Questallia

Yesterday we had the first real fall day, with cold, rain, wind and all that stuff we love for about two-three days, then we hate for half a year. It smells like fall, yellow leaves are already covering the sidewalk and I cannot stop thinking about the cute Halloween costumes for kids I’ve seen on the internet. There are plenty of models, for boys, for girls and even for toddlers, and the new 2008 costumes collection promises more fun than the past ones, that’s for sure.

Halloween Is Spooky, But Costumes Don’t Have To

Of course I’ve seen spooky Haloween costumes, but actually the greatest majority of the costumes are rather cute, funny, or crazy, but not spooky. If you want to see that for yourself, you can check these costumes collections sorted by type of customer, to make search easier. It’s a lot of fun, as they include kids’ favorite characters from animated movies or from adventure movies. The Darth Vader costume, the Jack Sparrow costume and the Batman costume are only a few of boys’ top favorites. Girls are rather the princess costume type, while toddlers can wear bee costumes or cute puppy costumes, or anything else, with the condition to be tiny and cute.

Adults can have their share of costumed fun, with famous couples costumes, or with sexy costumes, or with masks, wigs and wings which can complete the costume outfits. If you are too fat, and you feel like it is already too late to go on a weight loss diet or fitness training program that gives you the correct way to lose 5 pounds in a week, you can choose a plus size costume, as they have cool models, so overweight people still have fun and feel at ease in their Halloween outfit.

When we think of our brain, we never visualize it like two completely separated hemispheres, bound together only by the Corpus Callosum, each hemisphere having different functions and even its distinct personality. For most of us, the brain is just the thinking organ.

Doctor in neuroanatomy Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: one morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. She describes her experience, her feelings, her thoughts, her actions, in a very plastic and touching manner. Although it took her 8 years to completely recover from the stroke, the experience was priceless, as she discovered Nirvana, she discovered the real peace of mind, the wellness fountain, and now she knows that love and understanding can be the choice of each human, if we only wanted to. She thinks this message is worth spreading, and this is the purpose of my post here: get Jill’s words out there, so more people see that world could be looking different, if only we chose that.

When you say “I have lots of friends” or “I have a lot of connections”, did it ever occur to you what is the reason you have so many connections? Why do those people keep contact with you?

I wanted to find out and I did an experiment: for two months, I did not call anybody (except my family, as they would not understand such experiments) and I waited to see how many of them would call me, just to see how I am, just to say “hello, I wanted to hear your voice”. During the experiment, I was not employed and I did not start any major project that may have attracted people to participate.

With nothing to offer and hidden in my house, I had a very big surprise: during the two months, only two persons called me to see how I am. Two!

When I used to work as marketing manager for a big company, I received such phone calls every day, from many people, just wondering “how are you, my dear?”, but in reality chasing my willingness to give them some projects to work.

When I used to take initiative and call people, they would respond gladly, the connection would be maintained. When I took no initiative, then I found out that very few people care about the others. Sometimes, even what seemed to be a 10 years friendship faded away facing my decision of not keeping those contacts anymore. When I remember the times when my friends and I were shopping for Born shoes and Coach bags in Vienna, and how we decided together to buy used spinning bikes, this makes me sad a little bit, you know?

Here I am, worth three phone calls, and wiser: if you want connections, then keep them, don’t wait for people to call you, because they won’t and don’t make yourself any illusions they care for you. They don’t really care for anybody, life is rushing them too fast, so they don’t have the time to stop and think of people they like. Usually, they stop only to think of people they need. I don’t think this is good or bad, it’s just the way it is.

Then I put is the other way around: how many people do I call without wanting something, just to check they are OK? The answer is five. In this difference of three people between the called and the callers resides the disappointment.

So, how many phone calls are YOU worth?

P.S. This is just a quick note that I discovered a household cleaning tool which can raise your morale and put you in a good mood, because it not only cleans the surfaces, but it removed germs, bacteria, molds and other allergens: steam cleaners just make efficient cleaning possible at low costs, because tap water is almost free.