Inspiration

“Human Bandwidth Manager”

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I am not sure how many of you watch Portlandia (if you do not you are missing out). Okay, honestly not every episode is amazing, but some are very clever. I compare it to a skit in an episode of Saturday Night Live. Some are winners and hilarious and others are horrible. The same goes for Portlandia. One recent episode had a sketch about our digital footprint.

Carrie Brownstein feels completely overwhelmed by all the emails, Facebook messages, texts, likes, etc that she gets all day. She decides to declare social bankruptcy. She goes into a bank to file papers to remove all of her online profiles. The guy on the other side of the desk (Kumail Nanjiani) basically tells her that everything will be deleted (Twitter followers, voicemail, her ‘social’ debt, etc). She signs the papers, and her social identity no longer exists. Her own friends do not even recognize or remember her. Is that what our world has become? We are only known through who we are on Instagram or Facebook? The man even has a nameplate on his desk that says: “Human Bandwidth Manager.” Clever. Rather than tell you what happens you can go online and watch it here.

It made me start to think as I have those days where I cannot imagine reading another email, opening another text, checking Facebook, because it all just feels too much. We have either embarked or wished we had the self control to take a day or a week away from social media. You hear folks all the time say they are going to detox from their smart phone or social networks. There are even three pages of articles on The Huffington Post just on “Social Media Addiction” and that is just one website.

I can attest that I at times am addicted. I blog, I Facebook (wow I just used it as a verb), I email, text, and quasi Instagram and sometimes tweet. I also enjoy my time away. I love syncing my emails and seeing nothing new (it makes the world feel quiet). Yet, are we so saturated that individuals have to go on a social detox, or maybe a social identity crisis? While Portlandia was making fun, will “Human Bandwidth Manager” be a job of the future?

What do you think?

“Secret Single Behavior”

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A co-worker shared with a few of us yesterday that one of her favorite things to do when her fiance is off doing his own thing, is what she called her: “Secret Single Behavior.” It is taken from an episode of Sex and the City (Season 4, Episode 13: The Good Fight), and well it just made me grin from ear-to-ear today. I am not going to go into her own “Secret Single Behavior” but it made me think – what is mine? It sort of baffles me to even find an answer. Maybe that means I have been married too long. I thought about it a few times yesterday and even asked Chris. Here is my potential list:

_Go to a cafe on a Saturday or Sunday, order breakfast, coffee, bring my laptop, book, and journal and see where my heart takes me. Either read, write, or explore wherever my fingers take me on the Internet. I can stay as long as I like and not have to worry about someone waiting for me.

_Boutique hopping? Go to boutiques I have not been to in a while, get inspired by designers + artists and see where the inspiration takes me.

_Stay in my pajamas, go into my studio (empty bedroom) and paint until I lose track of time.

_Catch up with friends I have not seen in a while (whether in person, email, or over the phone).

_Organize my life in every way possible.

_Sometimes when Chris is gone for a week or so, I will go to the store and get food that he hates to eat. Selections have been: yogurt covered pretzels, popcorn, snickerdoodles. Ah, strange guilty pleasures.

So do you have them? Do you have “Secret Single Behaviors?” If so, what are they?

Fiber filled gratitude

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“Gratitude is like fiber.” I love this line. It fills me up. Ha. No pun intended. It is a great visual reminder on days when things might feel murky. I have not had one of those days lately, but I know when they hit. You often wonder, “why me?” How did I get into this slump, or why do I have to go through this situation? No matter what lies before you, “Gratitude is like fiber” is the reminder you need. Right? If you are feeling off, or grumpy, or frustrated, look within and think about how much you are filled with gratitude, and if you are lacking in the fiber department, start bulking up. Add the lentils, black beans, brown rice of gratitude into your thoughts.

You can call me a Pollyanna all you want, but I think Kristin Armstrong has it right. Yes, I am still talking about her and her book: Mile Markers. This is my third blog post on this book, and there may be more. This is definitely my favorite book of 2014. Here is the full quote:

“I realized the power I had over my own thoughts. I could have a good or bad day simply by being more conscientious about choosing my mood. Gratitude is like fiber. Fill up on that and it takes up so much room that other things (like negative thinking, resentment, or pity) are crowded out. We are satiated. By focusing on what is, we forget to think about what is not. Even by being thankful for not having things that we don’t want, we are replete.” page 273

Just as we need to be more conscientious about selecting the food that fuels us (think fruits and vegetables, and not sugar and white flour) we can be just as selective about the thoughts we bring into our mind and how those thoughts impact our mood. I guarantee you that we all have more in our life than we can ever imagine, and if we just take time to think about all that good, we have less crevices in our thoughts to think about the bad.

I am sure I have mentioned this before in a blog, but I remember at probably one of the lowest times in my life as a kid: my dad was out of the picture, my mom in ICU, my sister and I living on our own, my sister sent me a Turkey Gram at school. Turkey Grams around Thanksgiving were purchased and brought to your classroom (almost like getting flowers or candy) and it felt special to be singled out with one. My Turkey Gram said: “It cannot get worse, it can only get better than we can ever imagine.” Whether my sister knew it or not, that was the fiber I needed to fill me and not give space to the life we were living.

How can you be your own fiber to fill you up with good, and what can you do to be the fiber in someone’s day?

One Month of No Poo

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It is like training for a race, some days you think I cannot go out and train today, I am too tired, or I just do not have the energy. That is how I have felt as I continue to embark on my “no poo” journey. Recently I wrote a blog about my interest in going “no poo.” Yes, I am comparing not washing my hair with chemical shampoos, otherwise called “no poo,” with training for a race. I am a few days away from my 5th week of no poo. I really cannot believe that I have stuck with it this long. Well partly I can because I am usually not a quitter, but this has been tougher than I thought it would be. I have tried a few different concoctions to see what works best for my hair. So far this is the best routine:

Day 1: Wash with a mixture of honey and baking soda, work throughout hair, mostly at the scalp and not really on the ends. Rinse with water, then spritz apple cider vinegar + water mixture on as a conditioner, work through ends of hair, and rinse out. Usually I start out with straightening my hair on Day 1.

Day 2: No wash. Just refresh with a quick few moments with the hot iron. Second option: pull back into a pony tail.

Day 3: No wash. Usually pull into a pony tail, sometimes I will curl bottom half of hair, and pull back into pony tail.

Day 4: No wash. Definitely pull into pony tail. Sprinkle cornstarch at scalp and massage into hair if matted or looks wet/greasy. Cornstarch works wonders.

Day 5: Same as Day 4 or start over at Day 1.

Other concoctions I have tried: An aloe + coconut milk wash. Did not work too well. My hair was incredibly greasy. I had to wash immediately with baking soda. However, my hair was incredibly soft for the next few days. Might try again, knowing I will need to wash with baking soda afterwards. During my first week, I started out with a baking soda + water paste, and now have moved into using baking soda + honey, and I love how it makes my hair smell. Over the weekend I ordered some Rhassoul clay that can be used to wash hair but also used on skin. Using egg yolks is also on the list to try.

A boar bristle brush is also an important component of going no poo. Using it helps to bring the oils from your scalp down through to the ends of your hair. I have long hair, so it is a lot of work to brush. I even found out over the weekend that Mason Pearson is the coveted brush, a company that makes boar bristle brushes going back to 1885, selling today for $110-$325. Not sure I’m willing to drop that much for a hair brush though.

There are a lot of details to master, how to travel, how to wash with eggs, but not have cooked egg in your hair, the list goes on. I am learning a lot and I am sure Chris feels like the shower is starting to look like our refrigerator. I will keep you posted on my adventure.