Posts
Tuesday, August 01, 2023
“Itch is almost a field of medicine onto itself,” he says. And only the surface has been scratched, so to speak.
Research on why scratching the itch is satisfying—at least until the itch resurfaces and you scratch again and again—suggests that scratching creates a little bit of pain. That drowns out the itching sensation. To dull the pain feeling, your brain releases serotonin, the theory goes, making itching feel good and satisfying. At least until the itch/scratch/itch/scratch cycle seems never ending.*
Outdoor Pools
I see so many outdoor pools empty. I just want to jump in and swim through them all like Burt Lancaster in the swimmer. Luckily I have found an outdoor pool that is free and open very early.
You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.
When you know you are of worth — not asking it but knowing it — you walk into a room with a particular power.
When you know you are of worth, you don’t have to raise your voice, you don’t have to become rude, you don’t have to become vulgar; you just are. And you are like the sky is, as the air is, the same way water is wet. It doesn’t have to protest.
I was told many years ago by my grandmother who raised me: If somebody puts you on a road and you don’t feel comfortable on it and you look ahead and you don’t like the destination and you look behind and you don’t want to return to that place, step off the road.
Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!
You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.
Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.
MAYA ANGELOU
I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver. Maya Angelou
When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed. Maya Angelou
If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living. Gail Sheehy
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. Winston Churchill
If you want to make enemies, try to change something. Woodrow Wilson
Sometimes the winds of change are a hurricane. Derek Sivers
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Maya Angelou
Things do not change; we change. Henry David Thoreau
I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples. Mother Teresa
The most beautiful and profound way to change yourself is to accept yourself completely, as imperfect as you are. Maxime Lagacé
A porch is more than a place. It is a state of mind.
Everything seems more pleasant on a porch. Drinks are more refreshing. Reading material is more engaging. And time seems to have its own rhythm as the breeze and the chirp of songbirds counterbalance the list of commitments that march through our brains.
A porch is more than a place. It is a state of mind. This is where they really gained architectural popularity as opposed to overseas alternatives such as loggias, verandas or porticos. Some historians argue that porches in America might owe their origins to enslaved people who built their own simple dwellings with overhanging roofs like those that sheltered entryways in their African homelands. Porches were ubiquitous until air conditioning, suburbanization, television and the automobile ushered in the decline of front porch culture. Front porches became a quaint relic enjoyed when you visited grandparents or the grand Victorian homes in a town’s historic district.
With climate change pushing temperatures to the stratosphere, the front porch should return as a central feature of American home architecture.
Beyond curbing the urge to crank up the air conditioning, porches can pull us away from TV screens and gaming consoles. And those covered spaces that open to our neighbors can foster stronger community bonds.
Years ago, I heard about an experiment in the Norfolk area in which builders installed front porches in public housing. The porches gave people a chance to display pride of place with flowerpots and wind chimes. They created a communal link for people who could greet kids on their way to school and neighbors heading off to work.
And the porches meant suddenly lots of people had their eyes on the corner where some young folks were making mischief and selling drugs. A battle of wills ensued between the young toughs who didn’t want neighbors in their business and the porch-sitters who wanted to perch on their rockers or folding chairs in peace. The porch-sitters won. It was a small victory in a rough neighborhood that didn’t often post gains against encroaching blight.
This story resonated with me. My grandparents in Birmingham, Ala., had a bustling front porch. Every house along Avenue G did, and those semipublic elevated “living rooms” created a loving and sturdy tether among the families on the block. People could greet each other or visit for a spell without invading personal space.
In a world that is getting hotter, where communities are ever more divided, where kids need more of our attention, and where we sleep with machines that produce the sounds of crickets instead of listening to that night music in real time, front porches deserve a roaring comeback. —Michele L. Norris