911 on all the 411!

Ever feel like your head will explode if you're exposed to one...more...piece...of data? Lately, the chaos inside my melon feels like the last 35 seconds of The Beatles tune, "A Day in the Life". You know, the part with the searing violin crescendo just before the famous final piano chord. 

Every single day it's all about send this, answer that, call him, and email her. Oh, and remember to return those text messages, update all social media, check out a YouTube chuckle, and compose original cover letters for every single job application. The cursor blinks, the text chirps, the email pings, and the phone rings. It's everywhere you go. Nearly impossible to escape. And that, my fellow 21st Century adventurer, is information overload. It's exhausting.

The late actor Larry Hagman was known for his 'silent Sundays'. He just didn't speak. He turned down the noise. It seems a bit self-indulgent and not very much fun. But, I tried it a couple of times and it felt well, semi-marvelous! No phone, media, or email for a day. A total disconnect. That, along with hugs for my dogs, a run in the fresh air on a clear day, homemade cookies, a long, hot lavender-infused bath and a glass of fine red wine did the trick. It felt so good to just breathe.

That's my prescription for data overload and stress management. What's yours? Keep it clean....!

2012-The Year of Yin and Yang

" Don't let the bastards get you down, Lisë!" I can still hear my father's words earlier this year.  He's right, of course, as he is so very often.

Those words fell upon my newly-numb ears. I, along with dozens of my colleagues, had just been told that we were out of work. Jobs that most of us had begun just the year before. Jobs we'd had every reason to believe would be given much more than a twelve month run. Ah, yin. The year had begun so very, well...yang! Too bad it wasn't the only 'yin' moment of the year. But as the (old) song goes, "Accentuate the Positive". So, that's what we do. Because we have to. Or, just watching the news may drag us down into a very deep mental well.

Here's the great part, 'yang' wins this annual story! Goodness and the milk of human kindness always does. Thanks to all of the dear friends and relatives who sent me fun, flavorful gifts and cards to cheer me up; 'mystery' money to help with gas costs; drinks bought, meals cooked, leftovers packed up and sent home with me. All done to help defray the high cost of being unemployed. And then there are strangers; people who sent words of encouragement through social media; shared with me their unexpired parking slips; granted me interviews and made me feel like my career thus far, actually mattered!  Thank you. Thank you to all of you! I can't wait to do something wonderful for each and every one of you in turn. And seriously, as another (old) song goes, "How lucky can one guy be, like a fella' once said, ain't that a kick in the head?"Ain't it , indeed?

 Time now to turn the page. Look forward, not back. And never, ever let the bastards get us down again. Now, doesn't that feel good? Happy New Yang Year to you!