Ah…Spirit of Steve Jobs!

Ah, spirit of Steve Jobs, see what you hath wrought!

This is what I said to myself over and over again during the three hours I spent in the Apple store trying to buy a new phone.

I am the yin to Steve Jobs’ yang. He was a genius and I am an idiot.

I stupidly went to the store way too soon after Christmas. I thought it would be better than before Christmas, but I was very wrong.

I watched the scene as if it were an out-of-body experience and I clearly saw the two distinct sides of myself.

The store was unbelievably crowded; it almost reminded me of my trip to India. People were everywhere and were moving around from area to area, a vast sea of busy busy humanity. Can you imagine how much money Apple makes? This was but one store on one afternoon. How many stores on how many afternoons and mornings and nights serve how many people’s “needs”?

I put “needs” in quotes because I remember that the foundational genius of Steve Jobs was that he created a need that we did not know we had. If you read my book or my blog, you know that I have a problem with Totally DeTestable Technology™. I am sure that when confronted with the first cell phone, I said something like, “What is wrong with my black phone with the rotary dial? It works! Why do I need anything else?!”

Anyway here I was at the Apple store, so Steve Jobs was truly a genius.

I have an aversion to busy stores. If I were wealthy enough and so inclined, I would be the kind of lady who would frequent the kind of dress shop where you sit on a couch with a glass of wine and the saleslady (probably known as your consultant) brings you dresses that may meet your requirements. Nobody else is in the shop. So on the one hand, the whole Apple scene was enough to cover me in hives.

On the other hand, how exciting a scene it truly was! I love diversity, which is why I love living where I do. The store was filled with people of many races, many ethnicities, many religions. The man sitting across from me was speaking Chinese. The woman next to me was wearing a hijab. There were people even older than me, and there were way too many who were born with a smartphone in their hands. I loved the people–watching!

So the two opposing forces of my personality were on display. The lover of quiet and orderliness and the lover of a mishmash of human activity.

The only obvious truth is that Steve Jobs was right. Even my prima donna side was willing to do as I was told for three hours while various fixes were made and transfers of data were made.

And I never told the many genius bar people that their whole store was full of Totally DeTestable Technology. I simply told them thank you as I pocketed my way-cool new phone.

©2017 Margery Leveen Sher

The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U

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MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

How to Be Happy Like Tigger

There is so much written about how to be happier. You have to admit, this is such a first-world problem. People who are fleeing or coping with war, who can’t find enough to eat every day, or who are suffering from disease aren’t so obsessed with this idea of increasing happiness from pretty happy to really happy, are they? You can see that this whole happiness movement kind of annoys me.

I almost lost my eyes in my head from rolling them so hard when I heard we are supposed to look at each of our chatchkies and determine if it brings us joy. If not, get rid of it. Really? Is this how we should spend our time? “Flower vase from I’m not sure where, do you bring me joy?” And proceed like that with each and everything you have? Ai yai yai. I say, if you can’t slam your closet door shut because it’s too full, just get big garbage bags and throw out whatever you can in 15 minutes, then shut the door and move on with your life.

Well, I am by nature a Tigger but I am well aware there are plenty of Eeyores around. (You are a Winnie the Pooh fan, are you not?) As evidence of my Tiggerishness, I submit that I love summer. Who cares that it’s hot. There are blueberries, strawberries, grapes, and peaches. Sometimes, and I do think this is like Tigger, I eat so much summer fruit that I feel rather sick. But anyway, summer lets you just run outside whenever you want, no need to brace yourself against the cold and spend time putting on sweaters and coats and scarves and hats and boots. No, just run outside. Yay!

But even a Tigger like me gets down in the mouth. Lately it’s been quite often because of events in our country and around the world. I find myself quoting the pessimistic words of William Wordsworth: “The world is too much with us…”

I could easily turn myself into an Eeyore. However I firmly believe there is really one great step to happiness.

That step is to do something, just one thing, each day to make someone else smile. I try hard to remember to do this.

Send a text or an email or even an old fashioned snail mail note. Buy someone an unexpected little gift. Pay it forward; help a stranger; say good morning to someone who is homeless. Certainly doing volunteer work will make you much happier, but there are simple things you can do too. Practice random acts of kindness.

Just do one thing every day to make someone else smile. Let me know if you are a Tigger now or when you are joining us Tigger People. How did you make someone else smile today? 

©2016 Margery Leveen Sher

The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is now available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

Einstein and Me

Last week I wrote about how I am nosy and like to poke my big nose into things. That Noticing got me to thinking about what I am not nosy or curious about. There are, indeed, things that I don’t want to know anything about. How about you? It might be worth your time to make two lists – Things I am Curious About and Things I Couldn’t Care Less (CCL) About. Here are the top 5 on my CCL list.

1.              How to lay tile. (In fact, how to lay carpet or wood flooring would be a CCL as well. I am definitely not a DIYer. But, on the other hand, I wouldn’t mind learning just a little about plumbing and electrical work.)

2.              How to be a zookeeper. (Definitely not. No ifs, ands, or buts here.)

3.              How to rappel down a cliff. (No, that’s ok. I don’t need to know how to do that. I’ll watch you and that will be enough for me.)

4.              How to play the piano well. (Tried that for the most miserable sidetrack of my childhood. I was an abysmal failure and let’s leave it at that.)

5.              How to play football. (Sorry, fans, I am not with you. Run, fall down, run, fall down. It seems like a grown-up version of London Bridges.)

Now this makes me feel really good because I have put these things on my CCL list and I don’t have to give them another thought. Think of the time that will save me. Think of the guilt that I don’t need to have. I never again have to say, I should learn how to lay tile so I can renovate my own bathroom. No, now I am free!!

On the other hand, my Curious List is huge. I’ve given a lot of thought lately to math and physics. I know nothing about these things, but I would like to. I have started by buying the book How Not To Be Wrong (love the title!) by Jordan Ellenberg and now I have to read it. This book is about how basic mathematical principles work in everyday life. So that will take care of math. Now for physics, I’ll have to see what simple video or something I can find on the internet. Then I can check physics off the list.

I certainly need to keep adding to my Couldn’t Care Less list as well. That way I am actually producing time…time I otherwise might be spent worrying about how I don’t know how to lay tile or care for zoo animals. Whoa, ho! I think this is physics - I am expanding time! Wow - I’m just like Einstein!

Well, well, well. I must already know physics! It must have seeped into my head while I was asleep. Let me go check physics off my list. I’m done! Yay!

©2016 Margery Leveen Sher

The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is now available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

Tape Trials and Tribulations

Let’s get back to Human Idiosyn-Crazies ™.

You remember what these are, right? I have a whole section in The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing about them. They are the endearingly dumb things we all do.

See this photo?

I just wanted to get a piece of scotch tape. And this is typically how it turns out for me.

You know, sometimes I have a gift wrapped at a department store. I cruise wildly in my mind from absolute admiration to jaundiced jealousy to rapacious rage watching the person deftly and beautifully wrapping gifts.

Are you one of those people whose fingers and hands work magic on tape, ribbon, and wrapping paper?

Jeez. I bet you got all smiley faces in kindergarten. I did not.

Isn’t it interesting how some people have some talents and other people absolutely do not.

Here is what I do not have:

Ability to get a piece of tape off a roll (don’t even think about saran wrap); ability to open a box without tearing it or opening it from the bottom by mistake; ability to read directions about how to do something.

Here’s what I do have:

Ability to find my lack of abilities very funny.

What abilities or lack thereof do you have? If you can get tape off a roll, can you please come over here and help me?

©2016 Margery Leveen Sher

The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is now available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U 

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

Love the Laggard

Right up front here I want to state that I am a Laggard.

I feel disdain coming at me from all sides and I want to tell the world, right here and now, that I want to be loved.

The dictionary defines a laggard as “a person who does not move as quickly as others”. Well, I’m not a marathon runner, but neither do I spend my time sauntering.  There must be another definition somewhere.

Aha! So here it is.

You may know about the theory of how new stuff spreads through a culture. It is called Diffusion of Innovations. You know about the bell curve, right? Most people or things in the middle, some off to the left, some off to the right. I could pretend that I am way off to the right end (the high end, the good end) of the bell curve when it comes to being intelligent, or charming, or graceful. (I did say pretend.) Well it seems there is a bell curve in this theory as well, and I am definitely at the far end of this “diffusion”. I am a Laggard!

The categories of adopters of new ideas and technologies are innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.

I am a Laggard! It is true. I am very happy being the last to buy anything and will often do it only when there is no other choice. When did you get a flat screen TV? I got my first last year! And it’s not too big either. And I still have an analog TV hidden in a kitchen cabinet which I watch perfectly happily if I can get the rabbit ears to be in the right place. Case closed! This woman is a Laggard! Take her away!

But here’s the thing. Why do I have to always have the latest thing if what I have works perfectly well? I have plenty of things I want to do and have to do, so why should I spend time learning how to use a new technology when what I am doing now works? I don’t care how “cool” some new phone looks.

And by the way, if you read The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing, you will see that I have a whole section on Totally DeTestable Technology ™. Yes, I have trademarked that name. Do you know how to flush a toilet? I bet you do. So why do we need “self-flushing” toilets that don’t flush when you want them to, but often scare the bejesus out of you by flushing at inappropriate times? That’s just one example of Totally DeTestable Technology and one example of why Laggards are not always wrong.

How about valuing simplicity? To me technology is a means to an end, not an end to an end. I don’t want the latest and greatest. I just want to get the darn job done.

I don’t even own an electric can-opener. Why should I? A handheld works just fine and washes easily. Ice cubes from a refrigerator? Don’t even get me started on how one leaked on me years ago and we had to replace a floor and a ceiling. Hooray for ice cube trays. Automatic hot water from the sink to make tea quickly? I love to hear the roar of a good boil on the stove.

Am I hopeless? I guess I am. But I am happy hopeless and still want to be loved. Please don’t call me a Laggard. That is nasty. Call me, perhaps, simplistic.

No…. I did not say call me “a simpleton.” Harumph!

©2015 Margery Leveen Sher

The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is now available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

Thank God for Epsom Salts

I recently saw a page in the New York Times that made me realize that gender equality still has incredibly far to go.

No, this wasn’t an article about the pay gap or glass ceiling or, simply, housework. This wasn’t an article at all. It was two ads on the same page.

You can see that the top ad is for a pair of very high heels.

You can see that at the bottom of the page is an ad with the recognition that men want to look good, but not at the expense of health and comfort.

When I saw those two juxtaposed ads, I thought, “This is so obviously the problem.”

Yes. Yes, I know. A very first-world problem to be sure – no one living in poverty is worried about balancing on 3 or 4 inch heels - but still, a problem. Dare I say a nefarious conspiracy?

Who decided that women are sexier in high heels – 4”, 5”, even 6”!? In my rigorous research on the subject, I saw many references to the idea that high heels lift butts, elongate calves, take 5 lbs off your weight.

And why don’t we think the butts, calves, and weight we have will do just fine, thank you, with flats? Men are not worried about lifting their butts.  The men’s ad says “because you deserve to look good and feel good.”

Well, how about the female gender! Don’t we deserve to look good AND feel good, too?! Ladies, why do we slavishly follow style and then end up in a bucket of Epsom salts soaking sprained ankles or worse?

Let us pledge to make comfortable shoes the most prestigious things you can wear. Let us convince the world that lower butts and shorter calves are sexy! Let us (wo)man the barricades and fight! Convince movie stars to wear walking shoes under their red carpet gowns! Let us go forth and conquer the fashion industry!!

Editor’s Note: Your author is a horrendous hypocrite. Yes. This is your Chief Noticing Officer, caught on camera! Shame! Shame!

©2015 Margery Leveen Sher

The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is now available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U 

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

A Mindful Analysis of the Repercussions of Carrying a 200 lb. Head on your Neck

Ok. Yeah. I have a cold. Is it the end of the world? With all the strife and disease and ugliness in the world, who cares?

Nobody.

But nonetheless, as I sat in My Chair (which I capitalize because I want you to realize the importance of this piece of furniture to me), with my feet on the ottoman and with my beloved quilt upon me (regardless of the fact that it is 85 degrees outside),and held my heavy, hot head in my hands, I found it necessary to analyze my circumstances.

Fact #1: I do not have the strength to get out of My Chair. (Except for the mitigating factor that results from drinking boatloads of tea)

Fact #2: If (when) you read My Book, you will read a Noticing entitled “I am in Great Danger”. This is about the humongous pile of books and other reading material on my bedside table. So I have a lot of reading that I really should tackle.

Fact #3: Generally I run around like a lunatic all day and don’t read much. In fact, I feel guilty when I sit down and read a book, unless it is something directly related to my work. Yes, I am a complete idiot.

Fact #4: I began to realize that colds are made for reading, just like boots are made for walking (if you are old enough to get that musical reference).

Fact #5: When I want to truly relax I read the catalogues sent to me from stores. My favorite is Neiman Marcus, which for those who aren’t familiar, is the nickname of the store really named Needless Markup. Now I could confess to many sins, but coveting isn’t really one of them. I have absolutely no desire to own a $1,500 handbag, so the Needless Markup catalogue is just an interesting anthropological adventure. (See how I make wasting time seem like something important so I don’t have to feel guilty about it?) Yes, I am a complete idiot. Oops. Being repetitious here.

Anyway, I put all these facts together and came to the conclusion that I should read! So in the past two days I have read two NM catalogues and a Pottery Barn.

But also I read The Power of Mindful Learning by Ellen Langer – she is the foremost mindfulness guru around. If you really want to learn about mindfulness, read her stuff. I mean, after you read My Book. Dr. Langer is a Harvard professor; I am a NM catalogue reader. But still.

And I read Corporate Sponsorships in 3 Easy Steps by Linda Hollander. I read this because I want to get corporate sponsors for The Did Ya Notice? Project. Now I know something about sponsors from some of my previous work lives, and I can tell you this: Linda’s book is spot on and very helpful. However, “3” is really 3 with lots of substeps. “Easy” is in the eye of the beholder. Maybe it’s easy after you’re done but certainly not while you’re doing it. “Steps” is more like an ancient staircase leading to the ramparts. You might want to climb it on your hands and knees like I did in Greece. Actually though, really this is a great book and Linda is lovely. So if you are interested for your organization, buy her book.

And I read the summer issue of Harvard Business Review. I love this journal. I always find something interesting and useful, and it makes me feel Smart. There is a column in this one by a cranky woman who does not like all this research and proselytizing about happiness. Bah humbug, says she. Well, maybe she’s right. Too much of anything is no good, as my mother used to say.

Then I read Speaker magazine which is the magazine of the National Speakers Association. It made me feel inadequate. Why aren’t I yet jetting around the world speaking to thousands of people? By the way, the other week I attended the National Speakers Association annual conference. This was a great conference - the information presented was extremely useful and the speakers were incredibly inspiring. But…I hated it. Did you know I am a closet introvert? I was put into a hell of 1,500 screaming extroverts carousing with each other. Fortunately I found a rock to crawl under.

After all that, I needed to study the Crate and Barrel catalogue.

But tomorrow is another day and if I am still sick, I believe I will gather up my courage and read a Real Book – not work related!  

Do you have any encouragement for a complete idiot like me? Will you give me dispensation to read such a thing: A Real Book?

©2015 Margery Leveen Sher

The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is now available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U 

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

What Do We Want? When Do We Want It?

What is it about a parade or a march that is so exciting?!    I know. Some of you probably hate that stuff. People have told me that they don’t like crowds; they feel claustrophobic; they dislike the herd mentality.

But not me. I love a march!

I started my more-or-less adult marching career in college. Of course as a child I marched in the Memorial Day parades as a girl scout. I felt resplendent in my excellent uniform.

But in college, we would travel hundreds of miles to stand near the White House and shout obscenities. Ah youth.

Since then, if it is a holiday or if it is a cause I don’t disagree with, I really am happy to join right in. I just cut right into the middle and begin to shout whatever, marching along blissfully. I have marched against the Vietnam war and against the Iraq war, for women’s rights and against gun violence. I had a good time talking with the Occupy Wall Streeters and the anti IMF-World Bank folks. When I was in Tel Aviv in March, I was lucky enough to be there for the Purim parade. It was like a Halloween parade with all kinds of crazy costumed people dancing down the street. Great fun! And this weekend, I got to mosey around enjoying the Gay Pride parade.

But my point here is not political. It is more about Noticing the vibe of the marchers and paraders. There is always solidarity, whether the march is for fun or for a serious issue. And if it is a serious issue, you feel that at least you are trying to do something, so there is the good feeling of getting off your butt and taking some kind of action. (Hey! I heard you mutter “useless”.)

I have also Noticed that people in a parade/march are always nice. They let you in. They make space for you. They tell you the chants. If you trip and fall (which seems to be my hobby), they help you up. The march becomes a community.

It’s fun being in the action. It’s fun shouting in the street. It’s fun waving signs to the beat of chanting.

Then it’s fun to go home, take a shower, and chill out in silence.

©2015 Margery Leveen Sher

The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is now available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

Uh...How Many Years Was That, Again?

In a few weeks I will attend my xx high school reunion. It is the number that shall never be spoken. 

How did this happen? I remember very clearly hurrying through the hallways to get to class, yelling in the stands at the football games, walking home with a load of books in my arms. I have a very clear memory of writing notes during class, of my very best red plaid Bermuda shorts which were perfect for the football games, and of memorizing the phyla for biology class. Wasn’t this all yesterday?

The only reason I believe it really was not yesterday, is that I have been plagued by nightmares ever since.

• I cannot remember the combination for my locker and the bell is ringing for class.

• I cannot find my math class. It is room 212, but the rooms are numbers 210, 211, 213, 214. There is no 212 anywhere. 

• It is the end of the year and I totally forgot about history class. I never attended one class. I never read the book. And now I have to take the exam to graduate. 

• I never could find my entire class schedule. I had some classes, but clearly others were missing. This problem went on all year. From time to time I would try to talk to the people in the office but I never could get anyone’s attention.

Do any of these nightmares seem familiar? I swear, right now my heart is racing a little at the thought of that history exam coming up. 

What is it about high school that gives us nightmares for decades? 

The other night in my sleep, I finally confessed to my mother that I forgot about history class.  I don’t know what her response was, since I woke up right after the confession, but she was the most patient, caring, and forgiving person you can imagine. Maybe that confession was the resolution of all the angst, and I can go to my reunion in peace. I sure hope so.

Are missing classrooms and unopenable lockers chasing you in the night too? 

©2015 Margery Leveen Sher

The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is now available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U 

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

Shirleys and Dots

I grew up in a large extended family. My mother was one of 5 siblings, all of whom were married with kids, and three of the five families, including mine, lived within a mile of each other. So aunts, uncles, and cousins were always around. 

Whenever someone was sick or in the hospital, the family horde gathered daily until life returned to normal. Hospital waiting rooms were taken over by the clan. I’m sure there were times when the adults wished for some privacy, or at least quiet, but I am also sure the feeling of security in family was writ large.

I remembered this all with a mixture of contentment at the memory and loneliness at my current situation, as I sat by myself for hours in the hospital watching nervously for the surgeon to appear and report on my husband.

Times are very different now. My kids and my extended family don’t live anywhere near. Unlike my mom and my aunts of decades ago, everyone today has a daily schedule filled with work, volunteer commitments, and parent or grandparent duties. I, generally, am amongst the worst offenders of an overscheduled life.

So times are indeed different now, but also much improved in many respects. We have other ways to show our commitment to one another. I finally realized that I could post on Facebook, so I did. I kind of thought to myself, “Well, let’s just see what happens. My aunts aren’t here to keep me company and cheer me up, but maybe there are 21st century ‘aunts and uncles’ out there.”

Wow. And I thought I came from a large extended family. I had no concept.

The “likes” and the comments poured in. Chats and texts poured in. Emails poured in. I really felt that old sense of security that I was not alone.

So to all of you out there: Thank you! You may not think of yourself this way, but to me you are my Aunt Shirleys and Dots, and I so appreciate you keeping me virtual company.

Oh and by the way, Aunt Dot always had a cookie jar with fantastic chocolate chip cookies in it. Aunt Shirley always had some great cake around. Just sayin’.

©2015 Margery Leveen Sher

The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is now available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

Floppy Tulips and Lopsided Smiles

What brings you up when you are down? What makes you happy?

I have been somewhat down this week because I am not a salesman by nature. You may be surprised to hear that I do not like selling. Hustling my book and my speaking wears me out. I even considered joining The Quitters Club.

Yes. That is a real thing. I read about it in The Washington Post recently. People who just wanted to give up whatever they were trying to do got together to help each other quit. Perhaps not surprisingly, they ended up giving each other support to keep trying.

Yes. Because those of us who think about giving up from time to time are also often plagued by thoughts like “winners never quit” and “persistence is the key.” Jeez, if you are also bugged constantly by some inner devil pushing you to do more and better, let me know. We can form the Why Oh Why Can’t We Just Sit on a Beach and Chillax Club.

And yes. Fortunately, many of us have found tried and true ways to cheer ourselves up and re-energize. Tell me yours!

If you are a loyal Noticer and read this blog (and The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing, plug, plug, sell, sell), you know that there are two tried and true ways I cheer myself up. One is roaming through the farmers’ market, and two is buying and admiring yellow flowers. Both of which I have done today, and I am now in a great energized mood.

Do you think these yellow tulips will ever stand up straight? Will they get their act together and reach for the ceiling?

On the other hand, they are so lovable flopping all over this way and that like some mixed breed dog with a lopsided smile. 

Whether they reach their full potential of strong tulips standing tall, or whether they just flop all over doing their own thing, I love them.

Perhaps I should think of myself as a floppy yellow tulip and be more tolerant of myself.

OMG! Get a grip, girl! Here’s a smack on the butt. Get yourself moving! Nobody ever got on The New York Times bestseller list by pretending to be a tulip!

Okay….Okay!

Dear NY Times: Please put The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing on your list. Sincerely, Margery

That’s not how it works? Oh.

Well you can’t win if you don’t try.

©2015 Margery Leveen Sher

The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is now available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U 

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

A Waste of Time

In the very diverse hip area of Jaffa at the south end of Tel Aviv where we just stayed for two weeks, sits the old, famous shop selling delicious pastries and a culinary invention called “toast”.  Toast is like a huge bagel-panini stuffed with whatever you want. The guys behind the counter, which is right on the street, wear teeshirts that say “Jews and Arabs Refuse to be Enemies”.

Ah, if it were only true throughout the Middle East rather than just in this small enclave of mosques abutting synagogues, neighboring churches.

But ignoring politics and embracing culture is much more fulfilling right now.

There is an expression used in Tel Aviv that I love: “Haval al hazman!” Literally it means ”a waste of time”. But the stupendous thing is that this phrase is used to mean “It’s fabulous!”

Suppose you bake someone a cake and bring it to their home. They might well say “Haval al hazman!”

Think about it. The idea of wasting time as the highest praise! Or, alternatively, you could interpret it as “such an honor that you would waste your precious time for me!”

The idea of putting a high value on wasting time is a new and radical concept for me. I need to really consider this.

I am quite neurotic about time. I do not “waste” it at all. I do not “waste time” in a somewhat extreme way. I’m beginning to think that how I go about living each day is very wrong.

I feel guilty if I am reading a book. I feel guilty if I am not eating lunch at my desk. Thankfully, I do not feel guilty when I am working out or taking long walks because, I reason neurotically, I need to keep my body in shape so that I can keep on “doing” stuff and not “waste time”.

I am an annoying person, am I not? Jeez, after reading this, I don’t even want to be my own friend.

One expression that I detest is when someone says “lighten up”. It is so condescending and dismissive of the other person’s thoughts. However, I have only one thing to say to myself at this point:

Lighten up, Margery!  

All right. Ok. I am going to try to live differently. I am off now to sit in a café and read a book.

How long do you think I need to stay? More than 5 minutes? Would 15 be enough?

©2015 Margery Leveen Sher

NEW BOOK! The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U 

Here is a 50 second really cool video about the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGWMsUUPPeA 

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”

The Music Mystery

I am quite special.

I must be because music is following me wherever I go. Not always, but often enough to have become a real mystery.

I walk down the street and it is uncanny. The music is not loud, but it is exactly the type I like. Where is it coming from? It is definitely behind me but when I turn around, I see nothing that would bring music to my ears.

There are a few people walking, but they are a couple of blocks behind me, so it couldn’t be coming from them. There are no cars passing with radios blaring.

Where is this music coming from? I don’t know so I just accept it and enjoy it like some Zen master, knowledgeable in the fact that not everything is knowable.

Suddenly, I hear a buzz and the music stops.

Wait a minute….

I reach into my back pocket for my phone and I see that I have a new text message…and I see also that somehow, some way…

Pandora has turned on.

Oh.

Yes, it seems that my own phone in my back pocket under my jacket was the source of the lovely music.

Hmmm. Sometimes the mystery is way more exciting than the truth, isn’t it?

©2015 Margery Leveen Sher

NEW BOOK PUBLISHED! The Noticer’s Guide to Living and Laughing…..Change Your Life Without Changing Your Routine is available on Amazon, Nook, and iTunes.  Read the reviews and purchase here. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZTM73U 

Here is a 50 second really cool video about the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGWMsUUPPeA

MARGERY IS AVAILABLE TO KEYNOTE YOUR MEETING OR CONFERENCE with a motivational talk filled with both startling wisdom and humongous laughs:

“Notice What You See and Be a Hero at Work”