Is Consumerism Killing Our Creativity? (Patricia Soucheiron)

Have you ever fallen into a black hole of comparison shopping? You’re looking for a new digital camera, for instance. You head over to Cnet.com and read some reviews of various cameras, watch the video demos, identify the model you want. Then perhaps you employ Google’s shopping search to price out the options and find the best deal. All of the sudden, it’s four hours later. You’ve found the perfect camera, but your purchasing triumph is tainted by a creeping feeling of, well, disgust. Couldn’t that time have been used better?

Iwas thinking recently about what my biggest distractions were – the things keeping me from pushing my creative projects forward. As I scanned through my daily activities, I found that the most insidious distraction was, in fact,things. More specifically, the wanting, hunting, and getting of things –  whether they be tangible (a new computer) or intangible (information).

As Annie Leonard says in The Story of Stuff, “Our primary identity has become that of being consumers – not mothers, teachers, or farmers, but of consumers. We shop and shop and shop.” We love our stuff. Yet more than the stuff itself, we love the act of finding it – the search, the anticipation.

But why is consumerism – and particularly, an online hunt for the ideal purchase – so addictive?

It turns out that our consumerist impulse stimulates the same part of the brain that fires when we’re on the trail of a great idea. As we go through the trial and error of executing an idea – What if I tried this? Ah! Now what about this? – we’re using those same wanting, hunting, getting instincts but in a nobler pursuit.

Neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp calls this highly addictive emotional state “seeking.” In a Slate article on seeking, writer Emily Yoffe sums up his research:

For humans, this desire to search is not just about fulfilling ourphysical needs. Panksepp says that humans can get just as excited about abstract rewards as tangible ones. He says that when we get thrilled about the world of ideas, about making intellectual connections, about divining meaning, it is the seeking circuits that are firing.The juice that fuels the seeking system is the neurotransmitter dopamine. The dopamine circuits ‘promote states of eagerness and directed purpose,’ Panksepp writes. It’s a state humans love to be in. So good does it feel that we seek out activities, or substances, that keep this system aroused.

The consumerist search capitalizes on the same “seeking” part of the brain that fuels the creative rush. Of course, while consumerism can serve as an addictive substitute for the stimulation of creative activity, it offers nowhere near the same reward in the long term.

As creatives, we can often rationalize spending time on shopping by telling ourselves that we’re investing our time, energy, and money in a new tool – an item that’s going to catapult our creativity to the next level. Maybe it’s a new computer, maybe it’s a musical instrument, maybe it’s a studio of one’s own. Once you get that new thing, you think, you’ll have a superior means to complete your work.

It’s a false promise, of course. A means of procrastination baked into our consumerist culture. No external thing can prompt creativity, and there’s no substitute for just getting down to doing the work. In fact, it’s been proven that hardship – being deprived of things – stimulates creativity more than being well-off. A recent Newsweek article on America’s declining creativity reported:

Highly creative adults frequently grew up with hardship. Hardship by itself doesn’t lead to creativity, but it does force kids to become more flexible—and flexibility helps with creativity.
When we have less to work with, we have to be more creative. Think about that the next time the consumerist impulse is threatening to encroach on your creativity.

Gardening 'linked to longer lives'  by Pol Galí

By James GallagherHealth and science reporter, BBC News

Is getting the spade out good for the heart?

Continue reading the main story

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Pottering around the garden or fixing up the house has been linked to a longer life in a study of people over the age of 60.

Older people can struggle to exercise vigorously, but the study said simply getting off the sofa and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle was a lifesaver.

The Swedish study of 4,232 people suggested the risks of heart attack and stroke were cut.

The findings were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The researchers at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, said elderly people tended to spend more time being sedentary and less time exercising than people in other age groups.

So they looked at the activity levels in-between sitting down and full-on exercise - such as fixing up the car, home repairs, cutting the lawn, blackberry picking or going hunting.

Longer life

The results showed that people who were more active on a daily basis had the lowest risk of a heart attack, but those who were merely active without exercising still had a lower risk than those doing nothing.

Being active reduced the risk of a heart attack or stroke by 27%, and death from any cause by 30%, during the 12-year study.

The report said: "A generally active daily life had important beneficial associations with cardiovascular health and longevity in older adults, which seemed to be regardless of regular exercise."

It said the findings had "high clinical relevance" for older people, who risked spending a lot of time on the sofa or lying in bed.

The scientists involved suggest that sitting for long periods of time may lower people's metabolic rate, or a lack of activity may alter hormones produced in muscle tissue.

These could then have knock-on effects for overall health.

'On your feet'

Dr Tim Chico, honorary consultant cardiologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, said: "Although this study only examined people aged 60, it is reasonable to assume that the more active someone is throughout their life, the lower their risk of cardiovascular disease.

"The message I take from this study is simple. If you want to reduce your risk of heart disease, be more active. Don't sit down for long periods; get up on your feet and do something you enjoy that involves moving around."

Christopher Allen, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Being physically active is important in maintaining good heart health. But, as this study demonstrates, you don't need a gym membership to do that.

"As long as they make you feel warmer, breathe harder and make your heart beat faster, activities such as DIY and gardening count towards the 150 minutes of moderate-intensity [weekly] activity recommended for a healthy lifestyle."

HAIRY, SCARY TARANTULAS DON'T SPOOK THEIR OWNERS- Paloma Cabestany

Tarantulas are the heaviest, hairiest, scariest spiders on the planet. They have fangs, claws and barbs. They can regrow body parts and be as big as dinner plates. But there are many people who call these creepy critters a pet or a passion and insist their beauty is worth the risk of a bite.

"They are fascinating to watch. They have eight beautiful slender legs," said Dee Reynolds. She has more than 50 tarantulas at her Los Angeles home.

Reynolds doesn't consider her tarantulas pets in the traditional sense. She says a lot of people do and will name them, talk to them and show them off.

Plus, in terms of being pets, they have lots of benefits, she said. "They don't need daily walks, they don't have to be fed special diets, they don't claw furniture or bark, and you don't have to find somebody to take care of them when you go on vacation," said Reynolds.

But, unlike Fido or Whiskers, you can't cuddle with them, dress them for Halloween or play catch. They can cost hundreds of dollars, but they can also live for 30 years.

Ken Macneil, 38, known as "Ken the Bug Guy," has about 7,000 tarantulas at his exotic pet shop in Tucson, Ariz. He sells everything from scorpions and cockroaches to ferrets, lizards and snakes, but nothing is as popular as the tarantula, and not just around Halloween.

His biggest tarantula is a mature male Goliath bird-eater that measures 10 inches long from front leg to back leg. The most expensive one Macneil has ever sold went for $900.

Macneil said his customers include museums, scientists and teachers and up to an estimated 20,000 pet owners and hobby enthusiasts.

The tarantula starts life as a sling — short for spiderling — so they can be as small as a fingernail and grow as large as a dinner plate. It eats mostly live crickets, cockroaches and some mice. The spider turns prey into stew by pumping in venom through its fangs.

When you hold a tarantula, some feel like velvet, some like pipe cleaners and some have really bristly hairs, Reynolds said.

Many tarantulas are docile. Macneil has a 9-inch spider named Tess who is "extremely docile and loves you to hold her. They don't like to be petted. Their barbs or hair would come out and make you itch," he said.

All tarantulas can bite, but most owners say it's no worse than a bee sting, unless you are allergic. If you are, it can be fatal, Reynolds said. Although there is no documented case of a fatal bite, some of the spiders have more potent venom than others, and there is no anti-venom, so you treat the symptoms and hope for the best, he said.

Reynolds has never been bitten, but Macneil said he's been bitten five or six times. He said it hurts for a few minutes, then goes numb.

So why do people keep and study tarantulas? For expert Stan Schultz, it's about the exotic.

When asked to describe the most interesting thing about the spider, Schultz said recognizing the "basic aspects of learning and, dare I say it, intelligence in tarantulas. But, before you get your hopes up, they're still closer to a cabbage than the family dog in smarts."

Critical thinking challenge: Why do tarantulas make better pets than cats or dogs?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNRS6n9TLNA

SPANISH TIME ZONE- JAKE SABIN

The reason that Spain go one hour ahead of Portugal comes from a ministerial order that Franco's government enacted the March 7, 1940 and which was considered the desirability that, from that time, the national schedule Marchase agree with those of other European countries more politically minded.

Thus Francoist Spain happened to have the same time as Hitler's Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Fascist Italy, as well as those European countries occupied and / or allied with them , leaving to belong to the same time zone as Europe West as the UK and Portugal.

In that same ministerial order also provides in article five which eventually will point to the date you had to reset the normal time , which never came, despite having elapsed since a whopping 73 years and a few governments of a different political party.

"We sleep almost an hour less than the World Health Organization recommends,'' the commission said.

"All this has a negative effect on productivity, absenteeism, stress, accidents and school drop-out rates.''

It said that following the "wrong clock" explained why Spaniards tended to eat, leave work and go to bed later than their European neighbours.

"Our timetable is determined more by the sun than by the clock. We eat at one o'clock in the afternoon and dine at eight, according to the sun, but the clock says it is three o'clock and 10 o'clock," the text said.

It added that jumping back an hour would bring Spain "into line with Europe in many respects in which we currently differ".

A cupcake could change the world! (by Laura Vivas)

Do you think a cupcake can change the world? Three years ago I asked myself that same question as my Notre Dame soccer team-mates and I baked our very first batch of tie-dye cupcakes to sponsor girls’ education in the developing world through the not-for-profit organization, She’s the First. A few cupcakes quickly turned into a couple dozen and before we knew it, we had sold over 500 cupcakes- enough to sponsor the education of three girls in Nepal.

After spending a few months getting to know our sponsored girls by exchanging letters, my team-mates and I realized that we had given the girls in Nepal so much more than just books and a school uniform. By empowering them with an education, we had given them the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty they were born into and change their lives forever. An opportunity that more than 32 million girls worldwide still do not have. We knew that our team alone could never bake nearly enough cupcakes to help all these girls, but we believed with the help of cupcake teams across the United States our impact could grow tremendously.

We shared our story and tie-dye cupcake recipe on She’s the First’s online message board. Little did we know, what started as a bake sale with a twist would quickly spiral out of control. Our tie-dye cupcakes even caught the attention of Seventeen Magazine and I was named winner of the 2012 Pretty Amazing contest! Thanks to the awareness we've been able to raise online, more than 300 cupcake teams in 30 different states and 4 different countries have sold enough tie-dye cupcakes to send 100 girls to school in Africa, Asia, and South America. Our tie-dye cupcakes have clearly sweetened these girls’ lives for the better. But we’re not stopping there!

This year our goal is to send more girls to school than ever before—but to be successful we need YOUR help! Friday, October 11^th is the International Day of the Girl, an entire day dedicated to promoting the importance of educating girls worldwide. Girl Rising is asking you to join them and stand with girls around the world to break down the obstacles that often prevent them from going to school. Celebrate by signing up to be part of She’s the First 3^rd annual Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off during the week of October 25^th to November 1^st. Together, we can change the world one tie-dye cupcake at a time!

Sign up to host a tie-dye cupcake sale here! Plus check this out to learn more about Girl Rising!

Lindsay Brown, She's the First supporter