What Makes People Tick?

Me Too? Yes. Me Too. #MeToo It's something I don't talk about all that much unless there's a reason to. Partly because it can make me feel weak to admit it. Partly because I'd much rather forget. Partly because society tells us not to make a big deal out of nothing. Partly because I just want to keep going instead of crying or feeling sorry for myself. Partly because being harassed is something so terribly common that we've just accepted it as something to grin and bear, like crying babies on the bus or people loudly yelling into their phones on the metro or intimidating groups of teens on the train. But yes. Me too. Yes I've been harassed. Yes, I've been hassled. Yes, I've had strangers grab different parts of my body while walking down the street. Yes, I've been insulted and assaulted. Yes I've been objectified. Yes I've been told I'm a stuck up bitch because I wanted to enjoy the live music at a pub instead of being chatted up b...

Some quotes by the amazing and inspiring Yoko Ono. Dear Yoko,  You make me want to be a better person.  Thank you for being you. “War is over if you want it.” “ You change the world by being yourself.” “A dream you dream alone is only a dream.  A dream you dream together is reality.” “Remember, each one of us has the power to change the world.  Just start thinking peace, and the message will spread quicker than you think.”

Source : The Economist Known as Barbie to the world, her full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. She was patented in 1958 by Mattel and introduced to the world in 1959. Her creator Ruth Handler (co-founder of Mattel) named Barbie and Barbie's boyfriend Ken after her and husband Elliot Handler's own children Barbie and Ken. Read more about the history of Barbie and Mattel at the Barbie Media website. She is one of the world's best-known children's toys, a fashion icon, a family-loving, friendly, free woman and ultimately - a plastic doll. Yet this plastic doll has inspired millions of girls and women and is the cornerstone of a global brand with worldwide appeal.

"When Personality Traits Match Job, Employees Succeed." It sounds so simple when I read the words, almost like a 'wise saying' that could be attributed to a great leader or philosopher of the past. Yet apparently it's not quite that simple because if it were, this simple statement wouldn't be "new research". A September 2013 article from Business News Daily explains: "Bosses may want to take some more time finding out what drives their employees. New research suggests that matching the motivations and personality traits of workers with their job duties plays a big role in the success of not only those employees, but their companies as well." So - let me get this straight... Research indicates that people are more likely to succeed at work if they do a job that matches their interests, motivation and personality. Wait, what was it that I wrote earlier about attributing a statement like this to a great philosopher of the past? How about ...

Today's blog post is going back to the Early Days! Childcare, Education and some Developmental Theories thrown in! Brace yourselves! My cousin who's a working mother of two, sent me a link to a post by blogger Stephanie Metz. Her comment: "Finally someone says what I've been thinking!" This of course got me thinking, and got me curious to read the post. Blogger Stephanie Metz writes about her life as a working mother on her blog The Metz Family . The post I'm talking about is from October 2013 entitled " Why My Kids Are NOT the Center of My World " and as she cautions, it may be a controversial post to read.

I came across an online article on the Wait But Why website talking about how and why Generation Y (which I'm a part of) has unrealistic expectations about their lives and their careers. As I very much enjoyed the article and agreed with a lot it said, I decided to share it.  Gen Y is made up of people born between the late seventies and the mid-nineties to parents hailing from the hippy generation. Basically the article states that while our parents were taught that hard work would bring success and rewards, we expect those rewards and that success to happen without the hard work.  The article explains why this is and provides ideas on how to change our unrealistic life expectations into ones much more realistic.

Many people around the world celebrate a worldwide religious or cultural holiday in December. This holiday may be the a version of Christmas, the Jewish Hanukkah, it may be Kwanzaa or a pagan or Wiccan Yule / midwinter celebration. To top it off, there is the world-wide counting down to midnight on December 31st and the communal celebrations of the start of the new year. Every person who celebrates a holiday in December will have a different reason for doing so. Some may celebrate for religious or religion-based reasons. Some enjoy the holidays in a secular way. Some enjoy any excuse to go shopping. Some enjoy the feeling of celebrating with others and the sense of community that it brings. Some commemorate the middle of winter and the changes that will bring. Some may simply go along with what others do and celebrate only because of chance or coincidence. No matter how or what one celebrates - What matters is that all across the world, people are doing the same thing in Decemb...

Checking out my blog statistics lately, I couldn't help but notice that this blog has gotten quite a few hits. Even though I haven't written anything for months, people still keep on visiting. It makes me feel slightly guilty, to be honest. I had such high hopes for this blog and intended to 'do so much with it' and then never quite got around to doing it... I still have this vision of what this blog could be and what it could become and in light of that, here's a post about reaching your potential and being the best you can be! I found an amazing article at Zen Habits through Google Search. It's called 7 Essentials For Living Your Fullest Potential by Jonathan Mead who is also the author of website Illuminated Mind  - a website dedicated to helping you reach your fullest potential in life! The article is full of amazing tips, hints and ideas - I strongly encourage you to read it as I found it very illuminating. Below is a very abridged (and edited) versio...

I've been interested in "what makes people tick" for as long as I can remember. The way I see it, what makes people tick - what makes them think and act as they do, is a combination of two factors - Nature and Nurture. Nature being genetics and Nurture being our upbringing and environment. According to Wikipedia , "The nature versus nurture debates concern the relative importance of an individual's innate qualities ("nature", i.e. nativism, or innatism) versus personal experiences ("nurture", i.e. empiricism or behaviorism) in determining or causing individual differences in physical and behavioral traits." I'm no genetic scientist or evolutionary biologist or any other person with a fancy title like that, so will leave discussion of the Nature side of this debate to those qualified to do so. While I'd be very interested in finding out exactly how much like our parents, grandparents et al we all are, I'm very happy to let...