Reading: Happiness complete!

Yep, that's right. I'm happy now, 100%. Just kidding.

I finally finished reading the Happiness Hypothesis! The end of the book concluded a few things.

First, it concluded that balance is needed. Living in pure liberalism or pure conservatism for example would be absolutely detrimental to any person or society. Instead look for wisdom, he suggests, in your opposites. By not assuming evil on your counterpart, you can learn quite a lot and understand that balance is always needed from both sides. All yings, need a yang!

Second, he discusses the meaning of life, and essentially splits the question into two: why are we here, and how should I live? He then of course, doesn't answer them, but reverts back to his Happiness equation H=S + C + V. Using an example of the plant, he contextually explains that C, conditions, is like water, food, and sunlight for a plant. Unless you kill a plant completely, it can revive from almost anything, just as a human can. However, the conditions need to be set, right for someone to be happy. He suggests these conditions are strong relationships, meaningful work, love, and a connection to something larger(a community, G-d, the universe etc).

Throughout the book he talks about how the ancients don't have it quite right, as people need to feel emotionally attached to things. However, contemporaries don't have it right either, as money and fame are not going to make you happy either. He stresses that Happiness comes from Between those two. It's the journey not the destination would be something he would say!

Overall I enjoyed the book! It took a while to get through as it wasn't really a story, persay. However, I really enjoy this pseudo psychology, or armchair psychology, if you will. He really made scientific studies understandable to those not in the science field! His book, inadvertenly actually gave me the idea for this blog, and for the chart, so I'm thankful for reading it! Thanks Peter!

Dress up: Professional

I'm still playing with this category quite a bit. I am giving myself credit today, because it was the first day of school, I wore a smart looking dress and I biked in it!!! It's a subtle red patern, with a belt(ok ok, it came with a belt) and I got several compliments! For the biking part I threw some leggings underneath it, hiked it up and hit the road!!

Cutlural: Eat Real

So I am taking some liberties with this. First the week will be a little fluid. I technically did this last night, but after all my other categories were done. I think its ok as long as I'm not getting to one category in one week before another one in the week before!

I went with Jenny to the Jack London Street Festival called Eat Real. Its very similar to the San Francisco street festival then I went to with Carly a few weeks back. Its essentially a bunch of retailers that have carts/trucks or tables and sell a sampling of food, in hopes to get you back there! I went right for this El Salvadorian place because I was super hungry and got a pupusa and a bacon wrapped hot dog. Ridiculous right? At a food festival which could arguably have some of the most unique and delicious food in the country and I go for a bacon wrapped hot dog. Honestly, if I had only eaten that I don't think I could have counted this as cultural.

But then, I had this wild Arguela corn salad that was incredible!! It was from this new place called Gather, which is in downtown Berkeley. I really want to try it! Not only does it seem pretty chill, but they use meat from the Prather Ranch Meat co. If I remember correctly Prather Ranch Meat is a weekly stall at the farmers market at Lake Merrit and the DMV, whose workers are soo good looking, I would sometimes go to the market just to get a look at these guys. Cute guys and meat! Sounds like a winning combination to me!

Anyways, I got to check out some new food and otherwise happenings in the East bay while enjoying my last hours of freedom at the wharf of Oakland!!

Reflection: Week 1

As I went through the week I felt really good about this process! However, I couldn't quite figure out why. I knew there were a few times when I was stressed out about an interaction I had, or about school and when I got home, I had "other things to do" and got to escape.

So this idea has been in the works for myself for a few weeks now. I thought, as mentioned above that it would just give me an escape or another world aside from teaching so I can make sure I am not so emotionally attached to it. I also thought by having it be a public(but small) forum that I would feel silly not meeting these goals.

I loved the pressure that I felt when I could not think of something creative to do. I loved the drive that I had when Geebi and I were picking out a recipe so I could cook something I've never cooked before. I like how I'm using my resources(friends, internet, books) that I've had for years, and just never found the time to do!

A conversation with my friend Jenny made me realize my real intent in doing this little project. I am great at following through(or very apologetic if I can't) on promises I make to others, whether they be small(when I'll be somewhere) or big(trusting that they can depend on me). At work, I won't sleep/eat until everything is not only done, but done well. I strive really hard to ensure that my word means something. However, its very rare that I make and keep a commitment to myself. This is what its all about.

I want to make this commitment to myself, that my life will be more then teaching. I want to make a commitment to myself that I deserve to experience all there is to life, without guilt or pain. I want to commit to myself that my goal is actually a process. The goal here is the journey, each individual category each week, yet the sum of its parts should give me more value in life and make me more happy overall! While I didn't realize this right away, I do believe that so far this is the intent! It is valuing myself and treating myself as I do others!

Pretty good revelation for my first week?

Creative: Slideshow

So I cheated a little bit, and have been making my own rules with this category and the cultural category. I did buy materials at Michaels for a craft, and have plans for other creativity, however this week I was technologically creative.I decided this morning when I shot up at 8am to make a slideshow of my life. Yes, thats right, everything from France in High school to riding a camel. I made this for my students so that they get to know me a little better the first few days of school. I also made a slide show of the major content of the year. I know its a little bit of a cop out, but I did get to be creative in choosing what pictures to include and the layout and whatnot. Oh well!

Reading: Happiness!

The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom-Why the meaningful life is closer then you think.

By Jonathon Haidt

When I returned from my travels, I was pretty bummed. Although in reality I was already pretty bummed before I left. Anyways, Peter, Miquila and I were hanging out one day and Miquila and I were being super grumpy. Peter, knowing that we are normally very chipper while he always remains a pretty even keel suggested that I read this book, so I did.

While I probably won't get to read a whole book in a week, and it has totally taken me wayyyy too long to read this book, but I will attempt to summarize with a light review at the end.

The book starts out with him explaining his premise for writing the book. He is a Jewish athiest Psychologist professor(notice which descriptor had top priority) who has recently become interested in Positive Psychology. Claiming that many ancient societies had found happiness within the tenets of their philosophies or religions, he uses them, as well as research studies to argue his point that the ancients had a lot of this right, and that happiness can be found by following these ten principles, or ideas. I will go into teach of them with a little detail.

1-The Divided Self-His essential point is similar to Freud's idea, that we have a conscience and a baser, more animal instinct(he cuts out the Superego), that he calls the rider and the elephant, respectively. Unlike with Freud, Haidt claims that the conscience cannot totally control the instinct, just like the rider of an elephant cannot really stop it, if it really wants to go somewhere.

2-Changing your mind-So in the second section he continues with the elephant/rider metaphor and explains that the elephant operates on very simple decisions. It decides whether it likes/dislikes something, whether it should approach/withdraw something, etc, based on how much fear or how much pleasure one can derive from the activity. It makes these decisions in a snap, and one "bad" situation can leave the elephant fearful of a similar situation forever, even if the rider can rationalize its safety. He then takes a bit to explain that essentially peoples happiness are set to some extent from the beginning of your life. Therefore, there are only three ways to change it: Mediation-quieting your mind, Cognitive behavioral therapy-retrain the "elephant", or druge-change the chemicals in the brain.

3-Reciprocity with a Vegence-This section asserts that language was created in humans simply to gossip, and regulate the social society. He says, without gossip, people would literally be able to get away with murder. Yet, because people always fear what someone else will say, the average persons behavior will stay relatively in check. He also asserts that the elephant responds to reciprocity and will often mimick, copy or give back what it got, whether it be good or bad.

4-The Faults of Others-He essentially states that people notice other peoples flaws, more then they would their own. This is because, the rider, realizing that it really has no say over the direction of the elephant, instead becomes a "lawyer" of sorts rationalizing the elephants actions to itself and others. He then showcases that alot of current religions use this myth of Pure Evil, to standardize faults in others, and he nudges us to look at Buddhism and other stoic religions to have us not judge quite so much!

5-The Pursuit of Happiness-He first explains that common perceptions of happiness such as achieving and winning do not account for long term happiness. He goes as far to say that both a lottery winner and an accident victim, whose lives have both changed completely, will fairly quickly become accustom to their new lives, whether very wealthy or broken, and happiness levels will come back down(or up) to the levels they are at before the event. He comes up with a happiness formula H=S + C= V. Your happiness is determined by your natural set point(from chapter 2), plus the conditions of your life(sex, race, age etc) and your voluntary activities. However, this can't truly be true however, if The Buddha is consulted. He would stress meditation, mindfulness and emotional unattachment, to ensure that no conditions, or circumstances will affect your happiness level. He looks at these opposing ideals of happiness, achievement vs. emotional non acctachment, and decides that passion and attachment is ok, as long as its balanced by staying in the present!

6-Love and Attachments-This section explains using case studies of babies and their mothers, that there are three types of people; those who are fairly well adjusted in relationships, those who are loners, and those who are too clingy. He obviously doesn't use these words, but that's the essential point. He is skeptical that this is caused all by nurture, as he thinks nature has a big part in it. He then essentially busts true passionate love, with a few charts showing that companion ate love, which may start low, will maintain through time, whereas passionate love will start off pretty strong but peter off, or get hot and cold.

7-The Uses of Adversity-Adversity according to him is not only good, but necessary to the growth of children. Those who experience little, or whose life circumstances don't allow for much adversity will not gain the wisdom needed to succeed later in life. However, he adds that adversity is relative and should occur based on how socially/physically ready one is, and at the right timing.

8-The Felicity of Virtue-Starting with an example by Benjamin Franklin, who charted his virtues, trying to be mindful of his transgressions, he asserts in this section that those who have morality or hold high to their virtues tend to be happier.

9.-Divinity With or Without G-d-In his last explanatory section, he maintains that a higher power, whether it be within or without, institution or drug induced, are essentially those moments that bring you to a higher place and make you feel like you are part of a grand design. He states that religious people often rate themselves as happier.

Cooking: Seasme Crusted Mahi Mahi

Since I failed at staying alive last night and make an Apple Pie with Aileen, I was left with time running out as I had to decide which "new food" to make. Luckily my roommate Drew and his girlfriend Geebi were having a chill night, and Drew was super tired, so I stole Geebi away and made a delicious meal.

After doing some research on Allrecipies, we decided on some Mahi Mahi, as we had both eaten lunch very late.

Prep Time:
15 Min

Cook Time:
10 Min

Ready In:
25 Min

Original Recipe Yield 3 servings

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound mahi mahi fillets
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic pepper seasoning
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray a shallow baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Pat mahi mahi dry with paper towels. Drizzle with sesame oil, and season with garlic pepper. Press grated ginger and toasted sesame seeds onto both sides of the fish to coat. Place fish on the prepared baking dish.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes.

So we made a few changes. First, we had no idea what Garlic Pepper was, so we just used Garlic Powder and pepper separately. Second, we didn't bake it, we pan fried it and started the pan off with Garlic, onions and Olive Oil. Third, we didn't really measure anything out. Finally, we added spinach at the end. Plus, on my plate I also made a little spinach salad, with the best lemon I've ever had(picked by Drew, down the street). We finished off the meal with some cantelope!! Super good!!

Cultural: Beauty and the Beast

Thursday night, I headed to Beauty and the Beast. I had very high hopes for it and was immediately loving it as they stuck very close to the script of the movie, which I appreciated. But then it happened. They started singing EVERYTHING. Nearly the entire movie was sung. The classic Beauty and the Beast songs are incredible and timeless. Yet, the dribble that they sung inbetween the "real songs" was AWFUL. They turned it into a near Opera.

We did move up seats during intermission, which was a huge highlight! They also did a great rendition of Kill the Beast, Be our Guest and the Gaston song. The cast was fine, not great, and not awful. The best character was probably Gaston's sidekick.

All in all I am not overly impressed with it. I would have much rather rented the movie and had it be a sing-a-long, then go to see the play. I had a fun time, but would not go again. It ain't no Wicked.

Dress Up: Dress

I dressed up today. I did not put on makeup, although I probably should have but I looked very pretty, judging by the compliments I received. :) I wore my green flarey outey dress! I can't find a picture of it!

Nature: Ocean Beach

My friend Peter has this theory. It's called "drop everything and go to the beach." It's a pretty simple theory. When its so hot or at least the sun is shining(it is San Francisco), its the heavens trying to get us to head to the beach. So we all saw the weather report, and saw that today was to be the best day of the week and likely the best day of the summer, so we brought our sunscreen(first time EVER), reading materials, camera and a special treat(Israeli purifying mud) and hit Ocean Beach.

It was amazing! It was not crowded at all, there were tons of dogs, the only real problem was parking! For a Tuesday it was a little ridiculous!! Overall though it helped me meet my nature requirement for the week and was an excellent end to an amazing summer!!

Physical: Eliptical

I walked 1.1 miles to the 24 hour fitness. Did 2.38 miles on the eliptical at the heart rate of approximate 143, and rpm of approximately 150. I burned 306.8 calories. I then walked 1.1 miles home. Am now going to make spaghetti!

Movie: Hot Tub Time Machine

Hot Tub Time Machine:

This movie was about as exciting as most people would have expected. It's kinda like Hangover, without any cute guys to watch. While I adore John Cusack, I do not watch his movies because he is a babe. I watch them because he is seemingly a good actor. This movie made me question that a bit.

The movie is about three guys and a random unexplained nephew of one of the guys. They used to be friends and still pretend to be, but in actuality they do not hang out like they did as kids. One of them tries to commit suicide, so to make him feel better, they decide to go back to their old haunt, a ski lodge. When they get there it is decrepit and outdated, not the party it was 25 years ago. After hours of non action in the room, they discover the hot tub and decide to drink inside. Something malfunctions in the hot tub, and they go from 2010 to 1986. Throughout the movie, even though we are looking at them as men, we are to believe(and are shown through mirrors) that the other characters see them as kids.

By the end it justifies some of what it set out to do, but mostly was just an excuse to make a guy movie. My favorite character, and the part that made the movie not seem completely ridiulous was the character of April, played by Lizzy Caplan(who was on Related, and Janis in Mean Girls). I enjoyed her because she was a free spirit, and was an archetype of someone I'd like to look up to.

Since the intent of this is to ensure that I am trying to balance and be reflective, I find I did glean some from the movie.

• You can always change your mind
• Nothing is predestined
• It's up to you to prevent forest fires

So maybe the last one came from a commercial and not this movie, but the moral was a nice wrap up and gave me an excape for a few hours!

Work hard, Play hard.

I started off the summer pretty rough. I heard some upsetting news, and I went through a lot of change, which is something I suck at.

Yet, I overcame, and for over a month I had an absolutely excellent summer. For the first time in my life I completely enjoyed free time.

But the school year is starting again, and I tend to get super wrapped up in it and super emotional so I am trying to give myself an outlet, actually 8 outlets.

I have created a chart for myself, and this blog to keep myself accountable. Each week, in addition to all the things I need to do in order to keep myself alive(laundry, sleep etc), and the money flowing(work), I am committing myself to complete activities in eight categories.

Drum roll please....

Dress up-I tend to ignore my body and my looks. An entire day can go by where I don't look in a mirror. While I am not intending to be superficial, I would like to spend at least one day each week getting ready and taking care of myself. It could be for work, for a date, or for an evening out on the town.

Reading-This one is pretty obvious, but I am actually an avid reader, who can sometimes go for weeks without reading, since I ignore my need to learn.

Nature-Being outside, and breathing in the air, centers me and calms me in a way that little else can. I am committing to do this at LEAST once a week. It can be as little as sitting in my backyard for an hour or more, or as much as, hiking, paddle boating etc.

Physical-Except for getting physical. I mean Elle said it perfectly when she said "Exersize produces endorphins, endorphins make you happy and happy people just don't shoot their husbands." I mean I need to protect my fictitious husband right?

Cooking-While I am not an awful cook, I tend to stay towards the stuff that I know how to cook, which sucks really, because I have all these great cookbooks, so I need to cook at least one new meal a week!

Movie-So my house, the apartment I live in, is HOOKED up! They have, or can have nearly every movie I could ever want just by a click of a mouse!! Since I tend to stick to VERY girly movies, I intend to watch one new movie each week. This does not necessarily mean a brand new movie, it just means a new movie to me, one that I have not seen. This can be anything from the Godfather, to Inception. Please suggest movies that you think I should see!!

Cultural-This one is a late arrival, and might be a little difficult to always complete, yet I want to do something each week that is touristy in some way. This can be going to a new restaurant, heading to a museum, or hitting up an outdoor market! Since I do intend to go away, I will also count sleeping at a house not at my own(but not like just crashing somewhere else), to give myself a little wiggle room here. This category was initially going to be social, but since I do that pretty naturally, I wanted to expand it a bit. It should include others!

Creative-It is this category however, that I want to bolster the most. It is also the one I am most worried about succeeding at. I am by nature a very crafty person and even have an artistic bone or two in my body. Yet, I have gotten so lazy, or forgetful of my talents, that I had to buy a book entitled "Get a Hobby", just to remind myself of my own interests. I have rested on my interests being education and travel for so long, that I feel as though I am one dimensional. I am depending on this category to add some more dimensions, and passions to myself!

So tune in every few days, as I reflect on the different categories. I am publishing this, so I keep myself honest, but the benefit to you is you could learn about a new book, a new/old movie, a new hiking spot, something cultural in the area, a new recipe, a new outdoor spot etc. So please hold me to this!

I need to be a well rounded individual, and not a traveling, teaching robot!