Rewiring the brain to be positive! :)

I just wanted to make a short post this evening. Today we had a work lunch (catered by Jack Stack!), and the focus was about how having a positive outlook increases the quality of your work. (Watch the TED talk here. )

One of the suggestions at the end for rewiring the brain to be positive was to participate in one or more of the following activities for a month. I don't think I will actually be able to, but I'd love to try it at least for a few days!

1. List three things you are grateful for. I'll try not to have repeats! I'm grateful for a husband who makes me laugh, I'm grateful for the random photos and other art that makes my apartment a happy place to live in, and I am grateful that I get in-state tuition at the school I go to. 
2. Journal. This one seems pretty similar to the "gratitude" action, but you are supposed to write about something good that happened in the last 24 hours. I'm going with Eric and I decided to binge-watch Stranger Things from start to finish last night, the first time we have done that with a show. It was kind of fun and impulsive, especially since I start school this week! :) We were tired this morning but I was all like, "worth it! zzzz".
3. Exercise.  I take the stairs at work, I walked around the block during lunch and Eric and I went on an evening walk.
4. Meditation. I don't really know how to do that. I'll probably look up some videos on how to. The guy in the TED talk basically said that we need to train our brains to focus on the task at hand, one task at a time, instead of the ADD multi-tasking that we've all become accustomed to. Eric said he read something sort of similar today, about how we should all read long-form writing (like books and stuff, not just headlines). He said our brain changes if we get too used to the internet/social media style content, and that if we try to switch from that to reading a book, our brain has trouble focusing. I can attest to that for sure. I will say that starting my Intellectual Property textbook (and focusing on it intently) was my form of meditation today :) 
5. Random acts of kindness. Eh. I feel weird sharing these because it almost takes away from the niceness because it seems like bragging. I don't even know if this counts, but I gave a really good review of a primary care doctor I saw recently. She deserved it though, she was way more attentive than most doctors I've seen in my life! 

And I'll add one more category for the blog: Random photo that makes me happy.

-Sannah

Silent Films

Eric and I have been going through a silent movie phase. I've gained an appreciation for Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin. We recently watched Buster Keaton's "The General" (as well as his appearances in season 3, episode 13 "The Twilight Zone", Sunset Boulevard, and A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum). We also saw Chaplin's "The Gold Rush", "City Lights", and "The Kid". We've watched so many black and white films that I've been dreaming in black and white. It's been fun. I have more in depth thoughts about each film but I'm typing this on my phone, so I'll share later!

Some Sunday Thoughts

Life has been good. Work is very busy for both Eric and I, but I finished this semester's classes last week! We're teaching three and four year old kids at church, and we will soon be visiting some of our friends in Colorado Springs! :) Lately, Eric has been reading Brad Thor thriller books (good for summer), and I have been trying to get used to the feeling of not always having homework to do. I don't really feel comfortable having free time... When I try to read, I always have the thought that there must be something that I am probably neglecting. I want to get into the habit though! We have recently started watching Fixer Upper, which has been fun! I like Eric's commentary when we watch TV. Season 1: Episode 8 was kind of funny because Joanna turned a garage into a "sitting room" for the lady who was moving to the house. It looked nice, but was really more of a novelty than something practical.

We also recently got TheBlaze TV, as well as Levin TV, and those both have great programs. (Although I am less than interested in political news right now.) The libertarian debate was a disappointment. I always go on the Cato Institute's website, so for some reason I was expecting the debate to be more scholarly than it was. Gary Johnson was I think maybe fiscally conservative on some things, but liberal in the social realm, which to me is different than libertarian. He acted like he was too cool to be there. I liked what Austin Peterson had to say, but he's so young... He seems eager-beaver and lack polish. I don't think he's going to gain much traction, but he's my favorite of the candidates currently running. John McAffee (if that's his name, I don't care enough to look it up) was just completely unhinged and he took the quality of the debate way down. He wasn't libertarian, he was anarchist. His answer for everything was that libertarians should run around naked shouting that they are libertarian, and that way they'll be in the news. And that the government shouldn't pay for "anything".

Eric and I started reading Othello together, and we are having fun coming up with different voices for the characters. Eric has played Iago for the first 2 Acts, and he's been like "Oh boy, here's my evil monologue  to end the scene..." It's fun.

Anyway, Sunday thoughts. Today while I was sitting in church, I had a thought that is pretty obvious, but I still wanted to share: Reading the scriptures is a means to an end. I sometimes rush through whatever verses I'm reading on a given day, because I want to get through it. "There, I read a chapter for today. Don't ask me in 2 hours what it was about..." The whole point of scriptures is that they will change you, and be written on your heart. I need to change my focus when I read.