Little Rock

Here are some things I learned while I was in Little Rock: You're not allowed to play with the wheelchairs in the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, if you buy a Pepsi, this is a clear indicator that you are a "goddamn Yankee," and Arkansas has the most fresh water per capita than any other state, i.e., there's nothing really of note going on in this state. But I took this picture and I thought it was pretty cool. 

Niagara Falls

I'm on this crazy multi-city work trip, but I was fortunate enough to have the chance to check out Niagara Falls while we were in Buffalo. It was my first time there and it was pretty awesome! It was one of those scenes that's almost too much to take in. The pictures, as in most cases, do not do it justice.

 

Tracking Moments of Joy with Twitter

I do a lot of reading. You'd think I'd be super smart and have a healthy bank of knowledge to draw from on a daily basis. The issue is, while I am endlessly interested in the world around me, my memory is crap. I sometimes wonder if, when I'm 80, I will wonder if I've done anything with those years.

Anyways, I'm reading "The Happiness Project" at the urging of my friend. In the August chapter, author Gretchen Rubin talks about keeping a one-sentence journal of happy highlights from each day—moments that while great, if not recorded, could be easily forgotten. While this isn't a new concept for me (I'd kept "happiness logs" before) what did strike me is that maybe I can use Twitter for these one liners, because what is social media if not inherently self-serving? It gives us our own little soapboxes, you know, like this blog...and saves paper.

So much of what I've been doing, thinking, and reading lately is centered around the yoga idea of letting go, and the be-a-better-human idea of staying calm and giving people the benefit of the doubt, as well as trying to understand where others are coming from. I think this is one of the legacies Grams has left me. So completely falling apart after losing her left me with a somewhat clean slate to try to put myself back together. All of the sadness, anger, and depression that came with watching her leave are things that I wanted to, and actively am working on, letting go. I'm not 100 percent there yet, but then again, no one is perfect, and every day and every experience gives us a fresh chance to learn something and grow.

I think that trying to become more patient and understanding comes with really learning to appreciate all of the little moments of joy that we all come upon each day, if we're paying attention. So that will be the goal of these daily one-line Twitter updates. If I can remember to do them, that is.

@jenminchin - if you feel like keeping me honest.