It's a loaded question to ask, I know, but I'm asking it as someone who needs to pull herself out of some spiraling habits (mostly food-/body- and control-related).
I grew up on my mother's mixed tapes, and while I was never quite musical myself (aside from writing poems, if that counts, LOL), I can attest to the profound impact that music can have on us. Even now, I see my teenage brother find respite from the stress of group projects and AP tests in songs like Arcade Fire's "Everything Now" and Patrick Watson's "Adventures in Your Own Backyard." And my freshman year of high school, when I first became swept up into the madness that is diet culture, some of the best and least anxiety-related moments involved Kate Bush with my mum. Today, feeling particularly ambivalent about my preoccupations and priorities, I put on one of alexrainbird's indie/pop/folk playlists and just allowed myself to experience it while studying for finals. It slowed me down the way yoga does and got my brain out of thinkthinkthink mode and into "Wow, this is beatiful!" mode. Being in awe is good for you (seriously--science backs this up), and music has the power to put us into a state of awe, relax our nervous systems down, and re-balance us.
These Brittle Bones: "Flecks"
George Ezra: "Hold My Girl"
First Aid Kit: "My Silver Lining"
Kate Bush: "This Woman's Work"
Cat Power: "Wonderwall"
And just for fun because I like turning this on and dancing to it when I feel sad . . . .
It actually feels like springtime today, and snow is in the forecast, so I've sort of given up on trying to figure out what's going on with the weather. I feel like Mother Nature is screaming at us that global warming is a serious issue. I mean, it's snowing in April. For this part of the world, that just isn't normal. It's a major warning sign that we need to start taking the environment seriously before the earth starts looking like it does in Bladerunner. (Speaking of which, we saw Bladerunner 2049 recently, and it was really good. So plan a movie night. And remember to recycle.)
We're cat-sitting right now, and one of the fuzzballs we're taking care of is an incredibly chill, relaxed little fellow who I'm looking to for zen-spiration. When I feel myself getting stressed out or needing to "control" everything, I try to remind myself of what this cat would do in my situation, and, even if I can't roll around on the floor, I can at least take a deep breath and center myself. Yoga has been helping with this, too. If you're anything like I am (Type A, worrier, etc.), chances are that your first attempts at yoga might leave you feeling a bit frustrated and seeking the immediate release of hardcore cardio, but for some of us, focusing on stillness, flexibility, and breathwork is way more beneficial than pushing through 100 burpees. Trust me. I've been the 100 burpees girl, and I'm still recovering from the long-term effects of overexertion. It's not worth it, friends!
Is it just me, or does spring make anyone else feel weirdly optimistic? I put on a spring-y blouse and shorts today to do homework, prep for the class I'm going to start teaching soon, and clean the living room, and the thought of warm breezes and flowers has me all excited even though I've got a bit of a pollen allergy and really am not looking forward to the summertime humidity. I'm sending out positive wishes to everybody and hoping that everyone is having a loving Friday <3. Because of all the sadness and tragedy in the world, I want to share some more inspirational/happy thoughts today:
This is the story of Ziki, a little boy in the DRC who was rescued from a life as a cobalt miner and now gets to go to school.
From CBS News
This is a video about Heifer International, which helps farmers in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the U.S. I listened to a podcast (link here) about Heifer and was inspired to find a video about it :).
This is a song that we've had on repeat recently. I hope you like it, too! :)
Songs are like books. They keep us company. I've been listening to a lot of Florence + the Machine lately (and Kate Bush and the Smashing Pumpkins and Lykke Li, lol), and I found a quote by Florence Welch that I think is a good reminder to all of us to embrace our inner children every now and then:
Did anyone get a chance to see the opening ceremony for the Olympics last night? I was really excited to get to see some of it with my younger (but much taller) brother. He and I spend a lot of time together . . . we used to eat lunch together every day in high school, which people thought was bizarre because teenage siblings usually aren't best friends. But there's nothing quite like getting to be fully and unapologetically yourself with someone who knows the extent of your introverted, ridiculous awkwardness! Anyway, the opening ceremony was really beautiful. It captured so much of Korean culture in such a magical fairy tale way--complete with phoenixes and giant white tigers--and at the end, there was a performance of John Lennon's "Imagine" that almost made me cry. Here it is, in case you missed it:
Beautiful, isn't it? I'm very excited for the figure skating portions of the Olympics. It's like seeing a ballet performance, and the flexibility, strength, and grace of the skaters are amazing. They can spin and leap and jump while on ice. Meanwhile, I'm over here trying to sort of/almost do a semi-decent Natarajasana (Lord of the Dancer) in yoga. (And now I feel all yoga-y because I just used the official Sanskrit term for a pose for the first time.)
I'm sending sweet thoughts for everyone on this second Saturday in February. The time around Valentine's can be difficult sometimes, but please remember that you are loved <3, and please take some time to show yourself some loving-kindness, too. In my research on movement and creativity therapy right now, I've found that cultivating compassion for ourselves and others is just as important for well-being as movement (I hesitate to use the word "exercise" because it can be anxiety-provoking) and wholesome nourishment (not dieting!) are. I've been feeling stressed out lately because of some personal stuff and because of some new jobs that I'm excited about but also nervous about, and taking time to breathe and ground myself has been very helpful. So is this video here by Michelle Elman:
If you haven't watched Michelle's TEDX Talk, you definitely should. It's incredibly moving and beautiful.
That's all for this morning. Now back to my essays :). Big hugs for everybody!
I almost forgot it was January when I woke up on Monday. In my mental calendar, we were still in the month of candy canes and hymns, and it's only now that the "spring" semester has started up again that it's hit me that it's 2018. Another year!
Of course, the whole "new year" transition means that everyone is coming up with resolutions. The "new year, new me" mindset is pervasive--rarely do we see so many ads about diet and fitness routines! Please remember, though, to filter the "diet talk." There's a good and a bad to everything, and while diet/fitness reminders can be motivating for some people, they can be harmful to others. Life is about balance, not extremes, and if you tend to be a bit of an extremist (I speak from experience!), please make all your health choices consciously, focusing not on limitation, control, and self-punishment but rather on nourishment, flexibility, and self-respect.
NOURISHMENT, FLEXIBILITY, AND SELF-RESPECT
That said, I know that "nourishment, flexibility, and self-respect" may sound a little bit self-indulgent. But taking care of yourself enables you to give out to others. There's a beautiful affirmation by Louise Hay that I want to share here:
This affirmation captures the whole idea of "pouring from an empty cup." Simply put, you can't give what you don't have--eventually, you'll burn the candle at both ends and run out. I've seen so many of the beautiful, strong women in my family do this. Fueled on nothing but coffee and cortisol, they push themselves as hard as they can, but then one day they hit a wall. Adrenal fatigue, autoimmune disease, stroke . . . chronic cortisol isn't the healthiest energizer! It will only enable you to go so far, but then it'll backfire on you.
Even though I, too, have been known to feed off of cortisol, I really am writing this post for people like my grandmum who for years have been giving giving giving without ever stopping to take care of themselves. It's the NEW YEAR, so while everyone is using this as an opportunity to make a diet/fitness resolution, maybe take a deep breath and resolve to find some peace for yourself. Inhale, exhale. The work will always be there, but if you allow yourself to heal a bit instead of just working yourself to exhaustion all the time, you won't burn that candle out. Here are some quick fixes for cortisol spikes:
School work has entered full on crazy mode. The end of the year is always this way, with deadlines and exams and presentations and after-hours obligations, and I'm so so so grateful for every minute I have that's not booked by something. There's nothing quite like those ten minutes between when the alarm goes off and when I actually get out of bed in the morning, LOL.
I love Julia's blog (Drops of Jules), and this post on affirmations is something I've been going back to ever since I first read it. It's so easy to get caught up in worry trails and negative thinking patterns, but by being mindful of how we're talking to ourselves and perceiving our situations, we can really improve our overall mental health. Julia's three-step affirmation process (acknowledging negativity, recognizing irrational thoughts, and empowering truth) is a very helpful tool, too.
This Book Riot article is about Bana, a seven year-old Syrian girl who has seen more suffering and hardship than many of us can imagine. And she's writing about it now. She. Is. Amazing.
Last night was a late one with Holy Thursday service carrying us into the darker, cooler hours of the night, but it was beautiful, and I actually set the alarm for 6:00 AM instead of 5:45 AM this morning to ward off fatigue. Anyone who gets up early knows the difference that 15 minutes can make.
Today's Friday playlist is a bit of a mish-mosh of different decades and genres. I've found that, for whatever reason, listening to the Bee Gees has helped me make progress with my writing projects lately. It's funny because disco-era music has nothing to do with what I'm writing about, but certain songs remind me of mixed-tapes played by my grandmum and mum. My mum loves a lot of the music my grandmum listened to (Stevie Nicks, Nick Drake, etc.), and my grandfather always liked the Bee Gees, so those artists always show up on our playlists and tapes.
Stieve Nicks (source: en.wikipedia.org)
In middle school, I did a project on music history and famous artists (yes, I had a very fun teacher), and one of my best memories is of the day my mum took me on a musical history lesson using her CDs and our old desktop computer. She had so much work to do for her job that weekend, but she devoted a few hours to helping me with my project, and the memory of us doing that together will stay with me forever. I particularly enjoyed our journey into the 1990s. She was in college then, and despite many of the sadnesses she experienced in that time (losses, autoimmune illness, etc.), the music she found in the shelves of hole-in-the-wall record shops really had a big impact on her. Because she's so Jane Bennet-like, most people can't imagine her working at a college radio station decorated in Nirvana and Hole posters, but why subscribe to only one style when you can appreciate Beatrix Potter and Courtney Love at the same time?
I haven't written anything here in a while, but I've managed to write elsewhere. Short stories and essays and homework have gotten most of my attention this spring break, but that's been really nice for me because I'm not exactly the "let's make a lot of plans for spring break!" type. The thought of packing a suitcase or venturing somewhere over this seven-day respite period exhausts me, and if anyone else feels that way, know you're not alone!
One interesting (albeit insignificant) discovery this week has been that my foundation doesn't exactly match my skin tone. The foundation I use is lovely and sweet and feels very good, but my pale skin has some yellow undertones that make me pull orange, and since I've been trying to get rid of my scars with retinoids, my skin has been very dry and all the orange has been exacerbated. My mum took notice of this, and we found that, wow, there is a foundation shade that works with my face! I'm a very pale "neutral," apparently, and now when I cover my scars up on my face, I don't have to worry about oxidation or color-shifting or scar visibility. Yay! If you're struggling with acne scars or cover-up issues, too, I strongly recommend making sure that you've got a foundation that matches your skin tone. It makes a very big difference, and I feel a lot better now even despite insecurities brought on by peeling retinoid skin.
Also . . . here are two songs for today:
I don't care if it's cold outside . . . it's spring now! And even if there was a part of me that really, really wanted snow last week, I'm grateful that all the little flowers and animals didn't have to deal with any crazy blizzard weather. I'm also grateful that it might actually get warm soon--and not just sporadically like it did in February. As much as I love hot chocolate-and-peppermint-weather, my chronically dry skin and numb toes are looking forward to not having to be wrapped in layers of flannel. Not that springtime will stop me from stealing my brother's over-sized plaid shirts, of course....
Indie Playlist for Spring 2017 (Compilation by alexrainbirdMusic)
I've been listening to alexrainbirdMusic's Spring 2017 Indie playlist to get spring ready, doing lots of homework, and cleaning. Spring weather always makes cleaning feel very necessary. I just wish there were more time for it .... every weekend has been booked by work or school. Has anyone else been spring cleaning? Sometimes it helps to put on a show in the background, like the Maya Angelou documentary that was on PBS on Friday.. There was so much about Maya Angelou that I'd never known before I saw the documentary, and I really recommend it because she's as brilliant as her poetry, and the documentary has so much meaningful footage and history in it.
Another quick thought for spring time . . .for some reason, spring weather always makes me think of styles form the 1910s into the 1920s. Flippy flapper skirts and little hats and flowers always feel very spring-y.
My poor little laptop decided yesterday that all websites were dangerous. Apparently, the National Geographic site is off-limits because it's been flagged as "education." Oh, dear. But that didn't stop me from learning that the Devonian Period (one of the periods of the Paleozoic Era, yay!) was named after Devon, England, because that's where a lot of its fossil evidence was found. Five year-old me is very excited right now.
There's so much going on right now, and all the energy can be overwhelming sometimes. That's why we need music. Listening to it, playing it, writing it, reading it . . . these are all forms of meditation, right? Much love and light for everyone today. I'm hoping to share more must-reads soon. I gather articles in between time spent procrastinating and doing homework, and most of the stuff I've gotten to see this week has to do with the environment (#envirosciwritergirls), having a healthy outlook on life, and cruelty-free beauty. Let's make change and keep it positive!
I haven't gotten to share a playlist in a long time, and it's making me realize how I haven't been listening to as much music as I used to lately. Maybe that's why it's been so difficult to write! Music has such an incredible way of clearing the mind and distracting it from stressful thought forms (even-and sometimes even more so--if the song is sad), and it inspires creativity that seems to have been evading me recently. Hopefully some of these songs will reach your creative energy, too, and help make today a bit easier.
I feel like it's been a while since I've gotten to put a playlist together. But music has been the only thing that's made any sort of stand against my latest case of writer's block, so I'm taking a study break (yes, it's midterm season!) to share some recent favorites. Can you believe that it's already almost Thanksgiving? Fall 2016 is going by so much more quickly than I'd anticipated. And I'm very cold today . . . multiple sweaters and my brother's jacket and jeans cold. You might notice that as a theme in some of these song selections.
Kaleo: "I Can't Go On Without You"
Ben Cocks: "So Cold"
Damien Rice: "9 Crimes"
Greg Laswell: "This Woman's Work" (Cover of Kate Bush)
I keep meaning to write something, but then as soon as the computer loads up I remember all the other things I'm supposed to be doing and vanish into the world of homework. But since that realm is where I'll be spending most of today, I thought maybe some music would be a nice cheer-up, especially since it's so cold and rainy all of a sudden. Not that cold or rainy is a problem, of course ... fall weather is always welcome.
Norman Greenbaum: "Spirit in the Sky"
Lorde: "Royals"
Shearwater: "Natural One"
The Smashing Pumpkins: "Tonight, Tonight"
I'm sending happy thoughts for everyone's Monday. There's been a lot of sad news recently, and I hope all are well <3.
When I was a baby, I fell asleep listening to the faraway soundtrack of The Planet Sleeps, an album of lullabies from all corners of the world. It was the late 1990s, and the world was a far more complicated place than I could've ever imagined from the security of a wicker bassinet. War, poverty, and pain scarred the planet, but the lullabies of The Planet Sleeps connected the world in peace and love and calm. That CD somehow made everything feel blue and starry, even if it wasn't, and I can't help but to think that its songs could save the world. How could horror continue in the face of something so beautiful?
The cover art of The Planet Sleeps is magical realism-meets-indie (thank you, 1990s alternative scene!), and the album itself is/was a fundraiser for UNICEF. Inside, though, is when things get exciting. Tucked into the album cover is a little booklet of the songs, their translations, and anecdotes about their origins. Each anecdote is as poetic and special as the song it accompanies. I learned, for instance, that "Oj Talasi," a lullaby from Bosnia and Herzegovina, was performed by The Trebevic Choir during a tumultuous time of war and strife. Choir members met with each other to perform the song during a difficult winter despite cultural boundaries and wartime bombardment, and many of them later disappeared. It's heartbreaking, and "Oj Talasi" is a poignant reminder of the need for peace and love for and between everyone. Some of my other favorites from The Planet Sleeps are "Fais Do Do, Colin Mon Petite Frere" (France), "Schlafe Mein Prinzchen, Schlaf Ein" (Germany), and "Phnom Penh Lullaby" (Cambodia). But there are also songs from places like North America, Ireland, and New Zealand.
"Oj Talasi"
"Fais Do Do, Colin Mon Petite Frer"
No one is too old for lullabies. The Planet Sleeps (available at Amazon) is a compilation of some of the best, and it's particularly important now in this time of so much unrest. The world needs to be reminded that it is whole. We need to remember that, no matter where we come from, we all sleep under the same stars, and we need love now more than ever.
After wearing a corrective retainer for most of seventh grade, I thought that my tiny, oddly-shaped teeth would stay somewhat straight. Several years and a bit of time off from my night guard (I couldn't wear it after my wisdom teeth were removed), my teeth decided to rotate back into their original state of crookedness, and, as of today, I have braces. Yay! (Apparently, the pain won't start until later, so for now I'm in the clear...)
Today has very much been a work day, and I've been doing summer assignments and organizing a classroom library, but I have some music to share that'll hopefully help you get through to the weekend.
I decided to title this post in Spanish because today's a big work day and one of the things I need to do this summer is read Introducción a la literatura Latinoamericana (in addition to several other books). As a book-lover, I don't think of reading as an assignment but rather as an opportunity, so I'm excited, but I also need to prep for other classes that are a bit more daunting (AP Bio, cough cough). But that's okay! It's summer, right? And we have good music:
Birdy: "Wings"
Vampire Weekend: "Hannah Hunt"
Jack Garratt: "Worry"
Something else that I've been thinking about a lot lately is purpose/all that stuff. I have a stack of cards on my desk from Doctors Without Borders, and I was reading the first-person anecdotes of some of the volunteers, which are so incredibly moving and inspiring (even when they're tragic). One of the anecdotes was about the Ebola epidemic, and I wanted to share it here. It got me thinking a lot about the meaning of love, etc., and how, in the end, all that really matters is that we showed love for those around us and were positive. The material stuff is just material stuff in the end, and it's memories and moments that count. I know all this has been said before, but it helps to hear it again, I think...especially at the beginning of the week :).
"Another time, a 15-year-old girl was inside the isolation ward for over a week, along with her seven-year-old sister and her mother, who was very unwell at first. But then they all started to get better When, finally, the girl's Ebola test came back negative, she had a shower in chlorine to disinfect herself, changed into new clothes, and was discharged. That was a wonderful moment--to see that and to know her mother and sister would soon be well enough to join her." -MSF Doctor Hannah Spencer
