I took this photo while on a plane about a month ago.....there was a small girl in front of me and when I noticed her hand against the side of the plane, it seemed like an interesting photo. It looks like she could be bracing herself against some turbulence, but there was none. She was just a fidgety 5 or 6 year old. This is an example of doing something out of the ordinary, or outside of the box.
Another thing I like to do is when I visit a large bookstore, I purchase a magazine I've never seen. It's always interesting to see what others may be reading that I know nothing about. I've recently bought "EnlightenNext" magazine. Part of its' mission statements reads "we strive to be leaders, examples, and pathfinders in the emerging field of integral and evolutionary spirituality". I know all the words and what they mean, but I need to read through some articles to get the feel for the purpose of this magazine. One article that I enjoyed is entitled "Your Heart, Hormones, and Emotions" by Peter Ragnar. Basically, he writes about research that shows that emotions such as anger, anxiety, and other negative ones cause the increase of production of free radicals and the hormone cortisol which can lead to heart disease. Ragnar then follows up with advice on how to "gently let go of your demands, addictions, and attachments" as a way to avoid these negative emotions. Basically, it's not the events that cause these emotions, it's your reaction to these events. Good advice. Besides the articles, I also read about new people, see ads for books, seminars, and other items, and interesting photos that I'll no doubt keep stored away for expression in some way, which for me means in a quilt. I enjoyed seeing the ZEN Alarm Clock, which uses natural acoustic sounds and gongs to awaken you.......now, that does sound interesting to me as well. Point is, this magazine opened a door to a world I knew nothing about before I began to flip through its pages. And that's what I call stepping out of the box. It's a good thing to do once in a while.......take an unusual photo, listen to a new radio station, find a new genre of books to read.........all in the effort to raise your awareness of the world around you and stimulate new thinking about our world. Basically, get out of your RUT. Try it, you may like it!
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