Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 181
October 31, 2019
Speak Up Storytelling #70: Live from Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health
On episode #70 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, special guest Jeni Bonaldo and I talk storytelling!
This week's episode features the first half of a storytelling show at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts as part of a weekend of storytelling instruction.
Following the stories, Jeni and I discuss each one.
We hope you enjoy!
LINKS
Purchase Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling: https://amzn.to/2H3YNn3
Purchase Twenty-one Truths About Love: https://amzn.to/2qEByex
Homework for Life: https://bit.ly/2f9ZPne
Matthew Dicks's website: http://www.matthewdicks.com
Matthew Dicks's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/matthewjohndicks
Matthew Dicks's blog: http://www.matthewdicks.com/matthewdicksblog
Subscribe to Matthew Dicks's weekly newsletter: http://www.matthewdicks.com/matthewdicks-subscribe
Subscribe to the Speak Up newsletter: http://www.matthewdicks.com/subscribe-speak-up
Subscribe to Matthew Dicks's blog: http://www.matthewdicks.com/subscribe-grin-and-bare-it
October 30, 2019
Can starting your day with a smile really change your mood and improve your heath?
I read that smiling when you wake up can be very beneficial. Supposed health benefits include:
When you smile your body releases the feel-good neurotransmitters dopamine and endorphins. This means that by smiling first thing when you wake up you’ll be starting your day in a better mood.
In addition, when you smile your mood is further lifted by the release of serotonin.
Smiling strengthens the immune system, so by smiling first thing in the morning and remembering to do it throughout the day you’ll be warding off disease, specially during flu season.
This is all supposed to happen even if your smile is forced. I’ve written before about how you can trick your brain through biofeedback (including smiling), but I really couldn’t see how a fake smile early in the morning would change anything about my day.
So I tried. Back in July, I ran an experiment. Every morning, while I put on my socks and shoes, I forced a smile. Some days were easier to do this than others, but thanks to the cats, who like to chase my shoelaces as I tie my shoes and are almost always underfoot during this sick and shoe process, it turns out that smiling wasn’t hard. It was almost always initially forced, but the inspiration of the cats often transformed a fake smile into a genuine one.
Did it change my mood? Make me feel better about the coming day?
Maybe.
This, of course is a hard thing to measure. I’m also fairly excited about the beginning of every day. I practically leap out of bed every morning, thrilled to escape the bed, usually without the need for an alarm, sometimes between 4:00 AM and 5:00 AM. On a typical morning, I was feeling pretty good already, but I have to say that forcing a smile on my face, even when completely fake, did seem to make me even happier and more optimistic about the day. It felt lighter and more energetic, and the world seemed a little bit brighter and more hopeful.
Maybe this was simply wish fulfillment taking place, but I began the experiment thinking that the idea that forcing a smile could brighten my day was ridiculous, so I didn’t expect or even want this research to be proven true.
Either way, it seemed to work for me. My forced smile improved my mood and general disposition.
So much so that I’m still doing it. Every day. It’s become a part of my routine.
Did it also strengthen my immune system? That’s also hard to tell, but I’ll say this:
Since I began the experiment back in July, I haven’t been sick once. Of course, July through October are not exactly the months when people often fall ill, so perhaps my relative health is simply the effect of season and not a strong immunity system.
But maybe it’s a little stronger. Who knows?
Either way, I recommend making the forced smile a part of your morning routine. As I always advise people who are trying to create new habits, attach the new habit to another part of your routine that happens every day. For me, it was socks and shoes.
I’m not asking for much. It requires almost no effort. And according to science, and to me, it works.
Start your day with a smile.
October 29, 2019
Quarry thoughts
I found these declarations of love carved into rock at a quarry in Dorsett, Vermont.
Being a person in a constant state of existential crisis, I couldn’t help but wonder with some degree of desperation, “Does JM still love DB?”
I know that love can be tragically fleeting, and I also know that based upon a date of 1914 carved into the rock nearby, Pam and DG could very well be dead, but still, I found myself standing over this declaration of love, imagining the effort and time required to carve letters into rock, and desperately hoping that JM and DB were still together today, still holding hands somewhere, smiling.
I felt the same when I found the declaration that DG loves Pam, and maybe even more so given that DG took the time to declare his love in a full sentence, practically shouting his affection to the world.
Did Pam and DG return to this quarry again and again in the future, to admire and reminisce over these words? Did JM and DB bring their children to this place in later years to show them these markers of young love?
Or did the love between DG and Pam ultimately fade. Did Pam return to this spot years after her relationship had ended, recalling the days when she and DG sat on the stones in this quarry, feet dangling into the water, talking about their future? Did DB and JM carve these letters into rock and forget about them entirely?
Do any of the human beings who spent time in this quarry, carving reminders of their existence and their love into rock, remember the days spent sitting atop these boulders and swimming in the small pond between them?
Does anyone remember them? Or have these people - like almost all the people who have ever lived - been forgotten by the world forever?
Yes, these are the kinds of thoughts that plaque me. They plagued me on the day that Elysha and I found these letters and words, and they continue to plague me now.
It’s not always easy being me.
October 28, 2019
I could run a turn on 10:1, and it was unbelievable
Back in the day, I could run a turn on 10:1 by myself.
10:1 is the meat used in a McDonald’s hamburger and cheeseburger, so named because there are ten beef patties to a pound.
To cook a McDonald’s cheeseburger back in the day, you laid up to 12 patties on the grill and seared them to the surface with a searing tool. Then you turned and toasted the top half of the buns. As the buns toasted, you turned back to the grill, where the meat patties were ready to be turned. After turning the meat, you then removed the buns from the toaster and replaced them with the heels of the buns. Then, as the meat cooked on the other side, you dressed the toasted buns with mustard, catsup, onions, pickles, and cheese.
In order to determine how many cheeseburgers versus hamburgers you would make, you shouted to the person up front, who knew better than you what was needed. “Cheese on twelve?” you’d ask, then someone would respond with a number.
You’d complete the process by removing the meat from the grill, placing each patty atop the dressed buns, and then removing the heels from the toaster with a large spatula, and sliding them atop. Then you’d pass the tray of completed burgers forward, where someone in front would wrap them.
This entire process took less than three minutes. It usually required two people but could be done by one skilled person.
But sometimes burgers were needed at a more rapid clip, so a turn was required. When running a turn, you placed a second set of 12 meat patties down after turning the first and began toasting a second set of buns as the set were removed from the toaster.
Essentially, you completed the same process twice in the same amount of time.
A turn always required two people and often three. One person managed the grill. Another toasted buns. A third dressed the buns and communicated with the employees up front.
But I could run a turn on 10:1 on my own. Solo. I was the only person able to do this, making me exceptionally valuable in the restaurant. Even though I began my career as a counter and drive thru person, I eventually found myself during the busiest times of day flipping burgers in the back because I was so cost-effective in terms of labor. It was so extraordinary that managers from other stores would visit our restaurant to witness my feat and attempt to reproduce it on their own stores with no success, and when I was sent to other stores to work, people would watch in awe as I cooked.
It wasn’t that I was a superhero or especially skilled. I simply had the ability to automatize the process so fully that I never stopped moving and managed to eliminated every single unnecessary step. I was able to work quickly and efficiently with exceptional focus and without pause for lengthy periods of time without distraction.
I also wanted to be great, and this was probably the most important part. Even though it was only McDonald’s, I saw an opportunity to do something that no one else had done, so I did it.
I was named Manager of the Year for three consecutive years in my region, from the ages of 18 through 20 (including my senior year in high school), but the award I treasured more was a pin that my boss had made for me that simply read, “Best Grill Man Ever.”
About a year later, the McDonald’s grill was redesigned. Microwave ovens were installed, grills were converted into automated monstrosities that could cook both sides of a burger simultaneously, and meat was pre-cooked and held in warmers.
The premium on speed and efficiency was gone, and with it, my ability to run a turn on 10:1 was obliterated.
It’s weird to have been the best at something - perhaps one of the best ever - only to have that thing eliminated from the world entirely. Nowadays, the phrase “running a turn on 10:1” is probably unknown or forgotten by almost every human being on the planet.
A Google search on the term results in nothing.
For a brief sliver of time, I was able to do something that no one else in my corner of the world could do. My skills were prized and admired, even by the employees who didn’t work in the kitchen.
Then it all went away and was forgotten.
Except it’s not forgotten because every now and again, I find myself running a turn on 10:1 in my dreams, which I did last night. It may not seem like the best way to spend a night of rest, but I kind of love those dreams of a time when something as simple as cooking burgers quickly could be mastered at a high level.
October 27, 2019
Trump ruins everything
As Elysha so rightly pointed out, Donald Trump find a way to ruin a lot of things, including some unintentionally. This placemat of the President of the United States is an excellent example.
We spotted it in a gift shop in Vermont at the ancestral home of Robert Todd Lincoln. We though it would be nice to have the kids learn about the Presidents while they eat their breakfast, but unfortunately Trump is on the placement, making it the last thing either one of my children would ever want to see while eating.
In fairness, there are also Presidents like Nixon and Jackson on the placement, too, but we weren’t forced to live through their racism, brutality, criminality, and corruption, so they are slightly more palatable.
I’m also fairly certain that although Nixon and Jackson (and perhaps others were not good men, neither of them betrayed our country by conspiring with a foreign power, nor were they stupid, inarticulate men, which elevates them over the current President by at least a few measures.
October 26, 2019
This is a hell of a schedule...
Think you’re busy? Think your daily grind is too much of a grind?
Check out the daily schedule of the Carthusian monks of Mount Equinox in Vermont.
It’s the last line that I love:
“Such a day passes with extraordinary rapidity.”
I certainly hope so because this day looks awful. And they do it everyday.
October 25, 2019
Direct but funny is the perfect combination
I spotted this sign at the wedding of my former student a couple weeks ago, sitting atop the bar.
I love it so much. Designed by the same couple who advised guests in their wedding invitation to respond by a certain date or plan to bring a chair and a sandwich, this is the perfect demonstration of sending a message in a way that is both creative, amusing, and direct.
They sent a clear message to their guests while also providing the guests who didn’t need this reminder with a bit of amusement.
Brilliant.
It’s also the signal of a couple who isn’t taking their wedding day too seriously. These are people who want to have fun on their big day.
I also love the design of the sign, the choices of fonts, and of course the use of the word “shenanigans.”
We really should use that word more often.
I feel the same way about the words rumpus, obstreperous, caterwaul, bacchanalian, ballyhoo, opprobrium, and higgledy-piggledy.
I could go on.
October 24, 2019
Speak Up Storytelling #69: Marko Ivanov
On episode #69 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Elysha Dicks and I talk storytelling!
In our follow up segment, we discuss my recent forays to Moth StorySLAM in New York and Boston. We also acknowledge several listeners, and Elysha and I make a bet that is soon resolved, much to the despair of the losing side.
In our Homework for Life segment, I talk about a moment that happened minutes before the podcast was recorded, and we discuss the inherent dangers of telling a story that is too self-congratulatory. I also discuss the strategy of bookending a moment as a means of structuring a story.
Next we listen to a story by Marko Ivanov.
Amongst the many things we discuss include:
The importance of the first minute of a story, and the need for a specific setting in order to fully activate imagination
Conveying historical events and political information by framing it through the lens of the storyteller, considering the storyteller's age and life experience when deciding what to say and how to say it
The power of simple descriptors when chosen carefully
Ending a story in a place that leaves the audience hanging
The C-A-B-C structure to a story, and what this specific structure requires in order to be successful
RECOMMEDATIONS
Elysha:
Northshire Bookstore, Manchester, Vermont
Matt:
LINKS
Purchase Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling
Purchase Twenty-one Truths About Love
Homework for Life: https://bit.ly/2f9ZPne
Matthew Dicks's website: http://www.matthewdicks.com
Matthew Dicks's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/matthewjohndicks
Matthew Dicks's blog:
http://www.matthewdicks.com/matthewdicksblog
Subscribe to Matthew Dicks's weekly newsletter:
http://www.matthewdicks.com/matthewdicks-subscribe
Subscribe to the Speak Up newsletter:
http://www.matthewdicks.com/subscribe-speak-up
Subscribe to Matthew Dicks's blog:
http://www.matthewdicks.com/subscribe-grin-and-bare-it
October 23, 2019
Trump in food
My friend’s daughter - not a fan on Donald Trump - created his image in this clever bit of food sculpture.
Remarkable. Right? It really does look like him.
It’s not, of course, a bigoted, grifting liar who brags about sexual assault, separates families and cages small children on the border, defends Nazis, enriches itself with taxpayer money, and undermines our very democracy by conspiring with foreign governments to damage its political opponents.
I don’t think carrots even have political opponents.
In addition, I don’t think this carrot has operated fake university designed to steal money from hardworking Americans (and settled a multi-million dollar lawsuit to its victims), nor has it operated a fake charity and used the money to purchase things like portraits of itself and, as a result, been banned from sitting on the board of any charity in the future because of this unlawful use of funds.
I’m not sure if carrots even know what a charitable organization is.
But I bet this carrot’s intellect is limited, and its ability to speak and write in coherent, grammatically correct sentences is questionable at best, so it may be more similar to Donald Trump than simply physical appearance.
October 22, 2019
That’s a long way for pizza
After visiting Gillette Castle in East Haddam, CT, the family piled into the car to head over to the neighboring town of Chester, CT for dinner at Otto’s Pizza.
It’s such a glorious thing in today’s world:
Receive a recommendation from a friend for a restaurant one town away and simply enter the name of that establishment into your phone for accurate, turn-by-turn directions.
There was a time - not so long ago - when directions were remembered or hand-written, and life was slightly more complex. Someone like me - with an excellent sense of direction, a constant awareness my cardinal direction, and the ability to find my way through a city using the sun and other landmarks - were prized for our ability to navigate this world without the information that so many required.
Given Elysha’s absence of a sense of direction - she got lost exiting two restaurants this weekend - I think she may have married me solely for my ability to navigate.
But now, with the advent of technology, my skills have been replaced by the phone. Oddly enough, my children will never know what it’s like to be lost, to pull over and ask for directions, or to struggle to find a road that they recognize or a highway that seems familiar. Nor will they feel the self-satisfaction in knowing that you were once lost but now - thanks solely to your wit and wisdom - are now found.
Simply turn on the phone and listen to some human-sounding voice guide you to your destination.
Unless, of course, you are trying to find Otto’s Pizza in Chester, CT. When I entered the name of this particular restaurant into Waze, my options included pizza places in Maine, California, El Salvador, Columbia, and the UK.
Not exactly sure how Waze was even going to provide directions to the UK. Even El Salvador and Columbia seemed unlikely.
Happily, it turned out that Otto’s Pizza in Chester, CT was less than two miles away, and a quick Internet search yielded an address less than 5 minutes away. And our friends were right. The pizza was quite good.
And considering how hungry everyone was, we thankfully did not need to cross continents in order to eat it.
