The Great Equalizer

Everyday we are bombarded with all sorts of propaganda and messages trying to tell us what we need.  We need face creams to look younger, we need money to feel sexy, we need to own a house to be a good parent, we need brand name clothes to feel like we fit in.  We need, we need, we need…but do we really?

It’s Not What You Do…

…it’s how you do it.

This is a really simple phrase that may help you not only survive, but perhaps actually enjoy, the upcoming holidays.

Pound the Alarm

I use my cell phone as my alarm clock in the morning.  In the past, it has gotten me into trouble when I’ve forgotten to charge it overnight (whoops!) but I’ve finally gotten it down to a science.  My phone has this cool feature where the alarm first starts off as a vibrate.  Then it turns into a vibrate and a gentle ringing sound.  With each successive ring the alarm gets louder and louder until it is at full blast which I have been able to hear from outside of my apartment.  Most days I wake when the ring is just starting to pick up volume.  Other days I have actually snoozed in my sleep and then woken up after the ringer has already picked up full steam.

We use alarms for a lot of things in our life: to wake up up in the morning, to tell us when our food has been warmed up in the microwave, to let us know if we haven’t buckled our seatbelt/left our door open/left our keys in the car ignition, to let us know when someone is calling us/texting us/emailing us/updating their status on facebook…that being said, even though we have so many alarms, we don’t always choose to pay attention to the task they have been designed to help us with.

Rock Me Like a Hurricane

This week the east coast had an unpleasant encounter with Sandy.  In some areas she was a bit irritating and inconvenient.  In other areas she was downright devastating.  The storm gave me a lot of time indoors and a lot of time to think about the things in my life that are really important.