The Snow Is Deeper On The Other Side

With all of the snow, ice and rain we have been having this winter season, it is hard not to feel at least a bit singled out and put upon by Mother Nature. So just in case you've been feeling a little "under the snow," take a look at these pictures from Gizmodo of the island of Honshu, Japan to see just how bad it can get.

Makes our precipitation look like a covering of fairy dust!

Smoking Ban In Spain

A recent blurb in BBC Mobile News Europe discusses a new anti-smoking law that has gone into effect in Spain. Given the continuing popularity of smoking in Europe in general, and in Spain in particular, this is no small feat:

The ban - one of the strictest in Europe - outlaws smoking in all bars and restaurants. Smokers will also be prohibited on television broadcasts, near hospitals or in school playgrounds.  The law tightens anti-smoking restrictions introduced in 2006.

Spain has a strong cafe culture and the owners of bars and cafes have complained the law will hurt business.

The anti-smoking rules introduced in 2006 outlawed smoking in the workplace, but it let bar and restaurant owners choose whether or not to allow it. Most chose not to impose any ban.  Only large restaurants and bars were obliged to provide a smoke-free area.

Hotel, restaurant and bar owners have said they could face a 10% drop in trade with the new rules. The industry has already seen a sharp fall in sales due to Spain's economic problems.  But doctors argue the new legislation will help smokers give up.

It is interesting that Spanish merchants tried to use the same argument of financial harm caused by such laws that merchants in other jurisdictions have also used to influence public opinion against such smoking bans -- even though such negative financial impacts have generally never come to pass.

I was also amazed to realize that it has already been (or "only been," depending on your outlook) a little over 7 years since New York City passed its own anti-smoking laws back in 2003.

A Sign of Hope

From today's New York Times comes an article on the results of a study that showed that daily use of a certain HIV anti-viral drug lowered the risk of HIV infection by about 90%. (You can find the article here.) A welcome sign of hope in a long struggle that has enabled those with access to healthcare to live full and productive lives but that, unfortunately, has made little progress in the realm of prevention.

What most caught my eye, however, was this short blurb:

Another concern was that the participants would become so fearless that they would stop using condoms, but the opposite effect was seen — they used condoms more often and had fewer sex partners.

This seemingly small observation about human behavior says so much about human nature and how it is that we change.

Many of our health-oriented education campaigns -- think "quit-smoking" campaigns, diet campaigns, most HIV-related initiatives, etc. -- use fear as a motivational tool to scare people into changing. In my experience, to the extent that actually works, it is always a superficial and short-lived result.

Fear is like poison ground. Because it is ground, you can plant seeds in it. And those seeds may even germinate. But they will never be able to grow and flourish.

When we empower people in ways that make them feel truly and fundamentally good about themselves, we are nourishing them and reminding them of their basic goodness. The result is that they start taking better care of themselves, and they grow and flourish.

When we invest in love, we always get love back.

The Secret to Happiness -- The World's Worst Kept Secret

STOP THE PRESSES!!!!

It appears that psychologists at Harvard University have finally discovered the secret to happiness. And what is the secret...? That a wandering mind is a sign of unhappiness and that we are most happy when we are focused on the task at hand.

From The New York Times:

“Even if you’re doing something that’s really enjoyable,” Mr. Killingsworth says, “that doesn’t seem to protect against negative thoughts. The rate of mind-wandering is lower for more enjoyable activities, but when people wander they are just as likely to wander toward negative thoughts.”

Whatever people were doing, whether it was having sex or reading or shopping, they tended to be happier if they focused on the activity instead of thinking about something else. In fact, whether and where their minds wandered was a better predictor of happiness than what they were doing.

Of course, this is only what the great masters, mystics and saints of all cultures throughout history have been telling us for 1000s of years. But I guess now it's official. They even used an iPhone app to reach this conclusion!

OK, all snarky-ness aside (I couldn't resist), I really do think this is great. The more we are encouraged to live in the present moment -- whatever the source of that encouragement -- the better life will be for all of us.

Movement Towards Green Cosmetics

In the past fifteen years, there has been a substantial increase in public awareness of environmental toxicity. From the steadily increasing cultivation and consumption of organic foods to the increased awareness of the toxic chemicals found in textiles and building materials, we are realizing more and more that the comfort and convenience of the many technological advances that have found their way into the products that we use every day have come with a steep price in terms of our health and well-being. One of the least known yet most often used sources of toxic exposure in our lives are cosmetics and beauty products. For instance, did you know that even cosmetic products normally associated with health, such as some of the most popular brands of tooth paste and soaps, often contain chemical additives that can cause health problems or even be toxic? The irony here is that not only are these among the most often and regularly used products in our homes, but they are intended to be used in ways that ensure that their components will be absorbed into the body.

Things, however, are starting to change even in the world of cosmetics. In the past five years, I have seen a slow but steady rise in the amount of reporting and general awareness concerning the toxic elements contained in these products. Here's an excerpt from an article I read today in The New York Times:

[T]he city [San Francisco] has just passed the country’s first Healthy Nail Salon Recognition ordinance. It is intended to address occupational health hazards among the city’s more than 200 nail salons and 1,800 nail technicians, many of Vietnamese descent. Under the ordinance, the city will publicly identify establishments that use polishes (including top and base coats) free of the chemicals toluene, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and formaldehyde — the so-called toxic trio. The three are on the hit list of the California Safe Cosmetics Act as causing cancer or birth defects.

California, so often at the vanguard of progressive legislation in the US, appears to be once again doing its thing. Hopefully, this is a good sign of more movement to come in this direction.

A Sweet Proposal

A great little clip that captures the beauty of love and how it brings out the best in us. It's sure to give your spirits a lift.

Remembering A Friend

This past Monday morning, I woke to the very sad and unexpected news that my friend, George Hickenlooper, had passed away. George and I knew each other from our days together at Yale. Although we were not close friends, each of us was a regular presence in the other’s life owing to fact that many of George’s friends were also friends of mine and in some cases my roommates. So back in the day, it would not have been at all unusual for me to come back to my room to find George there hanging out with guys, enjoying the leisure of college and plotting his next film project.

In truth, George and I might not have known each other had it not been for the overlap of our social circles. We were different people with divergent interests and sensibilities. But I always liked George (it was hard not to) and saw him as something of an interesting character. He was, for me, a study in contrasts and juxtapositions who always surprised me with the richness of his character.

In appearance, I remember how George often looked the part of the preppy nerd with his shirttails-out oxford button-downs and perpetually unruly hair. But he always impressed with the effortless orderliness of his intelligence and ideas.

He was also notorious for moving at his own slower pace and habitually arriving late at rendezvous -- for which he took quite a bit of goodnatured ribbing. But he never seemed to delay when it came to helping out his friends.

Never one to intentionally seek the limelight, George could even be painfully shy at times. Yet, he always seemed to garner attention, and his willingness to put himself “out there” when it came to manifesting his artistic vision was an inspiration to me and an example of what it means to truly love what you do.

By the time we were in our junior year, George had already attained a certain campus-wide reputation as a very talented film maker and was widely known and admired. Nonetheless, he always maintained the humility that was such an integral and beautiful part of his character.

Where my impressions of George have never held any contrast or juxtaposition are also what I most remember about him -- his gentleness and his kindness. He exuded a genuine warmth that was undeniable and that always made it a pleasure to engage with him.

After we graduated, George went out to LA to follow his film-making passion and I went off to Manhattan to attend law school. I only saw him a couple of times after that and for a long while didn’t really know much about him except for the random tidbit of information that someone would share or, as time went on, the increasingly frequent news story about his latest movie making efforts. Eventually, we did connect again on Facebook and every now and then would share a message or comment. Even in these brief communications, George proved to be, as always, gracious, kind and caring.

During my college years, I thankfully did not have too much experience with the death of loved ones. But many years have passed since then, and now as I live through my middle age, it is a very different story. I have lost friends, relatives, my father, my sister and my mother. I have also felt the loss of acquaintances, friends of friends, beloved pets and even of people that I never met but who in life had inspired me or touched me in some way.

When we lose someone close to us, we expect to feel deeply the pain of the loss and the disorientation of the emptiness that they leave behind. But even when the ties appear to be more tenuous, the sense of loss can be unexpectedly palpable.

I was very deeply moved by the news of George’s passing. We may not have been the closest of friends and we may not have had much contact in the past 25 years, but I felt the loss of him as if I had just seen him yesterday hanging out in my college suite.

What I have taken away from these different experiences of death is that everyone we meet on our journey from cradle to grave has an impact on us no matter how brief or insignificant the moment of contact my otherwise seem to us. And sometimes it is the fleeting contact that leaves the most lasting impression.

In the end, what matters is not really how much time we spend together or how much we know about each other. What matters is how well we’ve loved -- ourselves, each other and our life. The George I knew did all of those well.

George, a heartfelt thank you to you for having been a part of my life and for having made my life better for it.

Where There's A Will...

I recently came across this incredible video on the internet. It is of a young Chinese man that learned to play the piano after having lost both his arms in a childhood accident. How does he play piano without arms? Check it out. It's truly amazing! A wonderful reminder of what is possible when we set out minds to something as well as a testament to the resiliency and adaptability of the human form and the power of the human spirit.