01.01.11
Posted in Comedy Around The World, Humor attitude, Humor~Creativity, The Change Process, www.yourshiningexample.com at 1:28 am by Dr. Trina Hess
This week’s Comedy Around the World celebrates New Year’s Eve in Israel. When I was in this intricate, intriguing country, everything was new to me. The street signs written in Hebrew, the foods with a tinge of Middle Eastern cuisine, the personality of the Israelis.
But on that New Year’s Eve, I was reminded of how not so common, common sense is.
In Tel Aviv there was a dance club called Soweto. They played all the best reggae music. All the hip kids were there. And me.
It was nearly midnight. I was excited to bring in the new year in this new country. But a strange thing happened. No one else seemed excited. No one was counting down, ten, nine, eight…
Only I was, and a few Swedish tourists. That was it.
Later I found out that Israel’s New Year falls somewhere in the Fall of the year!
What?!
January 1st isn’t the New Year?!
I was shocked and more than a little disappointed.
Funny, isn’t it. How we are convinced that everyone understands our message? This evening marks our opportunity to start our own personal revolution. Our chance to connect, create, and crash through our perfectionistic tendencies that close us off to new experiences. Let’s go!
Funny, isn’t it. How we think that our way will bring people together and make them pleased?
Funny, isn’t it. How in our certainty we close the door to any hope of new discoveries?
What will allow the new year bring YOU? How funny is THAT?
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12.16.10
Posted in Humor attitude, The Change Process, www.yourshiningexample.com at 1:59 am by Dr. Trina Hess
After a run-in with a deer carcass while running, my dog got really sick. For 2 days she wouldn’t eat. Kept looking at me with pained eyes. The vet gave her a special (read: expensive) food to calm her stomach.
But she wouldn’t eat it. All she wanted to do was go outside. But why?? It was only 16 degrees!
Then I saw it. I couldn’t be mad at her. I could only be mad at myself for expecting any less from this good Christian dog of mine. There she was, in the back yard. Returning to her vomit. Like all dogs do.
Sure, it’s gross. Unacceptable. Unthinkable. And—completly natural. Automatic. Inescapable.
Yet how many times do we contend that OUR way, our plan, our day should work out? We place so many expectations on ourselves and our daily life that we snuff out any hope of humor.
Any chance at awareness.
Any inkling of happenstance.
Any hope of lightness.
Any glimmer of fun.
We want to be in control. Or else, we think we ARE in control. But ultimately, we’re not.
A friend of mine commented on the dog vomit: ”It’s funny. You think pets are like little people. And then they do something like THAT.”
How much calmer would our days be if we knew, expected, and accepted that all dogs return to their vomit. We could just roll with the punches, ease into life, and maybe even have fun.
What has YOUR dog brought up today? How funny is that?
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12.07.10
Posted in Humor~Creativity, www.yourshiningexample.com at 5:21 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
A publication of www.YourShiningExample.com © 2010 All Rights Reserved
While reading my friend Jay Speyerer’s Legacy Road article I thought about truth.
Jay wrote about the tiny details that writers get wrong, and how that ruins it for the reader. Totally demolishes any credibility or interest.
Humor is like that, too. If there isn’t a tiny grain of truth, the whole isn’t funny. It’s not credible. And, from that, it’s not so entertaining either.
It’s also one of the reasons my early rap jokes never went over well. Or my dumb blond material. No one laughed because they couldn’t believe me.
Although I can’t wholly relate to Jay’s ardor at Mannix episodes and the age of Citizen Kane’s young hand, I can see Jay’s point. After doing lots of extra work in films I got into the habit of seeing too much while I was watching movies.
I realized that every single person you see on screen in the background was placed there, purposefully. The director told them where and when to cross, after and before which other actors. Nothing is random.
That’s why the issue of continuity is so important. And why the wardrobe pixy yelled at me for putting a tiny tiny clip in my by-then bad hairdo during one of the takes on The Kill Point series.
“Who will ever notice that?” I thought to myself. Doesn’t matter. She grabbed it anyway.
Truth is that important.
More important than what your hair looks like. More important than an ‘acceptable’ image.
So what’s the answer?
Just tell the truth.
Your truth.
And don’t forget the details.
Jay just may be watching…
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10.18.10
Posted in Humor attitude, Humor~Business, Humor~Creativity, Humor~Inspirational, www.yourshiningexample.com at 6:59 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
I was checking into my hotel this weekend and the clerk at the desk suddenly asked me, “You O.K.?” I looked up at him because I had not idea what he was talking about. “You seem a little stressed.”
That was surprising. I had no idea! I guess my big sigh gave it away. After I finally found the hotel, and registered, I was glad be done with this busy day and the business of thinking about the next day’s meetings.
But was my relief THAT loud? Really?
That made me wonder what other vibes we are giving off that we are completely unaware of.
The impressions we’re creating in people.
The worries we are giving people.
The time away from productivity that we are robbing people.
And we don’t even KNOW it!!
If I had been more AWARE, I could have created an aura around myself that wouldn’t have signaled stress. I could have developed a ring of inspire that would have radiated out in a lighter way than sighing and phew-ing.
It really IS that subtle, and it really IS that important. The aura we create does rifle through the lives and actions of others. That’s why it’s vital to create a HUMOR environment, one that will elicit a fluidity that doesn’t derail people. One that makes it easy to focus on the goal ahead. And one that makes it pleasant and fun to be involved in.
That’s the aura I want to be creating {sigh}.
What’s YOUR aura look like? How funny is THAT?
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10.05.10
Posted in Humor attitude, Humor~Events, Humor~Research, Learning Identity, The Change Process, www.yourshiningexample.com at 4:42 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
Living a humor lifestyle requires that we be in the flow of life. The more we can harness our humor powers, the more fluidly our lives can be.
This month, Dr. Nancy Mramor offers a glimpse of how this flow can add to our happiness quotient. I am glad to be part of her Happiness Project, helping YOU to Have Your Happiest Year Yet! Sign up to receive Dr. Nancy’s FREE monthly e-newsletters chock full of tips toward YOUR happiness. Read my part of the project and catch up on some humor ideas you can start to implement today!
Here’s this month’s article from Dr. Nancy Mramor. Enjoy~
“Happiness research shows that when you are engaged in a creative activity that you get into a state called Flow. People who do things that create flow report greater levels of happiness! During flow, you lose track of time and get so absorbed in the task that nothing takes your attention away. Before you realize it, you have enjoyed passing away a whole afternoon!
“Flow expert Mihaly Csikszentmihay says that Flow occurs when we are doing things for “no particular reason,” such as playing chess, mountain climbing, almost anything that we do to give life value, excitement and a feeling of completeness. In the movie Eat Pray Love, they referred to this as Dolce fan Niente, or in English doing ” sweet nothing.” Mostly, these things are diversions, but certain types of work create the same type of Flow. When working, you can get caught up in what you are doing and lose track of the future and the past, and fall into an “extended present in which you are making meaning,” says Csikszentmihaly.
“He cites research done in 1991, in which Flow was described as full attention on a limited… field, with full concentration, complete involvement, and freedom from extraneous thoughts. “Action and awareness merge and you can’t tell the dancer from the dance.” I think I know what he means; as a writer and a person with diversions of cooking and ballroom dancing, I find that both work and play give me the same experience.
“When you are in a state of flow, you merge with the task. Flow includes an involvement so full that you do not think of yourself as separate from the activity, such that you are not observing, just participating. Think of the movie, Like Water for Chocolate, in which the heroine loses herself so much in her cooking that the diners feel her emotions.
“So why does this make us happy? During times of Flow, you experience freedom from worry of failure, fear of obstacles, and lose self-consciousness and worry. You forget your aching feet and time seems to disappear or become distorted. The experience has its own reward and satisfaction unrelated to praise or money rewards, or even recognition. Both musicians and surgeons report doing what they do just because they love it!
“The rush of getting into Flow is that you are very much in the present. Each step reveals the next and you keep solving as you go along; you have immediate feedback. The best circumstance is when there is a balance of skill and level of the task. As you get better at the task, you need a greater level of difficulty to create Flow. Your body even gets involved in a measurable way that improves health. You may experience deeper breathing, and more relaxed heart rate and blood pressure.”
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10.03.10
Posted in Humor attitude, Humor~Business, Humor~Creativity, Humor~Events, Humor~Research, www.yourshiningexample.com at 4:40 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
I’m excited about getting a book in the mail yesterday. It’s by Jennifer Kahnweiler, Ph.D. and it’s for introverts everywhere—or, as my friend Bill likes to call us, “Ninja Birds.” “The Introverted Leader: Building On Your Quiet Strength.”
Before I even opened the book, I wondered to myself what it could tell us about how introverts can use humor, especially in the workplace.
I wondered:
1. How can these Ninja Birds overcome the stress of adjusting (or even more stressful, of not adjusting) to a daily world and culture seemingly ruled by extroverts? HOW CAN THEY LIGHTEN UP?
2. How can these Ninja Birds get over their anxiety about public speaking, making presentations, and offering input in meetings? HOW CAN THEY GAIN AN OUT-WARD FOCUS?
3. How can these Ninja Birds throw off their insecurities and comparision-making? HOW CAN THEY ACCEPT THEIR IMPERFECTIONS AND EVEN LAUGH ABOUT THEM?
All these questions will be answered, I’m sure, by the time I’ve finished reading the book.
But for now, how would YOU, fellow Ninja Bird, answer those questions? And how would YOU, non-Ninja’s help your co-workers, partners, spouses, children, parents, friends, to lighten up?
Share your ideas here, or message me at info@yourshiningexample.com and I’ll post some of the best ideas on my Facebook Fan Page!
Let’s start thinking about how we can help everyone in our workplace to, “Get Your S.H.I.N.E. Together!” so we can ALL, ”Live Life—Lite!”
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09.08.10
Posted in Humor attitude, Humor~Inspirational, www.yourshiningexample.com at 2:36 am by Dr. Trina Hess
This week’s Comedy Around the World goes to the Phil Keaggy concert. While watching the incomparable Phil Keaggy play his guitar at last Saturday’s concert, something struck me.
Several blog entries, some comedy premises, reminders of things I had to do this week, funny and pleasant memories from the day’s happenings, and random journal ideas.
In effect, I was wildly creative, simply because I was listening to this master virtuoso. Maybe it’s like the Mozart effect on babies. But the Keaggy effect worked on me.
I figured it out: It must have been the meditative atmosphere that Keaggy’s music generates. His blindingly fast guitar riffs, his creative sound combining—all of that blended to make certain brain waves shut off (the waves that signal fear, worry, disaster). And to make certain others flip on—like creative waves, feel-good waves, motivated waves.
This usually happens to me at concerts like Keaggy’s. I think it has to do with the absence of words. Sure he sang sometimes, but I wasn’t focusing on the words. And anyway, his instrumental music could beat up his words any day. Because there was no verbal processing required, my mind was free to roam.
To plan, to dream, to synergize, to synchronize.
It’s that same hypnotic state that humor generates in us. Think of how great you feel after having laughed. Maybe you feel lighter, happier, and maybe you’ll start coming up with new ideas yourself.
How do YOU get mesmerized? And how funny is that?
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08.11.10
Posted in Humor~Business, Humor~Creativity, Humor~Health & Goals, Humor~Social Media, www.yourshiningexample.com at 2:28 am by Dr. Trina Hess
I’m reading the book, “The Yoga of Time Travel: How the mind can defeat time,” by Fred Alan Wolf, PhD. In it, the author talks about our memory. The only reason we remember something is because it made some impression on us. Usually an emotional impression. But we had to have been paying ATTENTION to that thing in order to later remember it.
Yet another plug for humor. Because of it’s surprising, iconoclastic, irreverant, and/or entertaining quality, humor makes us pay attention. It knocks us out of our stupor and makes us really see what’s happening around us.
This sears the message into our minds. And then, we can recall it—usually associated with a positive emotion.
What better way to make your mark, state your brand, or send your message?
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08.02.10
Posted in Humor attitude, Humor~Health & Goals, The Change Process, www.yourshiningexample.com at 4:00 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
“Don’t look down at what you can hit. Look forward and stay calm. By then you’ve already passed what you coulda hit.”
That’s some advice I heard from the owner of a mountain bike tour company in New York. For someone involved in an aggravating, fast-moving, and hectic sport, he seemed to have a lot to say about staying calm.
For example, he said, in an ice storm, people’s instant reaction is to hit the brakes. But that does more harm than good. In mountain biking, hitting the brakes can also be more dangerous than not braking.
The better tact is to relax and trust yourself, trust that you and your body and your bike can handle whatever you’re about to run over.
This relaxed-ness comes from being on-cue with our attitude. Adjusted to the terrain we’re about to encounter.
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06.25.10
Posted in Humor~Events, Humor~Social Media, Humor~Technology, www.yourshiningexample.com at 3:34 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
Are you on LinkedIn but don’t know what to do? Here’s a great new webinar from my friend, Beth Caldwell, networking guru.
“If you have created a profile on Linked In, but don’t know what to do with it, or how to maximize your connections, you will want to attend this practical and informative webinar on Tuesday, June 29th from 11am to 12:30pm on your own computer. This webinar will be recorded, so you can watch it over and over again! All registrants will receive a link to download the Webinar, so register, even if you are not able to attend live.
Learn the following:
• How to complete your profile to 100%
• How to use Linked In to get higher Google Rankings
• How to setup your own Linked In Group
• How to Ask/Answer Questions that will bring you business
• How and Why to setup polls
• How to use Linked In to attract visitors to your website
Learn at your desk!
Presenter: Beth Caldwell, author and publicity expert
Cost to attend: Pittsburgh Professional Women Members $25 Non Members $35
Contact Beth Caldwell for more information 412.202.6983
Register for all events online:
http://www.PittsburghProfessionalWomen.com ”
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