So on Friday, I started volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club down the street from where I live. And I realized something - I am SO much happier when I'm doing something that improves or impacts another's life. Who.Would.Have.Thought!
More of us need to volunteer and do things for others instead of ourselves - whether it be a time-commitment/regular thing or just an everyday average selfless act - because by doing so we can help one another live longer, healthier, happier lives with more social interaction.
It's so easy these days to live in our 'own worlds' and constantly focus on ourselves, and perhaps one or two others that really matter/we see every day. But if we stop and reach out to other people, whether it's co-workers or strangers or family or old friends or lost tourists, it's so powerful to see those effects on people and ultimately ourselves.
When I started volunteering that Friday afternoon, I was so excited to start making a difference. But once I met all the kids and there was about 100 of them running around like crazy nutcases with serious attitude problems, I began to doubt my choice. Then I met two pre-teen girls - Danae and Victoria. They were the epitome of 'best friends' - they lived in the same apartment building since they were young and had been going to the same school since kindergarten. Now they were 11 year olds, and they were so friendly to me and supportive of my being there as an older, non-familiar volunteer, that I started to think - wow, I thought I would be affecting positive change and here they are making me feel at home and welcome and secure and loved. Not to say that I think I didn't have some impact on them - I told them this was my first day and I would be there every Friday and perhaps host impromptu dance classes since that's what I like/am good at, and they were very excited since they loved to dance too - but I didn't think I would also be as affected as I was.
Funny how life works that way - you make plans and expect certain outcomes, and then life throws you a curve ball and you get something completely unexpected. I love that :)
Monday, February 20, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Music and the Importance of Taking a Moment
So I know I'm trying to instill the practice of being 'relaxed' and 'disconnected from machines', but I have to admit that I was on Facebook like I shouldn't have been. Oopsie. At the same time, maybe it was for a reason because I noticed this. Take a moment to read - it sums up exactly what my previous post was about - taking the time to slow down and appreciate the finer (and more relaxed and pleasant!) things in life.
Enjoy! :)
"...A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?..."
Inspiring, isn't it?
Enjoy! :)
"...A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?..."
Inspiring, isn't it?
Recent Thoughts
So recently I've been feeling a little solitary in my thoughts, and after a couple of soul-searching moments and talks with co-workers that are very adept at some valuable and inspiring insight, I want to relay a couple of points I'm pondering:
- Life is WAY too short as we've found out and been reminded of recently to get caught up in the tiny little mundane details of everyday life. Whitney Houston passed away too young, as have many celebrities. As we keep seeing more and more these days, it really does seem that 'only the good die young' etc. Death is too much a part of regular life that we no longer seem phased by it and therefore don't realize how important each and every moment truly is. We have to cherish them, even if we have to force ourselves out of a reverie of negativity to do so. (I definitely need to heed my own advice, here).
- Negativity tends to fade quick and positivity tends to last longer. - This thought is mind-blowing to me! A co-worker recently told me some thoughts she was having regarding life, work, play, travel, thoughts, outlook, self-esteem, the whole deal. Her thoughts were very opening to me: What we think is a big deal now will not be in the long run. What we do day-to-day is the bigger issue. So if we constantly think negative thoughts, then life is generally not so great. But if we have smaller moments of negativity, that's not so bad. Positivity glosses over those small negative moments we have from time to time, and that's the key.
- For some reason, I've been really cherishing my relationship with my boyfriend. But at the same token, I'm thinking of him in a very 'you might die any second and I want to make sure every single second that you know and are 150% sure that you know I love you more than anything in the world and can't put words to how much I care deeply for you'. Is that catastrophic thinking? Probably. But it made me realize that I do really love him and do really cherish the everyday moments we have, no matter how small or how insignificant. That makes me happy - thus: positivity lasts longer! Proof of point #2. :)
- Walking is a nice way to relax and reconfigure your thoughts. Seriously. I walk everyday to and from work, and I must say, it's a wonderful chance to compose myself and take stock of what's going on in my life and what I still would like to accomplish and/or change. Pretty standard/been said before, but I wanted to express my personal thoughts on that one.
- Spend as much time with OTHERS as you can! In one of my social communication classes in college, I discovered that we as a 'unique individual' are in fact beings with multiple truths and realities that are constantly changing and adapting to how we interact with others. We are who we are when we're interacting. That to me was mind-blowing - it completely blew my previous conceptions of a 'unique individual' out of the water. We are beings who are social and interact with others. Crazy, right? Wrong. That totally makes more sense to me than the notion of a 'unique self' ever did. I tend to think of human beings as just vessels that contain our floating thoughts and energies which we constantly exchange and share with other human beings - these make up our substance and are ever-fluctuating. That is actually quite a liberating and reassuring thought. We don't have to be 'set' or 'concrete' in our thoughts or 'personalities' - we can make adaptations and reconfigure our lives to play out the way we want them to at the time. No more of this 'set personality' crap. We are who we and everyone else chooses at whatever time to be!
- Try to relax as much as you can. Again, life is too short to be stressed out any more than a tiny bit. We're surrounded now by so much (mostly artificial) stimuli that we're bombarding ourselves with too much information and mundane distractions that we don't 'stop to smell the roses' anymore. We need to change that! I hate people who are constantly glued to their machines - we're becoming exactly those 'robotic humans' that the old movies predicted we would - let's avoid this! I want a world back how it used to be - relaxing and connected to nature and simplistic. As Henry David Thoreau (and many others for sure) used to say, 'Simplify, simplify, simplify!'
- Nothing you wear is as important and as connected to your mood than your ATTITUDE. So adjust it when you're thinking negatively and convert that energy to positive thoughts and CONFIDENCE. Even if it's 'fake' at first, do it! Put that extra swag in your step and you'll start to notice a change in the way you see life. I've done it, and I'm the most stubborn person out there, and it definitely affects me for the better. :)
These are just some notions I'm pondering these days, so I wanted to share. Any thoughts or ideas or comments are always welcome!
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