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QotD: Survivors Laugh and Play
May. 21st, 2013 09:44 pmIt sounds cruel, but survivors laugh and play, and even in the most horrible situations--perhaps especially in those situations--they continue to laugh and play. To deal with reality you first much recognize it as such...and play puts a person in touch with his environment, while laughter makes the feeling of being threatened manageable.
...Laughter stimulates the left prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that helps us to feel good and be motivated. That stimulation alleviates anxiety and frustration. There is evidence that laughter can send chemical signals to actively inhibit the firing of nerves in the amygdala, thereby dampening fear. Laughter, then, can help temper negative emotions.
Laurence Gonzales in Deep Survival, page 41.
...Laughter stimulates the left prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that helps us to feel good and be motivated. That stimulation alleviates anxiety and frustration. There is evidence that laughter can send chemical signals to actively inhibit the firing of nerves in the amygdala, thereby dampening fear. Laughter, then, can help temper negative emotions.
Laurence Gonzales in Deep Survival, page 41.
QotD: Emerson on Success
Nov. 10th, 2012 01:23 pmSuccess:
To laugh often and much,
to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children,
to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others,
to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition,
to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
To laugh often and much,
to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children,
to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others,
to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition,
to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
QotD: the Artistic Life
Jun. 21st, 2011 07:47 am...I needed reminding that a real artist is neither noble nor heroic, and the artistic life is a solitary, unsavory, scrappy ordeal that never lets up until you die. The best thing to do would seem to be to keep at it, through prison, poverty and scandal, and when you do die, go out laughing.
--Kate Christensen (http://m.npr.org/news/Books/137044181?page=1)
--Kate Christensen (http://m.npr.org/news/Books/137044181?page=1)
Forcing a Smile Promotes WHAT?
May. 24th, 2011 11:53 am(post bumped forward from 5/24/08)
Constant toothy smiling can cause stress, high blood pressure, depression and heart problems according to Johann Wolfgang Goethe who studies smiles at the University of Frankfurt. "Zapf recommends that 'professional smilers' take regular breaks to relax, rid themselves of aggression and recuperate from the effort of smiling." There are some jokes in the article about how German customer service isn't the friendliest on the planet, anyway.
SCIENCE:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053482202000487 on emotional work
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13594320500412199
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10615800903254091
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10615806.2010.530262
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/096317905X39666/full
( more )
Constant toothy smiling can cause stress, high blood pressure, depression and heart problems according to Johann Wolfgang Goethe who studies smiles at the University of Frankfurt. "Zapf recommends that 'professional smilers' take regular breaks to relax, rid themselves of aggression and recuperate from the effort of smiling." There are some jokes in the article about how German customer service isn't the friendliest on the planet, anyway.
SCIENCE:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053482202000487 on emotional work
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13594320500412199
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10615800903254091
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10615806.2010.530262
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/096317905X39666/full
( more )
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Poem: How terrible to love what can perish
Feb. 5th, 2011 04:12 pmLaughter Filled Voices
How terrible to love what can perish
All that you care for, treasure and cherish.
How tormented, lost and sickened you’ll be
For all that is gone, no longer to see.
We clutch to our breast and pray it will last
Future uncertain, too soon it is past.
What value we place on things that we prize
Too often, how much and what is the size?
When all of these things are really a joke
Reality made of mirrors and smoke.
Memories, love, laughter in stitches
Intangible things make up life’s riches.
These will survive never die or expire
Enduring and timeless, sure to inspire.
Everything you touch, clutch or hold on to
Will all pass away, matters not what you do.
Think with your heart when making your choices
Don’t pass up love and laughter filled voices.
--D.S.Knight
The Most Alive Moment (Rumi's poem)
Sep. 14th, 2010 09:15 pmThe most living moment comes when
those who love each other meet each
other's eyes and in what flows
between them. To see your face
in a crowd of others, or alone on a
frightening street, I weep for that.
Our tears improve the earth. The
time you scolded me, your gratitude,
your laughing, always your qualities
increase the soul. Seeing you is a
wine that does not muddle or numb.
We sit inside the cypress shadow
where amazement and clear thought
twine their slow growth into us.
--Rumi (translated by Coleman Barks)
( a little about Rumi )
Intuitive Tuesday Night Walk
Jun. 17th, 2008 09:56 pmI couldn't study anymore. I read the middle half of The Mastery of Love this evening while the sun was still shining into the Crow's Nest, then went for a walk just before it set. Ruiz's writings set my mind at ease. My fear abated, and my love was shining out. I followed the directions that felt right, running at first because the pace of the first song on my ipod was a slow lope. I actually ran for three minutes and felt pretty good, other than slight pain in my left hip. My gut is extra empty from the colonic yesterday, and I felt loose and light after a smoothie for dinner. I looped around and ended up crossing Powell to the north instead of returning home across the wooden bridge over the railroad tracks. On the north side of Powell my heart felt lighter, I don't know why. ( There was a whole new neighborhood to explore. )
