Month: March 2018

April is National Jazz Appreciation Month

I like jazz. I never played jazz when I was in high school band, but Y-Chromo did, from the time he was in sixth grade until the day he graduated from high school. He started middle school jazz ensemble when he was still in elementary school. Early rehearsals two mornings a week, plus one evening rehearsal. Every week. He also made the All-County Jazz Vocal ensemble.

When he was still in elementary school, I was listening to Van Morrison’s “Moondance,” and Y said: “This is jazz, isn’t it.”

One of my favorite memories is of his high school graduation day. The school’s jazz ensemble was on the stage playing for the audience before the ceremonies commenced. The musicians wore their caps and gowns, although the gowns weren’t closed in front. My son was wailing on his sax, while the double bass player was completely into what he was doing. The tassels on their caps swayed in time with the music.

Here’s a great fact about jazz: jazz triggers theta waves in the brain, which induce states of artistic and spiritual insight. This can assist in dealing with complex issue.

If you’ve never listened to jazz, this alone ought to make you try it. You might appreciate it.

 

 

#UpbeatAuthors: Efficiency & Stress

Maximizing efficiency doesn’t necessarily mean upping stress levels. It’s been my experience that I’m more productive if I slow down, take several deep breaths, and focus on completing one task at a time.

Research indicates there is no such thing as multitasking. The brain can do only one thing at a time. MRI imaging shows a bottleneck in the part of the brain that routes input when the brain tries to process too much information. So why make your brain inefficient by overloading it? Why add to your stress levels by trying to do too much?

You may wonder how a person walk and chew gum at the same time.Those actions, as well as other “muscle memory” functions like typing and playing a musical instrument, are the products of habit learning and are controlled by a different part of the brain than the declarative memory learning process.

Studies have shown that workers who don’t fragment their attention are more productive and more accurate than those who try to accomplish too much at one time. Another way of saying maximizing efficiency.

All that said, we live in an age of information overload. We are expected to “multitask.” Here are a few suggestions of ways to cut down on the distractions that fracture of focus while increasing our productivity:

Create a to-do list

  •  Prioritize each duty.
  • Refer to list often.
  • Keep list up-to-date.

 Clear away distractions from your work area

  • Spend 10 minute each day decluttering.
  • Keep only one thing at a time in front of you.

 Manage your e-mail

  • Don’t check your e-mail until you complete an assignment
  • Check e-mail at set points in the day.
  • Turn off e-mail alerts.

Reflect & review your accomplishments at the end of the day. It refreshes the brain.

 

Water Water Every Where

Today is World Water Day.

Water is a subject always on my mind. About thirteen years ago, I read a disturbing article that stated the next war would not be fought for oil, but rather for water. Potable water. That was scary. I wish I could find the article again, but although I’m fairly savvy on the internet, no luck.

Now I read that Cape Town, South Africa is due to run out of water on July 9 of this year.

Living near the Great Lakes (the planet’s largest basin of liquid fresh water), I am careless with my water consumption. Fresh water is there for me. I should know better. The California drought conditions are eventually going to impact the entire country–an awful lot of our food is grown in California.  I wonder silly things, such as when I’m rinsing my recyclables which have to be clean before I put them in the bin for pick up, how do Californians clean their recyclables when water is a rare and precious commodity?

The city in which I live is located on one end of one of the most polluted bodies of water on Earth. Yes, much progress has been made in cleaning up Onondaga Lake, but there are days when you can still gag from the stench when driving past the lake. Eating fish caught in the lake is strongly discouraged.

I grew up only hundreds of feet from the banks of Onondaga Creek. Clean water is in my consciousness.

We once took clean water for granted. It’s time to realize we need to work to make sure we have enough clean water for future generations to survive.

 

 

#UpbeatAuthors: Renewal

One of the many things I love about being an #UpbeatAuthor is the way the weekly topics encourage me to explore aspects of my faith I might not have previously considered.

Example: renewal. Every morning is a renewal. Wow.

Every morning, when I wake up, I am renewed because what happened the previous day is over. Done. Gone. The day ahead of me is a fresh start. It is going to be a good day. Renewal is just that simple.

 

Weird Holiday: Everything You Think Is Wrong Day

Today is the day you can avoid making decisions. If you think something, it’s wrong.

Today is the day to acknowledge you are not always right. You are imperfect.

People who accept their mistakes are usually treated with more respect than those who hesitate to take responsibility for their actions. Admitting one’s mistakes then attempting to fix things is the mark of a creative and successful person.

This is your day.