Uninspired

The Chief Happiness Officer is calling today Global Belly Laugh Day. I read a little more about the Chief Happiness Officer and found out that he is a certified laughter instructor. I read more about this and discovered Laughter Yoga.

At first glance, I find this whole thing a little nutty and sad – that in order to laugh we have to get together in groups to laugh about nothing. Have our lives become that depressing?

On the other hand, this completely reminds me of an incident with my Uncle years ago that leads me to think there is some merit to the premise behind Laughter Yoga.

Here is what happened.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey you people! You know who you are.

The one who told me your boss makes you feel like a buffoon. The one who told me that his boss told him he wasn’t “cool” anymore. You, who IM’d me and asked if I thought you needed to see a doctor because you cry every day at work? The ones who tell me you are bored and your talents are underutilized. You – that man who’s just hanging in until retirement, but miserable beyond belief. You know who you are! You know your blood pressure is sky-rocketing, you know you’d rather go to the dentist than go to work. You know I am not making these scenarios up!!

Check out this article from The Chief Happiness Officer on How to Deal with a Bad Boss.

See, you aren’t alone. You aren’t a buffoon, you don’t need to up your meds, these things happen to a lot of people . There are constructive things you can do about it. I have actually tried some of the things that The Chief suggests. When they didn’t work, it elucidated the situation I was in very clearly, so I knew my path was to leave the department or leave the company entirely. When they did work, my job got better!

Here is a journalling of my day off in the snow on January 16, 2007. It was a blast!

Read the rest of this entry »

There has been some pretty crazy weather all over the U.S. recently. It is always a big deal in the business world to try to stay open, have the employees come in, and not lose a day of work. I’ve never held a job on the business end of things, but somehow I doubt that a snow day costs a software development company so much money that it is beneficial to risk injured employees (who can’t come into work for several days after the storm and raise the insurance rates as a result of the injuries acquired trying to get to work during the storm) or employees who miss a bunch of work because their vehicles are damaged from trying to drive into work on a snow day.

The craziest snow day for me was when I worked at The Company. I love this story because it demonstrates the short-sighted greed and macho management that abounds at so many companies. On the other hand, it is also a story about the kindness of strangers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here are more examples of people just like you who took that hugely scary risk and are happier because of it. Please let them inspire you.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week, Slow Leadership posted an article about Living from the Inside Out. Carmine Coyote writes “Living from the inside out means finding your own innermost values and basing all choices on those. That’s the best way to increase your happiness with whatever you do for a living.”

As I read this article I realized that I know several people who live from the inside out. It occurred to me that these people are very brave – and also very happy.
Read the rest of this entry »

It has been quite a while since I’ve posted. The blog is still active, I’ve just been very busy after starting a new job right during the Holiday season. I’ve been accumulating ideas for posts and I’ve been drinking cocktails too! So…I have lots to write about.
Thanks to my loyal fans (two nutty guys – you know who you are) who have been clamoring for more posts!

Happy New Year!

Just a few random observations on my way to work this morning.

I can’t believe how many people make phone calls (on the bus) before 7 AM. Everyone I know would kill me if I called them that early. These aren’t business people calling the East Coast either. I hear people calling friends “Grrrl, you won’t believe what happened last night,” their relatives, “Look, you know how Dad is, you are just going to have to make the sugar-free Jell-o and the strawberry with marshmellows.”
What is the deal with wearing headphones in public?
First of all there were three people on the bus whose mp3 players were cranked so loud that we could all hear their music. They sat in a triangular pattern, creating a bizarre triangulation/music-meld of punk, metal, and country. This created a strange field of energy that two people actually disappeared in while trying to get to the door of the bus. Where did those people end up? In the future, the past, another world, another bus zone?

Next there was a guy in the elevator with his headphones still on. I understand wearing them on the bus, but while walking down the street – how do you hear the honking car horn, ringing bicycle bell, and shouting of joggers that are about to run you down? (Then again, if you want to behave like you are the only person in the world – maybe you ought to be run-down   ) Wearing headphones in the coffee line – how do you hear the barrista ask you if you want whip or not? Wearing headphones in the elevator – how do you hear the nice, attractive young woman ask you to press the 4 button? The answer is – you don’t. The young, attractive lady is left to throwing balled up pieces of paper and used kleenex at you from across the crowded elevator, so you’ll press the damned 4 button!

I wonder what would happen if people went back to the olden days where we didn’t have enough technology to be constantly entertained, and we had to grow/raise our own food, and we had to do lots of hard physical labor from dusk to dawn. Where we relied on each other for basic existence? Well, we actually do still rely on each other, and you can try to block that out with your cell phone, headphones, or your car door and windows. You can pretend noone is around and drive like a maniac, ignore the woman throwing spit balls at you in the elevator, and make the barrista shout at you about whipped cream – but the fact is, you aren’t alone out there – and that is a good thing. Try to embrace it. Maybe you’ll be surprised at how entertaining your fellow human beings are.