thinking thursday.

July 5, 2012 in thinking thursday

MIND

Here are three things this woman is doing to prepare for having Alzheimer’s. It runs in her family–and it runs in mine too. I’m going to prepare. You?

We’ve almost all of us fallen prey to The Busy Trap: “Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day.” And this: “If you live in America in the 21st century you’ve probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing: ‘Busy!’ ‘So busy.’ ‘Crazy busy.’ It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint. And the stock response is a kind of congratulation: ‘That’s a good problem to have,’ or ‘Better than the opposite.’ Stop. Let’s all stop measuring our self worth by how busy we are.

I adore these illustrations of unusual and rarely spoken words.

BODY

A stunning portrait of autism.

I actually love these thumb bands that remind us (and our teenagers) not to text and drive.

If I lived in London, I would be sure to see this show before it closes on August 18th.

When I am being mindful of what I eat, going off the Co-Cola and reducing sugar in my diet, there is nothing more fascinating to me than recipes like this Nutella Icebox Cake. Oh, my. Would someone make that for my birthday?

That decadent cake aside, I’m leaning a lot more toward a vegan, raw diet. Trying to eliminate the need for blood pressure medication, primarily, and noticing a wonderful side effect: clearer thinking. This fresh raw corn salsa looks like a summer win.

SPIRIT

10 things you need to stop doing today to be happier.

I had a big learning this week.

VOICE

“It’s time for me to pass this on to you folks.” -Andy Griffith

(the photo illustrating this post is from the set of “The Andy Griffith Show,” an American TV classic. Andy died this week; may he rest in peace. Hat tip to Kevin Mauch for the photo, which I love, love, love.)

About Patti Digh

Patti Digh is an author, speaker, and educator who builds learning communities and gets to the heart of difficult topics. Her work over the last three decades has focused on diversity, inclusion, social justice, and living and working mindfully. She has developed diversity strategies and educational programming for major nonprofit and corporate organizations and has been a featured speaker at many national and international conferences.

4 comments to " thinking thursday. "


Deb

July 5, 2012 AT 12:39PM

Always love yer schtuff, Patti. So appreciate your vulnerability and openness about your process with Tess. (and i fargin LOVE that photo of her in 3x3x365…)

Also loved the busy comment/link. When I moved back to the US (after several years of living in Sydney), I remember asking a friend: “When did people start wearing busy-ness like a badge of honor?” She acted like she didn’t know what I was talking about … she with the day-planner that was bursting with business cards and appointments and to-dos. I’m back over 15 years now, and though I don’t think I’ve ever put on the badge, a full-time job, a side biz (that i want to birth to a full-on one in the next year), and a personal life all add up to making it hard not to feel pressed for time a lot of the time. I’ve actually begun *scheduling* “white space” into my calendar; it cracks me up that it has come to that, but it keeps me from going batty. (and visiting with you – in all of your hubs in virtual-land – is among my favorite “white space” activities …)

Jane

July 5, 2012 AT 2:08PM

I love your thinking Thursday posts and pass many of your items onto my circle. Thanks.

Robin

July 5, 2012 AT 3:00PM

Thank you so much for this post and for all you do, Patti. I posted Alanna Shaikh’s talk on FB and my blog as I think this message is a great one – Alzheimer’s or not.

Paige

July 6, 2012 AT 8:45AM

My husband read Life is a Verb and passed it on to me so here I am. I’m a teacher in Winston-Salem and wish I discovered you a tad earlier because I wold have loved to try your teacher workshop!