Goodoodles

Hey there!  Happy Middle of the Weekday, everyone!  It’s taken me a few days to recover from jet lag and another to deal with a new version of Wordpress which is not working like a charm.  But, back from the U.S. with a few new goodoodles!  How are goodoodles with you?  I’ve missed blogging and missed your comments!  Hope today finds you discovering the bright side in life, and that these Goodoodles somehow help.

1.  Unexpected patterns.    Okay, so I told you I was a sometimes artist, at least for now.  And I can’t help but see art in everything.  I guess that’s why I am a huge camera addict!  And while I won’t barrage you with cute photos of my kids with Minnie and Pooh, I did want to share these… patterns which were fun to spot and catch on film.  Challenge yourself to see patterns around you.  Some patterns may be momentarily stressful, like the crowds at Magic Kingdom!, at right, but others may be relaxing… particularly those found in nature. 

Did you know that there is a field called ecopsychology involving therapies to reconnect people with nature …taking us humbly in the direction of the Na’vi of Avatar?    According to Project Nature Connect (http://www.ecopsych.com/index.html),

As demonstrated by a quiet walk in a natural area, the grace of nature’s flow corrects, restores and balances life.  In contact, it also does the same with the thoughts and feelings of our psyche.

So, look around, see if you enjoy finding patterns, and while you’re at it, listen to a roaring brook or breathe in the scent of wildflowers…it can’t hurt (unless you are allergic to pollen, in which case, skip the flowers.)   Taking a moment to find unnoticed art all around us; communing with nature; and, Disney, on its uncrowded days!…Goodoodles.

2.  Black swans.  A very good friend gave me a fantastic book, albeit a studied read, called The Black Swan, The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.  Taleb asserts that the great events which have changed the world have been those which we have not been able to predict, primarily because we tend to look at the past, at the normal, at what lies within the bell curve, rather than the extremes which we ignore.  The result is that, by focusing on the normal, the known, the abnormal throws us for a loop.  I remember as a kid in Arizona, how real estate agents showed us residential lots with the positive selling point that they lay on 100 year flood plains…flooded only once every 100 years..now that’s reassuring, right?  Or at least it might be, provided you aren’t in year 100, or worse still, when statistics are based upon historical and not future rainfall…not much comfort as your home and worldly goods go floating downstream…a sad lesson learned in New Orleans.  The good side is that we can try and alter our thinking.  The Black Swan gives guidance.  Taleb notes “read books are far less valuable than unread ones.”  Except perhaps in this case.  Helping us think out of the box, Nassim Taleb, and the black swan which no one believed existed until one was first spotted…NEVER say never.  Goodoodles and a fabulous day!

Hi everyone!  Happy Monday!  This is THE post this week.  I’ve scheduled it in advance because we are visiting Disneyworld!!!  Gotta love the Magic.  At all ages.  It’s BIG goodoodles.  As is the time we are able to spend with family in Florida that makes it like coming home.

Preparing all our suitcases last week got me thinking about trips and hotel stays and I thought I’d share one simple goodoodle:

1.  Sleeping under the stars.  Back in my banking days, one of my clients was Caesar’s World and for our bank meetings at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, we used to be awed by the fantasy suites, like the Pompeii suite.  Here, the high-rolling guest would arrive to find his or her rooms filled with all his or her favorite flowers, food and drink, etc.  Then the lights would dim and a deep recorded voice would welcome the guest by name to the times of ancient Pompeii when lava flowed across the earth, and thus began a sound and light show, giving the impression of lava flowing down the rock staircase leading the guest into the living room of the suite overlooking the Las Vegas Strip.   It was really fantastic…extraordinary, really. 

Whether it’s special hotel experiences like these, a simple inn on the beach, a rustic cabin in the mountains, a clean motel room to rest a weary body while on the road, or a tent under the stars, getting away from home for a bit can be very regenerating. 

In our family, our four year old is the most passionate about hotel stays.  For her, that IS the vacation.  She had the luxury this past year of sleeping under a five star roof in a Spanish beach resort near Cadiz.  The other day, when we passed a hotel sign with five stars, she commented ¨Mommy, you know why the hotels have five stars, don’t you? ”  No dear, why?   “Because they give you chocolates by your bed!”   Right you are.  Sleeping away under any kind of star that you can afford, just for the break; creative, over-the-top Las Vegas, and little girls who have it all figured out.  Goodoodles and a great week, everyone!!