Yesterday morning I experienced one of those all too common occurrences – a recognition of something I will never know. I looked out my bedroom window at the bones of the white birch against a brilliant blue sky and noticed a shape I couldn’t quite identify out on one of the higher limbs. All the leaves are gone now, so this shape was not a clump of leaves. Must be a bird, I thought, though it seems very still for a bird. I watched for several minutes and still the shape remained – and remained mysterious to me.
Then our dog Sam required an outing to the backyard, and as I heard the door open, I finally saw the shape move. Yes. A bird. And it looks like its head is red. Huh. The head seems very small in relation to the rest of the shape. It must be facing the woods away from me. There’s that flash of red again. I think. A female cardinal? The head looks more round than crested. I wonder… Oh. There it goes, and from here I can’t tell what kind of bird it is. Huh. I’ll never know.
And that’s when it hit me that this was just one of hundreds of bits of knowledge that I will never know. I will never know what it’s like to grow up in the seashore, or the mountains, or a city. I will never know everyone who lives in my community. I will never know how to work an algebra problem or do brain surgery.
Well, okay. I could learn how to work an algebra problem – if I had a really good teacher and a desire that was stronger than my long-held math phobia. But there would be the rub. I don’t imagine that I’ll ever have that desire in this particular lifetime. As to brain surgery? Might you not need to know algebra in order to learn brain surgery?
What of all those other things I do not currently know, but would dearly love to have embedded in my brain? How to speak Italian, how to create stained glass windows, the definition and correct spelling of every word in the English Oxford Dictionary, how many different variations of snowflake patterns there really are, just what kind of bird that was sitting in my birch tree yesterday morning. And so much more. Alas, even if I were able to focus my energies, so many things I’d like to learn will remain out of reach. There just won’t be time for everything. Alas.
As you might imagine, that mysterious bird has got me thinking about which of all the bits of knowledge I might acquire are the bits that I really want to acquire for my very own in the time I have left in this lifetime. And as you might also imagine, the reality that regardless of where I focus my learning, there will still be so many trillions of things I will never know – well I could find that reality more than a little discouraging.
On the one hand.
And yet, on the other hand, I actually find the vastness of the unknowable incredibly thrilling! Maybe it’s my streak of perversity at work, but I love the idea that so much of the universe is inscrutable to me. Maybe it’s just that the immense mystery takes the pressure off one minor player in said universe. (Whew!) But I think I love the mind-boggling enormity because the very existence of so many puzzles and stumpers is so darned interesting! There are so many questions I might someday figure out! Even if there are even more enigmas that won’t be revealed to me, won’t it be fun to riddle out what I can? And don’t the limits of time and opportunity actually add to the cliffhanger adventure of living?
I think it does. Or at least I choose to find the magnitude of potential inquiry exciting, provocative, and exhilarating. So in this week of Thanksgiving, that small shape sitting on a birch tree will be among my long list of gratitudes. This unknown and unknowable bird inspired a flight of present and – I sincerely hope – future hair-raising thought. Bless that bird and all it represents.
May you be surrounded by all that inspires your deepest gratitude this week! Happy Thanksgiving!
Sally
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Monday Moment - Change the Environment Instead of the Person
Over the weekend I worked with 4-H Choose Health Ambassadors who are teens who will teach the benefits of healthy eating and healthy play to kids in afterschool settings. In addition to teaching lessons designed to help kids learn healthy food and activity practices, they’ll also be surveying those kids to find out how easy it is to make healthy choices in the afterschool environment.
It’s been my job to put together the survey tool that our teens will use. It’s based on similar work I did with 4-H Camps last summer, and it has really opened my eyes about how much our environment affects the choices we make.
It’s always been easy to see a disconnect between teaching nutrition in school when French fries were the only vegetable kids were served in the school cafeteria. And it’s not surprising that kids are more likely to be active and to eat vegetables if adults around them also play and eat vegetables. We could probably even figure out that if kids play outside, they tend to be more active than if they play inside.
But did you know that kids are more likely to eat enough vegetables if two or more are served with every meal? It makes sense when you think about it. If I don’t like green beans (and I confess that I do not) and that’s the only veggie served, I’ll probably pass. But if there are also carrots, I’ll have an alternative that I do like. Did you know that research shows that kids – and adults too – are more likely to eat a fruit or vegetable for a snack if it is already cut into slices? Me too. When it’s easy, I like to choose healthy, but the minute it gets hard, then choosing healthy takes an extra effort.
So the trick – with kids and with ourselves – is to create an environment where it’s easy to choose healthy. And the new thinking is that the best opportunity to make a difference in what kids – and adults – eat is to changing the environments in which they live, work, and play.
We made a good start at shifting environment toward health at the weekend training program for the Choose Health Ambassadors. There was plenty of good food – and many healthy alternatives. There were all kinds of fun activities to do – planned and spontaneous. Teens weren’t told that they couldn’t spend their time exercising their thumbs with hand-held video games. They just didn’t want to, because there were too many other fun things to do. Adults who worked with teens participated in active play right along with the kids and ate the same healthy foods. Beverages were limited to water and milk with no soda, lemonade, or other sweetened drinks. Teens and adults shared a commitment to choose healthy – and it was easy to do so!
So what can we adults do to make it easier to choose healthy in our own environments? We can rid our cupboards of food items that tempt but that don’t contribute to our nutrient needs. If we have to go out to get ice cream, we’re less likely to pull out the tub just any old time. We can make physical activity a routine – something we enjoy and that we do as a matter of habit. We can fill our lives with more interesting things to do than watch television, and we can avoid mindless eating when we do watch tv.
Probably, though, the one thing that will make the most difference, will be to surround ourselves with people who are committed to make healthy choices. We might have to take leadership – to give away the M&M’s, to bring whole wheat crackers and low-fat cheese for a snack instead of cookies or cake, to keep a bowl of orange or apple slices in our fridges to ward off snack-attacks, to suggest a walk as an alternative to the Wheel of Fortune, and to actively recruit friends and family to join us in healthier pursuits. And when we do, I’m willing to bet that we’ll find it easy to choose healthy!
What’s one small change you can make in your home or office environment that will help you be healthier today?
Sally
It’s been my job to put together the survey tool that our teens will use. It’s based on similar work I did with 4-H Camps last summer, and it has really opened my eyes about how much our environment affects the choices we make.
It’s always been easy to see a disconnect between teaching nutrition in school when French fries were the only vegetable kids were served in the school cafeteria. And it’s not surprising that kids are more likely to be active and to eat vegetables if adults around them also play and eat vegetables. We could probably even figure out that if kids play outside, they tend to be more active than if they play inside.
But did you know that kids are more likely to eat enough vegetables if two or more are served with every meal? It makes sense when you think about it. If I don’t like green beans (and I confess that I do not) and that’s the only veggie served, I’ll probably pass. But if there are also carrots, I’ll have an alternative that I do like. Did you know that research shows that kids – and adults too – are more likely to eat a fruit or vegetable for a snack if it is already cut into slices? Me too. When it’s easy, I like to choose healthy, but the minute it gets hard, then choosing healthy takes an extra effort.
So the trick – with kids and with ourselves – is to create an environment where it’s easy to choose healthy. And the new thinking is that the best opportunity to make a difference in what kids – and adults – eat is to changing the environments in which they live, work, and play.
We made a good start at shifting environment toward health at the weekend training program for the Choose Health Ambassadors. There was plenty of good food – and many healthy alternatives. There were all kinds of fun activities to do – planned and spontaneous. Teens weren’t told that they couldn’t spend their time exercising their thumbs with hand-held video games. They just didn’t want to, because there were too many other fun things to do. Adults who worked with teens participated in active play right along with the kids and ate the same healthy foods. Beverages were limited to water and milk with no soda, lemonade, or other sweetened drinks. Teens and adults shared a commitment to choose healthy – and it was easy to do so!
So what can we adults do to make it easier to choose healthy in our own environments? We can rid our cupboards of food items that tempt but that don’t contribute to our nutrient needs. If we have to go out to get ice cream, we’re less likely to pull out the tub just any old time. We can make physical activity a routine – something we enjoy and that we do as a matter of habit. We can fill our lives with more interesting things to do than watch television, and we can avoid mindless eating when we do watch tv.
Probably, though, the one thing that will make the most difference, will be to surround ourselves with people who are committed to make healthy choices. We might have to take leadership – to give away the M&M’s, to bring whole wheat crackers and low-fat cheese for a snack instead of cookies or cake, to keep a bowl of orange or apple slices in our fridges to ward off snack-attacks, to suggest a walk as an alternative to the Wheel of Fortune, and to actively recruit friends and family to join us in healthier pursuits. And when we do, I’m willing to bet that we’ll find it easy to choose healthy!
What’s one small change you can make in your home or office environment that will help you be healthier today?
Sally
Monday, November 10, 2008
Monday Moment - Different Worlds
I’ve often found great pleasure in hanging out with people who are older and also with people who are younger than I. Over the weekend I had both opportunities.
On Saturday, we were invited to share an evening and a meal with three other couples we know mostly through sailing and Halloween. Most of these folks have a few years on us – though you wouldn’t really know it. All are active sailors, most also downhill ski, and all are game to act like a kid on Halloween.
Conversation topics ranged. Upcoming ski trips, past and anticipated travel. Stories about our various canine friends. Early college days when poverty was a common experience. Kids – where they lived and what they did. The excitement of meeting up with old friends at a 50th class reunion. We discovered that two of the guys were former gymnasts – surely an unusual occurrence in such a small gathering. Several of us were self-employed and we found similar health insurance concerns with those who have already retired or who have embarked on a second career. And of course we re-lived our recent Halloween triumphs.
As I listened, I was intrigued by the experience and good will of the gathering. Here were folks I could learn from and enjoy – and their take on the world was ever so slightly different than mine because they experienced the world a few years before I.
The very next night, I shared an experience with a far younger crowd. Ray’s son invited us to join him and a friend at a concert by one of his favorite musical groups, The Decemberists. Because we’ve taken him up on similar invitations before, we now know to expect talent. It’s nearly always talent that we’d never discover on our own – but that has the power to fascinate the youth inside our older bodies.
Last night’s concert was enormous fun. The music was tuneful and engaging. And the student crowd in Cornell’s barn of a field house were terrific fun to watch – the array of outfits, the consistent cell phone glow, the happy un-self-conscious dancing to jaunty melodies. It was clear that this crowd’s take on the world was also different than mine. We occupy different corners of that world – most of the time.
The experiences on Saturday and Sunday evenings couldn’t have been more different. One was refined, sophisticated, with the authenticity of folks who have learned to feel completely at home in their own skin. The other vibrated with youthful, contagious energy that invited even a couple old fogies to jump on board. One was rich in conversation, the other rich in creativity.
All in all, it’s hard to imagine a more enjoyable – or educational – weekend. Here’s hoping you had similar enlightening and re-creating experiences on your weekend – or that you have them planned for the week ahead!
Sally
On Saturday, we were invited to share an evening and a meal with three other couples we know mostly through sailing and Halloween. Most of these folks have a few years on us – though you wouldn’t really know it. All are active sailors, most also downhill ski, and all are game to act like a kid on Halloween.
Conversation topics ranged. Upcoming ski trips, past and anticipated travel. Stories about our various canine friends. Early college days when poverty was a common experience. Kids – where they lived and what they did. The excitement of meeting up with old friends at a 50th class reunion. We discovered that two of the guys were former gymnasts – surely an unusual occurrence in such a small gathering. Several of us were self-employed and we found similar health insurance concerns with those who have already retired or who have embarked on a second career. And of course we re-lived our recent Halloween triumphs.
As I listened, I was intrigued by the experience and good will of the gathering. Here were folks I could learn from and enjoy – and their take on the world was ever so slightly different than mine because they experienced the world a few years before I.
The very next night, I shared an experience with a far younger crowd. Ray’s son invited us to join him and a friend at a concert by one of his favorite musical groups, The Decemberists. Because we’ve taken him up on similar invitations before, we now know to expect talent. It’s nearly always talent that we’d never discover on our own – but that has the power to fascinate the youth inside our older bodies.
Last night’s concert was enormous fun. The music was tuneful and engaging. And the student crowd in Cornell’s barn of a field house were terrific fun to watch – the array of outfits, the consistent cell phone glow, the happy un-self-conscious dancing to jaunty melodies. It was clear that this crowd’s take on the world was also different than mine. We occupy different corners of that world – most of the time.
The experiences on Saturday and Sunday evenings couldn’t have been more different. One was refined, sophisticated, with the authenticity of folks who have learned to feel completely at home in their own skin. The other vibrated with youthful, contagious energy that invited even a couple old fogies to jump on board. One was rich in conversation, the other rich in creativity.
All in all, it’s hard to imagine a more enjoyable – or educational – weekend. Here’s hoping you had similar enlightening and re-creating experiences on your weekend – or that you have them planned for the week ahead!
Sally
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