The Slow Movement

The Slow Movement is a way of life that believes faster is NOT always better. The overall perspective is that one can find balance and fulfillment by slowing down the pace of life.

Author Carl Honore says "Slow Philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace. It’s about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savoring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting."

You'll be hearing more about the Slow Movement if you haven't done so already. Slow Schools, Slow Food, Slow Rights. Slow Cities. I think it's a great message that offers old-school ways to live a meaningful life.

I've always been a bit of tortoise, so this is right up my alley. I don't have an over-scheduled life, rush to do things, or enjoy face paced diversions. I'm easy like Sunday Morning.

International Day of Slowness is coming soon, uh, I mean, slowly arriving on June 21st. Be a part of it for a day. Or maybe more.

A Life of "Weisure"

Seems that the line dividing work and leisure is thinning. More people are finding themselves dealing with work issues beyond the so-called the 7 day a week boundary.

This trend is being called Weisure Time - a phrase that blends the words leisure and work literally as well as figuratively. Some who live the weisure life don't mind the blurring of roles while others struggle with it. Sociologist, Dalton Conley, who coined the phrase Weisure Time, thinks that the trend is a negative one. "We lose our so-called private sphere. There's less relaxing time to be our so-called backstage selves when we're always mingling work and leisure."

I have to say that I keep a pretty tight lid on the separating of work and play. I balance my clinical practice and my relaxation time well.

What about you?

What Kind of "Art" are You?

You Are a Painting

You are a passionate person. You see the emotional undertones that others miss. Compared to other people, you are sentimental. You allow yourself to feel everything. Believe that art should capture the beauty and mood of a moment. The best art speaks to your heart. It makes you smile, dream, or even cry.

What Type of Art Are You?

Location. Location. Location.

According to follow-up research due out in June 2009 from the American Journal of Preventative Medicine where you live can shape how you feel.

The county-by-county map above shows the percentages of residents who reported "Frequent Mental Distress" (FMD)—defined as 14 or more days of emotional discomfort, including "stress, depression and problems with emotion," during the previous month. Of note, Kentucky was the "saddest" state while Hawaii was the "gladdest".

Over 2.4 million adults were the subjects for this study from about mental health in America from 2001 through 2006. For more, read here

Strine, T. (2004). Risk behaviors and healthcare coverage among adults by frequent mental distress status, 2001 American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 26 (3), 213-216

Can You Find The Twelve Faces?

Time for some illusion fun.
Can you find the 12 faces hiding in this tree?







Thanks, Angel

Psycho Donuts. Really?

Does my funny bone need retooling?

Psycho Donuts says that they "have taken donuts to the next demented level. We bid a fond farewell to the tired, round ring of lameness, and the drab, time-weathered environment of donut past. Psycho Donuts has taken the neighborhood donut and put it on medication, and given it shock treatment."

I know it's hard to succeed in business, and offering customers something offbeat or avant-garde can boost sales, but why choose this theme? Counter staff in psychiatric nurse's outfits. A padded cell exhibit. Donut names like Psycho, Bipolar and Manic Malt.

Psycho Donuts admits that they are making light of the subject of mental illness and offered charitable support to NARSAD - and the donuts, I'm told, are delicious.

But this just feels like all kinds of wrong to me.

Update: NARSAD acting president Joel Gurin returned the charitable donation, writing in a letter:  “While you may not realize it, your store embodies the reasons that so many people with mental illness don’t want to admit their problem.”