I like the French word émerveillement which captures the essence of wonder for me. I think this is a great way to approach Life.
There are two aspects of the verb wonder which really appeal to me.
The first is to wonder in the sense of curiosity…….as in “I wonder what this is?” Here’s an example – “Is this a rock, or a tree? I wonder how these markings formed on this rock?”
The second is to wonder with a sense of amazement……as in “Wow! look at the patterns of the rock and the patterns on the stream, and how similar they are!”
I would like to propose that an attitude of wonder increases the quality of your life, whereas, an attitude of scepticism, or nihilism…..hmm….well you tell me if you find those attitudes life enhancing.
Just as a wee bonus today, here is a great song about wondering…..
Maya Angelou was wonderful with words. You’re probably coming across some of them just now as the internet spills over with memories and thoughts about her provoked by the news of her death.
Here is one of my favourites
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.
I especially like this one because I just don’t accept the sole point of living is to make it to the end. Is a Life survived for a number of years something you’d aspire to? Isn’t the sole goal of survival ultimately 100% doomed? (Nobody makes it out of here alive!). You can spend a life like a robot, or, in terms of this blog, like a zombie, on some kind of autopilot, surviving, but there’s something else you can do. You can thrive. You can flourish. You can express the uniqueness you are in this universe, and become what only you could become. You can live with passion, fully engaged with the wonder of the everyday (l’émerveillement du quotidien), you can connect, feel, respond, use your imagination to put yourself in the shoes of others, you can laugh, live with a twinkle in your eye, and you can do it with beauty, grace and, yes, style.
I like Michael Pollan’s views on food. You might be aware of his “food rules”……summarised in the following seven words
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants
What he is great at doing is bringing together knowledge from a number of disciplines (nutrition, economics, agriculture, anthropology, politics and so on), and weaving them into a seamless, and convincing narrative. He does that wonderfully in this google talk where he discusses his latest book, “Cooked”. Settle yourself down and watch this. It’s just under an hour, but that includes the Q&A, and I recommend skipping the over two and half minute intro from the google staffer!
In “Cooked” he describes learning the four transformations of food – using fire, using pots (water), baking (air) and fermentation (earth). His argument is compelling and the area of fermentation (using microbes to produce cheeses, pickles etc) is a completely fascinating new subject to explore.
One of the gems from this talk is his telling of the answer he received from someone working in the food processing industry when he asked what we could do about the obesity epidemic. The answer was “Only eat what you have made yourself”. He thinks that one principle (probably hard to adhere to 100% but a good target to aim at) would result in a healthier and more nutritious diet.
This piece doesn’t just get you thinking about the place of food in your life, it gets you thinking about the food industry, about politics and about how we might create a more sustainable way of life just by considering this important (probably central) issue of what we eat, and how it is prepared.
I was struck by a recent study looking at how much psychosis patients with schizophrenia (SZ) experience on anti-psychotics.
At each follow-up assessment over the 20 years, a surprisingly high percentage of SZ treated with antipsychotics longitudinally had psychotic activity. More than 70% of SZ continuously prescribed antipsychotics experienced psychotic activity at four or more of six follow-up assessments over 20 years. Longitudinally, SZ not prescribed antipsychotics showed significantly less psychotic activity than those prescribed antipsychotics . . . the condition of the majority of SZ prescribed antipsychotics for multiple years would raise questions as to how many of them are truly in remission.
In other words, not only do most patients with schizophrenia who are prescribed anti-psychotics continue to experience psychosis, but those who aren’t prescribed them experienced “significantly less psychotic activity”. What makes this study particularly unusual is that it was conducted over 20 years. This is highly unusual but more real life than the vast majority of studies which are quoted to give a drug “evidence based” status. Maybe it’s just not a good idea to keep somebody on the same drugs for decades?
That got me thinking about a related issue of prescribing drugs to healthy people to try and prevent disease. Think about statins for example. I found a good summary here.
Experts calculate that to save one life, or avoid a non fatal heart attack or stroke, you would need to treat 11 high-risk patients for 10 years.To save a life or avoid cardiovascular morbidity among low-risk patients the number you need to treat increases to 23. But different studies have looked at different types of patients and have yielded different results, so it is difficult to know if this pans out.US researchers estimate that for every 100 people without known heart disease who take statins for five years, 98 would see no benefit, and only one or two would avoid a heart attack that they might not have otherwise
Just read that last phrase again “for every 100 people without known heart disease who take statins for five years, 98 would see no benefit, and only one or two would avoid a heart attack that they might not have otherwise”. Seriously? Is this a great way to a healthier life, if you don’t already have heart disease? Well, for 98 out of 100 people, the answer is “no”. And what about the one or two who might avoid a heart attack? Nobody wants a heart attack, but time and time again, a “non-fatal heart attack” is a turning point for people. They make serious decisions about life style and change direction. They re-assess what is important to them, and if they stop smoking, cut back on their alcohol consumption and/or start exercising for 30 minutes a day, then the health benefits they will experience go way, way beyond the reduction in heart disease risk which a statin would bring.
We just can’t go taking one drug after another to avoid one disease after another, can we?
Doesn’t it make more sense to only take medication for short periods when it is really necessary, and to start to lead fuller, healthier lives right now, no matter what our current state of health?
“Blue zones” are communities around the world where the life expectancy and quality of life is higher – in these communities more people live to be 100, and more people are still healthy when they are 80. (In fact, it turns out that most people who live to 100 were healthy when they were 80)
Researchers have found that there are common themes amongst these communities. David Buettner, who published these findings, identifies nine of them, which he calls the “Power 9”
In summary, the first common theme is movement – and not vigorous exercise or actually using a gym membership! They mention “natural movement”….you know, the opposite of sitting all day.
(Oh, of you’ve got a minute, check out this video about how to move more…watch out for the brilliant suggestion about where to part at the supermarket)
Three are about food and drink – the 80% rule, which is about stopping eating before you are full ie when your stomach is 80% full; the “plant slant”, which is the same as Pollan’s “mainly plants”
(see Michael Pollan’s Food Rules)
….and drinking a glass or two of wine a day!
Then there is one about “time out” or “down time” – taking a pause in the day to relax or nap.
Two left……one is having a sense of purpose. Do you know that having a sense of purpose can be worth an extra seven years of life!? By sense of purpose they mean everything from having a reason to get up today, to still having important things to fulfil in your life.
And, finally….and last, but not least, I’d say….THREE that are about our relationships with others –
“Loved ones first” – having children, parents, partners, siblings who you really care for.
“Belong” – almost ALL the centenarians interviewed belonged to a faith-based group
“Right tribes” – this is an interesting one….it’s about being part of social circles where the others are also healthy and long living. I think that’s fascinating, because I remember reading that if your friend’s friend becomes obese, then you are more likely to become obese. So, there is a common phenomenon of social networks where people influence each other through apparently indirect ways – goes both ways apparently – healthy or unhealthy – I wonder what tips the scales from the one to the other given that most networks will have both…..careful who you hang around with!
When you’re looking for something to photograph, just looking out of your window, or looking up to the sky, gives you enough inspiration.
I just love the multi-layered effects here….looks like range after range of mountains disappearing into the distance.
What you can’t see here is that the clouds were all moving very fast. This particular view changed before my very eyes…..as the Japanese culture emphasises – transience increases the beauty
Actually, when I look at clouds, I often hear Joni Mitchell singing in my head! If you’ve got a few minutes watch these two videos.
Firstly, this is Joni singing Both Sides Now in 1970
The, here she is singing the same song in 2000
What a difference! I know Heraclitus said you can’t step in the same river twice, so maybe it’s obvious that you can’t sing the same song twice
As I walked past Kings Park at 7am this morning I could see the lights of Stirling Castle shining high up on the rock. The rain spotted my glasses, and the cold wind blew against my cheeks. On my iPod, Stevie Ray Vaughan played Voodoo Chile, and wave after wave of thoughts washed over my mind.
I thought, right now, 7am, February 4th, 2014, I am the only creature in the whole universe walking past Kings Park, feeling the rain and the wind on my face, hearing the guitar of Stevie Ray Vaughan in my ears, and thinking these exact thoughts.
I was struck by the uniqueness of the moment. I was struck by the sense of the universe expanding over the billions of years, developing furnaces of fission and fusion, scattering the elements of the stars far and wide, only for them to collide in a place to become known as the Earth, and for Life to miraculously emerge, and spectacularly evolve from single cell creatures to generation after generation of complex beings we call humans, and here I am…..one, ever changing, distinctly unique manifestation of this amazing story……having this utterly distinct experience of living.
Then, on the train, on my phone, I stumbled upon this……
Every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world’s phenomena intersect, only once in this way, and never again. That is why every man’s story is important, eternal, sacred;
So, here’s a study which makes you go…..duh!? Is anybody surprised?? The conclusion is this –
When physicians spend too much time looking at the computer screen in the exam room, nonverbal cues may get overlooked and affect doctors’ ability to pay attention and communicate with patients
Using video cameras to follow eye gaze the researchers found that physicians using electronic health records were likely to spend a third of their time in the consultation looking at the computer screen (I’m surprised it was only a third!) and, more surprisingly, that the patient too gazed at the screen, even if they couldn’t see, or read, the details on the screen.
When doctors spend that much time looking at the computer, it can be difficult for patients to get their attention,” said Enid Montague, first author of the study. “It’s likely that the ability to listen, problem-solve and think creatively is not optimal when physicians’ eyes are glued to the screen.”
Can’t disagree with that….it’d be surprising if a doctor could pick up the non-verbal clues when they are looking at a screen.
What do the researchers recommend?
Nope, not putting a bag over the screen the way people used to put a bag over bird cages to get noisy parrots to go to sleep. Instead they say their findings could contribute towards
more effective training guidelines and better-designed technology. Future systems, for example, could include more interactive screen sharing between physicians and patients
Pssst! Researchers! I’m over here! How about getting Humphrey Bogart to teach doctors? If the norm was “here’s looking at you, kid”…..well, what do you think??
Oh, this is fascinating! We tend to think of plants as pretty static creatures, despite the fact that every large plant was a tiny seedling once upon a time. They move. They move a lot…..but slowly.
Time lapse photography reveals just how much a plant moves. I’m sure you’ve seen many such videos, but click through the link below and watch this one because this one reveals the plant’s neurobiology, its intelligence, and its ability to interact with, and respond to, other plants.
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Heroes Not Zombies 