...kids took the same stupid chances with "The Pass-Out Game" investigated on Oprah's rerun today. I don't remember it having a name when I was young - this might be something added by adults, as we tend to need to identify, quantify, and solidify what isn't tangible to us - but the activity was the same. When I was in junior high school, back in 1985, several boys would do it before class when our chronically late music teacher was MIA. Basically, one boy would hold another in a half-nelson around the neck until his friend passed out cold. They would place one another gently on the floor and we would all watch the unconscious boy twitch and spasm until he woke up. Looking back, I'm horrified that none of us turned the boys in - not even the major tattletales in the group made a peep. I don't think we realized they were doing anything dangerous. Hopefully, today's show made some sort of impact. What an unnecessarily tragic way to lose a child.
Oprah gave an assignment to those parents with teenagers to become aware of this game. As I don't have kids, it didn't apply to me. I do hope others heeded the advice, though. Although, to be honest, I think I would have totally hid from my parents if they tried to interrogate me at that age. What can I say? I never did so well with authority figures. This is why Living Oprah is so uncomfortable for me at times...I'm not used to following the leader. I'm not some crazy rebel, but I tend to prefer making my own mistakes and discoveries, finding my own path in life. I wonder if at the end of this year, I'll find a middle road to walk down - between marching to the beat of my own drummer, while being open to follow the lead of a conductor.
By the way, on the assignment front, I bought a copy of Eat Pray Love and tomorrow I will be completing my vision board. Many of you have given the thumbs up to the book, so I excitedly launched into it (I'm actually almost done with Italy in just one sitting)! However, I'm a bit skeptical about the vision board, but very willing, very open to give it a try. I can understand how having my goals in front of me on a daily basis, will remind me to always take action toward attaining them. And yet, part of me feels a little silly doing it. If you've done one and have an opinion about it one way or the other, will you comment on this post? I'd love to hear your experiences.
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13 comments:
How about a photo of you and I on your vision board?
You're the Oprah~I'm the Gayle.
heehee
Hi, what a great idea. I'm visiting for the first time. My opinion about those boards? It feels a little bit like helping your kid with homework. Find the glue stick, drive to the corner store to try to buy bristol board in something other than fluorescent orange. But I saw something yesterday that I loved, I'm going to do it. I found it here: alloverprint.blogspot.com It's her July 19 post. It makes more sense to me and seems a bit more grown up.
oh betty, you're so silly. that photo would go on YOUR vision board!
kath, thanks a ton for dropping a note. ooh! i like that post you linked. i really like the way it looks, too. mine will probably appear like a 12 year old made it.
xoLO
I have a vision board...I actually did it on my computer in Word (which I thought was a lot easier) and then just printed it. To be honest, nothing has come true in the 6 months since I created it but I do like to see my goals and dreams in front of me everyday. Good luck with your board! Please post it for us, if it is not too personal!
katie, i will post mine once it's done, for sure! do you think the fact that you used Microsoft interfered with your energetic mojo? :) maybe corporate america and the law of attraction are like oil and water...xoLO
So... I don't watch Oprah but I've been enjoying your insightful writing a great deal. I don't know what a vision board is per se but thought I would share a collage I did recently. I could see doing something like this with dreams, goals, etc. in mind.
It's in the most recent entry: http://robintroy.typepad.com/
Good luck with this project - btw: you were GREAT on NPR.
Hi! Found you via an article in the Guardian this morning. Very interesting experiment you're doing, I'll keep checking your blog.
LO,
My best friend is a huge Oprah and The Secret fan. Last year she made a bunch of girls get together and have vision board night. We all made our very own vision boards with everything we want on them. I didn't really believe in all the hype but I thought it was fun making them. I hung it on my wall and looked at it every morning while I got ready for work. I liked looking at all the things I want in life and thought nothing more of it. Well, 5 months later I was looking at my life and realized 2 major images on my vision board came true... I don't know what to think of it but I was amazed especially because one of the images was almost impossible.
Always reading,
AG
vision board is quite amazing. I put up a picture of a beautiful Micahel Kors bag and a few weeks later had bought myself a Marc by Marc Jacobs bag almost as beautiful! It's a miralcle! I wanted a nice bag and I bought one! I also put up a picture of Oprah and Sally Field laughing amicably in front of Sally's Oscars. Not sure what I want from that one, but it might be to a) meet Oprah, b) meet Sally Field, C) win an Oscar, or d) have some nice book shelves. OMG! I just found the connection! I'm having some shelves built in my bedroom! that is freaking spooky.
BTW, this experiment is a genius idea and I'm pea green with envy I didn't come up with it.
LO,
I created a vision board about 6 months ago. I'm not sure how much it has worked, but its definitely helped me focus on my goals. Also, and this was a bit of a surprise to me, it made me focus on what was truly important to me. I have struggled with an eating disorder (or disordered eating, if you will) since I was a child, and while I'm hesitant to attribute everything to this board, I finally made the connection that I wanted to look and feel healthy, not just be skinny, and I've been living accordingly since. Thoughts of slipping have greatly decreased as I look at the board, and the strong, helthy bodies I put on there, and realize that binging and purging is not the answer. I also found that I was less into material things than I thought I would be. I couldn't get myself to put up pictures of any fancy shoes or bags because, while nice to have, they are not things that I think would bring me any additional happiness in my life right now.
Also, I loved Eat, Pray, Love - it made me really look at my depression and anxiety in new ways. I came away definitely feeling like I had more of a role in my emotions and thus more agency to make changes.
Skeptic here: I've done this in the past and it's worked for me.
It's very much tied to subtly altering our subconscious so that our animal desires are subtly steered in the right direction since we know how useless our conscious minds are at doing this.
Whether it's couched as "The Secret", "affirmations", self-hypnosis, it's a similar thing.
There's a very good argument for this in "The Happiness Hypothesis" by Jonathan Haidt.
Okay, so I'm definitely going to try this ....
Kath
robin - i realllly like your collage. your work is beautiful. thanks for attaching your link. i did check out your website as well. i do really love collage. i've been working with it in more of a fine art aspect for a short time and i adore it. it felt slightly silly to cut things out of magazines...it tossed me back to my junior high days. except, back then, kirk cameron would have been in the center position!) glad you like the blog!
ooh alison! how exciting! i'm excited you saw the article. it's a thrill to me to make a virtual appearance in the U.K.!
AG, i love it! it's stories like yours that give me faith in these things.
jurl, you made me laugh. enjoy your shelves. xo
hey anon, thanks very much for your comment. i believe you're right about the subtle but very deep ways these things can help us. i think that's why i leaned toward health, rather than luxury or wealth as the overall theme for my board. and i'm in India now and think the book is lovely. thanks for sharing its effect on you. i can't wait to keep reading!
dave! i thought you'd slam this one for sure! wow - it worked for you, huh? what inspired you to create one? thanks for the reference, btw.
kath, excellent, we're Team New Vision Board. let me know how your goes. and if you want to share it, i'd love to see a picture if it isn't too private.
xo
LO
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