Charmed Life: The Solace of Objects

16 February – 14 April 2013

Amulets have appeared throughout history and across cultures in a variety of forms. They are tiny embodiments of the anxieties we feel and their assumed powers often draw on the dark arts of superstition and magic.

Charmed Life is curated by artist Felicity Powell and features 380 amulets from the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. The amulets, ranging from simple coins to meticulously carved shells, dead animals to elaborately fashioned notes, were collected by the banker and obsessive folklorist Edward Lovett who scoured London by night, buying curious objects mostly from the East End of London.

The exhibition includes new pieces and videos by the artist.

A touring exhibition from Wellcome Collection, London in partnership with Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.

Vipissana

An evening with Jon Kabat-Zinn: 28 March 2013

Some notes from an evening with Jon Kabat-Zinn, organised by Action for Happiness. Jon was introduced by Lord Richard Layard, the Action for Happiness founder.

• Importance of self-compassion and compassion for others
• Introducing mindfulness into PSHE lessons at seecondary school.

Then Jon spoke:

• Mindfulness = an adventure in the art of conscious living
• What’s the right way for us?
• We are the lab
• What arises?  – this is the subject matter
• Things as they are
  • It’s hard to operationalise this, but it leads to well-being
• Get out of your own way.
• JKZ definition of mindfulness:

Intentional attention, in the present moment, non-judgemental*

*awareness of being judgemental

• In Indian languages mind and heart are the same word
• Mindfulness is a way of being
• Practice, practice, practice
• It’s a radical act of love and sanity

• Drop right in
  • Turn the “sound” down
  • Thoughts as weather patterns
  • Be in a wiser relationship with stress
  • Laugh at it (emotional upset) – it’s weather – don’t take it personally
• The Bhudda wasn’t a bhuddist
• Mindfulness -> relationality

• Neuroplasticity
• Epi genetics
  • Elizabeth Blackburn research: enzymes that build up DNA – the more stress, the faster they degrade

Ignore dark visions of the future

Everyday Mindfulness @mindfuleveryday

Your mind often wants to show you dark visions of the future. Best to ignore it wherever possible. #mindfulness

“…most users reach for search, but they don’t know how to use it!”

Jakob Nielsen strikes a combative note about most users’ search skills.

Most users are unable to solve even halfway complicated problems with search. Better to redirect their efforts into more supportive user interfaces when possible.

via Converting Search into Navigation.

BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD LYRICS – For What It’s Worth

For What It’s Worth

There’s something happening here
But what it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it’s time we stop
Children, what’s that sound?
Everybody look – what’s going down?
There’s battle lines being drawn
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
Young people speaking’ their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
It’s time we stop
Hey, what’s that sound?
Everybody look – what’s going down?
What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly saying, “hooray for our side”
It’s time we stop
Hey, what’s that sound?
Everybody look – what’s going down?
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
Step out of line, the men come and take you away
We better stop
Hey, what’s that sound?
Everybody look – what’s going down?
We better stop
Hey, what’s that sound?
Everybody look – what’s going down?
We better stop
Now, what’s that sound?
Everybody look – what’s going down?
We better stop
Children, what’s that sound?
Everybody look – what’s going down?

via BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD LYRICS – For What It’s Worth.

Master the art of the 1-hour time slot

I liked one of Nicole  Antoinette’s  time management tips

It has taken me years – actual YEARS – to teach myself what an appropriate daily to-do list looks like. In the past, I’d make lists of all the things I was going to get done on a given day and, of course, the list was wildly unrealistic. I never even came close to accomplishing everything on it, and I’d end the day feeling like shit about not meeting my goals. The trick, I’ve learned, is to think about my day in 1-hour time slots. If I’m going to work from X time to X time, that means I have a set amount of 1-hour time slots. The benefit of thinking of your workday by hour is that it’s a lot easier to be realistic when you’re making a to-do list for an hour than when you’re making it for the whole day. Asking yourself, “Can I accomplish this task/action step in an hour?” is a much easier question to answer than, “What do I want to get done today?” and I’ve found that by dividing my day’s worth of hour-long time slots up by project and batching everything for each project together, I’m able to a) set much more realistic daily goals and b) end the day feeling fulfilled and productive.

via 4 Totally Weird (and Crazy Effective) Time Management Tips.

Now they’ve come for the journalists

Tom Streithorst, a cameraman and journalist, writes in Prospect Magazine.

But this story is larger than just the plight of freelance journalists. The condition of all workers is harsher than it was in our parents’ day. It is not just blue-collar workers that are suffering. Lawyers, advertising creative directors, middle managers and even bankers are working much longer hours than they used to. Unless you are a professional athlete, the guy who had your job 20 years ago almost certainly made more money (in real terms), had more fun and didn’t work as hard. As consumers, we live like kings. Even people on council estates can afford flat-screen TVs that Gordon Gekko would have lusted after 20 years ago, but our work lives are ever less rosy. We work harder, with no job security, for less pay—but even during this recession, corporate profits remain healthy. Established professionals (like Thayer) who have worked for years to build a reputation see themselves edged out. Firms are looking for 22-22-22: 22-year-olds willing to work 22 hours a day for $22,000. Median inflation-adjusted male wages in the United States are lower now than they were in 1973.

via Now they’ve come for the journalists.