Hometown In Crisis

Boy oh boy, did my hometown ever get a black eyes recently. To give you a sense of perspective, I should first tell you where I’m at. I lived far enough away from Little Falls long enough to have seen communities that function more effectively in general because credence is given to the fact that children are active and require proactive consideration. My graduating class was one of the largest ever in Little Falls. The schools were revamped and updated to accommodate the large influx of baby-boomers and the closures of religious schools in the area. Shortly after, the community needed to decide whether or not to build a community center, assumably to divert the activities of youth toward more positive activities. The community turned down the idea. What the kids had to do than and now remains the same. There is still no community center, the local library is quaint, but now as then, limited in size and scope, the roller rink was in existence 2 years in the late 70’s and never was again, the outdoor movie theatre and adjunct watering hole called A&W is long gone too. If a child cannot afford to participate in extraneous other school and after school activities, what IS there for them to do? What there is to do is just what happened recently. Two teenagers got in trouble and were shot multiple times and died for it, shot by an adult member of the community. And if things go as they usually do in Little Falls, lots of the townsfolk will be pointing fingers at either the teenagers who were said to be trespassing, or the adult who professes to have been defending himself when perhaps the global view of the situation from an outsider might suggest that building a community center and being more concerned and proactive about the situation might be just the remedy required to prevent more black eyes and dead people. So I’m again suggesting it would be a proactive thing to build and staff a big community center and other activities for all of the community. Maybe some of the unoccupied facilities such as St. Francis could be revamped and put to use this way. But what do I know? I’m “one of those” artistic humanitarian visionary types who scares people with direct ideas like this, and did not fit into the restraints of that town and that is why I am not there now. It’s all conjecture, and the courts will decide this difficult issue, but the old hometown sure seems to be on a downhill slide that could be overcome with the fortitude of a more mature stance not unlike the town of Staples, which built a community center and vo-tech out of care and consideration, along with disposing of the guns and especially the mental concept that guns and force and are ever necessary in the training of youth, if we love our youth as we claim. I propose that to NOT do something about it at this point will exacerbate a problem which has happened too many times already and has been going on for far too long. To this artist, I see a picture of a town full of black eyes. Congratulations on being tough and unmoving; (actually I disagree that tough is ever an appropriate mode of behavior). Let's ask Yoko how they are stopping the harms in her metropolis of New York.

Robin Circle

Yesterday the first signs of Spring arrived to gather in our cranberry bushes. What a beautiful circle. Today an oriole joined them but took flight before I could capture it on film. I've never seen Robins do this before and maybe you never have either, so here's a picture I hope everyone enjoys as much as we like seeing Spring make an entrance after this harsh Winter.

Art IS Medicine

International Tai Chi and Qi Gong Day

To Yoko and anyone else Imaging Peace and Love:
 International Tai Chi and Qigong day is happening again soon!
The last Saturday of each April, people from around the globe gather to extend the message about the healing power of meditative tai chi and qi gong. This powerful day will be filled with intentions of peace, prayer, and healing. If you cannot make it to a local event, you can visit online and get more info about this by going to
http://www.worldtaichiday.org/

Peace

I got a message from Yoko Ono. She says "Thanks for following! love yoko IMAGINE PEACE, Think PEACE, Act PEACE, Spread PEACE,  IMAGINEPEACE.com" Good idea!

Art Therapists Timeline

http://prezi.com/wfe-bfh2wg79/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Shifting Into 9th Gear: 9 Tips for Neutralizing Burnout

We have these busy lives full of expectations often not of our own choice. That’s how it is they say, just play the game. I’ll cut to the chase because you (and I) have to go to the dreaded work scene soon and I don’t want to take up any more of your time than I must. Here’s what we can do to make our time more pleasant and less stressful. Nine being a magic number can get you where you want to be.

1. Get up an hour earlier than usual to get ready for a good day. Nothing can get your day off to a bad start like getting into an accident on your way to work because your brain did not have time to transition from sleep to awake enough to function. Give yourself a nice breakfast, do some light stretching exercises, and meditate for at least 30 minutes before you hit the road. The food will fuel you, the stretching and meditation will act to flex and gently wake your brain so it will behave more efficiently, calmly, and creatively. This is the short and shallow list, a more detailed account of shifting gear techniques will be available in my upcoming art therapy book. For now, just be sure to at least do step one.

2.Notice the people around you who seem to enjoy work. Pick their brains. Why are they enjoying themselves? Try their behavior on for size, some aspects may be adaptable to your own personality. The people to learn something from are the ones with genuine smiles. Take someone genuinely happy out to lunch if you can.

3. Use the suits that fit and discard the suits that reinforce the ideas that this job sucks. A change of timing at the watercooler or breaks can often be the difference between having to listen to negative job aspects you already know and coping techniques that you may not have noticed. “Friends” who reinforce only the pitfalls are really time wasters who appreciate the company of misery. The squeaky complaining wheel gets greased all right, so greasy it cannot be handled. Say a quick hello to the wheel, then let that wheel roll on by, instead of greasing it more, check you watch and time how long it takes to get down the road out of hearing distance.

4. Boredom is a mindset we can dispense with. Effective people such as you and I can elect to view each day as a challenge, an opportunity to exercise the brain in creative ways. The boredom is a result of being caught up in a linear and uncreative thought pattern. How do we get creative. I have hundreds of ways. First, decide change would be fun.

5. Take the challenge to get so good at your job that you can do it backwards, forward, right handed, left handed, upside down, and with your eyes closed all while listening to some nice mellow music. Get so good at your job you can go with the flow of the music and eventually notice the workday is over and your work got finished almost as if someone else did a fine job for you. If you are at this point you can then point out to the boss that being ambidextrous could work well for the company, given a position change (along with a raise).

6. Redecorate your cubicle with things you find inspirational and colorful. If you don’t have a cubicle, redecorate the inside of your head. Gather up and memorize inspirational images and words. Add to the inspiration list daily to give yourself and others the gift of a positive outlook. Refer to your list whenever Mr. Squeak enters, say hello to Mr. Squeak and explain you have to tend to a project and do not have time to talk. Look at your watch and time the wheel again as it leaves. Count the squeaks, it’s not just you hearing all this extraneous noise, and that can be a relief to know.

7. Do some heart-pumping exercises on your lunch break along with a healthy lunch and light meditation. The exercise and healthy lunch will help get the positive and creative chemicals moving in your body. The meditation can provide a ideas needed to make the afternoon pleasant.

8. Look for odd and novel things around you as the day progresses. Collect ideas throughout the day as if they were tokens to that vacation you want, because in reality, new ideas are the things companies want and need. Keep a private journal of these novelties. When they incubate into the big ideas, well, you’ve made some huge steps to conquering job burnout and have the tools and knowledge to master your destiny.

9. Once you get that much deserved vacation, email me about getting a good read on this subject and other flummoxing conundrums we face daily. Read my upcoming book on Art Therapy, which applies to everyone, and maybe I could call it life therapy instead.....read on..........<a href="mailto: jilljjam@gmail.com" target="_blank">.email me </a>to pre-order and get a grip on the 9th gear.

By
Jill Annette Johnson
Copyright 2014 Jill Annette Johnson, jilljj.com All Rights Reserved.