Finding what feels good is kind of the point
Finding what feels good is kind of the point
Welcome to Wanderfull! I traveled to New York City for business Wednesday through Friday, so it was a bit of a discombobulated week. Note: if you have impending travel to the Big Apple, the UN General Assembly is in town. Cue the traffic and street closures! All that said, my weekend was incredibly rejuvenating, so bring on another work week. I hope you’re in the same boat!
A Tip for the Modern Worker
Stick to the plan. Reactionary bosses cultivate stressful environments. Be organized. Be visionary. Play the long game. Things go more smoothly if you have a well-publicized plan. If you’re doing some of the following things, you’ll end up leading a team with poor morale: ignoring or constantly shifting deadlines; having urgent unplanned meetings to resolve issues; tolerating last-minute changes without a strong governance process.
I tweeted that out exactly a year ago and it’s part of my Handbook for the Modern Worker. I’ve certainly been on teams helmed by reactionary bosses, and others where reactionary bosses are in the chain of decision makers. Now that’s what I call a chain reaction. That’s not to say that once you have a plan you have to stick to it come hell or high water. No … change is part of life, but change doesn’t have to always upset the apple cart. I’m happiest when I know what the plan is, what the deadline is, and that if either of those things changes, there’ll be a pragmatic, thoughtful response.
#365DayDraw
I drew this as part of my #365DayDraw project 6 years ago today.
Went to research American outhouse's crescent moon; came away w/ so much more
Now, I have NO idea what compelled me to draw an outhouse. Maybe I was in my wood grain phase? Or maybe I was having a crappy day (pardon me). And I’m not sure what an American outhouse is vs. one in any other country. Regardless, I do know that one can get somewhat lost in Wikipedia’s entry on the topic. This does remind me, though, of a race report that squarely featured my encounter with the composting toilet that was inconveniently located adjacent to the start/finish line and race announcer. Here’s the relevant excerpt from the full post.
I arrived at the mid-point having to go to the bathroom badly. They announced, "And in 3rd place, here comes Scott Dawson from Trumansburg, New York!" I made a gesture like I was going to make a 30-second pit stop, closed the bathroom door, and heard the announcer continue, "...and since I have a microphone, I can tell you that Scott Dawson is going to the bathroom! We should time him!" EMBARRASSING? Yes. But still funny.
Commentary
Ages ago, after a 5K, I received a “free acupuncture consultation” coupon. Having been a needle-phobe for most of my life, I was skeptical. I’m always willing to try new things, though, and I found myself happily learning about what acupuncture can do during my free consult. Years later, acupuncture is part of my standard regimen for self-care and pre-habilitation. I see my acupuncturist monthly, and she’s helped me with stress, anxiety, and acute injuries suffered during trail run mishaps. I’ve learned that she has needles for most things I can come up with, actually.
She told me about the 7 Emotions in traditional Chinese medical theory during one session. She explained that an excess of any of these most common emotions (joy, anger, anxiety, overthinking, grief, fear, and fright) could cause dis-ease in the body. That spelling is intentional: dis-ease represents a lack of feeling of ease or well-being, as well as potential illness. Rather than holding strong emotions in and allowing them to create tension and illness, she talked about methods for releasing them in traditional Chinese medicine:
physical expression (exercise, acupuncture, tai chi)
mental/emotional expression (writing, talking about feelings, therapy)
In addition, she noted more traditional methods for calming the body and mind, including acupuncture, tai chi, yoga, meditation, and breathing techniques. We talked about how I already physically express things through exercise and acting. I also emote through writing, talking things out, and keeping up with a fledgling meditation practice. That day, she gave me a treatment including acupuncture points traditionally understood to a) promote the smooth movement of energy in my body and b) calm and settle the mind. Normally I walk out of a treatment feeling immensely relaxed — almost foggy — in the aftermath of the acupuncture. This time, I walked out with a sense of clarity and purpose I’d not felt in a long time. My acupuncturist smiled at me and said, “Nice, isn’t it?” Yeah, it was.
If you’re skeptical about the needly nature of acupuncture, I encourage you to give it a try. They feel like next-to-nothing going in (and I’ve had ‘em in my head, ears, back, knees, legs, hands … you get the idea), and coming out feels like scotch tape pressing and peeling off your skin. I don’t know. That’s how I explain it. If you have experience with this practice and want to share it, I’d love to read about it in the comments!
Miscellanea
In the wellness vein above, I’ll share a recent find referred to us by Amy’s sister. Find What Feels Good is a fantastic yoga app from Adriene Mishler and we’ve been enjoying our annual subscription. We try to do yoga 3x a week, at least, and it’s incredibly centering. I didn’t even miss it during my business trip, though the carpet in the Courtyard isn’t nearly as nice as my yoga mat. Adriene always does a great job relating to her subscribers with humor and grace, and it’s a delight when her dog Benji joins a practice.
Something funny happened during my pursuit of produce: As I reached for a cantaloupe at CSA pickup, Herbie Hancock's Cantaloupe Island came on the mix they were playing. I looked around and NOBODY was around to appreciate the serendipity of that moment. What I wouldn’t do to make a cantaloupe joke.
In other news, I was recently reminded of what it feels like to move 3 tons of stone. Cayuga Compost dropped it off in our driveway to replenish the stone that’d compressed in our garden enclosure. Well, full disclosure … I borrowed stone over the years to use in other landscaping projects, too. Picture below, and I can attest it was quite a workout!
We were saddened (yep, that’s the correct word) to learn about the demise of Wegmans’ Scan application. Another example of technological advances being thwarted by less scrupulous folks. Sadly, shoplifting is on the rise.
