Beautiful life, beautiful world, beautiful time

As I was going through my car’s glove box this morning to remove the many paper napkins that have piled up over the past few months, I realized I have a few music CDs in there. And I’ve been so busy with life, I can’t remember the last time I listened to any of them. I found a few Sting CDs in the pile, James Blunt, Keane, and a CD with various songs, including one I had completely forgotten about.

It’s called Beautiful Life by the band Fisher. Part of the song has been used for several TV commercials over the past seven years. This song, Beautiful Life, is just… beautiful. If you every need a pick-me-up, this song will do it, every time. I myself can’t listen to it without humming, singing, and smiling from ear to ear, thinking about my two kids. Because this song is all about showing your kids how beautiful life is, how beautiful the world around us is, how to seize the day, look around and notice the small things. And Kathy Fisher, the band’s singer, has one of the most beautiful, purest voices I’ve ever heard. She’s one of those singers who sing with her heart, not her gut.

I’ll let you enjoy this song, so you can tell me what you think. It’s just too beautiful not to share. Then scroll down and hear what other Fisher songs I really like.

Several years ago, Fisher wrote a 30-second song for the San Diego Zoo called Only One You. It’s pure bliss, and it gives me the chills every time I watch this commercial

Feel free to read more about the band Fisher and listen to more of their music on the Fisher website. And I dare you to listen to the song “I Will Love You” while thinking about someone who’s not with you anymore without crying. It’s one of those very sad songs that somehow makes you feel better, if you know what I mean.

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. with a single quote

Last week I took the plunge and answered the “50 questions that will free your mind”. Question #13 was:
Would you break the law to save a loved one?
My answer, as short as it could be, was “Absolutely.”

Today I read a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. that made me think about this very question, and now I know how King would have answered it himself.

“Never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”
― Martin Luther King Jr

Such timeless advice, still relevant today.

My husband and I happened to watch the movie The Help this weekend. We didn’t time it to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. day. It just happened to show up at the library late last week and it gave us the opportunity to watch a movie together this weekend. I read the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett several months ago and I loved it. I thought it was especially good as a first time novel, with an interesting way to tell a fascinating story. As always, I found the book  much better than the movie since many parts had to be cut, but the scenes still flowed well.

I just can’t imagine these events happened barely 60 years ago. Of course, we’ve come a long way since then (at least compared to how things used to be) but it’s still hard for me to remember how bad things were not so long ago.  And so, if I could change my answer to the question Would you break the law to save a loved one?, I’d refine it with this answer. “To do what’s right, absolutely.”

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Follow-up thoughts on ADHD and divergent thinking

After I wrote my post titled Diagnosing a four-year old with ADHD – really? a little over a week ago, I got a very interesting comment from fellow blogger Nancy at nrhatch. (Thanks, Nancy!) She suggested I read her post Changing Education Paradigms where she features a great video from RSA Animate (I love their videos) enhancing a speech from Sir Ken Robinson. In it, he explains how much off-track our education systems around the world really are. His statement is based on the type of workers we need to prepare for the 21th century’s economy, as well as the way a child’s mind works and what type of schooling can bring the best out of our children.

I love the part where Robinson explains that most five-year-olds use divergent thinking (asking questions such as, what if?, why?, why not? ) but by the time they reach their teens, the education system has crushed their divergent thinking and replaced it with the very uninspired, non-critical convergent thinking. Perfect to create quiet, docile plant workers who will follow their leader without questioning, but not much else. And the increase in standardized testing will only reinforce the use of convergent thinking, as divergent thinkers have a hard time answering standardized tests. That’s because every answer has to be either A or B. There’s no more room for creativity, and imagination is being shunned in our schools. As if it was a bad thing to “think out of the box.”

Out of our minds: Learning to be creative by Sir Ken Robinson

After working almost 15 years in the corporate world, I can tell you most workers can’t even conceive thinking out of the box. You may think I’m stretching the truth, but spend just one hour in a meeting room with middle to upper management people and you’ll understand what I mean. Quite a shame, since our evolving world and its economic challenges will require just that. New ideas, new concepts, new technologies. And our schools are doing nothing to ensure getting our kids will be ready for this new world.

I’m not sure how we can get it so wrong and why we’re not turning things around quickly enough. I’m afraid it’s our responsibility as parents to make sure our kids preserve their divergent thinking skills, knowing how hard the school system will try to crush them. I’ve ordered Ken Robinson’s book “Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative” to find out more about Robinson’s ideas and what I can do for my kids (and a little bit for myself too) to keep in touch with their creative side. I’ll make sure to let you know what I got out of it in an upcoming WWW Wednesdays update.

What do you think about where our educational system is going? Do you think it’s preparing our kids for tomorrow’s world? What do you think can be done to make things right again?

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Funny video: how do you round up your cows?

I usually don’t repost on this motherhood blog what I share on my Every Day I See a Cow blog, but I think I should make one exception with these two videos. I see people have been sharing it on Facebook and other social media sites and I don’t want you to miss out. Also, we could all use a good laugh once in a while, so I thought you’d enjoy watching them.

First, meet the cows vs. the remote control car:

I believe this video was shot in Australia. I just want to guess they are teenage boys wanting to test the cattle’s reaction to having a remote control car on their turf. Well, were they in for a surprise and you’ll be too! Enjoy the show and let me know what you think. Feel free to share!

And what do you think cows enjoy after exercising? How about a little jazz music? Yes, cows seem to enjoy listening to good music and it makes for quite an interesting video. Enjoy!

A dose of motherly love

Motherly Love by Frederick Morgan

I know Father’s Day is only a couple of days away in the US but I thought all moms around the world could use a dose of motherly love on this Friday. Alright, I’m sure the dads will like this too. My husband first showed me this video on Facebook and I thought it was just too adorable not to share. Feel free to share it with moms who could use a little pick-me-up today (and really, who doesn’t?).

In this YouTube video, mother cat really shows us what moms, animal or human, are here for: comfort, reassurance, cuddling, and tender loving care. Looking at this video, I can’t help remembering what it was like to hold my kids when they were tiny sleeping babies. How sweet they smelled, how little and precious they felt, how peaceful they looked. Not a care or worry in the world, no pressure to perform or conform. Just eat, sleep, cuddle. Repeat very two hours. Even though I enjoy watching my kids grow up, I do miss those days sometimes.

Today I have one who still cuddles but only because he wants to marry me and the other who often is too busy playing to take a break and give me a hug. Sigh.

Happy Friday! Make sure you watch the whole video because it only gets better as it goes.

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