Hi there! Finding Delight is a lifestyle and lifelong learning blog written and curated by me in Alabama. Along the way, I attempt to tackle the rough real world with books, budget-livin', brainpower and all the beautiful stuff you can find when you really look. Won't you join me? The true delight is in the finding out.
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Ok, I realize the concept of bath salts has been getting a bad rap as of late, ever since weirdos in Florida started smoking them and eating people’s faces off. But ACTUAL bath salts, the kind you soak in, are freaking awesome. Combine the benefits of essential oils with the benefits of salt in your bath water and you have a recipe for mindfulness, muscle recovery, stress relief, improved circulation, and a headache solution. This is a really simple DIY that you can adapt based on your favorite colors, scents, and containers to customize to your liking. Make a huge batch and you’ll have an arsenal of gifts you can break out at a moment’s notice. Not to mention, during the process, your house will smell amazing! I packaged this batch in mason jars because DUH! and I love mason jars (I also wanted to decoupage the tops for some added flair) but I think these, these or these would work well too. You could even be super thrifty and reuse cleaned out food jars.
The other day, I was talking to my friend Jimmy Drake about the World Cup. He LOVES it…and sports in general, actually. But his stance that this relationship isn’t always easy interested me. I asked him to share his thoughts with you on why and HOW you can choose to embrace, love and celebrate one of the greatest shows on Earth–The World Cup. As Team USA takes on Germany this afternoon, while at the same time protesters continue to riot just a stones throw away from the pitch, things have certainly reached fever pitch. Thanks so much for sharing, Jimmy, your analysis rings remarkably true. Enjoy!
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World Cup Half Empty or Half Full
by Jimmy Drake
As we get older all kinds of things become more complicated. It’s a fact of life, but it’s become especially evident in my sports fandom. When I was a kid it was easy to root for my favorite baseball team, the Atlanta Braves, and wear their logo proudly. However, as I grew older, I realized a picture of a screaming Indian and tomahawk chants are offensive to Native Americans. As a kid it was easy to get excited every time my favorite football player clobbered a defenseless receiver, but as I learned about the severity of concussions and brain damage my shouts and fist pumps turned to cringes. Or college basketball–growing up in Kentucky it’s a close second to Southern Baptist as the state’s dominant religion. But then you learn the NCAA generates millions of dollars as a “non-profit,” gives athletes a rushed and sometimes¹ even fabricated college education, and only offers their scholarships one year at a time. These situations bring up complicated emotions for any informed sports fan, but none present the biggest challenge to my compartmentalization skills as much as FIFA and the World Cup.
Before I explain how evil and corrupt FIFA is, I’ll explain how fucking awesome the World Cup is. First off, it’s soccer at a high level. The teams aren’t as good as you’d find in the Champions League or the Euro’s, but it means more than both of them. Soccer on it’s own can be beautiful and epic. The World Cup adds to this beauty and epicness by raising the stakes to an astronomical level. Just watch the video of Maradona in the 1986 World Cup. His goal is one of the more incredible things I’ve ever seen in sports, the moment magnified by the hopes of an entire nation.
And these hopes are the very reason Americans should enjoy the World Cup. Being a patriotic American is awesome, but given America’s current geopolitical standing, it’s difficult for me to to get all patriotic about wars, politics or international relations. Sports make it easy. I can chant “USA!USA!USA!USA!” and wave a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag without looking like an imperialist xenophobe. I can sing the national anthem with my hand over my heart without feeling like I’m being indoctrinated into nationalism. Events like the Olympics² and the World Cup are my only chance.
So the World Cup is awesome, that’s easy enough, but something sinister lies beneath the surface. FIFA is the Fédération Internationale de Football Association³ and it’s president, Sepp Blatter, is a villainous character straight out of a Disney movie, the kind of guy who suggests female soccer players wear shorter shorts to grow interest in their sport.
Countries find it an incredible honor to host a World Cup, so much so that they’ll change constitutions¹, pay millions of dollars in bribe money² and pour their own citizens tax money into stadiums that are rarely used once the whole shebang is over³ while these same citizens live in abject poverty. Okay, so that’s a pretty insane investment, but surely hosting a World Cup boosts the economy enough to have it all make sense. But FIFA operates as a non-profit. Any money they make in Brazil this year from endorsements, advertisements, ticket sales aren’t even taxable by the Brazilian government. So, while the rare rich hotel owner may profit the taxpayers investment isn’t returned at all. And locals are justifiably angry, storming the streets and protesting FIFA and all it stands for.
There is no solution I’ve found to this conundrum other than compartmentalizing the two sides. I hate how FIFA and the Brazilian government have handled the event but I love the spectacle of it. And soccer… isn’t FIFA. Soccer isn’t the Brazilian government. Players train their whole lives for a chance at this World stage and I will cheer them on…and I will cheer them on even louder if they’re from the USA. It’s just another complication of growing up and having to search harder for joy in a complicated world.
2. Summer only. Seriously the Winter Olympics are so boring, except hockey. I’m honestly surprised that the USA figure skating team isn’t selected by way of a America’s Got Talent style reality show.
3. Not just an awesome video game that helped get tons of American bros into soccer.
(Ed. Note: WordPress only let me “superscript” 1, 2, 3 so please excuse the repetition here.)
Last Friday, Chet and I strapped on our new trailrunners, packed up lunch and hit the road for a quick half hour drive to Frankfort, KY to visit the Salato Wildlife Center. I can not recommend this place enough. Their grounds include free fishing lakes and hiking trails. For just $4 for adults you can see a bunch of sweet animals, interactive exhibits and educational material about indigenous plants and wildlife. We arrived a little after 11am and decided to pay to check out all the animals first thing.
We spent about 2 hours wandering around amongst fish, turtles, deer, bobcats, eagles and all sorts of critters native to the state. There were animals and exhibits both indoors and out, as well as a really cool “living stream” complete with a waterfall and a view of what was going on “under the sea” from indoors. My favorite animals were the bison; Chet’s favorite were all the fish.
We had seen a sign saying the days free educational program was at the bobcat area so we swung by to check it out. We learned the zoological term “enrichment” basically means yoking up the animals to promote species-specific behaviors. The gal leading the program yoked the bobcats up in a variety of manners, my favorite of which involved giving the cats big ice cubes to play with because, funnily enough, this is Wink’s FAVORITE enrichment. We have now taken to calling it enrichment whenever we are playing with Wink.
After the bobcat program, we hit the trails. This was a super fun 4.5 mile hike, no steep inclines (Franklin Co. is by no means mountainous) just lots of switchbacks and ruins to explore. We walked through some fire nettle, which provided an interesting 20 minutes or so of feeling like my legs were on fire, and got our fair share of chigger bites…welcome to Kentucky!
Once we got off trail we rested at a picnic table in the shade to chug water, eat a little snack and hang out with some geese and duckies. We also walked down to the fishing lake to scope out a good spot for a future trip to cast out (Salato will loan you fishing poles for free! You just have to bring your own bait. Score!). We headed home sweaty and blissed-out from an awesome day outside in the sun in plenty of time to cook dinner. Here are some snaps from our day!
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What adventures have you been embarking on lately? I’d love to hear.
This slide depicts a poster used by the U.S. Food Administration during World War I to encourage the American people and help enact social change. Even a century removed, don’t these simple guidelines ring remarkably true? We would certainly still benefit from national support for a cooperative food effort. Cut out waste, experiment, take a mindful approach to food. Surely we can make such changes in peaceful times, too…all these years later.
(I found the slide for this particular poster by browsing around the Library of Congress’ online archives. An awesome resource if you’re looking for nifty, old images.)
Well-played, sir. 66,000 retweets and 35,000 favorites! It seems Rocky Horror fans everywhere were tickled by this punchline. Here’s Tim Curry performing the inspiration for the most patient joke in social media history.
P.S. Rocky Horror fans-check out these fantastic watercolors portraits of your fave characters. Kind of obsessed with them! Referencing pop culture, affordable art, wham-BAM-thank you ma’am!
Ladybugs are taking over my apartment! Where have they all come from? Should I catch them and put them out in my garden? Oh, Summer. I hope the rest of your work week flies by and your weekend lasts a lifetime. For the rest of my week, I’m foreseeing more backgammon games, smoothie experiments (I have an idea for how to make a Nutella smoothie. We’ve already conquered the cinnamon roll smoothie. #healthyfoodhacks) (LONG LIVE THE MAGIC BULLET!!!), and a trip to see some black bears. OH, and good luck to all the tiny speech kittens at nationals. Be amazing…so I can be super impressed when I continue my annual summer ritual of tuning in to the live stream of your final rounds. : ) Now for some links…
Is YouTube to blame for the destruction of our last real movie star? (Great article but I’m gonna go ahead and place the blame a little more squarely on Scientology and peripherally on internet journalism/YouTube.)
Vertically bouncing up and down first became an exercise for physical health in 1938 when an inventor produced the first miniature trampoline. While it’s not an exercise regimen you see a lot of folks flocking to (it may bring to mind an aerobics-wear clad woman of the ‘80s, scrunchied ponytail bouncing with a fervor) REBOUNDING has a lot of documented health benefits. Most notably, it’s ability to stimulate lymph circulation. Because the force of gravity actually increases each time you land you get a strong flow of lymph fluid running throughout the lymph channels and nodes as opposed to the trickling flow that happens during regular day activities.
CJ Puotinen explains in the Jan/Feb 2014 Well Being Journal, “On the rebounder, it takes about two minutes to pump lymph fluid from the feet all the way up into the thoracic duct area.” But, you may be wondering, why is lymph circulation so important? Well, the lymph system is an important aspect of the immune system–it removes waste from cells throughout the body. You may be more familiar with the concept of lymph nodes (especially when they’re swollen) but the lymph is a clearish-yellowish fluid that hangs out inside those nodes and contains your immune system’s infection fighting lymphocytes.
The main organ of your lymph system is the spleen which acts as a regeneration center for blood. Your spleen breaks down old red blood cells and uses their iron for new hemoglobin. AND it makes more lymphocytes which in turn flow through your tissues and knock out most infections before they can enter your bloodstream. Fairly important stuff! Toxins can get all up in your business and if your lymph drainage is impaired or the flow is constricted they collect, pool and lead to trouble.
You may have insufficient lymph circulation and not even realize. Some common warning signs include edema, dark circles, swollen ankles or legs and cellulite. So rebounding seems like a fun way to keep the lymph flowing nicely! I would love to invest in one of these…
I truly believe the easiest way to ditch the restaurant meals, and start cooking dinner for yourself, is to incorporate theme nights. I’m talkin’ Soup and Sandwich Sunday, Taco Tuesday, Make It In the Slow Cooker Monday–basically a general idea that’s going to give you the freedom to get creative and switch it up from week to week, but also takes some of the thinking out of planning. Encouraging us lazy folk to stick with it.
As a self-professed lazy-girl myself, routines are a huge boon for me. Decision making causes me a lot of anxiety. So, the less I have to make, the less likely I am to fall into indifference and taking the easy way out. Sound familiar? Then maybe this approach is for you!
Routines like this may feel childish. It has been well documented that children crave routines but I think adults do too. There’s something so pleasant about rituals. Something you institute to make your hectic life easier may turn out to be the very thing you count down to each week, the meal you can’t wait to make as you sit at your desk all day.
If you find yourself eating out more often than in or are trying to pinch pennies or BOTH, the easiest change you can make to your dinner schedule is to commit one night a week for the next month to making breakfast for dinner. Why? Breakfast foods are easy to cook and cheap to buy. You can start off with the simplest of ingredients and create a hearty meal. If you’re new to cooking, this gentle crash course could do you a world of good. And who knows? Maybe this ritual will feel too good to leave behind after a month. Digging into a stack of pancakes at a table with your loved ones. Frying up an egg smothered with hot sauce and watching guilty-pleasure reality tv. Fixing your partner-in-crime a quiche while he performs expert knife work to prepare a big bowl of fruit salad. I can certainly think of worse things to return to week after week.
And just because I like y’all SO much, here are some ideas to get you started for this first month…
So, what do you say? Will you take the challenge and commit to a month of Breakfast for Dinner? What are your favorite breakfast recipes? If we’re being completely honest, I could probably eat breakfast for EVERY meal for an entire month…but that’s neither here nor there.
Recently, I read a very thought-provoking article about a seldom discussed aspect of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. The author posits that depression could have played an influential role in the efficacy of his life’s greatest works. Nassir Ghaemi, who is working on a psychological biography of MLK, poses the following question in the February 2014 Psychology Today, “ Were personal demons a key factor in MLK’s charismatic and transformational leadership?”
The deeper attitude behind [MLK’s] philosophy was his view that we should be “creatively maladjusted.” King was explicit in a sermon: “Everybody passionately seeks to be well-adjusted,” he said. “But there are some things… to which men of good will must be maladjusted.”
Psychiatrists and psychologists see being “adjusted” as fitting in, being accepted, “functioning” well. We tend to be rewarded for being well-adjusted, but King realized that to solve life’s problems, especially the most profound—racism, poverty, and war—we have to become, in a sense, abnormal. We have to stop accepting what everyone else believes. We have to become maladjusted if we are to be creative, and then we may find that insoluble dilemmas are masks for unrecognized problems with simple solutions.
King may have known what it meant to be maladjusted psychologically because he wasn’t normal psychiatrically.
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Some won’t like the notion that King suffered from manic symptoms and depressive episodes. It would be ironic if those who admire his valiant fight against racism showed a bias against psychiatric illnesses, especially since illness may have contributed to his accomplishments.
Studies show that depression enhances empathy toward others, as well as realism in assessment of one’s own circumstances. King’s nonviolent resistance can be understood as a politics of radical empathy, an acceptance of one’s enemies as part and parcel of advancing one’s own agenda. The goal was not to defeat them but to change their attitudes: Racism was not a political problem to be outlawed; it was a psychological disease to be cured.
I recommend you check out the whole article here. It really forced me to take pause and think about the psychological make-up behind the very real people who fill our textbooks with their actions and end-goals but not their demons and pitfalls. The very thing which may contribute to the empathy, leadership, and creativity we take for granted is never discussed. This hypocrisy, especially as it pertains to admirers of King, is a striking argument. Perhaps, like King, we should look towards creative maladjustment.
Finding delight. 