January 10th challenge: State Change

I want to be authentic with myself and with you, and frankly, I’m cranky and tired tonight.  You almost got a blog called “Furious Friday.” Anger is a legitimate response to injustice and I saw and heard way injustice this week.  But when I looked for quotes on righteous indignation, every one was about it being bad.  I don’t buy that.  Anger very often signals something is Not Right and when channeled properly, gives energy to drive change.  Rosa Parks wasn’t a sweet, simple, meek tired woman.  She  was angry.  She was a long time activist tired of injustice.  So she did something.  That you, sister Rosa.

Our culture doesn’t know how to deal with angry women.  Angry men are seen as powerful, but angry women are portrayed as bitches,  bitter and out of control. And I do have some things to say about that.  But not tonight.   I left my good computer at work and am forced to type this on my smashed IPad, and that is tedious and not improving my mood.  

What DID help today was attend Laughing Yoga with local treasure Sunita Vazdev, who reminded us that 2 minutes of laughing provides numerous health benefits.  So I will lay aside fury and tablet typing and offer you this 7 year old rerun challenge.  
Here’s to a lighthearted day,
Jana

 Friday FUNday

adults need recess too.  especially the time-traveling type.  

 "Life is Mysterious;

Don't Take it Serious"

(quote on an old rubber stamp)
In several of these blogs, I've talked about the inevitability of suffering.
Enough of that. Let's talk about the power of playfulness.

You may have heard the expression that "Kid's play is kid's work." Play is where kids learn to deal with roles and other people, fine tune communicating their ideas and needs, exercise their bodies and widen their imaginations. Why would we want to give that up as adults? Yet many groan-ups (yes, that was deliberate) see life as one unending have-to-do list. I'm not advocating shirking responsibilities, though I am admittedly expert at it. I'm encouraging righting priorities. Play, laughter, positive thinking, joy have their own rafts of research supporting the idea that a good time is good for you.

At least twice a year, I go away to play with my pals at WAR (women's art retreat), where we hold theme dinners in dress up (wedding in Vegas, Beauty Pageant, Circus Night) and write ridiculous bits. For years I participated in an on-line salon where we exchanged thematic haikus, limericks, tom swifties and wrote bad country songs. There's lots of ways to make the ridiculous sublime. A few minutes a day softens the heart and sharpens the brain.

A few links for you:
Laughing Yoga
Laughing Yoga was started by a physician in India who to promote the healing benefits of laughter for the body and soul. Here John Cleese provides a 3 minute intro to the practice.

Global Belly Laugh Day
We're not quite at the official Day (Jan. 24th), but we can start practicing. This site offers a wealth of research and related links.

Shop local:  Even if all the movies that week are dramas or documentaries, a look around the eclectic decor at Darkside Cinema holds grins for most of us. While you're there, pick up one of owner Paul Turner's books of essays or a Prancing Lavender Bunny T-shirt sporting one bad-ass buff biker bunny.

Dancing like a maniac always cheers me up.  Check out contra dances or take a Zumba or belly dancing class.

 Laughter really is good medicine.
A good belly laugh reduces stress hormones that havoc the body and soul. Researchers in Loma Linda found cortisol and epinephrine levels drop, while human growth hormones and beta-endorphins rise when people experience, or even anticipate big fun. Other research shows laughter improves relationships, immunity, increases oxygenation, is cardioprotective, and helps us be more alert and creative.

Laughter connects us to others, reduces social and internal tensions, shifts perspective in positive ways, and relaxes our bodies for long after we stop giggling.  And most of the time, it's free!

Humor is an individual thing, and what some find funny others will find offensive or just dumb.  With that caution in mind, here's some web resources to get you going:

Funny or Die videos
The Onion News
Tweet Me Harder Podcast
The Institute of Official Cheer 

 For a brainy look at laughter, listen to Radio Lab's Laughter episode.

You've got lots of choices and a long weekend to accomplishes a little happy.  Let me know what you can manage.  2 minute flash mob solo dance?  Play a game?  Plant a wonderful present for a friend? 

You'll figure something.

Now, go out there and don't come back until you've had some fun.

Yrs,
Jana

January Third Challenge: Be a Big Container

This is a repeat of a post from 2010, and a line many of my clients have heard. It seems especially apt today, this third day of a new year.  Wednesday the trending topics on social media were all about optimism for a new decade.  Thursday night, the number one hashtag on twitter was #WorldWarIII. 

Always, in this life, there is beauty and terror.  Let's work on our serenity by neither pushing away (denying) or indulging too deeply in negative emotions.  Let's witness them, do our part to make the world an easier place, and be a big container for all that we experience.     

Can you be a big enough container for all that life brings you? 
We are as capable of love and joy as we are of sorrow and pain.  We don't get to avoid the latter if we allow the first.  We can delay suffering, but we don't escape it-- it becomes the bandaid off slow or quick dilemma. 
Be a curious, compassionate observer of your pain.  Look for the information it delivers.
------------

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.


The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

-- Jelaluddin Rumi,
translation by Coleman Barks

Put yourself out there: January 4th 2018 #Door2Challenge

What did you learn Wednesday?  I learned an Indian folk talk, thanks to my Turkish friend Nuray.  I learned about the rise and fall of Winston Churchill and his ambivalence in facing down the Nazis knowing England was outgunned and out-trooped and that it would be a high cost and lengthy battle.
I learned WAY TOO MUCH about pyrosomes (there were virtually unheard of here until 2016, being warm water deep creatures; they've become prolific all the way up to Alaska where they clog nets and hooks, they are called pyro-somes because they glow in their native warm waters, but not here and the speculation is they are eating a different diet.  We don't know exactly what these aggregated simple cell creatures are filtering through their tissue connected, colonized tubes; we're not sure why they are here now except maybe the Giant Warm Blob that persisted off our coast for a couple of years has something to do with it, and we're not sure how they are affecting the ecosystem, especially if millions start to die off.  We aren't sure if they are related to the sea star die-offs or why they are still around now that the Warm Blob has moved on.  One OSU researcher did posit they are like cockroaches and now clearly in the running for surviving a human apocalypse.  Two more quick tidbits: they look like translucent pickles and ooze a pussy substance when stressed.

YECH.

And now, as Monty Python used to say, time for something completely different.

using my voice (and being silly)

Today's challenge is to put yourself out there in some healthful/helpul way.  It may be volunteering for something, or offering your opinion in meetings where you are usually quiet, or revealing a vulnerability to a safe person (most people are.  Avoid known sociopaths).   It may be trying something that you know little about and lack confidence in (safety first-- I'm thinking about going to a line dancing meet, trying a new foreign cuisine, writing a poem, painting).  It could be a bit more risky:  if you are single and looking for a partner, getting out in the world and letting that be known.  Maybe you just persist past being interrupted or take credit where due at work.  It might be facing a fear in a very controlled and willing (even if nervous) way.  It might be reconnecting with that old friend, or showing back up at church/the neighborhood meeting/etc.

This tiny resolution is rich in possibilities.  It offers a look at how you rein yourself in, why you don't do the things you say you want to do, and encourages you to challenge your narrative of who you are and how you operate.

As usual, I'd love to hear what you tried and whether it worked.  some good advice from the Churchill film I saw tonight (Darkest Hour, playing at the Darkside):  "Success is not final, failing isn't fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.:    

Thanks for playing along,
Jana