I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning." -J.B. Priestley
Hello world! For those of you who are new, welcome to the Luminstruct blog! I am currently working on a "365 Word Project" where everyday I will be posting a reflection on a word and today's word is "Fresh".
Welcome back to the blog! I apologize for the cheap way out yesterday, but I'm glad to say that my apartment is actually coming along just nicely! There are still a fair amount of boxes still needing to be unpacked as well as various piles of items you will never need until you get rid of them, but that's all part of the fun of moving! You never realize how much a few pictures and posters on a wall can really brighten a place up. One of my favorite pictures was one of the crayon melt projects I did with my sister a few years ago. If things go to plan, I might even be able to make another one soon with a very close friend of mine who might be visiting this next weekend (fingers crossed). So how am I going to work the word fresh into the conversation? Well, in my opinion when you start fresh at a new place, it is sometimes helpful to start a few other things fresh in your life. There are many things that are new going on right now, I have a new job, new apartment, new coworker friends, new city, and I also don't have schooling anymore (hopefully I might have some more later on). In order to keep up with this list of new things, I thought it might be helpful to also develop a fresh new outlook of lifestyle as well. So here is my theory:
I'm a firm believer that if you do something enough times on a daily basis, it will become habit and eventually you'll do it subconsciously without even knowing it. In order to get to this point, however, it is important to really rely on the repetition of things and hold yourself accountable for these desired life goals. My goal is to daily perform:
1 nice thing for someone else
1 nice thing for me
The idea behind that is to really create a better world and community around us as well as better ourselves in the process. So many people become self-absorbed with themselves, or become absorbed in service projects where they spend all of their time working for others and never themselves. The last thing I want to be is egotistical, but I think it is healthy to create a good balance between the two. So what does "something nice" look like for yourself or for someone else? So many people think it is necessary to perform these ginormous acts in order to make a difference where a simple act could make all the difference. When it comes to helping others and doing something nice for them, do it in such a way where they might not even know it was you. This could be picking up trash on a sidewalk so that a custodian or landscaper does not have to do it, pushing the grocery carts in an organized line or bringing them closer to the store with it is raining, or maybe even do something that takes a bit more effort such as baking cookies for a department or organization which are always working harder then they should and still keep a smile on their face! If you can make just one person's life a little brighter, that could make all the difference.
So what does it look like to make your life a little brighter as well? I think it really comes down to doing some long reflections on your wants and desires. I'm not talking about giving yourself that extra slice of cake. Although that is a nice reward after a long day, consider performing tasks which have a longer impact and truly "better yourself". These might even include things that you don't want to do such as going for a long run or flossing again, but your body will thank you in the long run. I think it is important to really aim the nice things for yourself to impact you as a person. This might be creating a healthier lifestyle, expanding your brain with new ways of thinking, or further developing your social life. The main key to this is learning. Learn new things about yourself and how you work with others and the world around you. With us making the world a better place, it only makes sense that you should love yourself a little more too. As the famous MJ once sang, "if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make that change." It might take a while to change the world, but with this fresh new outlook, I'm hoping it will bring this project a little closer into our grasp.
Question time: How have you made a the world a better place today? Both for yourself as well as for others. I took the easy way when helping myself and working on organizing my apartment. There is no way to get anything done when you live in a mess! I also let a man go ahead of me in the store, didn't cut someone off while driving, and brought a cart in from the parking lot which was located far away from the store.
About the video: Although I think the real Patch Adams is a bit of an odd guy, I have always enjoyed the movie "Patch Adams" with Robin Williams. He had a similar project called the "hello experiment" where he tried to get past normal programmed responses and let other people's inner light shine through! This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie, enjoy!
Welcome back to the blog! I apologize for the cheap way out yesterday, but I'm glad to say that my apartment is actually coming along just nicely! There are still a fair amount of boxes still needing to be unpacked as well as various piles of items you will never need until you get rid of them, but that's all part of the fun of moving! You never realize how much a few pictures and posters on a wall can really brighten a place up. One of my favorite pictures was one of the crayon melt projects I did with my sister a few years ago. If things go to plan, I might even be able to make another one soon with a very close friend of mine who might be visiting this next weekend (fingers crossed). So how am I going to work the word fresh into the conversation? Well, in my opinion when you start fresh at a new place, it is sometimes helpful to start a few other things fresh in your life. There are many things that are new going on right now, I have a new job, new apartment, new coworker friends, new city, and I also don't have schooling anymore (hopefully I might have some more later on). In order to keep up with this list of new things, I thought it might be helpful to also develop a fresh new outlook of lifestyle as well. So here is my theory:
I'm a firm believer that if you do something enough times on a daily basis, it will become habit and eventually you'll do it subconsciously without even knowing it. In order to get to this point, however, it is important to really rely on the repetition of things and hold yourself accountable for these desired life goals. My goal is to daily perform:
1 nice thing for someone else
1 nice thing for me
The idea behind that is to really create a better world and community around us as well as better ourselves in the process. So many people become self-absorbed with themselves, or become absorbed in service projects where they spend all of their time working for others and never themselves. The last thing I want to be is egotistical, but I think it is healthy to create a good balance between the two. So what does "something nice" look like for yourself or for someone else? So many people think it is necessary to perform these ginormous acts in order to make a difference where a simple act could make all the difference. When it comes to helping others and doing something nice for them, do it in such a way where they might not even know it was you. This could be picking up trash on a sidewalk so that a custodian or landscaper does not have to do it, pushing the grocery carts in an organized line or bringing them closer to the store with it is raining, or maybe even do something that takes a bit more effort such as baking cookies for a department or organization which are always working harder then they should and still keep a smile on their face! If you can make just one person's life a little brighter, that could make all the difference.
So what does it look like to make your life a little brighter as well? I think it really comes down to doing some long reflections on your wants and desires. I'm not talking about giving yourself that extra slice of cake. Although that is a nice reward after a long day, consider performing tasks which have a longer impact and truly "better yourself". These might even include things that you don't want to do such as going for a long run or flossing again, but your body will thank you in the long run. I think it is important to really aim the nice things for yourself to impact you as a person. This might be creating a healthier lifestyle, expanding your brain with new ways of thinking, or further developing your social life. The main key to this is learning. Learn new things about yourself and how you work with others and the world around you. With us making the world a better place, it only makes sense that you should love yourself a little more too. As the famous MJ once sang, "if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make that change." It might take a while to change the world, but with this fresh new outlook, I'm hoping it will bring this project a little closer into our grasp.
Question time: How have you made a the world a better place today? Both for yourself as well as for others. I took the easy way when helping myself and working on organizing my apartment. There is no way to get anything done when you live in a mess! I also let a man go ahead of me in the store, didn't cut someone off while driving, and brought a cart in from the parking lot which was located far away from the store.
About the video: Although I think the real Patch Adams is a bit of an odd guy, I have always enjoyed the movie "Patch Adams" with Robin Williams. He had a similar project called the "hello experiment" where he tried to get past normal programmed responses and let other people's inner light shine through! This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie, enjoy!
Take Away:
Tomorrow's Topic: Delicious
