Monthly Archives: December 2015

New Year’s Resolution: Get Rid of Your Life-Blockers!

Television, ,

Would you rather watch a life worth living or live a life worth watching?

Life-blockers are time-sucking behaviors we voluntarily participate in that get in the way of living the life we want for ourselves. Whatever benefits you may glean from these activities are heavily outweighed by the chronic states of procrastination and inertia they foster. Consider how the following life-blockers may be inhibiting you from reaching your goals.

Candy Crush
Total life-blocker. The most popular games app is causing hoards of men and women to mindlessly whittle the minutes away, minutes that turn into hours—hours that could be spent doing something productive, creative or worthwhile. But hey—we made it to level 578—so that’s something. Next time you feel the urge to crush candy, instead spend it on calculating the time you have already spent playing. Let’s say you did reach level 578; at 10 minutes per level (a conservative estimate), you have spent 96 hours on Candy Crush. Four entire days! Is this what you wanted for yourself??? Are you kicking yourself right now? Kick the Candy Crush habit instead.

Reality Television
On average, people watch 2.8 hours of television per day, and increasingly, reality television has taken center stage. We spend our time either cringing at others’ awkward, socially inappropriate behavior or fantasizing about leading their decadent life of fame and fortune. Not all reality TV lacks value but any way you look at it, you are spending your time watching other people live. So the next time you want to turn on The Kardashians, Pawn Stars, any of the Housewives…ask yourself, would you rather watch a life worth living or live a life worth watching? Continue reading New Year’s Resolution: Get Rid of Your Life-Blockers! →

Why ‘Inside Out’ Should be at The Top of Your Christmas List This Year

Film, , , ,
Disney Pixar's "Inside Out" Featuring Anger, Disgust, Joy, Fear and Sadness
Disney Pixar’s “Inside Out” Featuring Anger, Disgust, Joy, Fear and Sadness

Disney Pixar’s movie ‘Inside Out’, personifies an 11-year old girl’s emotions in the most psychologically ambitious animated movie yet. Rich with life lessons, it is a wonderful gift for children and adults alike! Here are three reasons why:

You learn that all emotions serve a beneficial function
People tend to think of emotions as either good or bad. Joy, happiness, love, and calmness are all considered positive emotions while anger, fear, anxiety, sadness are considered negative. “Negative” emotions feel uncomfortable and unpleasant, so they must be bad and we definitely should rid ourselves of them ASAP. Not so fast! As Inside Out’s central character, the emotion “Joy”, learns, all of our emotions serve a beneficial purpose.

Continue reading Why ‘Inside Out’ Should be at The Top of Your Christmas List This Year →

The Sound of Music: Psychologically Significant

Film, Music, Theatre

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You may not know that The Sound of Music was originally a Broadway musical composed by the famous and prolific duo, Rodgers and Hammerstein. Six years after its Broadway debut, it was released as a film (1965) and won the hearts and minds of young and old for decades.

What is it about this tale and how it is told that resonates with people across cultures and generations, why is it that you can watch it over and over again with the same amount of joy and anticipation but with new insights every time, and how is it that the principle values of the story are still relevant, impactful and enduring? Already recognized for its cultural, historical and aesthetic significance by the United States National Film Registry, its psychological significance is at least of equal value.

Continue reading The Sound of Music: Psychologically Significant →

Five Shows Worth Binge-Watching over the Holidays

Television

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The state of television seems to be deteriorating with the explosion of reality television and the never-ending series of crime shows. But among the frivolous and grotesque, there are some real gems with strong female characters to lead the way. Celebrated shows like Sex and the City, Girls, and Orange is the New Black all adeptly and humorously explore female relationships, honoring our individual differences and acknowledging our essential sameness. If this is your cup of tea, then here are five more shows worth binge-watching over the holidays.

What these shows have in common, besides an award-winning cast and well-deserved critical acclaim, are that they are all about women who are facing major life challenges: a cheating husband, an emotional breakdown, cancer, alcoholism, single motherhood, and relationship breakup; and in their struggle to cope, pave a convoluted, imperfect, mistake-ridden and often comical path to their true self.

Continue reading Five Shows Worth Binge-Watching over the Holidays →

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“What I hope is that art helps people think about what human beings have in common, positive things, bring people together about things that really are going to
affect everyone, it’s the future of the planet, it’s the
future of humanity. Terror is a horrible thing that can
create fear and division. I want to bring people together with what I do.”

Shepard Fairey, street artist and activist discussing his public art installation for the UN Summit on Climate Change that took place in Paris after the terror attacks in his interview on
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 16/11/15

 

 

Shepard Fairey's famous Obama Hope Poster
Shepard Fairey’s    Obama HOPE Poster
New book "Covert to Overt"
    New book “Covert to Overt”

 

 

What Oprah Wants You To Know

Celebrity, , , ,


Unknown

Oprah, humanitarian, media mogul, giver of cars, and American icon, graced our shores with a mission to ‘turn up the volume’ in our lives in her recent live show, ‘An Evening with Oprah’. Part mentor, part life-coach, part mother figure, and part bestie, Oprah gave a frank and intimate account of her life journey and the insights she gained on the way. Her goal, “to drop pieces of light into people’s lives.” If you missed it, this is what Oprah wants you to know. Continue reading What Oprah Wants You To Know →