wellfesto

Jul 19

It’s a Small World After All

Earlier this week, twenty-two children died in the state of Bihar in northeastern India. They didn’t do anything wrong. They just ate lunch. They ate rice and beans and potato curry and soy balls. They started feeling a little sick, and then a lot sick, and then some of them died. It all happened within a few hours.

Stories about tragedies run constantly in the media, and I often skim over them in favor of the shiny, happy stuff. But once in a while a story hits home, and that’s what happened to me when I read this one. The child The New York Times talked about in its story, Ashish Kumar Mishra, was five years old. His dad carried him from clinic to clinic until he ran out of options, and Ashish died at his side. Read more

Jul 18

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Bread Doesn’t Come in a Bag

New York City’s Sullivan Street Bakery publishes a no-knead bread recipe on its site — I’ve also seen it appear in The New York Times within the last few years, and it’s a staple in Mark Bittman’s food bible, How to Cook Everything. It’s the only yeast bread I’ll attempt because it takes very little (working) time and usually comes out quite well (except the time I put tablespoons instead of teaspoons of salt in it and gave it to a friend after she had a baby…ooops). Read more

Jul 17

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Wherever You Are, There You Are

Three great learnings/reminders from tonight’s yoga class:

If we can let our breath guide our yoga practice, we can let our breath guide our daily lives. Throughout the flow practice tonight, we focused on a cadence of a one-count breath in and a two-count breath out. INNN. OOUUTTTT. INNN. OOUUTTTT. It takes training and focus to do this, but when I let my breath guide me, the poses become easier. My body feels lighter. Everything feels more achievable. Read more

Jul 16

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Letting Go

A friend recently asked me what I think the toughest thing is about “having it all,” and without hesitation, my answer was “trying to have it all.” Rather than trying to have it all, for a long time, I’ve been thinking about success as having “my all” — defining what matters most, shuffling and prioritizing time and activities to support that, and being clear and okay with whatever trade-offs need to happen because of it. Once these priorities are set and tied up with a fancy bow (for about four seconds until they change again), they’re clarifying and guiding and empowering. But the getting there…negotiating the trade-offs either internally or with loved ones…letting go of an idea or situation or even an identity…is messy and hard and wrought with emotion. Read more

Jul 15

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How To Talk to…People

A beautiful essay that was written a few years ago has been making rounds on the Internet again lately. If you haven’t read it, it’s worth taking a few minutes right now: How to Talk to Little Girls. As someone who was once a little girl myself and is now an adoring mother of my own little girl, this essay strikes a very personal chord. The big message is this — the topics we bring up, the questions we ask, and the little things we notice about every little girl we interact with contribute to the way she sees the world around her…and her place in it. Our words and actions send signals about what matters — a danger zone when the loudest words relate to being cute/beautiful/ruffled/princess-y. Whether we mean it or not, by calling out a little girl’s haircut instead of the book she’s carrying, we’re telling her that the way she looks is more important than what she’s able to learn and do. Read more

Jul 12

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Listening to Our Elders

The August issue of Real Simple features an article called “Live Long and Prosper,” which talks about the keys to healthy aging. I’m thankfully not very focused on aging yet, but I always like articles like this one for the quick dose of perspective they offer. This piece features centenarians sharing snippets of advice about how to live a long (and inherently good) life: Read more

Jul 11

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Craveworthy Greens

photo by tim sackton, via flickr creative commons

Summertime screams salad. Gardens overflow with beautiful produce, and if your garden stops giving (because you got lazy about watering it like we did), farmers’ markets are bountiful. Hot sticky weather makes cold food taste better than it does in the dead of winter. And perhaps most importantly, most salads are quick and easy. In the spirit of summer, here are three salads that keep my belly full and palate satisfied. They’re listed in order of ease/speed (the latter two take a bit of work, but are worth it). Read more

Jul 10

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The X-Year Itch

Ever heard of the 7-year itch? Popularized by a 1955 movie starring Marilyn Monroe — aptly titled The Seven Year Itch — it’s the idea that marriages are most vulnerable to unravel at the 7-year mark. I’m particularly in tune with this right now as my husband and I approach this milestone this summer, so my ears perked up when I caught part of a City Arts + Lectures talk by anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher (NPR ran it last night…you might be able to find the podcast on Stitcher). Read more

Jul 9

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The New Career Reality

The notion of what a career is and how one unfolds is changing rapidly. The days of the linear corporate ladder are nearly out of sight, replaced by blurrier, more self-driven models that mark progression but don’t offer a black and white path. Here’s how I like to sketch this shift:

THE OLD MODEL:

THE NEW MODEL:

The new model is anchored in who we are — in each of our unique identities. In this reality, careers are additive rather than a series of climbs and plateaus. Every single thing we do, everything we learn, and every person we meet becomes part of our career journey — adding breadth and depth to our core without taking anything away. And while it’s terrifying to not have a clear path to follow, it’s empowering to be in control of what content and experiences we want to add; and it’s exciting to think that we’re approaching a world where the things we know and do outside of work can become part of our work story.

This model leaves more room for work and life to blend. It makes the idea of sprinting and pausing make sense. And it’s a reminder that life is long…resulting in an ever-evolving journey with no clear end in sight. Oliver Sachs shared a great reflection on this idea in an essay in Sunday’s New York Times called “The Joy of Old Age. (No Kidding).” May we all be so lucky…

How do you think about your career? Does the new model above resonate with you, or do you think about it another way?

Jul 8

4 Comments

What’s On Your Docket?

photo by fang guo, via flickr creative commons

It’s amazing how many people find this blog through searching “exercise + motivation.” Unfortunately www.exercisemotivation.com is $1,499, or I’d consider buying it and trying to do something there. Like sell treadmills and tickets to 20-year high school reunions.

Actually, building that site might be tougher that it sounds. The science of motivation is complicated, and there are tons of books out there that offer perspectives about it (Dan Pink’s Drive is one of my favorites; I covered it a few months ago). When it comes to exercise specifically, self-determination theory (SDT) is often referenced. The foundation of SDT is that human motivation lies along a continuum which includes intrinsic (self) and extrinsic (world around us) components. Runners who are intrinsically motivated might run because they love the thrill of racing around the track and the feeling of the wind in their hair, while runners who are extrinsically motivated might run because it will result in outcomes that matter to them, or to their loved one, doctor, etc. (i.e., lower blood pressure and body fat).

Every person is at a different place on this continuum — possibly even because we’re wired that way. The great news is that if “being an exerciser” is (or can become) part of your identity, you’re more likely to stay motivated (according to one study, at least). So how do we all deepen the exercise portion of our identities? A great place to start is signing up for a formal event (after all, events are for ATHLETES). Here are a few resources to help if you’re looking for one to put on your calendar:

Runner’s World Race Finder

Bikeride.com

Stand Up Paddle Events (after all, it’s SUMMERTIME)

Triathlon Calendar

Great Ways to Get Fit for a Cause

Fun Team-Oriented Events (firewalking, included)

I’m training for a half-Ironman in September right now. How about you? What’s on your calendar? Do you feel more like an athlete if you’re training for a formal event, or doesn’t it matter to you? Beyond events, what motivates you to get and stay fit?

It’s a Small World After All

Bread Doesn’t Come in a Bag

Wherever You Are, There You Are

Letting Go

How To Talk to…People

Listening to Our Elders

Craveworthy Greens

The X-Year Itch

The New Career Reality

What’s On Your Docket?

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