Featured Articles
Hunting Awe
by Nancy Gertz
Liv Fun: Vol 7 – Issue 2
My inbox is ravenous. Like a hungry tiger, it is continually opening its mouth and getting fed, no matter how full it is already. It scans the virtual terrain all night and day, never stopping. Even when the power is turned off, it keeps hunting and gorging itself. It’s overwhelming to be its trainer and partner, and some days I’m not sure who is in control anymore, the tiger or me.
Despite how much progress I make on reducing the stack of emails by shifting, prioritizing and deleting, I rarely get a satisfying sense of completion anymore. And I’ll admit, there is a certain boost of excitement when I open it up to see what’s landed there. Maybe something wonderful has happened! It reminds me of when I was a kid and my parents would excitedly await the mailman’s arrival, as if they’d get news of winning the lottery.
I worry that I’m becoming like the inbox, never truly sated, always on alert, looking for the next morsel to arrive with a ping.
Somewhere along the way of envisioning my next winter getaway, the seed got planted that what I needed most, more than escaping Boston’s new bombogenesis storms, was to abandon the tiger and, well, declutter the inbox of my mind. Tame the frenzy. Experience more ease overall. Stop thinking about all the things I have to do, get off the busy acceleration highway, and indulge in some stillness, beauty and simplicity; maybe even read a few good novels. I knew that my email inbox would be virtually vomiting by the time I returned to normal life, but it would all be worth it.
Fast forward, I found myself flying off for three whole weeks to one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, a small town on a bay along the Sea of Cortez. I had been there a few times in the past, so traveling alone, renting a house and car, and knowing where to buy groceries felt pretty manageable, even without the benefit of speaking Spanish. The casa was a long way from Boston, symbolic of how far afield it was from my “normal” life — the one with the insatiable inbox and its partner in crime, my cell phone.
Liv Fun
by Leisure Care
Summer 2018
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Our Brains
by Tammy Kennon
In what’s been called the most “extraordinary discovery of the 20th century” and the “biggest discovery in 400 years,” neurologists have found that the adult brain is not only malleable, but it is also capable of forming new neurons and pathways throughout life. This fundamental shift in brain science means we are not the hapless victims of an immutable and deteriorating brain.
A Traveler’s Guide to the Land of Depression
by Pam Mandel
Permanent January. A gray blanket fort. Fog. 19th century Russian literature. If these things have limited appeal for you, you are not alone. Yet in spite of the dull edges, lack of color, and very little else to recommend it as a destination, nearly 16 million Americans make an annual journey to the Land of Depression, some taking up residence for months, even years at a time.
Hunting Awe
by Nancy GertzMy inbox is ravenous. Like a hungry tiger, it is continually opening its mouth and getting fed, no matter how full it is already. It scans the virtual terrain all night and day, never stopping. Even when the power is turned off, it keeps hunting and gorging itself. It’s overwhelming to be its trainer and partner, and some days I’m not sure who is in control anymore, the tiger or me.