Creativity, Communication, and Brevity

The use of Twitter to present VCs with your business plan in 140 characters or less, as suggested by our CHO, is an interesting idea, and I have experimented with it a little bit, trying to pass along an idea that contained a good bit of information in that brief and efficient manner. Busy people may have three or four hundred emails to read every day, so if you can get their attention for a few seconds on Twitter and get your message across, it says something about the way that you think, and about the respect that you have for their time.

I have gotten to the point where I feel uncomfortable when I am not doing something productive or creative, or for that matter, two or three things that fit that description simultaneously. Since we are all so busy and time can be hard to find, it is cool to try to express yourself in a nutshell, and of course Twitter is a perfect tool for that.

This type of thinking is not exclusively the domain of the modern person who is technologically savvy and constantly on the go. The ancients understood it as well, and Haiku is a perfect example of the efficient transference of emotions, pictures, philosophies, and information. Below is a famous poem by Basho Matsuo, renowned as the first great Haiku poet:

An old silent pond…
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.

With this in mind, I was checking out some more modern ways of expressing yourself succinctly and elegantly, and I watched some 1 minute films the other day on You Tube. I posted a few below, check them out, and remember to keep it simple, it frees up space and allows more information to make its way around.


Anything Can Happen


The Plastic Battle


Change?

Translation Fun

Our CEO just forwarded me an email with all of these hilarious translation gaffes:

Chinglish



Check out Engrish.com, it’s a hoot!

Natural and Organic Foods

I am an intuitive type of person and I know what makes sense to me, so I like to see scientific studies about topics that I am interested in, but I don’t depend on them exclusively. Scientific studies are often slanted depending on who is paying for them and what the desired conclusion of the benefactor may be. When a particular industry would be harmed by a widespread shift in the buying habits of the public, you have to realize that the old guard is going to do all that they can to maintain their market share. So “studies” are not always objective.

Common sense, intuitive knowing, and anecdotal evidence are what I rely on to make decisions for the most part, and eating natural and organic foods makes sense to me as a way to prevent illness and optimize your health.

The native Americans had a belief that you shouldn’t implement any drastic changes in the culture unless you knew what the result of those changes would be seven generations down the line. If we had taken this type of wisdom to heart rather than doing all that we could to subjugate the native American population and marginalize their wisdom as primitive myth, our environment wouldn’t be toxic and our food and water wouldn’t be tainted today. So with this in mind, it is logical to me that we have no idea what impact artificial coloring, preservatives, chemicals, animal hormones, antibiotics, and genetically engineered foods are having on our health.

Many if not most people would be rather quick to agree that it makes sense to eat natural foods, but they are of course more expensive, and some folks feel as though they simply can’t afford to buy organic and natural food. I can relate, but the cost of health care far exceeds a little extra coin invested in your long term health when you are doing your shopping.

Staying away from preservatives and artificial coloring can be done pretty reasonably, and I was just reading an article called “Top Tips for Shopping for Organic Foods on a Budget,” by Laura Klein, who is the Publisher of OrganicAuthority.com. In it she mentions things like prioritizing, selecting particular foods that are staples of your diet and committing to buying the organic version of them. One thing I like to do when prioritizing is buy organic versions of produce that is especially high in pesticides: strawberries, green bell peppers, cherries, spinach, celery, apples, peaches, green beans, grapes, cucumbers, and cantaloupe. (Source: San Diego Earth Times)

I used to struggle a great deal with allergies. When I was in school I would get red and itchy eyes and the roof of my mouth would itch. As I got older, the allergies manifested in the form of chronic sinus pressure and congestion. It was a constant annoyance, and I would use over-the-counter products and nasal sprays which would provide temporary relief, but I knew that they weren’t good for me in the long run.

Eventually, I got fed up and decided to change my diet and eat nothing but natural foods and see if that would help. Lo and behold, my symptoms went away almost immediately and I have had no trouble since, and this was over ten years ago.

I think that most health challenges can be met by lifestyle changes, and it has been my experience that eating natural and organic foods can have a dramatic positive impact on your health and well being. Like exercise, eating natural foods becomes a part of your lifestyle and you begin to work with your body’s needs instead of against them, and the long term health benefits of a conscious, intelligent, healthy lifestyle are truly immeasurable.

Gratitude and Health

One virtue that a lot of people lose sight of is that of simple gratitude. Many of us are quick to lament anything about our lives that is not perfect, but we take the positive gifts that we enjoy for granted. When I hear people complain about various things, I try to empathize, but more often than not I feel as though they are placing too great of an emphasis on the few things that may be lacking, and none at all on the many things about their lives that are good and in place.

Perspective is everything, and looking at things from a positive perspective is actually very good for your health. We have all heard people complain about their jobs, and of course every job has its ups and down, but there are folks who are constantly saying negative things about the places that they work, so much so that it becomes sort of a lifestyle. When I hear their stories I can sometimes relate, but in the end, I try to remind them that they should be grateful that they have a job. I ask if they would be happier broke and looking through the help wanted listings. This usually changes their perspective, if only for a long moment.

Gratitude is powerful, and reaching for the feeling of gratitude is a great way to achieve balance, because the vast majority of us truly have a lot to be thankful for. Nothing is owed to any of us, so whatever we have is a gift in a way, and when you are given a gift, you feel grateful.

In the article “Boost Your Health With a Dose of Gratitude,” Elizabeth Heubek quotes University of California at Davis professor Robert Emmons:

“Thousands of years of literature talk about the benefits of cultivating gratefulness as a virtue…Grateful people take better care of themselves and engage in more protective health behaviors like regular exercise, a healthy diet, regular physical examinations.”

I recently read a book by the Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto called The Message From Water. He was contemplating the fact that every snowflake that has ever fallen on earth has a unique crystalline structure, and he wondered what would happen if he froze droplets of water and observed them under a dark field microscope that was equipped with the ability to take pictures.

When he did it he found that the water’s molecular structure changed based on a number of factors. The original source of the water was important, as you might expect. But he experimented with less conventional ideas as well. Crystals that were formed when he froze the water looked different when exposed to different types of music, when he spoke different words in different tones around the water, or even when he attached a word or words written on a piece of paper to the receptacle that contained the water. Emoto found that the word “gratitude” caused the water to form what he considered to be the most beautiful crystals of all.

Life can be hectic and often times confusing, but I find that if I stay present in the here and now, everything is fine. It is only when you allow yourself to wander out of this moment that you find yourself worrying or entertaining negative thoughts and emotions. I try to remember that I am alive and well, and I have everything that I need in this moment. And for that, I am grateful, and I think that this is one of the reason that I enjoy good health.

Payday Is A Beautiful Thing

We have all experienced it. You walk past a coworker and you see that she looks different on this day. She has kind of a permanent smile going on, and she laughs really easily. She looks happy, buoyant, and you’re like, “What happened to you, girl?”

She looks at you and says, “Hey, it’s Friday, and it’s payday.”

I love my job, but a lot of people are not fortunate enough to be able do something that they enjoy doing for a living, and for them, work is all about payday and I can understand that. But whether you like your job or not, it is a great feeling to get to the end of the week, wake up on Friday, and have a nice direct deposit waiting for you in your bank account.

I know that you can make a lot of money in sales, but I have never been drawn to selling for a few different reasons. One of them is that I like a consistent flow of income that I can count on. It would be extremely stressful to me if I was to go to work every day and not know when, if, or how much I was going to be paid.

For me, there are credit card companies, a car loan company, and an anxious landlord looking forward to my payday just about as much as I am, but there is still something left over to have some fun with, and that is what payday is all about.

When you have friends at work and that day rolls around, you all know that you can afford to chill at happy hour or go out to eat, and payday is often a time for coworkers to get together, let off some steam, and do some bonding. Our employers take on a lot of responsibility knowing that their employees, and their employees’ families, depend so much on that check, but it also must be rewarding for them to realize that they are providing families with a means of supporting themselves.

It’s good to work hard, and in my opinion, it’s good to play hard, too. Payday is playday, and that is why payday is a beautiful thing.

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