Body & Mind – Page 102 – Things Are Good

Crowdsourcing the Meaning of Life

Some filmmakers are channelling the world to find out what the meaning of life is. Their project has started an Indiegogo campaign to fund their project and they can use your help.

The world we live in is extremely confusing and precarious. With economic meltdowns, global terrorism, ecological disasters, civil unrest, if we don’t find the answers now, there may soon be no life left to explore. Simultaneously, it is an extremely exciting time and we now have the technological tools to communicate and collaborate to find solutions that have eluded us for millenia. We are a group of award-winning filmmakers who believe in the power of the moving image to move the world, and we have initiated a crowdfunding campaign to launch a website – lifemeanswhat.com – where we will create a tapestry of short films that will address meaning and purpose from a diverse array of perspectives, and provide in its patchwork a beautiful and profound reflection on life for all those who are looking to be entertained, inspired, and informed.

Here’s a video they sent me about how much they like life:

Charlottetown Transforms a Street for People

Residents of Charlottetown, P.E.I. decided to make their city nicer, more sustainable, and more fun by transforming one of their streets from car-dominated to people-friendly. They’ve made a great video showing what they did and hopefully it’ll inspire other communities to realize that streets are for people and we should use public space to celebrate the public.

People were really excited to join in on the one-day project, says one participant in the video. “People would just be walking by and like, “Oh, what’s going on?” I would tell them, “We’re transforming a street, do you want to take part?” All of a sudden, they were grabbing paint or chalk.”

Thanks to Kathryn! Who found it Huffington Post.

Get Fit Through Self-Motivation

A lot of people use the nice weather of the summer as motivation to get fit, however, keeping oneself motivated can be a problem. One approach that is gaining popularity is to change your motivation from positive-reinforemecnt to negative encouragement. Worth a try at the very least.

The basic message is as follows: In modern society we are coddling ourselves into a mushy mess. We get medals for just showing up. Weâ€™re inundated with messages about the importance of loving ourselves the way we are. We are told to give ourselves a break. According to RFBF author Ruth Field, this isnâ€™t necessarily a bad thing, but it isnâ€™t much of a motivator.

…

The traditional you-can-do-it approach to exercise has never worked for me, nor has signing up for expensive gym memberships or designating a workout buddy. I fantasized about hiring a personal trainer in the mould of the Lou Gosset Jr. character in An Officer and A Gentleman, who would harass, browbeat and berate me into physical perfection. RFBR instructs readers to administer tough self-love; I wondered if I could be my own drill sergeant.

Keep Sane by not Working

Thanks to modern technology it can be really easy to always be checking email and taking calls. This is great for some circumstances but it’s always important to take a break from being always-connected to work. In fact, it can be good for you!

Another trick: simply ask yourself “will anything bad really happen between 5pm and 6am if I turn my back on my inboxes completely?”
To save your own life, create your own list of “tricks” and of rules to impose on yourself. Some of mine that work:
â€¢ Switch gears: When tired of “project A,” switch to something else on the list — easier, different, faster-paced or (gasp) fun. Changing rhythm is restorative and you return to the tougher project fresher in an amazingly short time.
â€¢ Change chairs and media — draft that important thing in (gasp) longhand in a club chair or on a sofa.

A Step Beyond Positive Thinking

Positive thinking gets a lot of praise because people think that just changing one’s thoughts their lives would improve. This is not entirely true. It turns out to really make change in your life you need to change how you act. Sure this sounds obvious upon reading it, but read on for insight that isn’t so obvious.

stangerdinner

However in the 70s psychologist James Laird from Clark University decided to put James’s theory to the test. Volunteers were invited into the laboratory and asked to adopt certain facial expressions. To create an angry expression participants were asked to draw down their eyebrows and clench their teeth. For the happy expression they were asked to draw back the corners of the mouth. The results were remarkable. Exactly as predicted by James years before, the participants felt significantly happier when they forced their faces into smiles, and much angrier when they were clenching their teeth.

Subsequent research has shown that the same effect applies to almost all aspects of our everyday lives. By acting as if you are a certain type of person, you become that person â€“ what I call the “As If” principle.

Take, for example, willpower. Motivated people tense their muscles as they get ready to spring into action. But can you boost your willpower by simply tensing your muscles? Studies led by Iris Hung from the National University of Singapore had volunteers visit a local cafeteria and asked them to try to avoid temptation and not buy sugary snacks. Some of the volunteers were asked to make their hand into a fist or contract their biceps, and thus behave as if they were more motivated. Amazingly, this simple exercise made people far more likely to buy healthy food.