loving art, science and creative kids
11/27/2021 2:21:23 PM
Winter Warmth
A cozy house and happy guests take preparation.
Preparing for the Onslaught
Love it? Hate it? Bah Humbug. Holidays bring out many emotions. This season will usher in a particularly busy one for many of us who’ve been isolated from our families for nearly two years. I always thrived during the holidays and looked forward to large gatherings with children and grandchildren. Chaos, noise, and mounds of dishes never bothered me though my back often creaked by the time they went home.
From Halloween on, I start looking for the perfect gifts to buy. In years, when the family assembled at my house, I wrapped presents in my basement listening to Jazz. Now that most of them won’t be flying in, and because postage is so high, I look for free shipping deals online. Imagining the look on their faces when they open my package is not half as much fun as handing them out. I’ve had to make peace with reality, especially since the pandemic continues.
My partner dreads the holidays. The confusion and noise of my large family make him want to retreat to his man cave. He enjoys having one group visit at a time and cringes when 22 people descend at once. Franny also hides—a smart cat. This year Ray will relax because family visits are spread out over the month. There is an advantage to me as well for it will give me time to converse with each person individually.
Sadness is another emotion that creeps into me during the holidays. Not being able to connect with parents who are dead and distant relatives and friends makes can make me lonely amid our holiday gathering. Watching decorations go up and listening to carols brings nostalgic moments of the past to remind me that life moves on. So, rather than dwell on them, I prefer to look to the future. Yesterday a grandson called to say he got engaged to a young woman whom I adore. A wedding to look forward to keeps me smiling.
As nights lengthen and the solstice approaches, I am reminded that life has cycles, seasons change, the sun will return, and though there is much that is bad in society, there is also a reason for hope. Human beings are communal and festivities draw them together to reinforce shared values and bring out the good.
During the holidays, we pay attention to those who are sick, poor, and lonely. We remember wildlife and the environment need consideration. Donating to them swells our hearts and makes us feel good. Remember that dopamine surge I wrote about? Giving is a happiness pill. There isn’t one way to approach the season, but embracing its spirit means bringing joy to others.
There are lots of ways to show love and affection so if your goal is to have guests leave your house with a warm feeling it will take pre-planning. Visits involve more than a trip to a museum, hiking, hearing a concert, or walking through zoo lights. There have to be at-home activities to keep people from flipping on an electronic device.
One year, our family participated in a creative endeavor organized by a daughter. Everyone was given a randomly assigned name with the challenge to make a special give. I made an annotated photo album for a son, a daughter wrote a short story for her sister. One child painted a piece of pottery, another made a potholder. A granddaughter wrote and sang a song and her younger sister played a melody on the harp. Our young son made a picture for his dad that looked like a two-legged dinosaur. The family oohed and ahhed at such thoughtful gifts that showered us with love.
Reading a play is another thing we often did during holiday gatherings. It took some doing to find a play with enough parts for everyone but it was a great deal of fun to listen to fledgling actors speak their parts. Afterward, we enjoyed discussing what we read over hot cider and cookies. Imagine reading a Shakespeare comedy in plainspoken English so that young children understand. Try it, it’s a blast.
Putting a 3-D puzzle together is another holiday ritual. When the first person arrives, the card table gets cleared for a puzzle that will take days to assemble. The fanatics of the family find 3 D puzzles like one of New York City to be especially challenging. It’s a good way to pull youngsters away from computers and cell phones and have them interact with adults. By involving them in an activity, noise settles down, the TV’s turned off, and bonding occurs. It is from moments like these that happy memories linger.
Pre-planning is important to keep your visitors from getting bored. Do share below some of the activities your family engages in for those looking for ideas to add to their traditions.
Art is always for sale. Winter warmth is 24” by 30 “ acrylic painting/ silver Frame. $450. To purchase contact [email protected].
11/20/2021 12:58:33 PM
Oriental Maple
I am grateful for the oriental maple I planted thirty-five years ago. It fills me with joy when I walk past it's delicate red leaves in during the summer and fall.
Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Brain
A few weeks ago I wrote about how dopamine in the brain is stimulated to provide feelings of joy. One way to release it is to become a workaholic and act dishonestly to get money and further selfish interests. But, there are other, more positive, ways as well. Practices like generosity and gratitude also provide dopamine jolts.
Thanksgiving is a time we are reminded of why it is good to be alive. By joining with family and friends, shopping for Black Friday sales, and remembering the country's Pilgrim heritage, we flush our brains with serotonin and bring out feelings of well-being. We are all immigrants to this land--even First Nations.
By thinking positive, grateful thoughts, the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain linked to learning and decision making, is stimulated. We feel good and even better when our thoughts are expressed verbally. We become healthier and happier and more likely to spread positivity to those we work, live, and play with.
Since retail stores are having Black Friday sales weeks before the Friday after Thanksgiving, I don't see why we can't make New Year's resolutions months before January 1st. Resolving to start practicing gratitude will lead to greater emotional intelligence. It will strengthen your brain's neural circuitry so it is easier to notice the beauty of the land, water, and sky. It will help you appreciate the many people who are good.
I am grateful for my family, friends, the trees, rock formations, and starry nights. I love thunderstorms and pouring rain that is over as fast as it starts. I am happy to be alive, to have a partner I love, and am able to spend my retirement years writing and painting. . . and so much more.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving. Marilynne
Please share on my blog site what you are grateful for. www.eichingerfineart.com/blog.
Oriental Maple is one of thirty paintings made during the pandemic. I expect to show them soon and will keep you informed as to where and when. You can see them on my website under COVID series.
Reverences:
Wong, K. & Brown,J. (2017) How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain. Berkely Ed. retrieved from Berkely
Lechner, T. (2019) The Neuroscience Behind Gratitude" How Does Cultivating Appreciation Affect your Brain. Chopra. retrieved from Gratitude.
11/13/2021 12:28:48 PM
ONIONS
Onions create tears when pealed, and flowers when grown.
Despair
At the start of the week, I finished reading There,There by Tommy Orange who wrote about the plight of urban Native Americans. It was one of the most hopeless books I read, showing what alcohol, drugs, guns, and displacement have done to First Americans. Orange’s book was recognized as one of the New York Times’ 10 best books of the Year in 2019.
On November 11th, I took my fiancé of 28 years, to a string quartet concert honoring veterans. They played a newly commissioned piece by Kenji Bunch followed by a 1970 selection called Black Angels —Thirteen images from the dark land by George Crumb. Both works were discordant, with voices, instruments, bongs, and tuned water glasses used to replicate planes dive-bombing, explosions, insects swarming, and confusion. When my head nodded in the warm room a bang brought me back to the reality of war. The author considers the piece to be an allegory of God vs the Devil. The piece ends as did the book, with the Devil winning.
Between the two events was grumbling from family, neighbors, and the news, hitting my senses from every angle: Democrats and Republicans are divided 50-50 in North Carolina, yet gerrymandering sets the stage for Republicans to win elections by 70 percent over the next ten years. Not fair! I want freedom not get vaccinated or wear a mask in public even if my presence makes other people sick. Not fair! Carrying a gun in public is a right even though 115, 551 are shot with 34,566 die of their wounds each year. Not Fair! The right for everyone to earn a family wage. Not fair!
Critical Race Theory, something few can explain, shouldn’t be taught in school. (It acknowledges how institutionalized racism perpetuates an unequal caste system.) Not fair! Taxes are too high and should be lowered for everyone. (In 2018 after Trump’s tax cuts, billionaires paid an average of 23% in taxes, while middle-income people pay 24.2%. The top 1 percent also gained through 30 Tax shelters.) Not fair! We’re becoming a socialist country! Not fair. We’re becoming a Fascist country. Not fair! We’re becoming a dictatorship instead of a democracy. Not fair! The right to choose? Not fair! Life for the fetus no matter the circumstance. Not fair! Not fair! Not Fair!
I cover my ears to the whir of leaf blowers through dinner hour. I cover my eyes to the man who gave me the finger when he drove past because I was driving too slow, only ten miles above the speed limit.
What is fair? Is it fair to keep supporting those who are ill from drug addiction and alcohol abuse not wanting to get better? Is it fair to let buildings get defaced, cars stripped, and people pee in public? Is it fair to deny the poor a free community college education when statistics show that those without a degree are the most despondent and likely to commit suicide? That those who can’t find employment despair. Not Fair! Americans without bachelor’s degrees have watched themselves become ever less valued in our economy.
I love the word cacophony. It rolls off my tongue bringing images of noise and discord. What I observe of our current society is a cacophony of noise and images reminding me of an orchestra tuning up. Each musician is out for him or herself.
The wonderful thing about orchestra tuning is that the players will come together under the direction of inspired conductor and make harmonious sounds to uplift the soul. The act coming together is what must be accomplished by our nation as well.
Endings like Tommy Orange and George Crum suggest are not inevitable. All is not hopeless. But, we do need to elect leaders who think of society, and are impervious to bribes from lobbyists. We need citizens willing to compromise and harmonize their beliefs in a manner that is respectful of differences. And—we need everyone’s participation. No one who lives in this country has the right to be a bystander. Those without shelter as well as billionaires can improve the environment. Leaving trash around street tents or needles on the ground is not acceptable, nor is polluting rivers with agricultural or industrial runoff.
We live on earth—not in space, not on Mars. I can’t escape, nor probably can you? But I can stop complaining and despairing that life in America will never change. Yes, when economic and social instability in people’s lives or in the community rises, so does despair. When material and social circumstances fall below expectations, so does suicide. But, this is not the great depression. We can help communities become more stable and ensure that individuals are fairly employed. It’s not rocket science but it is compassion the opposite of self-absorption. Let’s talk hope, be active, and make good lives happen. No more complaints. The future rests on each of our shoulders.
References:
Brady Statistics. retrieved from https://www.bradyunited.org/key-statistics
Critical Race Theory. About Critical Race Theory - retrieved from https://www.endasianhate.org/critical-race-theory
Gawanade, A. 2020. Why Americans are Dying From Despair. The New Yorker. retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/03/23/why-americans-are-dying-from-despair
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Art is always for sale, Onions is acrylic on canvas, good frame / 24” x 28”/ $ 299.
For information contact [email protected]
Do comment below. Share stories about what you are doing to help society heal.
Over the Peanut Fence, about homeless and runaway youth shows how with society's help young people can overcome despair. The book is available online and in bookstores in ebook and paperback formats.
11/6/2021 1:53:09 PM
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have,” is attributed to Greek philosopher Socrates.
Greed, defined as an excessive desire for wealth or goods, at its worst, trumps rationality, judgment, perspective, and it can cause damage. Many psychologists say it's a primal impulse--a biological instinct for survival. They suggest that the urge to work, fight, protect, collect possessions, tools, food, meat, shelter, and even a mate keeps people alive. But, they also say, that at a certain point, greed does an about-face, with diminishing returns.
According to a 2010 study at Princeton University, the correlation between wealth and happiness is about $75,000. Counting for inflation, that is $94,348 today. Happiness starts to decline as earnings continue to rise and stress, anxiety, and social isolation increase. That is the point when greed begins to grow.
The culprit is dopamine. It's a chemical in our brain that when activated by greed makes you feel good. The more dopamine gets released, the more the pleasure centers in the brain are activated. This can eventually lead to being addicted to greed. Through magnetic resonance imaging, neuroscientists observe that monetary gains such as closing a deal or having your salary raised can trigger the same brain chemical circuitry that compels addicts to partake in cocaine, heroin, nicotine, overeating, or gambling. And, as with addicts, when not constantly rewarded, the person feels let down, disappointed, empty, and craving.
It doesn't take long before even the threat of financial loss will trigger an unhealthy shift in the brain. Adrenaline and cortisol get released into the bloodstream elevating heart rate, blood pressure, and expanding alertness. Once you've experienced the dopamine rush that comes from greed (making unneeded money, closing a sale, winning the lottery, etc.) your brain can't help but want those rewards again. Not getting them makes you feel far worse than before.
Those who work hard for their wealth often go through an enabling process of justification and entitlement. They abandon the interests and feelings of those left behind and become detached from the reality of most people's lives. According to Mark Buchanan in New Scientist, the addiction to dopamine partially explains why the newly rich especially are prone to take risks and partake in unethical behavior to achieve rewards they don't need. Since 1974, seventeen banking-related crises around the globe were preceded by periods of extreme financial growth and prosperity, real-estate booms, and bull stock markets set off by people fanning dreams of excessive wealth.
The good news is that we don’t have to be dominated by our brain’s chemistry and can re-learn more socially beneficial responsive behaviors. Strategies can be adopted to make us happier and healthier while remaining financially secure.
The opposite of greed is generosity, which also affects the brain. Generously giving of yourself and or money to help others is something most people enjoy doing. Brains scans show that the act of giving itself triggers areas in the brain linked to altruism to light up. Generosity also serves to diminish activity in the amygdala, the area that processes emotions and sends stress signals to the hypothalamus telling the brain to enter a fight-or-flight mode. There’s increased activation of the amygdala in people who are stressed, phobic or have PTSD.
Inagaki and Ross at the University of Pittsburgh were curious to see if there were any health benefits from giving. Their studies conclude that the human drive for social connections benefits those who act in the service of others' well-being. "Targeted forms of support-giving, such as support to people we know are in need," is a particularly good way to activate the amygdala and reduce stress.
"To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom," a quote attributed to Socrates, points out the importance of recognizing the limits of your own wisdom and understanding. Know what you are and what you have yet to learn. "Know thyself" was inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi according to Greek writer Pausanias. Two other maxims on opposite walls were "surety brings ruin" and "nothing to excess."
I leave with these thoughts.
References:
McGowan, K. (2019) The Neuroscience of the Seven Deadly Sins. Discover. retrieved from https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/the-neuroscience-of-the-seven-deadly-sins
Schwartz, T (2010) Dope, Dopes, And Dopamine:The Problem with Money,Harvard Business Review. retrieved from https://hbr.org/2010/10/dopes-and-dopamine-the-problem.html
Weckesser, S. (2015) Wired to want? Neuroscientists reveal that our brains may be programmed for greed. Blue Water Credit. retrieved from https://bluewatercredit.com/wired-want-neuroscientists-reveal-brains-may-programmed-greed/
Sandoiu,A, (2018) Generosity benefit health? Brain study sheds light. Medical News Today. retrieved from GENEROSITY.
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