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Worth Your While — 2. Nick, Yuletide and the Year That Was
By: Shreya Ishani
Tags: Christmas, The Year That Was, 2020, Glass Half Full, Gratitude

Nick, Yuletide and the Year That Was

Christmas is around the corner. I remember what I used to do for Christmas as a child.

Make a card.

Write a wish.

Put it underneath my pillow on Christmas eve.

Hope for it to come true.

Only it never did.

My Barbie, my Beyblade, my encyclopedias — all came into my life sooner or later. Just not on Christmas. Just not delivered by Santa. Or Rudolph. Or Santa chauffeured by Rudolph. Or a Santa impersonator.

And yet I made merry.

Making lemonades on a wintry day.

As a young kid, disappointment and heartaches were only as transient as fast fashion. Only the young kid knew nothing about fast fashion. Talk about where ignorance is bliss.

This year has taken us back in time to when we were kids. Most of us are finding ourselves back at the very doors we left at the onset of adulthood to embrace hustle culture. It is like life was moving at a staggering pace with dreams and plans and then someone hit pause or rewind or worse.

The only ones unaffected are those who know not otherwise. Meanwhile, all others are on a this-is-not-how-it-ought-to-be rendition of Sheldon Cooper’s dystopia. Hence, amidst all the conundrum, everyone reached out for some good old soul-stirring, rajma-chawal. A friend dished out recipes on the internet every day. Another made paintings. Yet, another one jokes. That one’s my favourite of the lot. Comfort, they say, is always sought in familiar things. Nostalgia, they say, is the most familiar of them all.

2020 gave us all, that what my best friend calls, the best kind of gifts — the one that you didn’t ask for. I guess she’s the kind that always sees the glass half full. I never really could. I always reach out for a refill even after as much as even a sip.

But over time I have learnt. At times it’s Johnny Bravo (read: folly) to be wise. You gotta always make the lemons count.

And what better time than now. As the year draws to a close, write down all the things that you are grateful for. Steadfast friendships, supportive parents, encouraging colleagues, rejoicing food, cheerful childhood heroes, and peaceful hobbies that make life worth the while.
Christmas Spirit
By: Bruce Noll
Tags: Christmas, Love, Gratitude, Peace, Joy

Memories, Sentimental, Celebration

What’s in the heart is more precious than what’s under the tree

Photo by Kenzie Wattier on Unsplash

I remember the excitement of years ago when life was a bit simpler

I only had myself to think of and what was under the tree was sparse

It didn’t seem to matter because I knew love back then, a mothers love

I didn’t understand the meaning of Yuletide, I celebrated anyway.
Finn the Human’s Universal Invocation — A Powerful Invocation Ritual inspired by Adventure Time
By: Jeandre Gerber
Tags: Life Lessons, Meditation, Adventure, Magick, Gratitude

Hey fellow travelers,

Happy Holidaze to all you wonderful folk. I was watching Adventure Time (EP 42, S6) — which is one of my favorite cartoons riddled with esoterica — where Finn the Human faces off against Oglelorg (I think this is how you spell it).

Anyhow, at one point, he’s hurled out to space, separated from Jake and seemingly completely lost against his foe — and then he says, “Well, time to appeal to higher forces” and he begins to sing his Universe song.

I saw the song’s potential as a powerful invocation ritual for when your back is against the wall, and so, I created a breathwork meditation video based on Finn’s Comet Song.

It will be Premiered tomorrow right here — https://youtu.be/A81nJIw9wx4— so go ahead and set the reminder so you don’t miss it.

If you want to get in touch with me — I will be out of touch for the next few days, but I’ll certainly check in. You could reach me perhaps on my Discord Channel called “Real Magick” where you can talk to other wyrd-folk. I may not be on till Sunday, but I always read through most of the people’s comments there.

Conversely, you can also check out the Facebook Group called “The Together Breath” which we do a repeat Watch-Party on Wednesday. I like to get people together to breathe in unison as it increases the ‘potency’ of the breath.

Finally — you can check out more of my work on my website where I have some cool lil blogs and other resources available and even a donation option available if you feel inclined to support my work. I do this for free every Saturday with the hopes of getting as many people tuned into their body and experimenting with the tools available to them.

Anyhow, let me know how it goes. I appreciate the feedback and have a great rest of the year.

Keep it Breezy!
I Met An Angel
By: Urmila Sardesai
Tags: Happiness, Self Love, Life, Gratitude, Spirituality

He wore clothes that barely covered his body, torn & stained, while his parents sat in a tiny tent by the side of the road, trying in vain to patch up their tent to keep the insides dry. I wondered when could be the last time he must have eaten a decent, warm meal.

But oh that boy! Did he care about that at all? He was too busy having fun!

“Wait”, I thought to myself, “so while I chose to think I had no shortage of petty things to complain about, this little boy actually chose to focus on joy? In the midst of all that misery?” In that moment, the real meaning of self-actualization & enlightenment dawned on me! And in that moment, he was clearly far ahead of me in both. Even though I owned more things than him, he had found something priceless! I have always believed in angels, but I never thought they would come disguised as a tiny little boy & show me the real power of the choice we all have!

The choice to be happy, in this moment.

The choice to focus on joy, in this moment. The choice to have hope, in this moment.

The choice to feel grateful for all that we have.

The choice to love life, unconditionally!

I left from there with a big smile on my face, a bright warm glow in my heart, a prayer for abundant blessings for that boy & a solemn promise to myself to fall in love with my life again!

Now only if I could see the road ahead!

Oh these damn tears, they just wouldn't stop flowing.

It was pouring all around!

- Urmila S
Do You Believe in Holiday Magic?
By: Rajeev Mudumba
Tags: Magic, Family, Holidays, Relationships, Gratitude

Hey there!

Look around you!

Its time for the holidays, for the cheer and spirit it brings to each one of us, in gratitude of a year gone by, and in anticipation of a year to come!

Well, you might look at the year gone by and think there’s not much to be happy about it and perhaps, you’re even thanking god since it’s soon to be in the past.

You might even be so tired from all that was thrown at you during the year, that all you care about now is getting a break!

Anxiety and sadness envelop us when we look at the year past. You may want to be happy for the season, but are at a loss for thoughts and words to find such happiness. After all, health, finances, and relationships, everything we hold dear was under attack.

But, for a moment let’s look at the bright side. You are still here and so are most of your loved ones around you. Yes, perhaps finances have taken a hit, and health is unpredictable; but you’re here at the doorstep of a new year! And, when you have yourself to count on, you can build everything back. Loved ones lost is a fact and the grief is no less, but you can’t let that hold you from a better tomorrow. Know that your lost ones want the same for you.

A holiday, a new year or a new day is only as perfect as you make it. Use the bitterness of yesterday to make tomorrow more sweeter. It’s in your hands, whether to wallow in despair or to take stock of what you have, and go ahead with a new found zeal.

Create your own happiness, find your own peace.

If the memory of those lost saddens you, use this time to honor their memory, together as a family. If traditions seem heavy, create new ones that prioritize what you truly feel and want.

Find new meaning this holiday season.

Volunteer or spend time with another in the same boat so you can comfort them. Step out of your comfort zone and think about serving another. See the difference it can make in your own experience of joy and peace.

Normalcy, as we knew it has gone for a toss. Adapt to the new normal, but make it your own, the one you control. Show denial and depression the door, they have no place in your new normal. Connect with like minded people and build a network that supports one another. Say what you have to say without hesitance and do what you have to do. Don’t judge others and don’t allow others to judge you.

The holiday spirit and cheer are real, so long as you embrace them. Get dazzled by what they can do to you, your mood and inner self.

Don’t feel guilty about experiencing joy because you will, and it’s not wrong. Let the season do its magic on you! Relive your childhood, let the nostalgic feelings of happier times gone by swoosh over you.

Appreciate your today, what you have and feel blessed!
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
By: Lennie Varvarides
Tags: Appreciation, Encouragement, Creative Process, Gratitude, Development

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I’m new to the platform so your encouragement is very much appricated. 💜 Merry Christmas.
A Different Kind of COVID Test
By: Journey On The Spectrum
Tags: Asperger, Christmas, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Covid 19 Crisis, Gratitude

My family lives on the other side of the country and many are in the high risk age group for COVID so I am being responsible and staying away. It’s Christmas Eve and I miss my family more than ever. I haven’t seen any of them since this time last year and I haven’t physically been in a room with another person socially/privately for 9 months.

Solitude has been a sanctuary to me for many years and yet I am struggling with all of this isolation, especially during the holidays. I can always just drown it in vodka and cigarettes but I’m really trying not to feed the addict inside me because he’s been in control for the past 6 years and that miserable prick is trying to kill me.

So how about a little DIY cognitive behavioral therapy instead. I need to address my mental state and choose a different direction to focus on. Instead of focusing on what’s missing in my life, I am going to really try and think about a few of the things I’m grateful for in my life today.

I am so very grateful to be back in California. I moved here 18 years ago and absolutely love it. I grew up on the East coast, and my career has taken me all over the country. After 3 years in the “Bible Belt”, I truly hope to now be back in California long term.

When I got this job offer almost 3 years ago now, I played 2Pac & Dre’s California Love on repeat for hours. I just played the song and it brought back the feeling of bouncing and dancing and thanking God for letting me come back home. I promised to focus on living a “happy & healthy” lifestyle and not to squander this precious gift.

I’m grateful for the relationships I have with family and friends. Thus far, I’ve given you little reason not to give up on me and yet here you are somehow. I hope to one day earn it. I was laughing as I wrote the last paragraph and now I’m writing this one through tears so I think I’d better move along for now. Much more to come — sorry.

I’m grateful for my career and the company I work for. I have a real shot at achieving my long-term goals. This company really does put people first and I feel truly valued here. I used to think of corporate America as swimming with the sharks…OK, let’s be honest, I still do think that because well, it pretty much is exactly that. Here, I was [probably still am] perceived as a “shark” and need to find my kinder, gentler side to advance into senior leadership.

What little I know so far of cognitive behavioral therapy, I believe that I can choose what to focus on. So I’m really going to try to focus on gratitude and progress and see how that goes.

Tomorrow promises to be the “productive” Christmas I’ve ever had in my life.
2020 Was a Weird & Ugly Clusterfuck
By: Elle C.
Tags: 2020, Inspiration, Mental Health, Holidays, Gratitude

2020 Was a Weird & Ugly Clusterfuck

The nutcracker standing on my fireplace mantle is pathetic — a damaged, macabre holiday icon. Tragically decapitated at the hairline, like an unfortunate dinner guest of Hannibal Lector, this lobotomy patient now reigns over my 2020 Christmas. One painted eye is partially scraped off. The other fixed and open, in a perpetual, leering wink. The sword at his side is also broken and hangs flaccid. These injury sources are new and mysterious. After the holidays last year, he was intact and carefully packed away — a brave and solid decoration. This year, he emerged from the wrappings a mangled travesty.

There’s great sentimental value attached to this poor wooden soldier. The nutcracker was a gift from my mother in 1990, after we attended the holiday ballet with my two oldest children. And since that time, this nutcracker has stood watch over every Christmas and New Year. He’s steeped in memories of Christmas past.

When I pulled him from the box a few weeks ago and saw the damage, my first thought was, “What now 2020? Is there nothing sacred?”

I almost pitched him straight in the trash.

But on reflection, I am keeping my nutcracker. He is a visual reminder to STFU and count my blessings. While 2020 was a serious multi-level disaster, the year also gifted me with unparalleled gratitude. It took this broken and banged up curiosity of a holiday decoration to readjust my thinking.
Christmas Morning 20201225
By: Jenny Lawton
Tags: Love, Gratitude, Haiku, Mindfulness

Haiku and Sijo from my daily awakening mind
The Buddha’s Best Advice
By: Sam Tackeberry
Tags: Buddhism, Buddha, Nirvana, Gratitude, Peace

Can we reach Nirvana? Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t really care.

These earthly things may cloud our vision.

They say, ‘We must learn to let go,’ but what do they mean?

An answer might be small; we might need a microscope.

A microscope may not suffice. An answer may not be under us.

An answer might be large; we might need a telescope.

A telescope may not suffice. An answer may not be above us.

Maybe an answer can be felt instead.

I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths.

I am waiting on nature until nature is waiting on me.

A love spreads, a wave crashes, a sun rises, and I can feel a simple truth:

Gratitude.
Dear Stranger
Tags: Kindness, Poem, Love, Gratitude, Poetry

Photo by Tom Parsons on Unsplash

Dear Stranger,

I wonder how are you?

Together we all stood stronger,

United, we pull this through;

Thank you for being here,

I’m indebted for your kindness,

By lending your listening ear,

For pulling me from the darkness;

Thank you for being kind,

Who helped me in times of need,

For watching my back from behind,

We helped one another succeed;

Together we stood in unity,

Peaceful in harmony we reside,

Regardless of religion and ideology,

Like neighbours that live beside;

We may be of different race,

A contrast between our skin colours,

Our differences we all embrace,

Being human is all that matters;
Reining In Self-Pity
By: Magdelena Wolfe
Tags: Self Improvement, Appreciation, Mental Health, Self Pity, Gratitude

Photo by Robert Tjalondo on Unsplash

Learning to rein in self-pity took me years of practice, therapy and plenty of reading, but I feel much more at ease with myself because of it.

Here are four ways I’ve learned to get unstuck from feeling sorry for myself. I hope they help you too!

1. Understand that you’re not the only one

If you:

Come from a family that doesn’t like to talk about their problems (like I did)

Have a small social circle (like me) or

You’ve been spending a lot of time on social media (also guilty)

Then you might feel like the only one who has major challenges. But I promise you aren’t.

Don’t believe me? Try finding a forum for people that deal with your issue. You’ll likely discover some who have it worse than you and others who have suggestions that could help you.

And if you can, muster your courage and really talk to someone you respect about how your situation makes you feel, and ask them about what challenges they’ve faced. You may be surprised by how much they can relate.

2. Accept that it’s terrible and it did happen to you

“But it wasn’t supposed to be like this!”

I get it. You’re probably right and life would have been much better if it hadn’t happened. But what makes you exempt from experiencing it?

Sadly, there is no proof that you can earn your way out of troubles & tragedies by being a good person. Being a human here on earth subjects you to other humans, diseases, natural disasters, etc. Isn’t one of them bound to hit you eventually?

Even knowing this, it’s hard not to ask “Why did this happen to me?” But…

3. Stop asking “Why?”

It’s usually the wrong question and it can lead to more frustration that healing. In my experience, the best thing you can ask yourself, after you’ve processed some pain, is “What will I do about it now?”

Because that’s all you can do. We all want to understand why, but sometimes you have to let go of that question for your own sanity.

4. Practice appreciation

I think religion is really onto something with this one. Christians give thanks to God before supper, Shintoists show appreciation to the spirits of inanimate objects and the Knight Solaire of Astora shows gratitude by praising the sun.

But you don’t have to be religious to practice finding things to be grateful for. Take some time at lunch to consider the people you care about. Before bed, think of times when you didn’t have comforts that you have now.

Appreciation is the antithesis of self-pity and is excellent for your mental health. When you’re focusing on the things you appreciate, it’s hard to feel bad for yourself.
Sunrise 20201224
By: Jenny Lawton
Tags: Gratitude, Haiku, Nature, Mindfulness

Haiku and Sijo from my daily awakening mind
These Dark Days Ahead? Meet Them At the Door Laughing, and Invite Them In
By: Craig, The Gratidude
Tags: Narnia, Christmas, Gratidude, Rumi, Gratitude

Photo Credit: Benjamin Catapane/Unsplash

Last month I wrote in a post that I couldn’t remember ever wanting Christmas and Hanukkah season so badly, and that I have been, in the not-too-distant past, a misanthrope about the winter holidays.

Not this year, I said.

I have been hearing from customers and fellow workers a general dread of how bleak life will feel after all the celebrations. There is some kind of diversion, right now. Soon the world may feel the same as CS Lewis’s Narnia felt before Aslan returned. Always winter and never Christmas.

If I had been engaged in this Inquiry Into A Gratitude-Inspired Life thirty-five or maybe forty years ago, I would have had to confront my burgeoning hatred, disgust and resentment of what I saw as the huge commercialized hoax called Christmas before it really took root in my life. I would have been challenged to take a look at how I was stressing everything that sucked and not asking “What’s great about this?”

Moving to the Bay Area in the early 90s, my wife and I finally just became Christmas dropouts. We celebrated like our Jewish friends, going out for Chinese food, and we went to movies and had absolutely nothing to do with any of it. We sent no cards, we gave no gifts, including my own children, my mom, my brother, any one in my family, probably most of whom will never understand why I turned into an asshole about it.

I was absolutely stressing all the crap and not looking around at what was wonderful about the season. I didn’t give myself a chance to imbue this day with my own meaning. There is real sweetness about this time of year, now that I have eyes to see it again.

Photo Credit:Annie Spratt/Unsplash

The thing is, right now is a great chance to flex our meaning-making muscles. Now and when we’re facing down the rest of the long winter.

A few lines from Rumi may help, as we turn our eyes toward a New Year. It is apparently one of the most frequently recited poems in mindfulness retreats and courses around the world. That may well be true, but once it was brand new, like a classic that “everyone has read” or the movie that “everyone has seen.” Like a classic, there’s also always something new to see.

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

My wish for you on this Christmas that you, even if for the briefest of moments, experience the grace of actual gratitude for something in your life, no matter what your faith tradition, and see this day, and the dark cold ones to follow, as an unexpected visitor.
December 23 Advent Gratitude
By: Catherine T Davidson
Tags: Gratitude, Advent, Reading, Sisters

My favourite California flower — a beautiful immigrant that has thrived

In California where my sister lives it is still December 23rd. In London, it is morning, still dark, everyone in my house asleep.

I have been writing these advent gratitudes into the dark of this winter. Sometimes someone else will read them and send a clap or a like. Mostly, I know I am writing them for myself — to remember light, to take a moment to be grateful for life, for the surprises that the everyday world brings, gifts that can be as simple as a sky crossed by clouds, a bird in the feeder, a smile from a stranger, and deep, too — so deep we take the gift for granted.

Today’s gratitude is like that. Yesterday brought many gifts: doing a Zoom quiz with a group of family friends, hosted by the teenage son I’d last seen when he was a round and quiet ten year old; sitting by the window in the rain, writing cards, listening to music, giving a minute’s thought to each person whose name I put on an envelope, thinking about them with my whole heart. Mentoring a work colleague who is writing a book and hearing about her progress; finding out a poetry pamphlet I edited will be published.

The real gift, running under all of it, was my sister. The 23rd is her birthday; middle child, she was also born just two days short of Christmas and my mother’s birthday — the big event overshadowing hers every year, her gifts pulled into the Christmas melee. She is one of the most interesting and powerful people I know, and yet she is least interested in herself.

When I got married, she told me that she loves to be next to the spotlight, but not in it. Those who are close to her know what it is like when she gives you her attention, the way you grow in the beam of her light, and how hard it is to turn that beam back on her — to make her see how she herself shines like a star. Sometimes I think the people who have the most right to light up the world are the least likely to recognise that, to claim it, their turning away from attention part of their magic power.

We both like reading about other people’s lives — books where people reveal emotional truths that otherwise might remain hidden. Recently, she told me to read Know My Name by Chanel Miller; I am now nearly finished with it. I probably would not have read it without her recommendation; in our current moment, it is hard to be drawn to books associated with assault, with violence against women. But this is a book about surviving; it’s a book about claiming your voice. It is also a story about two sisters: how they look after each other, how they ride through life as passenger and driver, sometimes one, sometimes the other: stronger together than alone. I have always felt like the world is bigger, better and more possible because of my sister.

What a gift she is to me (after a lifetime together she still surprises me with her depths); to her clients; to her friends; above all, to her family.

Today, for the gift of my sister I am truly grateful.
Christmas Morning
By: Lubov L
Tags: Christmas, Poem, Love, Gratitude, Poetry On Medium

Christmas Morning

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

I will make you a cup of coffee,

So you could awake from your dream.

Together, we’ll meet snowy morning,

And check our Christmas tree.

I’ll sit on the floor with your present -

The box will be perfectly wrapped.

My heart will be pounding somewhere,

Guessing what you have prepared.

The wrapping will be torn in a second,

And I will open the box.

I’ll raise my eyes. “It is empty.”

You’ll give me a smile. “It is not.”

I’ll narrow my eyes. “Are you kidding?”

“You know, this year was tough.

I decided we should be grateful

For the things we already have -

For the love that we share together,

For our health, and for life we live.

Nothing will last forever…

Let’s be happy as long as we breath.”

I’ll kiss you and hug you tightly,

Then I’ll say, “This is all that I want.”

Then you will open your present.

“It is empty.”

I’ll smile. “It is not.”

P.S. Thank you for reading!
Warm Season’s Greetings
By: Melissa Bee
Tags: Paper Poetry, Holidays, Love, Gratitude, Poetry

Warm Season’s Greetings

Warm wishes to you and your family for a happy, healthy, prosperous, and blessed holiday season! 🥳❄️☃️

May love, light, and peace be with you for the end of 2020 & all of 2021! 💛✨✌🏽

Here’s to merry minds, pleased bellies, joyful smiles, and warm hearts! 🧘🏽‍♀️🍯😁🔥❤️
The Long December
By: Geoff Cook
Tags: 2020, Self Improvement, Motivational, Self, Gratitude

The Long December

’Tis the season of taking stock, of planning, resolutions, and hope. The Counting Crows sang: “Maybe this year will be better than the last.” John Lennon asked: “And so this is Christmas and what have we done?”

2020 answered the question: We are here, that’s what we’ve done.

Many people are not. Many are sick, and many more suffering from the loneliness of this experiment in isolation. They say there is a vaccine, that, by summer, maybe things will be “normal.”

I say there’s no such thing.

We, humans, are good at setting a new baseline of happiness no matter the condition. We walk a hedonic treadmill. After some weeks or months, we normalize anything. Today we yearn for the days when only global warming, inequality, and “normal” wars and pestilences raged.

2020 united us in isolation but divided us further. We learned that we can all feel pain, fear, and loss at the same time, but we learned nothing from it. When we commiserated, we did it over over Zoom, allowing a global network of wire to mediate our yearning for connection.

We each sequestered in our fear, disgracing ourselves intellectually, dividing ourselves politically, plumbing new depths of hate. We, who all suffer together and ultimately the same fate, decided we were too different to feel empathy. Our tears of pity locked and frozen.

And for what? So the barking dogs of our politics could bark louder? So the grievances we’ve let fester for so long could become monsters?

The poet Rumi said:

“There are values in pain that are difficult to see without the presence of a guest. Walk with grief like a good friend.”

In 2020 … were we guests to each others’ pain?

Or did we divide into families and parties and factions, choosing the tribe, rejecting our shared humanity?

Rather than find the kernel of gratitude in the fact that, no matter how bad things are, they can always get worse, we decided we were owed something better than we got.

Dismiss 2020 as a dumpster fire at your own risk. Choose instead to find the goodness that is everywhere apparent. Choose to find the people and things to be grateful for. They will not be there always.

See the beauty in a child’s preparing milk and cookies for Santa, in a friend’s gift, in a meal on the table, in a tear on a cheek.

Another year’s over and a new one is begun. Maybe this year will be better than the last.

In Memory of W.B. Yeats by W.H. Auden
COVID- Unplugged
By: Dark Hand Behind The Curtains
Tags: Never Give Up, For A Better Future, Gratitude, Covid Diaries

Time flows. Here we are eagerly waiting for 2021.

However, The year 2020 consisted of too many up and downs for many people . It taught us to pay fucking gratitude to Almighty and be optimistic regardless of situations.

Life was good at the start of the year. I was finally giving my final semester with a carefree attitude since I already got placement in a firm. You will be surprised to know my attitude in exam hall. I was like, putting my pen and answer sheets on the desk and waiting for 1 hour before writing and completing it within 45 minutes. Then as soon as the bell rang (Boom, Now run Motherf**ker), For me and my friends it was time to go.

After the semester, I returned to my home and was counting days. Completing all formalities, I got a date for onboarding to the firm. But here comes the COVID messing with all plans. The firm asked us wait and finally in October asked us to look for different opportunities since my placement was revoked.

It was like a disaster for someone like me a Fucking Freshie.

After that disaster, I was like WHY? But after regaining my wits I didn’t curse or spit some curse words. In India, Regardless of the situation whether its good or bad, people will say,” Jo huwa ache ke liye huwa” ( Whatever happened it was good)

But what it taught was gratitude. I believe if I can get placement once, I can do it again too.

Looking for jobs on various platforms with optimism. Hoping for better tomorrow. Stay safe.
How To Write In Your Daily Log When You Have An Average Day
By: Edith Sam
Tags: Life, Journal, Writing, Self, Gratitude

Journal Tip

You have 8760 hours in 1 year.

Photo by Dylan Lu on Unsplash

You have 8760 hours in 1 year.

You spent 2920 hours sleeping for 1 year.

You have 5840 hours to live your life as a human for 365 days.

“This is your life and its ending one moment at a time.” ― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

If you are an average human, there will be average days in your life.

You wake up and eat your breakfast; you go to work.

You do your tasks and head home to watch a few “Friends” episodes on Netflix.

You buy the same groceries from the same store and cook your Spaghetti with the same brand of Olive Oil.

You brush your teeth and prepare for bedtime.

You repeat the routine the next day.
Argentina Performance Art: La primera plataforma de investigación teórica sobre performance nacional
By: Camila Stehling
Tags: Artes Visuales, Leedor, Performance, Archivo, Investigación

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Rapper/Producer Phantom And Brother Perform As“Cosmic Tribe”
By: Michael Stover
Tags: Facebook, Performance, Music, Atlanta, Rap

Alex Petersen (born August 10, 2002 in Delft, The Netherlands), known professionally as Phantom, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, engineer and producer from Atlanta, Georgia. He is also the founder of the music collective Gangsta Vibez Entertainment (GVE). Petersen collaborates frequently with his brother Kameron (Sirreal) under the name “Cosmic Tribe”.

Until the COVID crisis struck, Phantom regularly performed at local venues in the Atlanta area and was widely lauded for his energetic and engaging style. Together with his brother, he anticipates frequent Facebook Live shows entitled “Nightlife with Phantom and Sirreal” beginning in early 2021.

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-26405438

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGY-bloHoHZIYfWNMPNzpVg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_thaphantom_/
How to instrument SwiftUI app
By: Khoa Pham
Tags: Swiftui, Performance, Xcode, Instrument, Profile

With Xcode 12, we can fire up Instrument to profile our app. Select SwiftUI template

There are many profiles in that template, I find SwiftUI and Time Profile very useful. Here’s the profile I run for my app PastePal

SwiftUI View Body

This shows how many instance of View with body invocation are there, both for SwiftUI views and our app views

Taking a look at SwiftUI profile, it shows that ClipboardCell is taking most of the time, here over 7 seconds

Time Profiler

This shows how much time was spent in each functions and call stack.

Then we drill down to Time Profiler, it shows that NSSharingService.submenu accounts for 75% of performance issue

With these instruments, I found out that the NSSharingService context menu I added has pure performance. A quick fix is to cache the items using static variable.

There are more to optimize in my case, for example calculation of image and dominant colors. But we should only optimize when seeing real performance issue and after proper instruments

Fix and instrument again

After the fix, the time reduces from over 7 seconds to just less than 200ms
“Laddu Daddu”
By: Aagaaz Theatre Trust
Tags: Performance, Learning, Theatre, Training, Community

The thing that stayed with me most in the first few weeks of working with the core team of Aagaaz in the park was that no one knew the names of things but everyone knew how to make them up. We were introduced to games that seemed to have bizarre names: something about a chicken, something about spotting, something about laddus. These games themselves were familiar that I had perhaps played as a kid or in some theatre workshop, but the names had betrayed my understanding of them. Dog and the bone but not quite. Gol spot was Ghum ghum stop. That one I recognised.

But working with this group is always quite like this: a familiar sensation, the warmth of a playground, and an invitation to a microcosm of its own. I think I’m the only person who hasn’t worked with everyone closely before. So I’m still discovering the little shared gestures, the common jokes, the slight indications that someone wants control, the glance that says I am bored. But each time I find some pieces of the puzzle, and it’ll probably come together eventually.

I’ve realised I really like being led. Three sessions out of four in a month are sessions where I get to be a participant, to be led. To be asked to run and jump. I am far more nervous about the sessions I need to plan for. I normally begin by thinking about exercises that I am comfortable leading and then about how a bunch of them can come together. I usually find myself grouped with two people who seem fairly confident about where their activities fit in the session, how much time they will take, and why they fit in the overall focus of that day. Sometimes I come across a ridiculous name and I resist asking so I get the chance to discover what that is during the session. Laddu Daddu was worth the wait. Sometimes, one of them will say I’ve invented something that lasts twenty minutes and sometimes, while everything would’ve been planned, one of them will invent something at that very moment.

Perhaps that’s how you build a good microcosm: you experiment, you add and remove things, but somehow, it makes sense in that space. The narratives, tangents, and arcs keep moving but that world remains consistent. It’s what makes you trust it, invites you in and convinces you it will be there even if you look away. I’m learning that if you believe in a fictional world strongly enough, you can trust that your actions will fit right in. I’m learning that even if I am scared to lead an activity one day, I can begin by giving it a ridiculous name.
Does supportive feedback mislead the receiver evaluating his own performance?
Tags: Supportive, Positive, Performance, Receiver, Feedback

Does supportive feedback mislead the receiver evaluating his own performance? Noomen ·Dec 25, 2020

I don’t think that a supportive feedback can mislead the receiver evaluating his own performance.

In fact a positive feedback will make the receiver believing in himself and encourage him to do better and better in the future. Like so he will improve his performance and excell in the following endevaour.

On the other hand the receiver is always expecting a supportive and positive feedback that would encourage him and leverage his selfconfidence.

From another perspective, a supportive feedback could be seen as an effort recognition that every person on earth is expecting to get to help him progress in his life and in the projects he is doing.

Finally, we can conclude that supportive feedbacks does not mislead receivers evaluating their own performance.
Stress while performing : What it is and how to control it
By: Ye Quan
Tags: Mental Health Awareness, Stress Management, Performance, Sports, Control

Stress is something that everyone feels on a daily basis, whether they are big or small, depending on the situation you are in. But in reality, what is stress?

As we all know, stress is a state of mental or emotional strain that results from unusual, adverse or very demanding circumstances. While under stressful situations, many people tend to panic, lose patience, and their ability to think calmly. The body also tenses up and might prevent people from moving the way they want to, which is quite problematic, especially for athletes while they are performing. This is our body’s natural way to respond while facing “abnormal” or “dangerous” situations in order to adapt. But what we really feel instead, is the partial or total loss of control over our body, and in most cases (not all of them), it just doesn’t help at all to face difficult situations. What can we do in order to stay in control?

To stay in control while under stressful situations, it is important to have a few keywords in mind. You won’t need a lot of them, just 2 or 3 should suffice. The point is to keep your focus on those keywords to prevent other stressful distractions. For example, as a professional figure skater myself, me and my partner often face stressful situations like competitions, monitorings, live events, etc… To deal with the stress, we often think of 2 keywords like “breathe” or “glide”, it could even be “have fun”! The main goal of this method is to really keep your mind focused on your objective and the distractions away. Of course, it does take a little bit of practice, and it might not work for everyone since no one is the same, but after two or three times, you should already feel how it affects you in your performance. Thinking too much will make it difficult to focus on a single point, and you might end up losing yourself in negative thoughts which will end up stressing you out even more than you were instead. The most important part is to pull your focus from those dark thoughts, back to your keyword. It will take some practice but the results should be rewarding.

Like I said earlier, this method might not work for everyone, and it will not block out stress completely. It will only help your mind to stay in control over your thoughts and to keep other distractions away as much as possible while performing.

I hope this article has helped you and please share this to others so other might also benefit from it!
The Great Performance
By: Russ W
Tags: Performance, America, Poetry, Culture, Politics

The curtain’s always drawn,

The show never ends.

I entered mid-scene, and I know

I can be yanked from the cast

At every moment.

So, I bleed my roles,

I overplay my hands —

Hoping I signal my allegiances,

Strong enough.

I deconstruct the disbelievers —

Tearing them from life, from limb.

I find security in my tribe.

I seek comfort in a common enemy.

My hate and my rage hold down

The fear of the cut that wells up inside.

I stick to the script, but

I forget my lines.

So, I go through the motions,

Following the lead of the crowd.

I’ve lost myself in the role,

Unable to see the true toll.

It takes me out of consciousness.

My thoughts have no conscience.

I must have the part because

No one told me to stop.

I shout and scream and cry until

I am the part.

I fight for what I’m told is my right

Because my tribe has spoken.

My freedom has been broken,

By a bit of cloth.

I bleat with all my might.

I consume everything in sight.

No matter how much I eat I’m never full.

I grit out a grin over the slop in the trough.

The show can’t go on if I stop

Performing.

Those are the rules.

I need to kick and squeal.

I can’t let sickness steal

My nation’s next meal.

Omelets take cracked eggs.

Sometimes we need to eat our own

To fuel the fire of the American dream.

There’s no time to waste on thought.

Action and emotion,

Anger and commotion

Are the only way to bury the past,

And rewrite the path

Forward.

The private viewers in the balcony;

They just jeer and laugh.

Their grins grow greedy —

Teeth gleaming sharply.

Their eyes grow wide as they watch

The consumers pour in, mesmerized

By the tragedy on stage.

The only substance is the overacting.

The masks are wearing me out.

The constant turbulence is torture.

My mind grows weary from hyperbole.

The performance emptied me out

Like a dumpster on garbage day.

My worn and rusting metal shell

Sits proudly

In the middle of the road,

Knowing I did my part

To force you to take another path.
Performance Optimisations
By: Santosh Rangarajan
Tags: Latency, Performance, Throughput, Optimization, Application Development

In this post I want to share cheat sheet which highlights tricks that be used to increase throughput and decrease latency
How to Build Your Kid’s Sports Instinct
By: Kj Hanson
Tags: Practice, Parenting, Performance, Reflex, Youth Sports

How to Build Your Kid’s Sports Instinct

Sports Instinct is a form of in-game reflex. How does a professional running back know to stiff-arm a defender instead of trying to out-maneuver them or plant his foot and spin away? It’s an innate instinct developed and perfected over hundreds of games and years or experience. They have built up this instinct by making thousands of subconscious reactions to the thousands of times that they are in a similar situation. They have consciously discovered their strengths and their best abilities to use in nearly every circumstance.

How does this all relate to your child? Simple, we need to let out children figure out for themselves how their actions effect the game and what is happening on the field. It sounds simple enough, but many parents and even a lot of coaches find themselves coaching from the sidelines during a game.

Imagine this scenario:

Your daughter is 8 years old and is a forward on her youth sports soccer team. Her teammate passes her the ball when she is near the goal, but there is a defender and the goalie in her way. Now she has two choices: She can take the shot and likely be blocked, or she can pass to her teammate on the other side of the goal with a wide-open shot to score. From the sidelines, this seems like a no-brainer, so you yell, “Pass it to Lexi!” She does, and Lexi scores a goal. You may even think to yourself, “Whew, good thing I was there to tell her what to do!” But let’s examine that real quick.

What did your daughter learn or develop in that scenario? She makes the right decision because a voice from the sidelines told her what to do. Now the only instinct that she develops is to listen to be told what to do when she is faced with an on-field decision.

Now let’s look at the alternative. Either a) she takes the shot and it gets blocked. She learns that she shouldn’t be so quick to shoot when there are defenders blocking her way and realizes that next time, she needs to pass the ball. Or b) she passes the ball to her teammate who scores the goal and she feels good that she made the right decision. She knows to repeat that behavior if a similar situation presents itself in the next game.

Sure, there was a chance that her team would miss a chance to score, but you would have made your daughter a worst soccer player, one that can’t make decisions for themselves on the field. Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t one single instance that will ruin your daughter’s soccer career, but her learning and developing will be a combination of all the experiences she has on the field. Let her make the most of them!
Navigating between directories efficiently
By: Omkar Birade
Tags: Command Line, Performance, Linux Tutorial, Utilities, Linux

Working on the command line efficiently means to jump between directories as fast as possible.

Along with using plugins such as autojump, pushd and popd etc, I also use some custom aliases that I have created over time which help me be more efficient.

One such alias that I use is

cd.. n where n represents the number of directory levels you want to move up

The script is very crisp and elegant

function cd_up() {

cd $(printf "%0.s../" $(seq 1 $1 ));

}

alias 'cd..'='cd_up'

script credits : grigory-k

Add this function to ~/.bashrc to be able to use the alias anywhere.

Usage:

Let us assume my current working directory is ~/interleap/Desktop/work/projects/userclient

~/interleap/Desktop/work/projects/userclient$ cd.. 2

~/interleap/Desktop/work$ cd.. 3

~

Script breakdown

e.g.
Which Football Team is Best on Boxing Day?
By: James Reade
Tags: Soccer, Boxing Day, Performance, Football

I’ve just written on Forbes about the Premier League’s best and worst teams on Boxing Day, that English footballing tradition.

Of course, I calculated the league table on Boxing Day for all Football League teams who have played at least 30 matches on Boxing Day.

The table is ordered on points per game, rather than points, given that different teams have played different numbers of matches on Boxing Day (postponements in the past, and more recently, scheduling differences).

In the tables below there’s the standard league table information (matches played, games won, drawn, lost, goals scored, conceded, and points (3 for a win, 1 for a draw)), and then there’s points per game, and also the Elo rating “shock” factor cumulated for teams to get some sense of the extent to which teams positively or negatively shock on Boxing Day.

So here’s the overall list:
Do we need to measure marketing performance?
Tags: Performance, Mindmap, Marketing Metrics, Marketing

What Is Marketing?

Marketing is a process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships to capture value from customers in return

Can we measure Marketing Performance?

A senior marketing manager in a Fortune 100 company once told

‘‘Every week I have to go to a gun ﬁght, the senior executive leadership meeting, and I am tired of going to this gunﬁght carrying only a knife.’’

His frustration was the result of having no concrete data to answer hard questions about the value of marketing activities in his division.

What is a metric?

A metric is a measuring system that quantiﬁes a trend, dynamic or characteristic.

Metrics are used to explain phenomena, diagnose causes, share ﬁndings and project the results of future events.

Metrics encourage rigour and objectivity.

They make it possible to compare observations across regions and time periods.

They facilitate understanding and collaboration.

Mind Map for measuring marketing performing

MARKETING METRICS vs. MARKETING ANALYTICS

To build a performance advantage we first need to understand how Marketing Analytics (instrumentation) drives Marketing Metrics (performance metrics) .

drives . Marketing Analytics are the tools and data needed to produce Marketing Metrics which are measures of performance.

Measuring Marketing Performance

The measurement of marketing is one of the most important business needs today as companies face increasing pressures to demonstrate financial returns across the organization from shareholders, investors, senior managers, and boards of directors.