What Makes You Happy?

My book club decided upon Deep Economy by Bill McKibben for our June 2008 meeting. It's my first McKibben book and, 45 pages in, I'm on fire. Intelligently written without too much doomsday (yet), with a hint of hope unfolding in the form of solutions to the problem. Although the book is only 232 pages long, I can't read more than a few pages without wanting to form a set of cards of wise sayings to share with everyone I know. Not everyone I know reads this blog, but for those of you that do, here are some choice words that make you think (hopefully out of context they still wield power and contemplation of the basic question "is more better?"

"You can't get richer, at least for long, by impoverishing the world around you." This thought is inspired by economist Eban Goodstein's Economics and the Environment, where he says "Ecological economists argue that natural and created capital are fundamentally complements" that is, that you actually need to think about the planet."p.29 Deep Economy

This quote resonates so clearly in my mind, like the perfect pitch I always desired. The rate of consumption, the insane drive for more more more that inundates us day in and day out does more harm than good. You may argue that all that consumption creates jobs and keeps the economy going, and just plain makes people happy. But at what cost, and at what illusive definition of happiness?

Aha! Onto another inspiring quote from McKibben. In a passage where he discusses people's reported measures of happiness in relationship to increased wealth, he says the following: All that material progress--and all the billions of barrels of oil and millions of acres of trees that it took to create it--seems not to have moved the satisfaction meter an inch. (p.35 Deep Economy). He goes on to say that "In 1946, the United States was the happiest country among four advanced economies; thirty years later, it was eighth among eleven advanced countries; a decade after tht it ranked tenth among twenty-three nations, many of them from the third world. (Stats garnered from "Happiness" by Layard).

Okay, its too late in the evening for me. Barry, if you are reading this, know that I plan to follow the instructions in your email about your video short (very cool!) as soon as I get another block of time!

Good night, but Good luck is over rated. How about belief in happiness as something that can't be bought, but that resides in time with friends, family, meditation, contemplation, viewing of art and Happy Hour with friends? Okay, so maybe a $3.50 pint accompanying a group of friends and good conversation is a small price to pay for a lot of real happiness :)

Noelle Aguayo

How Many Places Do you Live?

I rarely visit FaceBook, because I just don't get the appeal. I have my GMAIL, and email my friends occasionally, but better yet, I like to see them in person. FaceBook is an effective connection tool for friends in far flung places, and it really does give you a sense of the networking capabilities of meeting friends of friends--but really, where are people getting all of this time? Last time I checked, there were still only 24 hours in a day, and sleep is still essential, as is the work day, and then for those of us with family, there's family time, then hobbies, reading, friend time, etc, etc. So HOW do you all keep up?

I suppose I also have this bloggy presence, and my work email--so I live in four places online. No Avatars yet. Does anyone I know have an avatar? Come on! I want to know if you do!

That's my mid day rant!

Noelle

I've been memed and all the bloggers I know have already been tagged!

Here are the rules:
A) The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
B) Each player answers the questions about himself or herself.
C) At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1) Ten years ago I was...

Hanging out on the banks of the Metolius, watching someone I didn't like much fly fishing.

2) Five things on today's to-do list:

Read "Good Night Gorilla" again.
Buy a t-shirt in Santa Barbara that was made in Honduras to send to our sponsor child in Guatemala for his 6th birthday.
Cook dinner
Respond to my emails
Research Java


3) Things I'd do if I were a billionaire:

Save a small portion of the world (or large if a billion goes that far)
Design and build an ecovillage
Cook dinner at leisure
Enjoy oodles of time with Ezra & Arie Jan
Write a novel or five

4) Three bad habits:

Whining (and not in the good way, like George does).
Checking my email at work
Leaving the peanut butter jar on the counter in the morning (but I'm getting better)


5) Five places I've lived:

Solvang
Hilo, Hawaii
Waltham, Mass.
Amsterdam
Bend, Oregon


6) Six jobs I've had in my life:

Newspaper reporter, Farm stand girl, Marketing Director, International Travel Assistant, Mom


And now to choose five people: Who's left?

Ezra takes a Pilgrimage to his birthplace

Earlier this week, baby E's 'oh its no big deal' runny nose and cough got worse, and after a few sleepless nights and calls to the doctor, we got him in for an office visit Friday morning. He was diagnosed with an 'asthma-like' condition, and an ear infection and prescribed a host of medications. After carefully following treatments that day and evening, we had a particularly rough night with a crying, stuffy baby. In the morning, we landed in the emergency room after his respiratory rate reached 58 breaths per minute.

Four hours and multiple treatments later, Ezra was admitted to Cottage Hospital, the place of his birth. Cottage is just as I remember--incredibly friendly, thorough and competent staff and undergoing construction. I'm sure Ezra will make other pilgrimages in his lifetime, and I certainly hope they are more enjoyable than this one. Although the pediatric nurses and doctor's were great, that doesn't mean much to a 15 1/2 month old who is being poked and prodded for his own well being. Ezra was a total trooper and spent most of his two and a half days in the hospital on my lap--which of course I absolutely loved and was glad I could be there with him day and night--I really can't imagine a child his age undergoing this experience without mom or dad by his side. Dad spent hours with Ezra as well, giving me a chance to go home and sleep for a few hours (as that doesn't happen much at the hospital), and giving Ezra extra security that we were both there for him.

So after its all said and done, Ezra has been labeled with a Reactive Airway Disorder, which is like asthma, but not. According to Dr. Brown (not of the Morter Health System, but of Cottage Hospital Pediatrics), Asthma is hard to diagnose in infants and is more commonly diagnosed between 3 and 7 years of age. As I understand it, Reactive Airway Disorder is a technical condition that explains how some unknown factor (irritation, sensitivity, allergin, or stress) triggers the chest muscles to constrict, making it hard to breathe. The irritation causes inflammation, which leads to coughing and mucus production, which further exacerbates the difficulty in breathing. The difference between Asthma and Reactive Airway Disorder is that Asthma is a recurring condition and RAD could be a one time condition. Only time will tell what Ezra truly has.

Other theories are that he had a virus, and it went untreated and this led to the asthmatic conditions. All possible. In addition, Ezra has a mild case of Pneumonia in his right lung.

I suppose this blog is now my medical journal of sorts. I pray this will not be a recurring theme as our baby boy is usually a healthy active thing!

And now a few cheers to the Cottage Hospital Pediatric staff; nurse Gail was our favorite. She was genuinely warm, caring and thorough as a nurse. It is obvious that she loves people and is there to assist others in the healing process, both as a nurse and as a presence of joyfulness in the face of overwhelming conditions--and any parent who's child is in the hospital has long passed the whelmed stage and is ready for a balance to their overwhelmed state; Gail makes that at least within the realm of possibilities. Our day nurse on the day of discharge was named Michelle--we only had her for a few hours, but she was great with Ezra, and was open and friendly. The night nurse Carla had a perfect balance of helpful, knowledgable and non invasive. Ezra let her hold him more than the others, so she got major points for straight up baby connection. Deedi, our first nurse on Saturday was a traveling nurse and she had a professionalism about her that was just the energy we needed on our first night. She monitored Ezra carefully, made thorough assessments, and helped ease our minds that Ezra was under very good care. She lacked the degree of warmth exuded by some of the other nurses, but we didn't mind in the face of her thoroughness. I didn't even mention the respiratory specialists who came every four hours--they were all great, both in the ER and on the pediatric ward. I believe Amanda, and the male respiratory care giver from Bakersfield, who's name was something like Alexis, were the most informative.

If you've read this far, you're a glutton of some sort! Goodnight!

Recycled US Tires

Design Within Reach, with all of its nifty designs, just sent out an email with hand crafted rubber baskets, a set of three a mere $350. The write up starts in about the 300 million tires Americans throw in the landfill each year, and designers are coming up with a small solution to the big problem--creating household wares. I thought, hey, these are pretty snazzy. Then, I read that they are made in EGYPT! So, these used American tires are shipped to Egypt, go through a manufacturing process, and then are shipped back to the US. Does this seem slightly sick and wrong?

Happy Friday!

Easter Sunday & Godlessness or not?

Easter then; getting dressed up, panic, late for churh as always and knowing we'll probably get a seat in the balcony of the mission, crowding into the pews, annoying those who arrived early, though they grace you with a Catholic smile of forgiveness, because we all have original sin in common. After a long service, going home andexcitedly scowering the garden for chocolates and plastic eggs filled with delicacies in the traditional easter egg hunt, followed by setting the table with china, silver, cloth napkins for brunch out on the patio in the dappled sunlight beneath the large oak tree. We don't talk about God or the sermon, but the presence and idea of a miracle is all around us, combined with the buzz of too many chocolate easter eggs, ane the sense that the afternoon will linger for an eternity.

Easter now: A call from my husband's religious family in the Netherlands on Saturday afternoon after they have attended an Easter wake that ended at midnight. Answering the question of our plans for easter as, "well, uh, a brunch with my family, perhaps a morning church service" editing out the easter egg hunt and the general hedenism of the days plans. Perhaps a pre-brunch with our friends to share mimosas and talk politics or the upcoming 5k run and our training. In a nutshell: Easter eggs. Mimosas, cute clothing, sunshine. Gardening, friends and family.

So, is my current version a Godless experience? Did that sense of miraculousness I grew up with really have to do with a connection to the spiritual, or was it the whole production, the polished silver, the fine clothes, the idea that we had to behave and act civilly, and think of Christ rising from the dead?

Having God in your life, when most of your friends have no interest, or even FEAR of religion, is a much more evasive topic. There is definitely a spiritual presence in our lives, but we don't define it as such, at least not out loud, and not as conversation at a gathering. Yet, it is so important. My friends, though not outwardly religious, have several traits in common--strong ethics and good samaritanism, which translates into belief in doing good for others, a sense of accountability, a desire for regime change, friends who are there when you need them and varying degrees of compassion for the less fortunate. These traits are all about God as I know it. So, is that glamorous grace of childhood any more powerful than a web of community who believes in kindness to others and acts upon it?

My man just put on " St. John's Passion." I suppose our childhood is shining through.

Happy Easter everyone!

Citizen McCaw Documentary

Tonight I had the good fortune of securing a seat in the balcony of the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara to see the sold out World Premiere of Citizen McCaw--a well thought out, excellently executed documentary on the downfall of the Santa Barbara News-Press since Wendy McCaw took ownership.

The documentary at first established the pre-McCaw credibility of the News-Press and even went on to show how in the first few years of her ownership, she did a service to the paper by appointing Cole and Roberts to the editorial staff. But, when her lack of understanding about the journalistic wall of integrity between editorial/opinion and news was severely exposed, and she consistently reinforced her desire to shape news content, the demise of the paper began, resulting in the mass resignation of top editors, followed by firing, or resignation of many more, with a total of 80 staff leaving as of January 2008 (I believe that was the number).

The documentary uses interviews with past employees and their personal accounts of events that took place, involving McCaw, Travis Amstrong and 'Nipper' , juxtaposed to voices from the community, other papers such as the Independent, the emergence of blogs covering the story, and how much these reporters sacrificed in the line of integrity.

I recommend this documentary to everyone in our community and nation, and the world at large. It should be shown in every journalism course at the high school and college level, and should be required viewing for all Americans to understand their freedom of speech, and to see it being violated by a woman who uses wealth and lawyers to buy her way out of truthful interaction with others.

I am sure there is a good side to Ms. McCaw and I believe everyone is capable of change. I hope she will read an Ekhart Tolle book and have an epiphany that will awaken her heart, so she can treat other humans with all of the impassioned respect with which she treats animals.

Additional screenings of citizen McCaw are scheduled as follows:
Marjorie Luke Theatre located at 721 E. Cota Street in Santa Barbara: Saturday, April 5th at 8PM and Sunday, April 6th at 3PM.

For more information, go to http://www.citizenmccaw.com/