Her story knocked me on my ass

Posted by random olio

There are days when I love when something knocks me on my ass. When I am challenged and I think wow, I need to hone my craft and be better. A story is a way I can be wowed. It can suck me in, make me forget what is on my To-Do list, make me want to stop everything to find out what happens next. The art of the story pushes me to learn more about myself and dig deep. A few weeks ago, I read a novel called “Barefoot Season” by Susan Mallery, about a war veteran who came home after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She struggled to acclimate herself back into civilian life. In the end it was an abused dog that brought her back to normalcy. Having the need to care for an abused animal helped her heal her own wounds, both physical and emotional. Her story sucked me in. I wanted to read on. I wanted to know more. The author did an excellent job at making you forget that you had a bathroom to clean or laundry to do. It was compelling enough that I forget my surroundings and could not wait to find out how it would end. Yes, it was a chick lit book. Yes, it was cheesy, and yet I got sucked into her story, her pain, her success.

There are times when a book will knock you on your ass because it will transform the way that you view the world. You are altered. Changed. Your filter and view of life will no longer be the same. You look at your friends, family, and neighbors with a renewed lens on life. Whether from a book you read, or from the mouth of someone you know, stories take us outside of ourselves, and often put us in another’s shoes. Whether it comes from a novel or the raw realness of life, the art of story means we are never the same.

#storychangeslife

Murphy’s Oil helps get to the right brain

Posted by random olio

My desk is organized, I even wiped it down with Murphy’s Oil soap. My to-do list has been updated and organized. All paperwork has been filed. The laundry is folded and put away. The house is clean, and the bed has fresh, clean, and crisp sheets. Ah. A great way to start the week.

Is this the state of my world today? No. This is my ideal state whenever I want to do something creative. If I want to sit down for a long stint of writing, pull out my easel and paint, whatever the creative endeavor, I usually focus the best when I have cleared the clutter in the house, and in my thought. A clean slate that opens my mind, so I can dig in, create a mess, and focus solely on my project without distraction.

Why is it that a messy house, or a mind that feels full to the brim means my creative juices have a harder time flowing? Does the left side of my brain need to be filed away and put in order, so that I can use the right side of my brain? Maybe in the end I am exercising both the left and right side of my brain, so a win-win situation, right?

What tactics do you follow to allow the right side of your brain to be free and ready to go? Do you run, go out into the woods, or clean? I would love to hear from you.

Proof that you are loved.

Posted by random olio

I recently finished reading a book called: “Proof of Heaven” by Eben Alexander. It is an interesting book. I wanted to share one of the quotes from Alexander’s book that most resonated with me:

“You are loved. Those words are what I needed to hear as an orphan, as a child who’d been given away. But it’s also what every one of us in this materialistic age needs to hear as well, because in terms of who we really are, where we come from, and where we’re really going, we all feel (wrongly) like orphans.” Page 170

The author was adopted and at one point in his life had tried to find his birth parents, only to be told they were not interested in meeting him. He felt like an orphan all over again. Yet, in many ways whether we have lost our parents or not, if we do not feel loved, the result feels orphan-like. I had a professor in college that used to tell me: “You are loved, loving, lovable, needed, wanted, and useful. Right now.” She somehow always knew when I needed to hear those words. There were times in my life (college being one of them) when I did not hear the words “I love you” too often. Yet, those were the words I craved the most. We crave them when we need them the most. When you know you are loved, when you feel it, you do not question it. When you do not feel loved, you feel alone, on your own, and sometimes out in the wilderness.

It would be easy to say that you should know who you are, love yourself, and only then can you love others. That might be true, but before we can truly hold the comfort and confidence of who we are, we have to know, understand, and feel what love truly is, and what it feels like. Each individual understands what being loved feels like, some of us might have had the experience span our entire lifetime, and it might have been more intermittent for others, but we could not have continued living without understanding and knowing how being loved feels.

I often wonder if those committing evil acts today truly understood love? If they did, would they take a different road? If anger, misunderstanding, and revenge were replaced with love, the world would be a very different place.

What do you think?

Ship my baby. Huh?

Posted by random olio

Two viral videos that made me laugh. I could not help but be sure to share them with you. The first reminds me of sixth grade. The video itself does not remind me of school, but the word “ship” does. Ship, huh? A strange word to recollect from my past. It was sixth grade Social Studies, we were studying the 1600’s or some time in that range a few hundred years ago. We were each given a topic to do a report on and then we had to present our findings in front of the class the following week. I was given the topic of: ship building. Boring right? Well I did my research and my report and then it was my turn to present to the class. All I remember is that during my entire presentation every time I said ship building it always sounded to me like shit building. I cannot remember what it sounded like to my classmates, but I was mortified, and I thought it was a little funny.

Which is why Kmart’s recent video: “Ship my pants” made me laugh and remember sixth grade Social Studies. For more background on their video, read this Fast Company article.

It plays to our childhood humor, but it is clever. As is Evian’s “Baby & Me” video. It just launched over the weekend, so you might see it on television (that is if you ever watch commercials). Over 400 babies were cast for this video, and in May they release an app “Baby & Me” where facial recognition will show the user’s baby face.

Happy Monday!

Running shoes connected by history

Posted by random olio

Running shoes have a history. They tell a story of where a runner has been. If you have not yet seen the cover of the most recent Boston Magazine, then you will not want to miss it. They acted or reacted fast after the Boston Marathon. The cover contains 120 running shoes in the shape of a heart. Each pair was worn by someone who ran the Boston Marathon. A clever and meaningful way to honor the 2013 Boston Marathon, both for the runners and those impacted by the events that transpired at the finish line.

It makes me think about the history and journey of my running shoes. The many, many pairs I have worn through that are still in my closet. I have had a hard time parting with them. The worn soles of the miles I have put on them. Whether I was running and reading on the treadmill, or passing the time outside there was a story that followed each of my runs. It might have been the book I was reading while on the treadmill, the novel that kept me going, or the new knowledge or insights I learned from a business book while on my daily run. It might have been the houses I passed in my neighborhood and the music that kept me energized. Whether inside or outside, each pair of running shoes helped me process my day, my work issues, my family life, whatever dilemma was thick in thought was sure to have been mulled over in my current pair of running shoes.

What were each of those runners thinking about while running the Boston Marathon? Was it their first marathon, or one of many? Did they struggle to finish that day, or on their way to breaking a personal record? How many miles were already racked up on that pair worn during the Boston Marathon?

That cover photo brings together many lives and untold stories of how each runner got to the Boston Marathon. You will want to read the article (shared above) from John Wolfson, the Editor-in-Chief of Boston Magazine and how they were able to quickly change their cover issue, as well as interview each of the runners that have shoes on the cover, who tell their stories of their race. Copies will be on newsstands on Tuesday, and other stories not included in the print edition will be online. I would like to get a copy.