Once you blow open a mind, there's so much that mind can absorb

I happened upon a panel discussion of students from MIIS' spring break trips yesterday evening.  (MIIS = Monterey Institute of International Studies) A couple of students had visited Washington DC, others Taiwan and China, another to the UN in New York and another to Cuba.  The facilitator asked them questions about their experiences, things they had learned, "ah-ha" moments and advice they had for students.  It was very inspiring to listen to what these students from modest Monterey had witnessed, experienced and lived.  

A woman sitting near me in the audience raised her hand and added to what the student who had visited Cuba had commented about perspective (he had said that visiting Cuba blew his mind).  This woman, who turned out to be Professor Jan Knippers Black, said, "Once you blow open a mind, there's so much that mind can absorb."  That stuck with me.  We go through life with our pre-conceived notions, we all do whether we want to admit it or not.  In doing so, we inhibit ourselves from seeing things differently.  Something may not necessarily be right or wrong but we can learn from it, we can adopt in our lives small changes simply from observing how other people live and behave.

Conflicts are started because we assume that those people are doing things the wrong way, they are vehemently anti-"our way" and therefore we must change them or isolate ourselves from them, etc.  How much of life do we miss out on that way?  Imagine if we withheld judgement and looked at other people, cultures, political systems, you name it, as simply different and something from which we can learn.  This is where our mind can absorb things at face value, rather than be muddied by a pall of judgement and preconception.  So next time you watch the news or see something that is different to you, try to assess it with an open mind.  There will be things that even after open-mindedly assessing, you will be opposed to (FGM or slavery, for example), that is alright, but there will be many things that if inspected from another angle, can teach you something (i.e. governments investing in human capital).  

Unbelievable

I ran into a couple of male colleagues on the way back to my office from lunch today.  We stopped and made small talk.  As we were parting ways, one of them said to me, "you ladies here are really attractive, but you need to stop getting so intelligent or you will turn into men." 

What? 

My face dropped and I said something profane.  Then apologized for my profanity and said "excuse me, that is extremely insulting."

He shrugged it off, claiming it was only a joke.  

I said "that is not a joke, that is rude and not right."  

He admitted that it was a "bit misogynistic." 

I said "yes, it was and I don't want to talk to you right now because I am at work and don't want to say anything I will regret."  I had a very serious look on my face and he asked if I was really upset. 
 
"Yes, I'm not kidding."  I said, in a very serious tone.  I think he was taken back.  And maybe he was joking but jokes like that oughtn't be made.  Those types of jokes could be heard by people who actually believe that or are not mature enough to tell the difference or know that that's not right and they take it as reality.  It encourages behavior to insult the intelligence and intellectual capacity of half the population of the world.  It sets us back and is just downright unacceptable.  

That actually happened.  

"Growing your own food is like printing your own money"

For those of you who are not familiar with TED, you ought to be.  The notion is "ideas worth spreading."  People come together for TED talks and give a short blurb about just that, an idea worth spreading.  It can be anything from coping with an ill partner to an innovative business design.  There are conferences and all the TED talks are available online.  I recently attended an independently organized TEDx event, TEDx Monterey - it was so inspiring.  A fantastic reminder that there are people in our community doing super cool things, you just have to be willing to hear about it.   

At TEDx Monterey, they played this TED talk about gardening.  You know, growing your own food.  Have a look and see what you think.  Maybe you'll plant a garden?  Even if it's just a container garden - plants in old milk jugs or cleaned out paint buckets.  Plants are a form of life and life wants to live.  Give it the bare minimum to survive and it will thrive... 

Good morning!

My run this morning was a trip down memory lane.  I ran in the Del Monte Forest, in front of my house, behind the building which used to be home to my Kindergarten and behind my high school, on the trails that I ran countless miles in Cross Country practice or had high school biology lessons and in front of the spa where I would exercise with a dear friend.  

I leapt into the forest and was hit in the face with cold, wet air.  It was markedly colder in the forest and it felt good; one of the best ways to wake up.  Approaching a fallen tree I imagined myself a hurdler, jumped over it and laughed out loud.  As I ran down towards Spanish Bay, I saw some men in jail-orange vests.  They were standing by trucks and near the fence that I had just noticed the week before.  I assumed the fence was put up for last week's Pebble Beach Food & Wine and prayed they would take it down after the event.  

"Good morning!" I called.  Before they could respond, "Is this fence temporary?" 

The younger of the two looked uncomfortable and said "yes"

"Awesome," I responded, not slowing down my pace.  

Phew...I know many runners, walkers, cyclists who would not have been pleased to have that ugly fence intersect our routes.  

I ran passed purple irises and marveled at a hawk flying away from her/his nest.  Maybe there are babies in there?! I thought.  What does one call a baby bird, I pondered. 

I got lost in the trails and ran over a bridge, remembering the time I had to hold the little girl's hand whom I used to babysit because she was afraid to cross alone.  

My legs were not as strong as I like them and I had to remind myself to be patient, it's OK, having not run for some time, and coming off a cleanse, this is to be expected.  But, I assured myself, our bodies are amazing and with persistence, anything is possible.

Creativity

On account of being on a cleanse and still working full time, I have not been exercising.  I devote my energy to work and thus have not been taking my morning walks, either.  My body wants the time to rest, and that's OK, after all, that is the point of the cleanse.  However, on my solitary walks is when I think about things to write, my thoughts develop with the monotonous movement of my legs and the beauty of my surroundings.  A bird will chirp and inspire a thought or a wave will crash and it will spark an emotional fire.  

A dear friend told me that we are losing creativity in today's society; we are always connected, attached, plugged-in such that we don't have down time which is where creativity flourishes.  In fact, people most commonly say "I had a great idea when I was in the shower!" because that is the only place that the cell phone has not (yet) been able to infiltrate.  At the gym, people have their headphones jammed into their ears to block out all life and get themselves through their miserable workout and what's worse is when this is outdoors.  Wouldn't one want to hear nature, be aware of her/his surroundings, greet their fellow runner? At home, people have the TV blaring as "background noise."  Are we afraid to be alone with our own thoughts?  What happened to sitting and contemplating? Silence?  Isn't is said that Isaac Newton's theory of gravitation was inspired by the fall of an apple?  I don't know that Newton would have seen that apple fall if he was texting and walking or distracted by talking on his cell phone.  (I am guilty of these things,  myself.)

According to the wise Albert Einstein, "The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind."  

Maybe we ought to incorporate some more quiet time in our lives?  Some time to just watch the wind blow.  Maybe it will inspire in us some creativity or maybe just allow us to take in the magnificence of the world.    

A little slower

I took my morning walk a little slower today.  I am doing a detoxification cleanse with a friend of mine so my body is not in-taking the same amount of energy as it normally does, so I'm taking it easy on the physical exertion.  It is amazing to make a change to your lifestyle and watch the effects on the body.  

There must have been rain at some point in the night because the sandy path on which I walk was wet and smooth - it no longer bore witness to creatures' foot steps.  I liked that my foot steps were the first to break the wet, sandy shell that covered the path.  It was chilly and windy, but nothing like the violent winds of yesterday that awoke me in the night - the sound of branches breaking and leaves rustling.  The ocean was a deeper blue today and there was a soft pink haze above the horizon.  The waves crashed with meaning, rotating mechanically, one after the other, after the other...I thought isn't it mechanics that mimics nature, not the other way around?  

Morning flowers

Let me first start off by saying I'm a creature of habit. I have this tendency of finding something I like and obsessing over it.  I'm that person who plays her favorite song (of the week) on repeat until all my roommates, friends, neighbors, classmates, etc. are well aware that (insert catchy pop song of the week) is my (current) favorite song and can no longer listen to it without cringing and thinking of me.  Maybe it's my own form of "friend-security." (:

My current obsession is the meaning of flowers.  I have always admired flowers but this book I'm reading (The Language of Flowers) has taken this admiration to a new level.  On my morning walk there was a garden filled with lavender and rosemary.  Both soft purple flowers.  I thought to myself, what could lavender mean? Whatever it means, I love it.  I love it for its fragrance and beauty.  I also love it because a past amante had fields upon fields of it and would bring me sachets of lavender buds.  If you're curious, lavender means both devotion and distrust.  Those seem like contradictory meanings but I guess both can be involuntary, one can be devoted to something and distrustful simultaneously?  Devotion is a state and distrust a feeling?  I'm still pondering this one.

I kept on my way and stumbled upon a purple iris.  They're everywhere in the forest!  I looked that one up to, it means good news.  The superstitious in me thought, maybe I have some good news in my future?! The logical thought, irises bloom in Spring and it's spring.  I'll stick to superstition. 

It was much more clear today and as I turned the bend, exiting the path and onto the road parallel to the ocean, I looked back and saw the sunrise over the silhouette of cypress trees.  The ocean was still and speckled with brown seaweed, a little head popped up and I smiled at the otter.  I passed the house with the bench in the fence, the one I mentioned yesterday with all that lavender, except today I noticed another thing, behind the bench were several yellow narcissus.  Narcissus means unrequited love and selfishness.  Well that's fitting, one sits on a bench surrounded by remembrance of her/his selfishness.  That's a sad thought.  But it's also reality - people can be selfish and selfishness stems from fear.  Protecting the self is easier, safer than being vulnerable to another.

Yellow and purple flowers.  I have a theory that plants producing these colored flowers have some sort of symbiotic relationship with one another because I have observed that they grow in close proximity regularly and not only in California, I observed this in Spain, too.  Maybe the types of plants that grow in coastal environments have this characteristic.  I have not investigated the biology behind it but I stand by my theory, science could only prove this theory correct (or disprove it altogether).  But take for example the lavender and narcissus, or even a purple iris with yellow stripes on its petals, ice plant with yellow and purple flowers, etc.  

I passed a yellow mimosa (in Spanish) (and not the champagne mimosa although that conjures a beautiful image, too).  I came home and found out the name in English, silver wattle or better known by its scientific name, the acacia tree.  I looked this up and it means secret love.  How beautiful.  You could send your secret admirer a sprig of yellow mimosa. 

Mimosa or Acacia (thanks wikipedia!)

Have a beautiful day!

Let your mind dance with your body

It had just stopped raining when I stepped out for my walk, but you couldn't tell the difference, the fog was so thick it was like walking through a cold steam room.  Glorious.  On my walk, I was reflecting on the book I am reading, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  The novel tells the story of a girl, Victoria, who has lived in foster homes for her entire childhood.  It goes back and forth, alternating chapters of her present, adult life (age 18) and her childhood between group homes and foster homes, etc.  In the part about her childhood, we learn that at one point she lived with a woman who was versed on the language of flowers, the old Victorian way for lovers to communicate by sending each other flowers, each one having a meaning.  It is one of the only things young Victoria is interested in. (For example, the yellow carnation means rejection, disdain or "You have disappointed me," while the daisy symbolizes innocence, loyal love, purity or faith.  You can see how lovers would communicate sending these flowers - fresh, pressed or drawings of them, back and forth to one another.) Thus far, Victoria is incapable of having relationships, including friendships.  She has been so betrayed, damaged, hurt that she is unwilling to let anyone in.  I got to thinking about relationships.  I cringed at the internal wounds of ruined friendships or relationships.  We all have those people in our lives with whom we simply cannot communicate effectively.  Our words are misunderstood, we misunderstand theirs, we were young, unaware of our actions, etc.

My melancholy thoughts were dismissed by the song of the birds, beckoning the sun to rise - the sun I will not see behind the thick, drippy marine layer.  I sighed and took in my surroundings.  A bunny scampered across the path and I sped up to catch a glimpse of her/him.  The air smelled acidic, which is characteristic of the shrubbery growing down by the ocean, and although I do not particularly like the smell, I love what the smell is associated with - the beauty of the ocean and countless memories of running along the boardwalk.    Each footstep on the sandy path uncovered an oval of dry sand.  I noticed that I was not alone as there were hoof prints as well; the deer graze just off the path but know no such path. The ocean was calm, deep grey, which was the perfect contrast to the not-so-white sky.  I kept on my way, smiling at a bench that had been built into the fence of a person's home.  It was flanked on either side with rosemary - the deep green speckled with its characteristic light purple flowers, rosemary - remembrance.  How appropriate.  

Life

I wonder why people get so quickly frustrated and angry.  I was parking today, in heavy traffic - I was doing a left-side parallel-parking maneuver.  Now, I pride myself on my parallel-parking skills but I miscalculated and had to try again, the woman in the car behind me couldn't wait for me to park and so when I drove forward to re-park, she honked, rolled her eyes and threw up her hands while shaking her head.  It made me upset.  She had already driven away when I thought about blowing her a kiss.

I wonder where people learn that behavior.  Why is it acceptable to treat one another that way?  We wonder why we have so many disagreements and fights and wars...maybe we out to teach some patience and compassion to our children.