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 I have been in a bit of a creative slump lately. I am not at a lack of things to post and write about, just feeling overwhelmed at all I have to do.

So the answer has been to procrastinate and throw things together at the last minute. Not a good plan for a blogger with full-time job. Bad answer and over the past few days I’ve been trying to do something completely opposite.

I am surrounding myself with the sort of people who are constantly up to something new and doing something creative. The kind of people who blog, podcast, take photos and teach because they like it and want to share. I am trying to shed myself of the kind of people who find an episode of the Simpsons more compelling than the newest *insert creative endeavor here.*

There’s nothing wrong with doing your job to afford the life you want to live. Many people do it and that’s just fine. I am not one of those people and they tend to have an adverse affect on me.

So find what you are passionate about and find others who love the same thing. Wrap yourself up in them and take in all their creative energy. It sounds fruity, but it works and it’s real. Creative energy should never be wasted.

What do you do to keep your passions alive? 

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photo credit: SqueakyMarmot

I really, really like TV. I’m near-obsessed with Lost and I have an ongoing relationship with Tony Bourdain and Adrian Monk. I like to visit the Pie Hole with it’s dead-to-living piemaker and the antics at Seattle Grace Hospital keep me on my toes (or at least they used to).

But I also have a love of my DVR, which saves me from commercials ans allows me to watch TV only when I’ve completed all my other stuff.

The New York Times recently had a story about the effect of TVs in kid’s bedrooms. Let me give you a short summary of what the article said (read it in full here)

Half of the kids in the country have TVs in their bedrooms. Those kids also have lower, are more likely to be overweight and will probably be a smoker later in life. Oh yeah, they also can’t sleep as well.

The studies 

The numbers given are staggering. Children who could only watch a set amount of TV for the week snacked far less, consuming about 100 calories less a day than their non-bound counterparts.

A study found French boys with TVs in their rooms were more likely to be overweight and spend far less time reading than others.

In a 2005 study, 70 percent of children with TVs in their bedrooms scored lower on test scores, particularly reading, math and language arts.

Another one found kindergartners with TVs in their rooms had more problems sleeping and were less emotinally responsive than others.

Lastly, a study of kids 12-14 found that 42 percent of kids with TVs in their rooms smoked, compared to 16 percent of kids without TVs.

What does this mean?

Is it a correlation equal causation? Not always. But you look at those numbers and you can’t help but think that there might be a link.

I’ll say that I had a TV in my room only when I was in high school. I only got network channels. The main TV was always on the news (thanks, dad) so I think my love of journalism must have grown from there and my families habit of reading the newspaper every day.

Not to brag, but I was a pretty smart cookie. I scored a perfect on my ACT reading section. I got almost straight As. Did the TV hurt me? Not really. But I did smoke for 3-ish years. I also was involved in many activities and had two part-time jobs. I didn’t have a lot of time for TV, really.

As an adult, I look at friends who have TVs in their bedrooms and I after reading this story, I realize they are complaining of poor sleep. They get stressed more often. My roommate, for example, sleeps to the TV every night. She gets sick a lot. Is it because of the TV? Who knows. I can’t even be bothered by any type of noise when I sleep.

The bedroom is a place of rest. How many Feng Shui books and home decorating articles have you read that tell you not to have anything in your bedroom but a bed? Do nothing in your bed but sleep, otherwise you’re body won’t know the bed=sleep cue.

What do you guys think? Do you have TVs in your bedroom? 

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(photo by RobW @ flickr)

I just got my new issue of Fitness, which I honestly read and never use. I’m not really one of those jogging 10 miles a day girls.

But this article disturbed me. Fitness too ka survey of 1,000 women about their thoughts on diet and fitness. The following statistics resulted:

42% of women have used ephedra, hoodia, fen-phen, a diuretic or prescription weight loss pill/other drug to lose weight.

23% of women would spend a week in jail to reach their ideal weight. 23% would shave their head and 21% would trade 10 years of their life.

Women have used desperate measures. 33% have cleared their house of bad food. 24% have drank only liquids for at least a day. 11% have taken laxatives and 6% have purged. 4% have used miracle cleanse.

85% would rather have an extra toe than 50 extra pounds. 

To polish that off, most women described themselves as chunky (30%) or curvy (29%).

OK. There are less shocking statistics, like the two msot prefered bodies were Keira Knightly (51%) and Queen Latifah (49%).

Still, it’s scary. I have found myself doing equally stupid things for weight loss, despite constant reassurance by my friends and The Boy that I look fine. But you never look fine to yourself, you know? The most beautiful girls in the world will find themselves unattractive.

Tell me why that is. Why do otherwise successful and smart women do the stupidest things for weight loss? Laxatives help nothing. An extra toe would make it awfully hard to fit into your favorite pair of shoes. Is it worth it?

What do you think?

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There are difficult parts to what I’m doing. It kind of sucks to blog about fashion and cool stuff, yet not be able to buy it. It sucks having to wonder whether my allowance will suffer because of this large soy latte I’m drinking right now.

But there’s something I didn’t realize would happen when I decided to do this. Something good.

It’s about simplicity. My fridge is emptier. In the good way. This week, I used up some gnocchi that had been sitting there for a long time, and some cauliflower that was almost overdue. I have been thinking harder about what I eat and how that will affect me and the rest of my week. I’m making more conscious food choices and better shopping decisions. I’ve learned to sew (more on that later).

My life has become simpler. Because I’m not rushing to make myself coffee and run errands in the morning, I have time to do some yoga. I have time to meditate and think. I get home at a normal hour, instead of wasting ridiculous amounts of time at Target. However, I did spend nearly half an hour thinking about what dish cloth to buy and what choice would be most reusable and most earth-friendly.

My decisions may be more complex, but there are less of them. I don’t need to think about where I’m going to order lunch from because I’ve brought my lunch. I spend time with the farmers, getting to know them. I like that lots more than watching Grey’s Anatomy. (I do still make time for TV, can’t give up everything)

I understand why people go live in Alaska and live sustainably. There is something beautiful about living simply, living green.

What can you do to make life simpler and greener?

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For weeks now, you notice I’ve been rambling about green living projects like No-Impact Man, Fix Project and Green as a Thistle. There are others, but those are my favorite. Recently, Megan at Fix Project wrote a post about why all of these projects are in the limelight and gaining popularity now.

She has this to say:

“…for me, and maybe for other people, it’s coming out of a generalized political dread that required me to do something - anything - to feel a little more active and headed towards change. Around the world, there are messes getting more hideous by the minute - many of them in America’s name - and I think personal environmental efforts make people feel a little less out of control.”
I liken it to a crisis. When I’m getting a cold, I’ll ignore it at first. It’s a sniffle. It’s just allergies. When that cold does hit, it seems to come out of no where. As a country, we’re pretty good at ignoring things. As a culture, we’re pretty good at ignoring things. We ignore it until it’s almost too late.

Is it too late now? When there is plenty of things to be weary of, there’s not many people who can totally ignore it. Newt Gingrich even admits that there is a global warming problem.

For me, it’s not political dread. It’s the sense of a fast-approaching problem.

But is that why I chose to do this? I’m not sure. I like challenges and I’m a person that does want to make a difference. I tell people I went into journalism because I wanted to make a difference. I’m an idealist. Even if it’s just Martha down the street that reads my stories, the change I set in her is enough for me. I like illuminating the truth.

Isn’t that what I’m doing here? I hope so.

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This week, Newsweek has an interesting take on the effect that Brit, Linds, Paris and the other ladies of the hours who seem to be forgetting underwear these days. They look at how little girls are looking up to them. But are they really?

I don’t usually analyze what I post here, but it’s worth the time. We twentysomethings are the same age as these girls. If we had a few more million dollars, we would be these girl, maybe. So are they bad?

I don’t agree with Britney’s antics or Paris’ lack of respect for…well, anything. I wish they could put on some panties now and then and maybe stop saying stupid things. But, as the article points out, girls in good families, with good role models probably laugh at them just like we do. But what about girls who are not in the best of situations? I’ll admit that some days, being an heiress whose job is to show up at parties sounds awfully nice. I’m sure the media plays a part in this equation. The obsession with these girls, women, people with these lives is very much a part of our lives. They get hours on CNN, covers on US weekly and People and more journalistically sound magazines (not to say that I don’ enjoy myself a bit of US weekly from time to time).

Is our obsession with the playing a part in children’s views of them as role models? Are they even viewed as role models? I’m sure most people 18 and up do NOT look up to them. My concern is more impressionable girls, aged 12 or so. When i was 13, I was awkward, wearing my sister’s hand-me-downs and i CRAVED to be Alicia Silverstone. She was gorgeous and got to be in Aerosmith videos. If i was 13 again, would I crave to be Paris, with all her antics? She does have her fair share of fun She’s on TV. She’s rich. She’s pretty, in some eyes.

I don’t have answers. I do think it’s worth thinking about. To me, it’s a stronger argument than anything else for mentoring. Or at the very least, for wearing panties. What do you think?

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