Thanksgiving 2014 #Caleb

Thanksgiving 2014 looks a little different than those of the past.  There's a missing face or two, a couple faces anew and friends of the past that are long overdue. So many reasons to be thankful in 2014, I'm indeed truly happy. 

#cheers 

At the gymnasium...

As a pretty avid gym goer, it never seizes to amaze me some of the shit I see and hear on a fairly regular basis.  I genuinely love exercise, I don’t particularly enjoy the antics I witness at the gym, not to mention the stale air of sweat and a bazillion germs and viruses lurking on every surface encountered.  Exercising outdoors is far more enjoyable than any day in the gym, but as it stands, I’ve never really been fond of working out outdoors during the cold months here in Michigan, so, to the gym I go. 

I’ve been attending the same gym since college, which has both its perks and downfalls.  In general, I enjoy my facility and most of my gripes about the gym would happen just about anywhere, even if I did choose to branch out to my local country club or Powerhouse gym. 

Gripe #1 – It’s not my social hour

When I go to the gym, I go to work. Please leave me be.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m as social as they come when you meet me out in a restaurant, bar or starbucks, but when I’m at the gym and I’m dripping with sweat and can barely catch my breath let alone hold a conversation, please let me get the most out of my hour in the gym so I can get the hell out of there.  Which leads me to my next gripe…

Gripe #2- The gym is not a fashion show

Women and their lulu lemon pants, matching track suits, hair down and neon everything make me giggle. Don’t get me wrong, I have a pretty sweet pair of white/neon kicks I enjoy, but I’m in no way, shape or form someone who puts much thought into their workout gear.  I’m the chick in an oversized cutoff t-shirt, standard black pants and her hair slicked back with sweat; in short, I’m not looking my best, therefore I’d rather not converse with anyone, let alone someone of the opposing sex.  Moreover…

Gripe #3- Creepy guys at the gym are the worst

Sometimes guys really do have no shame.  Listen dude, I can feel your eyes on my back (likely ass) and it really makes me uncomfortable.  However, it also motivates me to push harder, run faster and burn off more steam, so hey- I guess that’s a plus.  Guys that approach me at the gym to either compliment me or ask me for advice are a lot to take in.  I have a hard time taking compliments from women at the gym let alone the dude who just had to come over and say something.  Again, I look atrocious and really don’t see the appeal.  Even when I wore an engagement ring at the gym it didn't seem to deter men from approaching me at the most inopportune times.  I appreciate those men/women who genuinely appreciate something I had been doing, but all and all, a thumbs up is pretty sufficient and we can all go about our merry work out.

Gripe #4 – People who spectate

I’ll never understand the people who come to the gym and walk on a treadmill for 2 hours at a snail’s pace. I’m really beginning to wonder if some people really do frequent the gym for social hour or to meet new people.  I get it, whatever floats your boat, but I personally find it uncomfortable for those of us working hard and extremely counterintutive to your health and gym membership. I've heard we burn calories while sleeping, that may be another viable option...

Clearly, the gym can be a nuisance at times, however it certainly beats the alternative…  To help illustrate the amount of sweat that escapes my pores, please observe this pic of my workout bench I snapped last weekend. I tried telling you, I’m no joke in the gym J  

I'm Working on It!

I've been taking a little hiatus while I try to get my life back in order. Lots of changes are happening all around me and I'm attempting to go with the flow as best I can, though it hasn't presented me with much time to put pen to paper.  Stay tuned, I'll have some pretty good reads coming your way soon enough. I think it's safe to say I have lots of new inspiration and humor to share with this new chapter of my life. I can't make some of this shit up, so please check back friends, I think you'll find some enjoyment in my somewhat uncomfortable misery- new outlook on life. Love and be well!

Lisa

Embrace Life to Live

It’s a firm belief of mine that the greatest opportunities in life come from exploring the unknown.  Stepping outside of one’s comfort zone opens a world of possibility that might otherwise fall to the wayside out of sheer panic, fear or ignorance. Whether you’re exploring a new town, country, book, religion, social group, music genre, political belief or something new for dinner, I urge you to take that leap of faith and understand that chance and change are the truest testament of living.  People are complex and come from all different walks of life, therefore I think there’s perhaps nothing more rewarding in life than extending a helping hand to the unexpecting, conversing with someone from the other side of the tracks and really embracing those people or ideologies that are quite the contrary to your own. 

Wherever that foreign territory takes you, acknowledging the indifferences that cultivate through the complexity of life, we can begin to embrace those days and times everyone else seems to take for granted and we'll eventually come to understanding that life really is beautiful beyond your wildest dreams. Exploring the unknown is to live life to its fullest, a little carpe diem; if you will. So I urge you to be open to change and embrace the unknowns of the future.  March forward with an open mind, heart and always represent yourself from a place of compassion and pure interest. Who knows, perhaps after all is said and done the new people, ideas and/or culture may be just that thing you've been looking for all along.  Cheers!

Look! Agenda Setting theory at its Finest.

EBOLA! EBOLA! Cue, widespread panic...

All of this Ebola uproar takes me back to a little research piece I wrote my senior year of my undergrad at UM-F.  Thanks to the media, we're in prime agenda setting theory overload.  I'll share with you snippet of the paper below, you can quickly paint a visual of what's happening right now in society with the Ebola scare and what may be getting swept under the rug because of it. The CDC and other experts predict that more people in the U.S. will die in the next year of influenza or perhaps more alerting and something that's not being exploited as much as Ebola, the Enterovirus which has already taken 600+ lives whereas Ebola has taken the life of one individual and infected less than a handful of people since here in the U.S. So why is it we're focusing all of our time an energy on Ebola instead of some of the more alarming statistics of other health risks out there? Welcome to agenda setting theory, enjoy.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/dont-forget-flu

          The mass media has a profound effect on today’s society.  Citizens are being pushed, pulled and pointed in every which direction as to what’s deemed “newsworthy” or relevant from every such existing medium.  The media has a strikingly effective way of presenting ideas, offering opinions and ultimately setting the agenda as to what’s relevant.  “Water cooler” talk has drastically changed over the years to expand beyond the once important, life-altering news stories, to reflect a staggering number of political propaganda, continuous fiscal woes and the increasing phenomenon of seemingly irrelevant entertainment headlines.  In an effort to highlight the inequalities and influence passed on from the media’s agenda to public agenda, we’ll examine the agenda-setting theory and its involvement in media studies and its effect on society’s health and well-being issues.

Agenda-setting theory was popularized by researcher’s Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in 1972. McCombs and Shaw were interested in the overwhelming influence of mass medias “…ability to transfer the salience of issues on their news agenda to public agenda”           ( Griffin ). Adding, society looks to media as to where their focus should be placed and why; “media assistance.” They note “We judge as important what the media judge as important,” - a statement that certainly drives home the agenda-setting hypothesis.

In an effort to best understand the agenda-setting theory, it’s important to look at some of the components of the theory. First and foremost, the theory can be identified as an objective approach. Essentially, the theory looks to uncover one truth, answering what is real.  With conducting experiments, focusing on unbiased observations and practical utility, we uncover what we already know and eventually can decipher what is good.

Furthermore, the theory is also noted as a socio-psychological tradition of communication studies. The tradition is based on interpersonal interaction, expression and influence. The problem within the communication lies within a situation that requires manipulation or perception, whether cognitively speaking or not. The socio-psychological tradition focuses on cause and effect and therefore the appropriate tradition to describe agenda-setting theory.

Expanding beyond the characteristics of objective approach and socio-psychological tradition of agenda-setting theory, it’s important to closely examine how exactly the theory functions and what it’s attempting to expose. Both McCombs and Shaw reference Bernard Cohen, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin as stating “The press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about” ( Griffin ). One can see how prominent and influential this may be in politics and election processes, as countlessly noted within the theories examination. However, politics aside, theorists are able to draw on several applications of influence in the agenda-setting theory.  The first step is to make sense of the media’s agenda.

Media agenda refers to “The pattern of news coverage across major print and broadcast media as measured by the prominence and length of stories” ( Griffin ). Dependent on which form of media: print, broadcast, film, etc… certain positions, prominences and length of stories, quantifies the effectiveness and perceptions of the audience. In an article from the Malaysian Journal of Media Studies, author Amira Sariyati Firdaus notes the media’s role as “a very important agenda setter,” stating that “ideology” is the main influence on content, typically derived from the government.  Other, more minor influences on media agenda’s include influences from decision-makers or interest groups, who have policy making clout and also the journalists themselves with their values, biases and personalities that shape the stories or headlines ( Sariyati ). 

Additionally, the public agenda’s reflects “A composite index of media prominence revealed the following order of importance: foreign policy, law and order, fiscal policy, public welfare, and civil rights” ( Griffin ). The public agenda attempts to measure the issues and their importance by conducting public opinion surveys, surveys which McCombs and Shaw frequented in their research. “In the metaphorical language of the theory, the media’s agenda sets the public’s agenda” ( Tankard ).  

If the media’s agenda is the prominent agenda, it should come to no surprise that the audience is susceptible to the media’s ideologies, some individuals more than others. The media has the upper hand and definitely serves as gatekeepers, meaning they choose what the public sees or hears. Although, it’s to what extent each individual’s need for orientation occurs.  Deciphering between an individual’s high interest on an issue combined with high uncertainty on that issue, is reflective of their need for orientation ( Sariyati ).   In other words, the motivation factor of letting the media shape their thoughts, is also known as index of curiosity ( Griffin ).  For example, if one were getting ready board a cruise ship set to sail the Pacific and a warning came across the television of a new storm system developing in the Pacific Ocean, this would most likely cause a level of concern for that individual, for it’s of high relevance and high uncertainty.

Likewise, an increasingly noted factor arising amidst the agenda-setting theory is framing. Framing is “The selection of restricted number of thematically related attributes for inclusion on the media agenda when a particular object or issue is discussed” ( Griffin ). Noted mass communication scholar James Tankard adds that media frame suggests “the central organizing idea for news content that supplies a context and suggest what the issue is through the use of selection, emphasis, exclusion, and elaboration” ( Griffin ).  Essentially, media time and time again sets both the agenda and also transfers the salience of specific attributes belonging to the particular headlines of interest ( Griffin ). 

Further, “Frames are abstract notions that serve to organize or structure social meanings. Frames influence the perception of the news of the audience, this form of agenda-setting not only tells what to think about, but also how to think about it” ( “Framing” ).  Media has the power to frame particular topics in a way that’s favorable to one side or the other, particularly without showing biases, though they usually exist.  Further noted is the idea that the media often “…reflexively choose a conflict frame – who are the antagonists or opposing forces” 

( Tankard ).  Negative or positive slants of media coverage are consequences of framing

( Sariyati ). Framing is the subconscious, subtle molding of particular stories and headlines that media exposes to its seemingly vulnerable audience; planting seeds of relevance.

As illustrated, it’s evident that media holds immense power over society. Agenda-setting theory provides insight as to how commanding and transparent the media is when it comes to delivering information and highlighting what it deems as important, “newsworthy,” within the culture. With that said, it’s crucial media spend more time and attention aiming to highlight some of the ever pressing issues of health and well-being in today’s society.  What if we took the concept and characteristics of agenda-setting theory to focus on more positive and necessary applications of mass media? In a day and age where healthcare wavers on the brink of non-existence for many, it seems more important than ever to push personal wellbeing issues to the forefront and bring about the attention, prevention and information society desperately needs to live healthier, longer lives.

Hindsight is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?

Looking back on a tumultuous year, it’s easy to utter the following phrases and questions that run rapid through our heads: why do bad things happen to good people!? If it’s meant to be, it’ll be!? Everything happens for a reason?! Time heals all!? You’ll be better off for it?! The list of sappy and transparent Pinterest quotes go on and on….and I purposefully put question marks and exclamation points after each claim- for no one really knows why things happen the way they do, or how to possibly “fix” the sometimes non-repairable instances of life; no one physical being here on earth anyway. Rather life is bountiful series of events that cover all ends of the spectrum on any given day.  Happy moments, sad moments, funny moments, angry moments, you get the point.  Timing isn’t always our best friend when it comes to appropriateness or when seeking out realistic expectations.  We’re continuously left with more questions than answers and the unknown scares a lot of people, myself included. But why?  I read recently that worrying is betting against yourself, wow- that is true beyond belief. Worrying really is a waste of time.  So why do we so often look to the past or to the future for validation of where we’re meant to be in life at any given moment?  Why is it we give so much weight to the mistakes of the past and the anxieties of the future when just being present should be gratifying enough.  Congrats, you’re alive and reading this and therefore blessed far beyond belief. I know that doesn’t seem like a big fete, but it really is. Genuine tragedies happen every day to the most undeserving people for reasons unknown, while we may not understand why or how, we can count our blessings and be genuinely thankful for the countless times angels were watching over us during life’s never-ending mishaps we’ve bared witness to.  I am an optimist to a fault at times and I think the best thing one can do in times of uncertainty is to remain grounded, don’t over catastrophize the circumstance and practice gratitude daily.  Gratitude is such a therapeutic exercise to get into the habit of doing and I strongly recommend it to anyone out there in general, but also and especially to those who have had bad cards dealt their way more often than not recently. We have to experience the bad things in life so we can appreciate all of the great moments so much more. Mistakes happen.  We’re human therefore imperfect, however don’t forget to take accountability for those mistakes when necessary. Your actions have reactions and it’s important to acknowledge wrong doings, apologize, and then proceed. You’re responsible for your own emotions and don’t forget this includes happiness, which of course comes from within.  Embrace challenges, accept the unknown, let go of resentment and learn to live in the moment, minute by minute, hour to hour, day by day.  Feel a sense of calmness when you understand that, bad moments in life are lessons and once you understand the exercise, you can begin to let go, succumb to the universe and perhaps actually live. And for heaven’s sake- laugh. Gratitude, kindness and humor are perhaps the most important traits any one individual can possess for a truly rich life, traits I hope to continue to live by for eternity. Be well.  

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habit.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny
― Lao Tzu

Live and let die.

My mind may very well be imploding. I've been dealing with inner turmoil for days, weeks, months, the last year damn near, and to that I've been silenced not only on paper but also in daily verbal communication with those I love and trust.  I've become somewhat of an inner hermit.   Not allowing myself to express my emotions, feelings and other such repercussions of inner turmoil has left me hanging in the balances of searching for somewhat normalcy.  It’s time I get back to do doing what makes me happy, I’ll begin with a new devotion to writing and reading. 

Do you ever find that you have so much on your mind that it’s hard to focus on daily tasks?  You’re left pondering life’s daily questions more often rather than just allowing things to happen organically?  This is my every day dilemma.  It consumes me.  Suffering from daily anxiety has caused me to become a prisoner in my own life. I, alongside other uncontrolled variables, are robbing me of happiness and it’s time to take a stand.

I’m quickly learning that it’s important in life to let go.  It’s impossible to be in control of everything that unfolds in life. It’s not until you learn to accept this, that you can truly begin living. I used to be much more forgiving of myself in the past than now in the present. The older I get, the more worrisome I've become.  It’s challenging to say the least.  That’s why I’m no longer going to play victim to myself and to those close in my inner circle. Holding onto the past and not having faith in the future is a recipe for disaster and I refuse to play the role of chef.  With help of others and primarily by having more confidence in myself, I vow to practice mindfulness, gratitude and an overall understanding that things always work themselves out in one way or another.  Pessimism is for the birds and moving forward in life requires a fair amount of optimism to proceed and to succeed.  I used to hold many regrets in life and now I want to move forward, forgive and just know that the Foo Fighters will go back on tour one day. ; ) 

Smiles, love and gratitude -  Lisa 

Learning to walk again
I believe I've waited long enough
Where do I begin?
Learning to talk again
I believe I've waited long enough
Where do I begin?
- Grohl