

I believe in living with integrity
I believe in speaking the truth
I believe in imagination
I believe in showing compassion
I believe in helping others
I believe in rainbows
I believe in acting responsibly
I believe in good stewardship
I believe in the power of hugs
I believe in saying please and thank you
I believe in half-full glasses
I believe in the beauty of a smile

What would your manifesto say?

Well, I've been journaling away, but I don't think I've really tapped into my creativity the way I'd originally hoped to when I decided to start blogging for my class. It takes time to be able to just sit and do stream of consciousness stuff -- time I don't often have, between a more than full-time job, and half-time graduate school, and family. I've had a few opportunities recently to help my partner's kids bounce around some ideas for school projects, and I guess that has helped spark some creativity. But somehow or another, when I sit down to write, my mind just goes blank.

I've started carrying a small notebook around with me, to see if I can capture some thoughts throughout the day. If I can, I'll transcribe them in here later.

Right now, though, I think I need to go to bed. These late nights studying are probably not helping my creativity either, you think?

I was so focused on getting the project posted earlier, I forgot to mention the seminar I went to today. It was offered by Advanced Forum -- a health care recruiting firm. It was nice to have the networking opportunity with others in my boat (trying to recruit a speech therapist is really, really hard). But the real enjoyment came from the seminar about communication styles, and dealing with difficulties around people's differences in communication styles. My assistant went, too, and the two of us were having fun trying to figure out which of our management group fell into which "color".

The "green" people are Thinkers. My partner, for instance, is such a green. The "gold" people are very organized Doers - and they do everything according to lists. If you want to get them to do something for/with you, you have to "get on the list!" The "blue" people are Huggers. Need I say more? And then, finally, are the "orange" people. I can't recall what term he used for them, but I didn't recognize any in our organization.

He gave us a link to take the assessment later when we got home, and I turned out to be almost dead-even between green and blue. Color me surprised. I figured blue, yes, but not green. Oh, and I have enough gold to make that interesting, too.

Heeheehee. I feel like I'm green and blue striped cloth, with a gold fringe. :)

Thanks to the help of Lynette of the CyberHelp Desk, we're posted. Now we just wait to see what everyone thinks ...

I can't get the file to post to the course site. It gets to a certain point and then it's like it just freezes.

CyberCampus Help Desk, here I come ...

I do believe it's done. And the pre-PDF file is HUGE. Here's hoping the process of converting it to PDF whittles its size down enough that it can be posted or emailed to the class.

I've seen some of the other presentations, and their formats are quite creative. I think ours will probably be a bit more informative, as far as showing a direct correlation to the work we've done. And I think our presentation is creative, too, even if it doesn't have quite the same "gee whiz" factor as a couple of the others. It's good. I'm happy.

The book arrived today. I've got too much stuff going on at work and at school right now to really enjoy it, but I thumbed through it today, and am looking forward to having a good opportunity to read it. I think it will help me with a few ideas for work, but ... well, if I am to be honest with myself, my current schedule is getting in the way of my creative thought processes.

I think there's a negative correlation between stress and creativity. The higher your stress level, the lower your creative juices are. I had no idea how out of touch with my creativity I've been -- even though creativity is required for work and school, it's just not the same.

I think I need to figure out where my wooden recorder is stashed away, and stick it in my car to be able to play a little when I go out at lunch time. Maybe I can go for a walk and play some music, and see if it brings the stress down and pumps the creativity up.

The team project is due next session, so this weekend is 'crunch time' for getting the last minute touches done. I probably won't have much bandwidth for posting anything in my journal.

See you next week.

In the posting describing the journaling assignment, there were links to helpful websites about journaling. Since I've had experience with journaling and blogging before, I didn't look at the links right away.

Today, I decided to look at the links, to see what kind of additional information I might find there. Boy, am I glad I did. I now have another book on the way. :)

"The Artist's Way at Work: Riding the Dragon." Sounds fascinating, and might be just the ticket for some things I'd like to accomplish at work.