How to Be an Effective Earthling:

Tricks to stay positive and productive in a crazy world

Yes, so we all want to be responsible humans keeping up with current events, right? But let’s be honest, it's overwhelming, right?

I deal with it by scanning the incoming tide of stories on major news outlets like a beachcomber collecting only the bright bits: cures for deadly diseases, people surviving catastrophes and freak accidents against all odds, animals rescued by good Samaritans.

All this goes into my personal optimistic collage sifted from a stream of horrendous information. Focusing on the better side of human nature is a great survival mechanism, but it requires detachment, some might say denial, and the mental gymnastics involved can be exhausting.

So, what can we do to remain in the real world and have a constructive impact?

In addition to voting with our spending habits and ballots, here are some more strategies:

Look up and out

In the developing field of brain science, studies show that visually-perceptive people tend to raise their eyes when speaking and fix distant objects when choosing their words as if searching the horizon. There’s also a feedback loop between eye movement and brain activity.

MRI scans show that directing our vision upwards and into the distance lights up the more recently evolved parts of the brain related to imaginative vision and innovation. On the other hand, when we’re in fight or flight mode or picking up heavy emotions from others, ancient parts of our brains are activated, looping counterproductive negative garbage.

Mentally projecting a future scenario, especially a pleasant one, harmonizes all our cerebral faculties at once and makes us feel more open and empowered. Isn’t this what we need to design a better world? What do we have to lose by trying? Look out the window, look at the sky, find open spaces with 360° views to refresh ideas and outlook. If nothing else, it’s a relief from phone and computer-screen fatigue.

Reset mode

With 4 weeks paid vacation, minimum, living in France has taught me to unplug from the manic mantra, “Time is Money.” As the whole country slows down every summer, there are entire days for family and friends, uninterrupted by appointments because no one is available, so body and soul can rest, reshuffle priorities, playfully gather new information, and synthesize previous activity before launching into another round of professional and personal goal-setting.

I first heard about this concept as a student when a friend lent me In Praise of Idleness by philosopher Bertrand Russell, who presents a convincing case for unstructured time as a key to well-being and creative action. Think of it as refilling your inner lake, letting ideas cool down and float around, so new ones can rise to the surface and you can tap hidden springs.

More liquid inspiration and uplift:

Pools of thought

No need for hours in the lap lane. Try playing in water even briefly, outside if possible, doing any combination of moves, watching clouds and flowers mirror in ripples across the surface in endless calming reflections.

Answers to lingering questions bubble up from our deep: how to dance within challenging social and work situations, a different turn of phrase for that piece you’re writing, an overdue thank you to smooth communication, wishes, intuitions, memories, and dreams. I guarantee increased lightness, more flexibility, and heightened receptivity. Pausing our inner and outer chatter clears space for incoming signals.

Even if you don’t have access to a luxury spa or tropical waterfall, almost any form of H20 will do, rivers and streams,

of course, wading in a public fountain or just soaking in a bathtub with a naturally scented candle. No wonder the ancients worshipped wells and springs as sacred sites inhabited by divine genius. For a modern and athletic way to pay homage, paddleboard or kayak with Plastic Patrol’s global clean up @ http://plasticpatrol.co.uk

Walk on the woodside

Nothing beats total immersion in a breathing matrix of living creatures, connected in subtle ways through soil and air. The trendy new term for the tradition is “forest bathing,” translated from Japanese and Korean, meaning relaxation among trees.

Ongoing research into sylvotherapy quantifies how trees secrete natural antibiotics, essential oils, and other substances that treat infections. Statistics count the number of germs in cities (lots) and in forests (few) and the beneficial effects of wooded areas on stress symptoms such as high blood pressure.

Trees can teach us a lot: they communicate and support each other through living underground networks that plant scientist Merlin Sheldrake calls “The Wood Wide Web.”

If you’re not near the Adirondacks or Fontainebleau, sit with a green plant. Observe its roots, stems, leaves, and photosynthesis. It will enjoy your exhaled CO and reward you with O.

To participate in reforestation and rainforest protection:

https://www.americanforests.org

https://www.sierraclub.org/about-sierra-club

https://www.ran.org/issue/protect_an_acre/

https://www.rainforesttrust.org

Last but not least, if bad news continues to pour like toxic rain until we solve the world’s problems, try this:

Find a way to admire:

Beautiful artisanal pastry(or other favorite edible works of art).

This is easier to accomplish in Paris, but real chefs and gourmet food shops are everywhere these days. If all else fails, use your search engine to bring up mouth-watering photos. Taste if your waistline permits, but you don’t have to actually consume anything. According to Marilyn Atkinson, Canadian author, and executive coach, “A picture to the mind is like a real experience.”

Revel in virtual colors, shapes, and textures. Name the ingredients. Fantasize about shrinking like Alice and strolling inside the display like a munchable city, drinking in flavors, taking an occasional mind-boggling bite. No calories, just pure, sweet, mood booster.

Can something so ephemeral save us?

“Hope is always accompanied by the imagination, the will to see what our physical environment seems to deem impossible. Only the creative mind can make use of hope. Only creative people can wield it.” — Poet Jericho Brown