Collectables

Why do people collect things? I do not understand why we need so many of one kind of thing. Kids begin keeping collections at a young age. The phase of the 90's was collecting beanie babies. I must have over 200 of this small stuffed animals in my house. They are cute, soft and fun to have, but why so many? That is clearly over consumption at its finest. They really just become dust collectors. I am obviously a culprit of this practice but seriously next time ask yourself do you really need so many playing cards, shot glasses, thimbles,snow globes, stamps, ornaments, or coins. There are people all over the world homeless and living in poverty but we are concerned about what is the latest stuffed animal to add to our collection?!

What I had never noticed...

Do you see the old couple looking at each other or do you see the two in sombreros, one of which is playing the guitar?
This is an optical illusion. We must train our minds to think outside the box and think of the many alternative in which to look at images. This commercial is an excellent example.

I love this commercial and I think it is really cool that there were so many every day things that create smiley faces and I have probably looked at them so many times but have never seen the smiley face. This commercial reminds me to take a closer look at all the "ordinary" objects surrounding me.

Mall Madness

My mom is a shopaholic. I think she may have given me the disease as well. When I go to the mall I lose myself in the racks of clothes. I find shopping therapeutic. However, I do know how to control my spending to a certain degree. My mom on the other hand is a little different but that is especially because she has the income to be more like that than I do. Would you rather have more clothes and stuff or a better house? Does it matter to you where you want to live? Do you want to work or just be a housewife?

When I was young my mom bought me the board game "Mall Madness" at a garage sale. This is great because I could pretend to spend money!
We all have so much. We must be thankful for what we have.

Super Power- A fly on the wall

If you could have super power what would it be?
I have never really known what my answer would be. Be able to fly, be invisible, talk to animals, read minds... These would all be cool things to be able to do.
My ultimate super power though would probably have to be to become a fly on the wall whenever I wanted. It may be kind of creepy that I would desire to become the ultimate stalker or "nosy" person but the trick is that no one would know that I was there.
A fly is kind of an ugly looking creature but by becoming one I would be able to fly, essentially be invisible in the sense of my human body being transformed and maybe even talk to other flies. With information comes power. I would be able to gather lots of information I could never had without chilling out on that wall for a while.

Healthy Competition

In high school I ran track for 4 years. These pictures are from my best 110 meter hurdle race senior year. I completed the entire race in just 17.4 seconds, but I certainly spent many many practices preparing for it. We had practice about 6 days a week and I remember many days mumbling to myself "why am I doing this?" as I grit my teeth through the pain of the run. However, I always love the feeling after I run, well after I catch my breath I guess. I no longer run like I did in high school though because I do not have time or the motivation of a team and competition pushing me. I really do miss it honestly. It is so hard to motivate myself to simply just get over to the track and actually do the run. However, this is definitely not uncommon. Most people need a reason to motivate them to do something difficult. My coach motivated me but mostly the competition between my teammates for a varsity spot, and against other teams in races did. The tough practices were worth the hard work once the day of the meet came around. This is true for other things in life besides track. I treat my schoolwork in a similar way and I suppose I may also be motivated by competition in the workforce.

The Power of Sound

It is amazing that I can listen to a you tube video for stress relief. But, this video's sounds really made me feel more relaxed and at peace. Try watching this without actually looking at the pictures but just listening. Sounds generate different emotions. You can listen to something and feel tension and anger, or serenity like this.

There are little times when I feel like we just sit and listen to sounds rather than words. In my busy life, I am constantly interacting with people, watching TV or on the computer. Although we hear many things in our life and may call ourselves good listeners but we are referring to listening to other people talk most likely. Take some time to just listen to some music without words or listen to sounds of nature and you will be surprised how many we miss in our life.

Santa Claus and The Easter Bunny

Ever since we were kids we grow up with characters like the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus that are connected to the Christian religious holidays of Easter and Christmas. However, have these icons become more important than the actual thing we are celebrating. Many of your holidays have become commercialized. There are so many reasons to give and receive gifts.

For me, I know that I grew up leaving milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve and searched for eggs the Easter bunny left on Easter. All of this was great when I was young, but I still went to church and understood the meaning of the holiday. I feel like there are many people today that celebrate these holidays without understanding them truly.

Christmas and Easter are only a few of the holidays that have become completely commercialized. They have also generated so much spending from buying Christmas cards, to lights and tree decorations, to the actual gifts you put under the tree. Don't get me wrong I love festivity and tradition, but I am just realizing that our culture is vastly a consumer culture where holidays have been commercialized.

Creativity is everywhere.

I am planning on studying abroad in Italy this summer and last night I had an information meeting about the program I will be attending. I will be taking two classes: Art History and Intro to Drawing while I am there. When the director of the program spoke about the drawing class, she really emphasized that we didn't need to have any previous drawing experience. She said " I can teach any of you to draw, last year I even taught an Accounting major how to draw." This made me relieved but also mad. I am an Accounting major and Advertising minor. I really enjoy both fields and consider myself both a creative thinker and an analytical problem solver. Why can't someone be good at both accounting and drawing?

I do not understand why Accounting has the stereotype it does. Why is it that people assume that if you are an accountant you are boring, introverted and not creative. This past summer I worked at my moms accounting firm and met her co worker who is extremely bubbly and outgoing. I also recently interviewed an accounting manager for one of my classes and she said he job varied every day and is very enjoyable. As a manager of people she has to utilize creative ways to motivate,oversee and reward her workers.

Creativity doesn't necessarily come with drawing, painting or any of the fine arts. Creativity is important everywhere and all sorts of people are creative!

The Way It Is Delivered

It is extremely important to be conscious of your body language when you present yourself in front of other people. You could not have said a word yet, but based on how your stance is, if your arms are crossed, if you have a smile on your face, or if you greet someone with a hand shake or a hug you will be judged. As a part of our human nature, we judge people based upon these types of signals. You can totally blow a first impression before a word comes out of your mouth!

Not only does body language matter, but your tone of voice. There is always a nicer way to say something critical. Today I approached someone I didn't know behind a help desk. I had previously visited the same desk last week regarding some information. However, today when I was following up with this new person she was extremely rude and asked me who had told me such incorrect information. I immediately labeled her in my head, "what a bitch, calm down lady" I am sure no one wants to be labeled this even if they do not know they are being judged. I do not know who that woman is or if she is a nice person. But, her tone of voice completely turned me off.
Is it really that hard to treat people with respect?
She could have also explained herself, why was this such a big deal? What was driving her words?

I am in a leadership position in an organization on campus and sometimes have to tell information to the members that they will be disappointed about. I have now learned that its important to practice the delivery of that information. If they know that there is a specific reason for something, they will be more likely to accept it. Also, how you look and your tone is often more important than the words you say!

We have so many ways we can communicate with people, but you need to consider how you deliver your words in all ways!