Not feeling in the right mood? Listen to a funny podcast!

Let’s paint the scene. You’re driving to a party at a friend’s house for Christmas. Thinking back on the day, you sigh. You couldn’t finish that dumb report technically due at the end of the day and stubbed your toe on the little bump in the entrance to your apartment this morning. Your toe still hurts.

To lighten the mood, you turn on a podcast from one of your favorite comedians, and pretty soon small huffs turn into chuckling. Before you know it, you’re all out laughing when you pull up to the party.

_{My friends laughing at the joke I told the other day. Kidding I have no idea who these people are. Photo by Jed Villejo on Unsplash.}

Humor is a great way to cope with life’s stresses. In the book, The role of humor and the self¹, people who respond to stressors humorously are “more likely to emerge from emotional duress and enjoy a restoration of positive mood states”. Other researchers found that study participants who recalled humorous times in their past had a higher pain tolerance threshold and a decrease in hormones associated with stress². Ziv (1976)³ also saw adolescents who openly laughed at humorous stimuli scored higher on a creativity test than those who didn’t. Laughing will allow your mind to relax and explore those more “out there” thoughts which can lead to deeper and more engaging discussion with those around you.

Next time you’re in the car tapping anxiously on the steering wheel, pop on a podcast or remind yourself of the funny times in your past. You might just create another memory you can look back on and laugh.

Lefcourt, H. M., & Davidson-Katz, K. (1991). The role of humor and the self. Handbook of social and clinical psychology: The health perspective, 41-56.
Greenberg, M. J. (2024). Self-Guided Humorous Imagery Mitigates Pain and Anxiety: A Repeated Measures Pilot Study. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 42(2), 121-132.
Ziv, A. (1976). Facilitating effects of humor on creativity. Journal of educational psychology, 68(3), 318.

December 20, 2024 1

Just write

I’ve been working on my Ph.D. remotely for a few months now and finding the motivation to be persistent during work on the day-to-day has been like walking a tightrope during a bout of wind. Difficult. Pushed by an article I read online, I’m developing the habit of writing down what I do every weekday. Just to keep a record of my research progress. I’ll jot down what I did during the day, any meaningful communication/networking I engaged in, and things to get done in the morrow. Let me tell you, it has made a world of difference in my productivity. I encourage you to try it out in your work or with various tasks you just need to get done!

Also, I want to say a special thank you for reading this. It means a lot that you would take time out of your day to read these posts.

Much Love,

Jay

August 28, 2024 0

The art of presence

As we navigate the twists and turns of life, we have some idea of where we’re headed, but just around the proverbial river bend (think Pocahontas) lie many unknowns with the chance of imparting exciting treasures, challenging obstacles, or yet more offshoots that lead to unknown destinations. When we look around us, we see others floating close, and some far away, and depending on proximity, they might see much of the same view we do.

*My wife Braede and I floating the Arkansas River on our honeymoon in June.*

Having someone who takes the time to try and understand what lies on your horizon is such a gift. Friends, family, and those who enjoy the ride with you can add so much to your experience. They don’t have to give you advice or tell you where to go but simply exist with you in that unspoken understanding of knowing where you’re at.

Take a moment during your day today to be grateful for those in your life floating with you.

August 12, 2024 0

Soak it in

That moment. When you get the best view in the house, just before the plunge. Your feet dangle into nothingness as meandering cotton candy-eating parkgoers begin to resemble mice in a maze.

And then Newton’s First Law of Motion sets in. Gravity takes hold. Suddenly you’re in a whir of sound, color, and adrenaline. You find it hard to catch your breath as you join the rows of screaming people locked into the experience with you. And then it’s all over.

You can probably relate those exhilarating times to other points in your life, like anticipation for events that go by with the snap of a finger. Hours upon hours of planning and thought. A flash. And then it’s over.

That was exactly how our wedding panned out. June 23, 2024. My lovely wife Braede and I have now had nearly a month and a half to debrief, and it has been so fun to recount little details of that day, like not having enough time for dessert, or posing on a chairlift that overlooked the Rocky Mountains.

What makes that time so special, though, is almost that we can’t go back and relive those hours surrounded by family and friends. Those times become immortalized through the stories we tell our kids years later. So if you’re gearing up for an event of your own, when it happens, take time to soak it in without getting bogged down by worries. Enjoy the moment. You may be able to add one more detail to your story.

August 8, 2024 0

Lessons from a Cormorant

If you take a summer stroll along the swaths of Agate Beach, Oregon, you’ll most likely get a glimpse of the diversity of bird life. You might see white gulls effortlessly split the wind in search of prey, Rock Sandpipers dart in and out of frothy swash, and the occasional dark slender neck of a Cormorant before it dives below the waves.

The species of Cormorant that call Oregon home can dive to depths of more than 200 ft in search of fish and small shellfish¹. Once they surface, they’ll soar to a nearby tree branch at a selectively windy prominence and spread their wings to dry off. The Cormorant species have relatively less preen oil than most birds, which means their feathers soak in, rather than repel water². The thought is that the insufficiency of preen oil allows the cormorant to maintain agility underwater while shedding buoyancy, allowing it to spend more time sub-surface in search of prey. What might be thought of as a hindrance to the Cormorant, enables it to be a much more efficient hunter.

There are at least two lessons to be learned from this particular bird. One, we all need rest. In a culture infatuated with the idea that “go go go” will lead to a satisfying and meaningful life, rest continually gets pushed off. Over the long term, you begin to realize you can’t truly live without a little downtime. Two, what might seem a weakness on the outside, can be a strength on the inside. If you are vulnerable with others you trust, for one example (among many), showing your scars, fears, and doubts, this can exemplify the inner strength of being comfortable enough around others and yourself to share who you really are.

What are lessons you can learn from the surrounding nature that you may have taken for granted in the past?

February 23, 2024 0