In a previous blog post, I raved about the commencement address Bob Herbert gave at Lawrence this June. I think it's a must-read, and the transcript is now online (yeah!): http://lawrence.edu/news/commencement/2009/herbert-speech.shtml
Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Reflections about Re-entry
If you read my blog, you know Mark and I spent 5 weeks last spring on Nevis (a small, quiet, beautiful island in the West Indies). Each time we take a sabbatical retreat, the re-entry into the States and our normal, day-to-day lives can be quite jarring. We’re always glad to be back (back to our friends, our lovely home, our ground), but the first week is a difficult transition period. This trip I more purposefully paid attention to things I noticed upon my “re-entry.” My reflections…
Americans like convenience. In the Caribbean, the pace is slow and the range of products sold (in general) is narrow. Mark and I learn to deal with (and, in fact, embrace) "island time" and the lack of convenience items. After 5 weeks, we get used to, for example, riding bikes for all errands, easily adjusting if the grocery store is out of a certain food, and waiting patiently for any kind of service. Hence, it's jarring upon return to the States to immediately see such wide-spread impatience in people--impatience waiting in line, frustration that a restaurant or store doesn't have exactly what someone wants, and anger when traveling doesn't go exactly as planned. (Note: this doesn't necessarily apply in general. I think people are more patient and kind when in their home base, but they still want convenience.) I look around at the new strip malls and convenience stores going up in Appleton and I marvel that they all stay afloat. But then I realize that we, as a society, keep them afloat--we want things how and when we want them.
American news is fear-based. We returned to the States during the height of the swine-flu scare. I completely understand the need to education the public on health concerns, but the 24-hour news channels don't simply share information, they also scare the crap out of people. The reality is (I think) we don't have 24-hours worth of real news to share. So it seems these stations latch onto any juicy story (typically a small-chance-occurrence story) and use it to lure more people to watch (hey, your life is in danger, so you better stay tuned to us). Just like the convenience stores, the reason 24-hour, fear-based news is thriving is because we, as a society, indulge in it. Last fall, I purposely unplugged from not only TV, but also from news in general, and I can say it's made me much happier. Fear, although alluring in some ways, is not a particularly pleasant place to live.
The human spirit is generally positive. I know I just commented on fear-based news, but the good news is that people generally have a positive, kind spirit. As we waited in a very long customs line upon our return to the States, I saw masses of people and, in general, they were making the best of the situation, laughing, helping those around them, and smiling at strangers. I do firmly believe the human spirit is positive (even under horrible circumstances, we witness many acts of kindness). Sometimes this spirit is hidden under layers of anger, fear, sadness, or self-doubt, but it's there. It's there in all of us. With all the bad news swirling around us, this is a really important thing to remember.
Americans are inundated with images. When we stepped off the plane and into an American airport, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of images I saw. There were advertisements along the walls, TVs blaring, and stores with walls of magazines (whose images shouted, "you can be a better person if you do this diet, buy this product, organize your house in this way, etc."). And our drive back from Chicago to Appleton was filled with billboards and signs for restaurants, gas stations, and hotels. I think it's an interesting exercise to simply notice all the images (advertising, TV, Internet info, magazine covers) that we see each day. What impact do these have on us? How do they make us feel? We'll probably all have different answers to these questions, but I think the important thing is the awareness.
Beauty is everywhere. We got back to Appleton in early May, when spring just began in earnest. Because I was still in retreat-mode, I was lucky enough to watch with full awareness the greening of spring (not just the greening, but the all-sorts-of-coloring of spring). I realized that Appleton in May is just as beautiful as Nevis--a different kind of beauty, but beauty nonetheless. I believe there really is beauty everywhere. Unfortunately, our mind states can sometimes block that beauty from us. But hopefully we all get an occasional ah-ha moment when we truly see beauty in a surprising place.
So these are my musings from re-entry to daily life in the States. (Another musing is the rush-rush-rush lifestyle of Americans, but I already wrote about that: http://joyofstatistics.blogspot.com/2009/05/busy-mind-even-on-vacation.html and http://joyofstatistics.blogspot.com/2009/05/time.html) Any musings y'all want to share? Students, perhaps you've had similar experiences when you return from study-abroad programs? I'd love to hear any and all comments.
Be well.
Americans like convenience. In the Caribbean, the pace is slow and the range of products sold (in general) is narrow. Mark and I learn to deal with (and, in fact, embrace) "island time" and the lack of convenience items. After 5 weeks, we get used to, for example, riding bikes for all errands, easily adjusting if the grocery store is out of a certain food, and waiting patiently for any kind of service. Hence, it's jarring upon return to the States to immediately see such wide-spread impatience in people--impatience waiting in line, frustration that a restaurant or store doesn't have exactly what someone wants, and anger when traveling doesn't go exactly as planned. (Note: this doesn't necessarily apply in general. I think people are more patient and kind when in their home base, but they still want convenience.) I look around at the new strip malls and convenience stores going up in Appleton and I marvel that they all stay afloat. But then I realize that we, as a society, keep them afloat--we want things how and when we want them.
American news is fear-based. We returned to the States during the height of the swine-flu scare. I completely understand the need to education the public on health concerns, but the 24-hour news channels don't simply share information, they also scare the crap out of people. The reality is (I think) we don't have 24-hours worth of real news to share. So it seems these stations latch onto any juicy story (typically a small-chance-occurrence story) and use it to lure more people to watch (hey, your life is in danger, so you better stay tuned to us). Just like the convenience stores, the reason 24-hour, fear-based news is thriving is because we, as a society, indulge in it. Last fall, I purposely unplugged from not only TV, but also from news in general, and I can say it's made me much happier. Fear, although alluring in some ways, is not a particularly pleasant place to live.
The human spirit is generally positive. I know I just commented on fear-based news, but the good news is that people generally have a positive, kind spirit. As we waited in a very long customs line upon our return to the States, I saw masses of people and, in general, they were making the best of the situation, laughing, helping those around them, and smiling at strangers. I do firmly believe the human spirit is positive (even under horrible circumstances, we witness many acts of kindness). Sometimes this spirit is hidden under layers of anger, fear, sadness, or self-doubt, but it's there. It's there in all of us. With all the bad news swirling around us, this is a really important thing to remember.
Americans are inundated with images. When we stepped off the plane and into an American airport, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of images I saw. There were advertisements along the walls, TVs blaring, and stores with walls of magazines (whose images shouted, "you can be a better person if you do this diet, buy this product, organize your house in this way, etc."). And our drive back from Chicago to Appleton was filled with billboards and signs for restaurants, gas stations, and hotels. I think it's an interesting exercise to simply notice all the images (advertising, TV, Internet info, magazine covers) that we see each day. What impact do these have on us? How do they make us feel? We'll probably all have different answers to these questions, but I think the important thing is the awareness.
Beauty is everywhere. We got back to Appleton in early May, when spring just began in earnest. Because I was still in retreat-mode, I was lucky enough to watch with full awareness the greening of spring (not just the greening, but the all-sorts-of-coloring of spring). I realized that Appleton in May is just as beautiful as Nevis--a different kind of beauty, but beauty nonetheless. I believe there really is beauty everywhere. Unfortunately, our mind states can sometimes block that beauty from us. But hopefully we all get an occasional ah-ha moment when we truly see beauty in a surprising place.
So these are my musings from re-entry to daily life in the States. (Another musing is the rush-rush-rush lifestyle of Americans, but I already wrote about that: http://joyofstatistics.blogspot.com/2009/05/busy-mind-even-on-vacation.html and http://joyofstatistics.blogspot.com/2009/05/time.html) Any musings y'all want to share? Students, perhaps you've had similar experiences when you return from study-abroad programs? I'd love to hear any and all comments.
Be well.
My Twitter Experiment
Okay, so I was initially skeptical of Twitter--would it be a useful, positive tool for me or just another time sink? After experimenting for a few weeks, I've learned it can occasionally be a time sink (if I allow myself to fall into the I-must-Tweet-every-single-day-and-it-must-be-profound mindset), but generally I've found it a nice outlet. I mainly use it for personal development--sharing an issue I'm working through or a life reflection. And I only have 140 characters to work with. I love that! It gets me to think carefully about each and every word, and to distill the masses of thoughts in my head down to the essence of what I'm really feeling.
So I'm now officially on the Twitter bandwagon (and I've recently used the word "tweet" without feeling completely ridiculous). If you're interested: https://twitter.com/joyofstatistics
[February 9, 2012: The Twitter experiment is over: http://joyofstatistics.blogspot.com/2010/06/talking-listening-and-twitter.html]
So I'm now officially on the Twitter bandwagon (and I've recently used the word "tweet" without feeling completely ridiculous). If you're interested: https://twitter.com/joyofstatistics
[February 9, 2012: The Twitter experiment is over: http://joyofstatistics.blogspot.com/2010/06/talking-listening-and-twitter.html]
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