The Good Life September 27, 2007

As I look a little deeper into “The Good Life”, I come across a blog that is so compelling and heartfelt and makes me think even more about the importance of looking at your glass as half full. You really never know how much time is left for you and you have to embrace the life that you have, in this moment.  I never really thought about how much time we spend on things we want to do, or ought to do.  It’s just such a waste of time, and some of us just don’t have it.

This blog had me in tears, as it’s about a professor delivering his last lecture. He is suffering from cancer and only has months to live. He’s 46 and has three young children. He talked in his lecture about chasing your childhood dreams, striving to achieve your goals and to look at rejection as proof of how bad we want things.  The author lists some incredibly compelling life lessons that everybody should abide because we don’t know how long we have.  These lessons are so important and really define what life is all about.  We should never lose that inner child, never settle for rejection if it’s something we truly want and live life to its fullest!

“The Good Life” September 20, 2007

Thought widely criticized in class this week, I am choosing to base my “good life” blog on the story “Dancin in the Street” for this week.  I do agree with the class in that the story wasn’t as interesting as others we have read in class and it didn’t really draw us in, however I do feel that the moral or basic theme of the story is something that we all must consider.

Dancing was many things to Stephanie, but among the most important, it was her passion, her drive, and her release.  When she stopped dancing, she mentioned how her life had “split open by the seams and nothing else seemed fun”.  It was almost as if she had completely lost her identity when she stopped dancing, and no longer had that drive or ambition in life.  I think this is important for everyone to have.  Something that means so much to us that it truly defines us and the type of person we are on the inside.

And in the closing paragraph, I think that there was another central theme and important aspect of the story.  A “good life” is a balance of what we truly love and what we really need to do.  When dancing was her whole life, she realized that she needed more time to do other things.  Dancing had totally consumed her, yet cutting it out all together was no good either.  She didn’t have that balance.

I think we all should take a moment to discover what our true passions are, and never let that passion drift away.  It’s important to make that passion part of our identity, and what we decide to do with our passion (as in her case, she didn’t have to dance in a studio, she could do it anywhere) is ultimately up to us.

Tabu, My Good Life September 14, 2007

As I have been prompted to explore “The Good Life” and reflect upon class readings, I think about something in particular.  That’s right, I said something.  Not someone, an event or anything else that is not a material possession, but an object.  This may seem materialistic or shallow to some, but let me explain.
This object is the 1/4 filled bottle of Tabu, a designer imposter perfume that once belonged to my mother.   She never spent  any money on herself, as every dime that she and my father ever made throughout the years was saved for our college education, so she improvised with the cheap perfume from the drugstore.  God, how I love to take the little black cap off of this bottle of perfume and smell it when I feel sad, stressed, happy, excited, or need a break.

So you’re probably thinking, ‘what is she talking about, and how does this relate to the readings’?  Well, after reading One Bad Apple and My Popeye My Home, I realized that ‘The Good Life’ can be an object or a material possession.  This is because it’s not the object itself, but the memory it evokes.  For me, when I open up and smell my bottle of Tabu, I can not only smell, but I can see my mother.  I can see her walking down the stairs in her mint green robe, sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, or yelling at one of my brothers for running to a wooden chair when they had to pass gas.  These memories are so important to me because my mother passed away.  My Tabu is my mother, it’s my childhood memories, and it keeps my mother alive in my life as it is now.

The Good Life September 7, 2007

I found an article in The NY Times which had some pretty interesting information regarding meditation and happiness.  The author of the article talks about how he has been an on-again, off-again supporter of the benefits of meditation.  Research has suggested that an MRI can detect when people are exhibiting feelings of happiness as well as feelings of sadness, depression etc.  If activity is measured in areas of the right prefrontal cortex, then that person is experiencing stress.  If activity is measured in areas of the left prefrontal cortex, then that person is in a more positive or elated mood.  By measuring a baseline of activity in both areas, results have been pretty accurate.

The following quote was taken from the article found at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501E3DC1038F937A35751C0A9659C8B63&sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=2

 In short, the results suggest that the emotion set point can shift, given the proper training. In mindfulness, people learn to monitor their moods and thoughts and drop those that might spin them toward distress. Dr. Davidson hypothesizes that it may strengthen an array of neurons in the left prefrontal cortex that inhibits the messages from the amygdala that drive disturbing emotions.

Recent Mattel Recalls September 7, 2007

The author of this post talks about the recently recalled toys from the Mattel corporation, and the willingness of a particular independent website to assist those who were seeking information on the recalls. Evidently the Washington Post failed to provide any useful information or help for those seeking information on how to find out if their products were affected.  The Washington Post was very brief and to the point, whereas the independent website provided useful links and instructions on how to fill out a recall form.    http://samad64.wordpress.com/2007/09/06/msm-wont-help-you-with-recalls/