Motivation Mondays (Tuesday Edition)

Along with the KFC Double Down the daily American diet consists of roughly 34 gigabytes of information. And that number is from a 2009 NYTimes story so let's just assume the figure is a little higher by now. Now I don't know about you, but my Google Reader hits 1000+ about an hour after I mark-all-as-read (thanks, BBC news feed) and between NPR on the ride home and a chapter of Twilight before bed my mind is buzzing and I end up dreaming about a Cullen-Totenberg rendezvous in northern Afghanistan. Well something like that. 

My point is: there's a lot of sh*t out there and sometimes it drives me crazy. Because a lot of times the shit is good. And my ability to retain information is not so good. So I recommend: a post-it/scrap paper wall of inspiration (mine is pictured at the left).  I don't have the time to memorize my favorite passages of essays, novels or Facebook memos so I tack them to my wall. I can muster up some minutes to glance at the quotes and slowly I begin to incorporate them into my long-term memory. It helps. Some quotes below.

•  "The writer is always tricking the reader into listening to their dream." - Didion
• "The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty 'yes' to your adventure."- J. Campbell
•  "Give me enough time in this place and I will surely make a beautiful thing."- Dillard
• "At some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough. You don't need to photograph or paint or even remember it. It is enough." - Morrison 
• "Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies — God damn it, you've got to be kind." - Vonnegut

Volunteer (!): Produce Distributions

Your local food bank- for folks in Lorain, Crawford, Erie and Huron counties that would be the Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio - is right in the middle of produce distribution season. Our food bank's Farmers Market program is up and running and generally lasts from mid-summer through early fall. These events are direct on-site distributions of locally grown produce and are set up in parking lots, gymnasiums, grassy plains- anywhere we can fit thousands of pounds of produce to give away for free (read an article about a recent Farmers Market here). Second Harvest has almost thirty markets scheduled for this season- twice as many as they held last year. The fruits and vegetables vary from market to market but include things like cucumbers, corn, turnips, green peppers, celery, cabbage, radishes, lettuces, various squash, onions, peaches, apples, leeks, cilantro, parsley and tomatoes.

Washington Ave. Market (photo by Stefanie Flores)

Standing out in the sun handing out dirty turnips (dirty as in dirt as in fresh from the field (amazing), not dirty as in naughty (although I might like to contemplate what a naughty turnip would mean)) might not sound like a way you'd like to spend your afternoon, but i can assure you this is one of the best volunteer gigs I've had. Talking to people in line and hearing their stories always reminds me of how much all of us have in common.  Plus, if you are income qualified- and I am- you can go home with a brand new spaghetti squash or radish package.  Interested? Comment below or send me a message and I'll send you a schedule. 

For more information about your local food bank see Second Harvest's Summer 2010 newsletter below.  

Summer Newsletter 2010  

Motivation Mondays (Wednesday Edition)

Have you ever found yourself endlessly clicking through television channels looking for something of substance, a decent program that might actually make your time on the couch worthwhile? No. Well for that rare non-shark-week occasion when the choice is between watching that episode of Everybody Loves Raymond for the fifth time or watching some guy chow down on a Big Unit, turn off the television and turn to TED. I've spent a rather large amount of time trolling the internet for videos of presentations or speeches from my favorite authors and thinkers and no site fits this profile better than TED.com.  TED is a nonprofit dedicated to the spread of ideas. There are hundreds of videos- free to watch and free to disseminate- ranging in topics from the neurobiology of  choice to magic tricks and superheros to headphones that are controlled by brainwaves. The videos are broken down into categories like most jaw-dropping, most inspiring and funniest; some of them are less than 10 minutes but all of them are guaranteed to make you feel a little more engaged with the world, a little more connected to possibility and perhaps even a little inspired. 

"We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we're building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other."

 

Motivation Mondays

I generally need a pick-me-up on Mondays and find that great stories work even better than strong coffee. The inaugural edition of Motivation Mondays is all about Clinton County, Ohio. Clinton County lost thousands of jobs when the DHL hub in Wilmington closed its doors in 2008 but since then they have used creative means to empower their citizens and push the entire county in a new direction. They now have an impressive, organized network of community gardens and farmer's markets and are leaders in the state for renewable energy, establishing the first Green Enterprise Zone in the country. See the videos below and follow the links to read more about these citizen led programs in Clinton County.

• Energize Clinton County
• Grow Food, Grow Hope
• Wilmington Ohio Benefit Bank