By Melissa
Your brain becomes fossilized with age.
At least, that’s what they say.
In order to be classified as a fossil, a specimen usually has to be over 10,000 years old. When you consider this, comparing aged brains to fossils isn’t exactly a flattering metaphor. Fossils are hard, lifeless remains of what once was a thriving being – and that’s exactly what your brain becomes with time.
But it starts even earlier than that.
By Melissa
Forget the aesthetics. Forget the newest design trends buzzing around. Forget the fancy workplaces in countdown lists.
If you run your own business or work remotely, chances are your workspace isn’t going to look like those you see in glossy magazine pages. Besides, do you really want a full playground in your room?
Well, maybe you do. Regardless, the point is that you don’t have to turn your office upside down to improve your workspace. With a few tweaks, you can create an environment that helps you become happier, healthier, and perform optimally.
By Melissa
Recently, I stepped into a mosaic shop.
All sorts of mosaics were on display: historical scenes, religious symbols, buildings, animals, and replicas of well-known paintings. Some were glossy, while others were matte. Some were black and white, others vibrant.
But when I saw the mosaic making demonstration, one thing was clear: creating mosaics from scratch is hard. From inception to the final touches, a lot of thought, planning, and labor goes into creating each individual piece of work.
I had always wondered how mosaics were created, so it was interesting to see the process laid out (more on that later).
But first, where did mosaics come from?
By Melissa
When you gaze at a painting, are you the one admiring it or are you the one putting on the final touches?
When you watch a video, are you the one pointing and criticizing, or are you the one making the edits?
When you see what someone else did, do you wish you did that, or are you figuring out how to replicate the steps they took?
It’s easy to let things come to you, like a gust of wind that blows in your direction. It’s much more difficult to produce things. Anything you create and show to the outside world will get exposed to harsh elements, such as criticism, shame, and doubt.
Still, it is something you must do if you want to achieve anything.
By Melissa
One fateful day, Diderot’s world turned upside down.
No, he wasn’t laid off from his job. No, he wasn’t moving into a new apartment. And no, he wasn’t getting a divorce. In fact, he didn’t even realize at the time what was happening.
But before we get into all that, we need to answer the question: Who was Diderot?
By Melissa
“If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.” — Lao Tzu
Each and every one of us has two lives.
Throughout our existence, we experience both simultaneously. Sometimes, both lives are aligned. Other times, they are worlds apart.
They are our outer lives and our inner lives.
By Melissa
You are the product of your environment.
The environment we live in influences, and in some ways, reflects who we are. Similar to how our bodies reflect the foods we eat, the places we visit and the people we meet reflect the way we think and believe.
Being raised in an inner-city neighborhood means you’ll likely live in the same neighborhood as an adult, while growing up in a middle-class area is a strong predictor of your future lifestyle. It’s difficult to escape the chains in which we are bound.
So how do you thrive in an environment that doesn’t support your goals?
In Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, the protagonist Edmond Dantès is set up for a promising future. He’s soon to become captain of a ship, newly engaged, and popular amongst his peers. However, his perfect life is about to take a turn for the worse.
By Melissa
When it comes to the Olympics, the rankings are clear: the gold medalist is the top athlete, followed by silver, and finally, bronze.
The top athletes go for gold. If not gold, then silver is better than the bronze medal. But if that’s the case, why do medalists holding the bronze have a wider grin on their faces than the silver medalists?
In a study comparing the reactions of medal winners, researchers took video recordings of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The first recording showed the athletes as they learned their placement and the second recording showed the medal winners standing on the podium.
By Melissa
Sometimes, it feels like situations compound upon themselves.
Those who experience good fortune continue to have more of it. Others just can’t stay away from bad circumstances. It’s as if we’re stuck in an endless cycle, where our actions and their consequences further perpetuate the situation that we’re in.
One of the most alarming examples of this concerns social mobility, or the lack of it.
What’s in a name?
By Melissa
October evokes images of colorful leaves, dropping temperatures, and pumpkin spice lattes. But it’s also the perfect time to catch up on books that might have been too heavy for the summer.
Since Halloween is the biggest event of October, the question that comes to mind is: What does the word “scary” mean to you?
While we quickly think of ghouls, zombies, and vampires, scary can reach far beyond characters found in horror films. Maybe scary means being taken away from everything you know, or continuing on a path you don’t want to go down. Maybe scary is getting a visit from your landlady.