Each Wednesday I’m recording a Curiosity Journal to recap the past week. Tag words are: reading, playing, learning, reacting and writing.

:::

Some of you have mentioned that you’re keeping a Curiosity Journal, as well. Leave your link in the comments so that we can visit and enjoy your weekly review.

Reading

I started up Sophie’s World again, which I had abandoned several months ago; I also began reading Scott Russell Sanders‘ Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World.

I love the details Scott uses to remember the place of his youth as he drives to revisit it as an adult. He writes of Mr. Ferry, who used to let the neighborhood kids swim in his pond:

We knew that when we knocked at Mr. Ferry’s door, raising money for school or scouts, he would buy whatever we had to sell. He was a tender man. He loved his wife so much that when she died he planted a thousand white pines in her memory. The pines, spindly in my recollections, had grown into a forest by the day of my return. (7)

And while details like forsythia and willow trees bring his writing to life (show; don’t tell) I also appreciated this more straightforward observation:

One’s native ground is the place where, since before you had words for such knowledge, you have known the smells, the seasons, the birds and beasts, the human voices, the houses, the ways of working, the lay of the land, and the quality of light. It is the landscape you learn before you retreat inside the illusion of your skin. You may love the place if you flourished there, or hate the place if you suffered there. But love it or hate it, you cannot shake free. Even if you move to the antipodes, even if you become intimate with new landscapes, you still bear the impression of that first ground. (12)

Playing

I was planning to take a snapshot of this coffee mug one morning. It’s my favorite for coffee.

The Belgian Wonder’s sister gave it to us when we visited her in 2008. I admired it while sipping Douwe Egberts one morning in her kitchen.”Douwe Egberts coffee in a Douwe Egberts mug. I love it! It’s so retro, so fun,” I exclaimed. “Plus it’s not too big and not too small.”

As we were leaving to fly back to the States, she handed it to me. “We can get another here in Belgium,” she said. “Take it.” I almost cried. Not because of the mug, but because she was so generous. And, well, maybe a little because of the mug, too, because I loved it so.

Learning

My youngest daughter, 13 years old, jokes that most of what she’s wanted to learn, she’s learned from YouTube videos.

Curious about crochet, she watched several tutorials and followed those steps to perfect the basic stitches.

Then she found a pattern, worked on it quietly in her bedroom, and one day came down to reveal her creation:

Another day, she came down to model this:

She’s looked up recipes and discovered patterns to sew things, like a doll she needed to make for history class.

She sewed the doll from a soccer sock, and used a pattern found online to cut out clothes to be worn under a knight’s armor. She never did get around to making chainmail by bending bits of wire into circles using needle-nose pliers, but she did construct an interesting helmet from a plastic water bottle covered in duct tape.

And then there was the ukulele.

She didn’t follow a pattern for the ukulele. She just made it up as she went along, using discarded plastic jugs, rubber bands, and paper towel tubes plucked from the recycling bin.

It didn’t last long, nor did it actually make music. But she had fun making it.

Too bad she didn’t find this video by a man named Colin Webb of Homegrown Guitars. His accent is lovely, and his “shoeboxulele” is amazing. If you don’t have time to listen to him describing the parts he used (scrap wood, toothpicks, and fishing wire attached to the shoebox), at least scroll to 2:37 to hear him play “Has Anybody Seen My Gal?”

Reacting

Last Saturday morning, I dragged myself out of bed, pulled on running clothes, and plodded downstairs to use the “Richard Simmon’s Dreamstepper” I’d purchased used last winter. I know. Go ahead and laugh. Despite the name, it turned out to be a no-frills, functional stair-stepper that helped me get some exercise in the frigid, icy, bleak midwinter, when I wasn’t about to jog outside.

As I mentioned, Saturday morning I wasn’t in the mood to exercise, but I knew I needed to. So I grabbed some books and climbed onto the Dreamstepper and started stepping, stepping, stepping as I read. Yes, I read as I step. Anyway, about ten minutes later, I glanced at the shocks and saw liquid streaming down the metal frame.

Upon closer examination, I realized lubricant was squishing out of the shocks with each step.

Not good.

I phoned the store where I bought it and asked if they had any advice. “Bring it in and let me take a look,” the technician offered. So we hauled it over there, pulled it out of the minivan and set it on the parking lot. The technician climbed on and with the first step, fluid gushed out like a lazy geyser—bloop.

“Whoa!” he exclaimed, jumping off and looking closely. He pressed down on the step and more liquid oozed out the top. “This is shot. There’s no fixing it. It has to be trashed. I can take care of that for you,” he offered.

Sure, but now what?

He offered to discount something in the store to make up for the busted Dreamstepper, so we poked around looking for another stair climbing machine of some sort. They’re usually cheap, because stair-steppers are not very trendy.

Apparently stairsteppers are so out of style, the store didn’t even have one to try.

So we climbed on stationary bikes and ellipticals and pogo sticks and treadmills and one of those mini trampolines. The pogo stick was silly, the mini trampoline was too small, and the treadmill seemed noisy.

But after a few minutes on an elliptical, I started to sense potential. An elliptical could be something on which to cross train—something to get me through the winter months. While adjusting to the fluid motion of the elliptical, I felt like I was hovering, dreamlike—almost flying, like in the bamboo forest scene from “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”We bought it.

We rarely buy impulsively. We usually spend months researching brands and hunting for coupons or discounts. That day, though, we just did it. We plunked down our credit card and bought an elliptical machine. It’s not a high-end model; in fact, it’s rather simple, slender, and inexpensive. Still, we sort of surprised ourselves by pointing at the machine and saying, “We’ll take it.”

“Today?” the guy asked.

“Today,” I answered. “Right now, before we change our minds. Load it in the van and we’ll drive it home.”

And that afternoon my husband, with help from the girl who constructs helmets out of duct tape, assembled the machine. It’s the first piece of exercise equipment we’ve purchased new, unless you count running shoes and soccer balls.I used it this morning, thinking how fun it feels to wake up and fly.

Writing

On Facebook, my friend Lloyd Work reminded me how fun it is to write haikus by posting this:

Haikus are easy.

But sometimes they don’t make sense.

Refrigerator.

So I am writing some haikus, too. Three lines: first is 5 syllables, second is 7, third is 5.

a powerful forcewind gusts strip leaves from maplebare trunk stands exposed

flickering candleone lone flame brightens the roomwe are not alone

:::

Credits:

Photos: Octopus image by Sophie Marie. All other images by Ann Kroeker. All rights reserved.

Book: Sanders, Scott Russell. Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993. Print. (Amazon Associates Link)

The post Curiosity Journal: November 9, 2011 appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Each Wednesday I’m recording a Curiosity Journal, a recap of the past week. Tag words are: reading, playing, learning, reacting and writing.

:::

Some of you have mentioned that you’re keeping a Curiosity Journal, as well. Leave your link in the comments so that we can visit and enjoy your weekly review.

Reading

Now that home-school classes have begun, I find that I’ll be devoting several chunks of my week to reading and commenting on student papers. With only six kids in High School Composition, however, I can give their work close attention and provide what I hope to be valuable input.In our family, the kids and I are starting to read aloud Anna and the King, by Margaret Landon, and A Praying Life, by Paul E. Miller. We selected Anna and the King because the Belgian Wonder’s great-grandparents were missionaries in Siam and became acquainted with the author (I have yet to sort through those details, but that’s the bottom line). Reading the book seemed like a fun way for my kids to become familiar with a place that is woven into their heritage.

Playing

Soccer season has begun.Some of us play; some of us chat. Some of us snap pictures or cheer; and a lot of us relax and read.

Learning

My son signed up to run with the middle school home-school cross country team this year. Though he’s one of the youngest runners, he said he wanted to try. When those first practices started up in the sweltering weeks of late July, he slipped on his running shoes and shorts, stuck on a cap, and came out to log a few miles with the team.But he’s slow. So slow, in fact, that he’s often passed by people walking. And he complains a lot. And as the season has progressed, he sometimes just quits halfway through the practice and sits on a bench, chatting with the moms.One day, when I was frustrated at his complaining, I told him that there’s a place inside all of us, a spot, that we all have to draw from.”What’s that spot?” he asked.”It’s the ‘I-don’t-want-to-do-it-but-I’ll-do-it-anyway’ spot. You won’t learn about it in anatomy class, and it’s not a very good name—doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue—but it’s a very important spot.”He nodded.”You have to draw from that spot for homework, for chores, and you really have to draw from it for cross country practice.””My spot is reeeeeeeally tiny,” he said.”I know,” I said, nodding. “It’s very small, but it can get bigger. And the great thing is that every time you do something you don’t want to do, it gets a little bit bigger.””It’s just a teeeeny-tiny sesame seed,” he said, holding his finger and thumb together so that they almost touched.”But if you go out and do the whole workout,” I assured him, “the spot will get a little bit bigger, and then the next time you have to do something you don’t want to do, it’ll be a tiny bit easier.””No, it’s a poppyseed,” he interrupted, trying to land on the best metaphor.”So,” I continued, “are you going to finish the workout today without complaining? Because I guarantee you that not one of these runners wants to go out and run two miles in the hot sun, but they’re going to do it anyway, and they aren’t going to complain about it.””Their spots must be huge!” he said.”Not necessarily. But their spots will be a little bigger when they’re done, that’s for sure.”He agreed to finish the workout, and he did it with only minimal complaints. After, he announced, “I think it’s a sesame seed now. It went from a poppyseed to a sesame seed.””That’s progress,” I said. “Good job.”Weeks have passed, and some practices go better than others. The other night, we were running around a track, one hundred meters fast/one hundred meters slow, for a minimum of eight laps. It was tough, but the air temperature was cool and tall trees offered lots of late-afternoon shade. My son did six laps and was threatening to quit. The last few runners were coming in, and the assistant coach was passing out team shirts. I had told my son earlier that if he didn’t do the workouts, he wouldn’t get a shirt.”Am I going to get a shirt, Mama?” he asked as he rounded the curve and came up to where the team was grabbing water bottles and cooling down.I moved close to him, so the others wouldn’t hear. “You’ve done some of the workouts, but remember at the park last week? You just ran a little bit and gave up. So, no. You aren’t putting in enough miles to run a meet, so there’s no reason for you to have a shirt.””I’ll finish the workout tonight! I’ll do two more laps!””You have to do the fast 100s fast. And you’ll have to do every workout between now and the first meet or you won’t be ready.””I’ll do it!” he exclaimed, taking off like a flash. I watched him go around, and he was really working. I realized that up until that night, he’d never really pushed himself; but right then, he was moving along strong. When he completed the final lap, he came in breathing hard, sweating.”Now that was a workout!” I said. “That’s what it feels like to run. You actually look flushed and sweaty, like you pushed yourself.””Can I…get…a shirt?” he asked between intakes of breath.I hesitated, not knowing if he’d done enough to pull off a meet. But there he was in front of me, heart pounding after earnest aerobic effort, walking around a little to cool down. His fast-twitch muscles were probably twitching for the first time, in a good way.Even though the shirts are overpriced, and even though he has a long way to go, I said yes. “Yes, you can have a shirt.”He clapped his hands and the assistant coach handed him an adult small, which was a little bit big, but not too bad. He pulled it on over his T-shirt. When his head popped through, he was grinning big.I was talking with two parents when he strode over and stated, “Tonight, I think the spot inside of me has grown to the size of a volleyball!“Then he skipped back to his sisters.The two moms looked at me funny. I grinned. “I suppose I should explain about the volleyball-sized spot?”

Reacting

The writing class I’m facilitating is going to be challenging at times, but I guess I’m going to draw from that spot inside of me and just do it. My spot’s pretty big, I think. Maybe the size of a soccer ball.

Writing

Though much of my writing has been prep work for the class, my part is mostly done. Now it’s up to the students to do the writing and revision.And I can get back to a writing schedule and rhythm of my own.I’d like to be a more reliable blogger and contribute to The High Calling more often.I did write a little post for Writer…Interrupted about families and scheduling.I’ll leave you with a shot of the soccer fields I mentioned in that piece. This shows the line of trees where the children pick up nuts.

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Credits:Question mark image: “Question Proposed” photo by Ethan Lofton. Used under a Creative Commons license via Flickr.com.”Litchfield Track” by Jamison A. Kissh. Used with permission via Flickr.All other photos copyright 2011 by Ann Kroeker.Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

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The post Curiosity Journal: August 31, 2011 appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

All summer, two of our kids have been training with a home-school cross country team.I run with them and drag along the other two kids to practices, as well, insisting they join us for at least part of the workouts. Sometimes the unofficial runners “forget” their shoes or socks as a not-too-subtle means to avoid running.

I have sent them onto the course barefoot.

I run with them and drag along the other two kids to practices, as well, insisting they join us for at least part of the workouts. Sometimes the unofficial runners “forget” their shoes or socks as a not-too-subtle means to avoid running.I have sent them onto the course barefoot.

Don’t worry, it’s grassy.

Anyway, not long ago, the co-op’s art teacher asked me about the cross country team. I went on and on about how happy I was not only that the kids could be on the team but also that I could practice with them. Following the coach’s training plan makes me work a lot harder than when I’m just looping around the neighborhood by myself.

Intrigued by my enthusiasm, the art teacher tagged along to one of the practices, curious to see the team train.

After practice was over that day, he said to my kids, their friends and me, “Cross country is one of the most brutal sports to train for, especially in this heat. So I’m just curious…what motivates you to run? What gets you out here?”

He asked me first. “Why do you do it?”

“Health and fitness, I suppose,” I answered. “And to keep my kids going.”

I have sent them onto the course barefoot.

Don’t worry, it’s grassy.

Anyway, not long ago, the co-op’s art teacher asked me about the cross country team. I went on and on about how happy I was not only that the kids could be on the team but also that I could practice with them. Following the coach’s training plan makes me work a lot harder than when I’m just looping around the neighborhood by myself.

Intrigued by my enthusiasm, the art teacher tagged along to one of the practices, curious to see the team train.

After practice was over that day, he said to my kids, their friends and me, “Cross country is one of the most brutal sports to train for, especially in this heat. So I’m just curious…what motivates you to run? What gets you out here?”

He asked me first. “Why do you do it?”

“Health and fitness, I suppose,” I answered. “And to keep my kids going.”

I have sent them onto the course barefoot.

Don’t worry, it’s grassy.

Anyway, not long ago, the co-op’s art teacher asked me about the cross country team. I went on and on about how happy I was not only that the kids could be on the team but also that I could practice with them. Following the coach’s training plan makes me work a lot harder than when I’m just looping around the neighborhood by myself.

Intrigued by my enthusiasm, the art teacher tagged along to one of the practices, curious to see the team train.

After practice was over that day, he said to my kids, their friends and me, “Cross country is one of the most brutal sports to train for, especially in this heat. So I’m just curious…what motivates you to run? What gets you out here?”

He asked me first. “Why do you do it?”

“Health and fitness, I suppose,” I answered. “And to keep my kids going.”

Anyway, not long ago, the co-op’s art teacher asked me about the cross country team. I went on and on about how happy I was not only that the kids could be on the team but also that I could practice with them. Following the coach’s training plan makes me work a lot harder than when I’m just looping around the neighborhood by myself.Intrigued by my enthusiasm, the art teacher tagged along to one of the practices, curious to see the team train.After practice was over that day, he said to my kids, their friends and me, “Cross country is one of the most brutal sports to train for, especially in this heat. So I’m just curious…what motivates you to run? What gets you out here?”He asked me first. “Why do you do it?””Health and fitness, I suppose,” I answered. “And to keep my kids going.”

I have sent them onto the course barefoot.Don’t worry, it’s grassy.Anyway, not long ago, the co-op’s art teacher asked me about the cross country team. I went on and on about how happy I was not only that the kids could be on the team but also that I could practice with them. Following the coach’s training plan makes me work a lot harder than when I’m just looping around the neighborhood by myself.Intrigued by my enthusiasm, the art teacher tagged along to one of the practices, curious to see the team train.After practice was over that day, he said to my kids, their friends and me, “Cross country is one of the most brutal sports to train for, especially in this heat. So I’m just curious…what motivates you to run? What gets you out here?”He asked me first. “Why do you do it?””Health and fitness, I suppose,” I answered. “And to keep my kids going.”

Don’t worry, it’s grassy.Anyway, not long ago, the co-op’s art teacher asked me about the cross country team. I went on and on about how happy I was not only that the kids could be on the team but also that I could practice with them. Following the coach’s training plan makes me work a lot harder than when I’m just looping around the neighborhood by myself.Intrigued by my enthusiasm, the art teacher tagged along to one of the practices, curious to see the team train.After practice was over that day, he said to my kids, their friends and me, “Cross country is one of the most brutal sports to train for, especially in this heat. So I’m just curious…what motivates you to run? What gets you out here?”He asked me first. “Why do you do it?””Health and fitness, I suppose,” I answered. “And to keep my kids going.”

Anyway, not long ago, the co-op’s art teacher asked me about the cross country team. I went on and on about how happy I was not only that the kids could be on the team but also that I could practice with them. Following the coach’s training plan makes me work a lot harder than when I’m just looping around the neighborhood by myself.Intrigued by my enthusiasm, the art teacher tagged along to one of the practices, curious to see the team train.After practice was over that day, he said to my kids, their friends and me, “Cross country is one of the most brutal sports to train for, especially in this heat. So I’m just curious…what motivates you to run? What gets you out here?”He asked me first. “Why do you do it?””Health and fitness, I suppose,” I answered. “And to keep my kids going.”“Okay, that makes sense,” he said. Turning to a friend of ours, a young man, he posed the same question.Our friend answered, “Well, I’ve done triathlons and been on a swim team, so it made sense to start training as a runner to get stronger.””Oh, I see,” the art teacher replied. “So you’re already a big goal-setter and you’re used to the intensity. How about you?” he asked, turning to my youngest daughter. “Why are you running cross country?””I like being able to run,” she answered, “and to do well. And I like being healthy.””Well, that’s good,” he replied. He turned to my eldest daughter. “How about you? What’s your motivation?””My mom made me,” she answered.”What?!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t make you…did I?””Well,” she continued, turning her attention to the art teacher, “my mom gave me a choice between running the Mini next spring or joining the cross country team. So I chose cross country, because a 5K is a lot shorter distance than 13.1 miles. And it’s more fun to be on a team than it is to train with my sisters for the Mini.“The art teacher wasn’t sure what to say. Neither was I. Because, frankly, I forgot I said that until she brought it up. And suddenly I realized that if I were true to that “deal,” I would have to require my non-cross-country daughter to sign up for the half marathon!Guess we’ll deal with that later.In the meantime, the two girls officially on the team have trained hard and logged miles and run continuous hills, sprints and striders. We even signed up for a 5-mile road race that our coach’s company organized a month or so ago. That was a big challenge.Finally, last Thursday, after all of this training, our team had its first-ever middle school meet.We didn’t know what to expect.The coach talked them through it while they stretched, giving them very simple, basic strategies like, “Don’t start out too fast” and “Stay on the course.” Cross country is not rocket science.A Christian school in town hosted us. We have a full middle school team, but don’t have enough high school runners to form an official team. Our hosts kindly let our three high school boys and two high school girls run the 3K along with the middle school students (high school teams usually run 5K). The older students’ points didn’t count in the overall score. I have one high-school-aged daughter on the team, and one middle-school daughter.The girls ran first.After two false starts, they were off.The parents from the other team showed us where to stand so we could cheer the runners at the mile mark as they turned a corner and crossed a softball field. The first runner to come down that stretch was from the other team, but she happens to attend our church, so we know her.As she came around the corner, my son, not realizing how the path looped, accidentally stepped right into her path! I couldn’t snatch him away fast enough for her to avoid him, so she had to push him aside and press on.I was so embarrassed. So was my son. And I promise we weren’t trying to sabotage her results. Honest.She was so tough. She just kept on going and got a great time. And the spectator-obstacle couldn’t have cost her more than a millisecond. She won by a lot regardless.I held my son right next to me as the next runners came around the corner.Then we spotted the first girl from our team, moving along at a nice clip.”Who is that?” one of our parents asked.”Is it Olivia?” someone speculated.”No, she’s not running today,” someone replied. “Olivia hurt her foot. Is it Jaci?”Finally they recognized her and shouted her name with gusto.My middle-school daughter!Following her were a few runners from the other team, and then, my other daughter! My eldest, the high-schooler!We spectators made our way back to the finish line in time to cheer the speedy girl from the other team. She was the winner by far.Then we watched the others run in, one by one. We cheered. We clapped. I jangled my keys and shouted things like “Keep it up!” “You’re almost there!” and “All the way! All the way!”The atmosphere was positive and uplifting—the boys positioned themselves throughout the course to encourage the girls, and parents applauded runners on both teams along the home stretch.My daughters reported later that they were able to pass other runners one by one. Our team didn’t win, but check this out:Youngest daughter: 4th placeEldest daughter: 10th placeThe eldest daughter’s results didn’t officially count because she’s in high school, but we were thrilled nevertheless, for the speed and strength she has developed during this training season.Cross country is not for the faint of heart. But for those who train hard, show up at practices and run those hills and sprints…transformation awaits.The coach says that if you log those miles between practices, “that’s when the magic happens.”But it only happens if you log the miles. It doesn’t happen if you sit at the computer all day. You’ve got to get out there and do it.And it’s not magic.It’s perseverance.And God’s grace to give us these bodies and the strength to endure.So if you’ll excuse me, I need to pull on my running shoes. We have to run 60 minutes today.Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1)

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“Tired Woggers” photo by Ann Kroeker © 2010

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“Snow Jog” photo by Ann Kroeker © 2007

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Mega Memory Month Returns January 2010!

Our extended family’s white elephant exchange included some bags stuffed full of odd items picked up at a dollar store, included this minibook:Can you believe it?Just in time for Mega Memory Month January 2010 I secured a copy of Improving Your Memory for Dummies, by John B. Arden, PhD, Director of Training for Psychology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers.Here’s an excerpt to get us thinking about memory work from the heading:

Feeding your brain properlyYour ability to remember depends on a number of factors, first of which is maintaining a healthy brain through adequate nourishment. To ensure that your brain works at an optimum level, follow these guidelines:

• Maintain a balanced diet. What you eat affects your brain’s chemistry. Eating the right foods at the right time gives your body the building blocks to manufacture brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters not only affect your mood and ability to think clearly, but also your ability to remember. A simple, balanced meal consists of a carbohydrate, a protein, and a fruit or vegetable. Eating a balanced meal three times a day can provide you with a sound foundation for your brain and its memory.
• Take the right supplements. Vitamins and herbs can support your brain’s ability to produce good memory skills. Specific vitamins, such as some of the B vitamins, help form the building blocks for healthy brain chemistry. Other vitamins, such as vitamin E, help your brain cleanse itself of bad chemicals. Herbs such as ginkgo, have been used to enhance the circulation of blood in the brain.
• Get regular exercise. Exercise enhances your memory because it helps your brain get the nutrients that it needs. Every time you exercise, you increase your respiratory rate, your metabolism, and your energy level.

Avoiding foods, drinks, and drugs that depress memoryFoods, drinks, and chemicals that your brain is exposed to have major effects on your memory.Warning: If you eat junk food loaded with sugar, you set yourself up to crash, finding yourself full of anxiety and short of short-term memory. Similarly, if you drink too much caffeine, the liquid anxiety scatters your thoughts and shatters your memory ability. If you consume caffeine and sugar on an empty stomach, your mood and memory skills will plummet quickly. (Arden 13-14)

In summary, it appears that as we work toward memorizing something meaningful … something mega, we can support (or avoid impeding) our efforts by eating a balanced diet, taking the right supplements (he didn’t provide much guidance on that topic), and exercising.Will you join me in January?Memorizing something is a mega-powerful way to start out the new year. You can work on almost anything and reap benefits—I’ve enjoyed including poetry in my Mega Memory Month selections during previous MMM challenges, for example—but this time my focus is exclusively Scripture. I want to exercise my mind and feed my soul; for me, memorizing a passage from the Bible is an important thing I can do to make truth readily accessible to ponder and pray.Here’s what I recommend as you prepare:

1. Pray about your selection.
2. Type up and print out the passage you plan to memorize (consider using card stock for durability as you tote it around with you for a month).
3. Devise a plan. Try to come up with an approach to memorizing that you can try out from the start. See the two links below for suggestions. (And according to Dr. Arden’s Dummies advice, be sure to eat right, take supplements and exercise your body!)
4. Join the challenge!

On January 1st, I’ll create a January 2010 Mega Memory Month carnival headquarters.For an entire month, we’ll all work on our passages together and report back each week on our progress (Mondays).At the end of the month, we’ll celebrate together whatever we managed to take in.You won’t be alone.I hope many will join the Mega Memory Month challenge in January, but you will have me along for the ride, at the very least.I’m not an expert at memorizing, but I’ll be working hard.And I’ll do my best to encourage you along the way.• Click HERE for my mega collection of memorization tips and techniques.• Visit Holy Experience for more inspiration and practical suggestions for memorizing Scripture.Our minds (and hearts!) can hold more than we think they can.

Work Cited: Arden, John B.  Improving Your Memory for Dummies. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2009. Print.

Get ready … Mega Memory Month returns January 2010!

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The post Improve Your Memory: MMM January 2010 appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

July 2009 is Mega Memory Month. Here we are at Progress Report #3.

(Progress Report #1)

(Progress Report #2)

How’s it going?

• Use Mr. Linky to connect your progress report to this master list. If I have time, I’ll swing back by and edit the post to make the links more prominent.

• Non-bloggers and those who don’t want to dedicate an entire post to memory work, feel free to offer your progress report in the comments.

Ann’s Progress Report #2My Jog-My-Memory© method for memorizing-on-the-run is working pretty well!Thanks to my fairly regular jogging outings, I think I’ve got the main three selections down pretty well. That last psalm is still on hold, however. I’d better schedule a long run soon and focus exclusively on it, or else save it for the next Mega Memory Month.(If you’re visiting for the first time, my low-tech memorization method is to carry paper printouts of the passages or selections I’m working on as I go for a jog; I then practice while in motion for the duration of the exercise.)So here goes nothin’ (mistakes crossed out like this or added in red):The Road Not Takenby Robert FrostTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same.And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I saved the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.Philippians 1:1-11If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:Who, being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant,and being made in human likeness.And being found in appearance as a man,he humbled himselfand became obedient to death–even death on a cross!Therefore God exalted him to the highest placeand gave him the name that is above every name,That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow,in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lordto the glory of God the Father.Psalm 121A song of ascentsI lift up my eyes to the hills–where does my help come from?My help comes from the LORD,the Maker of heaven and earth.He will not let your foot slip–he who watches over you will not slumber;indeed, he who watches over Israelwill neither slumber nor sleep.The LORD watches over you–the LORD is your shade at your right hand;the sun will not harm you by daynor the moon by night.The LORD will keep you from all harm–he will watch over your life;The LORD will watch over your coming and goingboth now and forevermore.Whew!Need ideas and encouragement? Check out additional memory tips, tricks and techniques on this page (when you arrive at the page, scroll down for the tips).Okay, I’m wondering … how are you doing?Is your mind holding more than you thought it could?

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This Week’s Make-Do Mondays Quote

There are two ways to get enough:one is to accumulate more and more.The other is to desire less.–G.K. ChestertonAt Make-Do Mondays, we discuss how we’re simplifying, downsizing, repurposing, buying used, and using what we’ve got.It’s a carnival celebrating creative problem-solving, contentment, patience and ingenuity. To participate, share your own make-do solution in the comments or write up a Make-Do Mondays post at your blog, then return here to link via Mr. Linky. Enjoy others’ ideas by clicking on Mr. Linky and then clicking on people’s names.Here’s a mini-tutorial on Mr. Linky:

Click on the icon and a separate page will pop up. Type in your blog name and paste in the url of your new Make-Do Mondays post. Click enter and it should be live. If it doesn’t work, just include the link in the comments.

To visit people’s posts or check that yours worked, click on Mr. Linky and when the page comes up, click on a name. You should be taken right to the page provided.

Make-Do Mondays Participants

1. Gravity of Motion (We’ll Play Come Hail or High Water)
2. Sunnydaytodaymama (Recycled Notebooks)
3. My Practically Perfect Life (Onion Ring Sauce Helper)
4. Small Town, Simple Home (Bibs)
5. Coupons, Deals, and More (Stockpile Recipe)

Make-Do Mondays with AnnBack in high school, I was on the track team. My coach suggested I jog with light hand weights to gain arm strength simultaneous to the lower body work of running. Being a lifelong “make-doer,” I didn’t run out and buy the ready-made “heavy hands” that were available in stores. Instead, I rummaged through the odds and ends clunking around in the garage and found several railroad spikes we’d collected from the nearby abandoned tracks.I wrapped them with black electricians’ tape for a smooth grip.Decades Just a few short years later, I still use them.I wrapped two individual spikes for the lightest option.They fit nicely in my hands and can be used as weapons, if necessary.I also created a heavier option by wrapping two together.My running spikes complement my pathetic but functional humble make-do home gym.How do you make do?

If the main button is too big, try this one:

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• Shopping. I rarely shop (except for Goodwill). One time I had to buy a specific piece of clothing for an event and couldn’t believe how much time it took to go from store to store in search of what I needed.
• Hobbies. Writing is my main hobby as well as my ministry. Many activities interest me, like scrapbooking and handwork, but I’ve decided to zero in on just a few things, with writing as my main focus.
• TV. We watch very little television, which frees up a lot of time.
• Exercise. I keep exercise as simple as possible and jog. I like jogging for lots of reasons, one of which is that I can just head out the door and do it. This wouldn’t work for a very social friend of mine who needs people and a class to motivate her, but it works for me. I’m out and back for the duration of the workout without transit time or chit-chat. After a few crunches on an exercise ball and some stretches, I shower and move on.

That list reflects some intentional choices. There is another category of not doing things; it’s called neglect.Yes, I also neglect things; in particular, the house.Now you know.Fortunately, the Belgian Wonder has a pretty high tolerance for clutter and mess. Six of us live under one roof. When I’m not paying attention because I’m editing up a storm, rooms can get out of control faster than you can say “comma splice.”When my deadline passes and I’m back to reclaiming our space, I find myself making resolutions.Scrubbing away at grimy, neglected areas of the bathroom, I resolve to declutter and simplify. It’s almost always top of the list of things that bug me about my life.Clear out the clutter!Toss the junk!Send off stuff!I crave organization and order, but neither of those traits comes naturally.I’ve read almost every book on organization and decluttering out there. You’d think the principles would sink in so deeply that I’d automatically practice them, but I don’t. The house is still cluttered. And I’m still longing for a simpler space to complement my slower pace.A couple of years ago, when I was starting to work on Not So Fast, my editor wrote me a note that she was decluttering all weekend. She said, “I think slowing down and living simply go together. Don’t you?”I do.I do think that living more slowly and living simply are very complementary. When we simplify, I think it’s easier to slow down our pace. And when we slow down our pace, I think we start to see the beauty of simplicity in our schedule, relationships, activities, and space.The most pressing area I need to work on is simplicity of space.So when school is out, my summer goal is to achieve some of my decluttering and organizational goals.Will you hold me to it?Remind me?Hold my hand?Set up and manage an eBay account for me?Pay shipping for boxes of books that I pluck from the shelves to release to the world?Actually, my life is slow enough at the moment, I think I’ll grab a few books right now. Does anyone want:

• Scarlet Feather
• The Mind of Christ
• Chosen by a Horse
• The Book of Guys (hardcover, and a different cover than the Amazon link)
• A Painted House (hardcover)?

If you cover shipping, they’re yours.First come (let me know in comments with an e-mail to contact for arrangements), first served.

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Credit: Ace Hardware

Fountain and bike path photos: © 2009 I. Kroeker

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Shoes I grabbed from the closet and garage without even searching very hard.

• Athletic shoes only (any brand)
• No shoes containing metal
• No cleats or dress shoes
• No wet or damp shoes

That doesn’t seem to be asking too much. After tossing my oldest gardening and zoo shoes into the washing machine and air drying them (thoroughly), this is a great way to give them a new and useful second life–as a cushy basketball court, for example.Finding a recycling location is a bit trickier for me, as my state has none. But I saw that there are two in the Chicago area, so if we plan a trip there (or to any other city with a store that accepts donated shoes) in the next few months, I can save them up and take them along.Otherwise, I can pack them up in a box and ship them to this address:Nike Recycling Centerc/o Reuse-A-Shoe26755 SW 95th Ave.Wilsonville, OR 97070This interactive map can help you determine if there’s a donation center of some kind located near you.Another program called One World Running accepts donations of nearly new and new running shoes, which they distribute around the world to aspiring runners in countries where many people train barefoot for lack of resources. Limited drop-off locations listed here. If you send them too-used shoes, they simply send them off to Nike, where you probably should have sent them in the first place.Another neat program is a Texas-based organization called The Shoe Bank. In their own words:

The Shoe Bank had just one goal when it was founded in 1989 – to put comfortable shoes on a few hundred homeless men living on the streets in downtown Dallas. The program today provides shoes for twenty thousand people every year – primarily children, both here and abroad.Here’s how it works. Good used children’s shoes, men’s and women’s athletic shoes, and men’s dress shoes can be donated at schools, athletic facilities, and retail stores displaying Shoe Bank depositories. The shoes are carefully inspected and then delivered to local social service agencies for distribution.

If you’re in Texas, this is a neat program getting kids (and adults) into comfortable shoes.Recycled Runners (recycledrunners.com) has attempted to consolidate various options for shoe donations. If you have time to dig a little bit, you can have some fun finding a place near you and an organization that fits your personal “giving” mission statement, if you have one. Do you have one? If so, please share it in the comments, because I don’t have a personal giving mission statement, and now that I wrote that, I’m wondering what it might be.So, whether or not you have a personal giving mission statement, you probably have some old athletic shoes that nobody wanted to buy at your last garage sale and are sitting on the bottom shelf waiting for a new lease on life.Send them off.Who knows?Perhaps the shoes that never did fit you quite right and have barely been worn to the gym will fit someone in a developing nation–someone who is wearing a duct-taped pair of shoes plucked from the trash two years ago and is just waiting for something with laces. And soles.Or maybe our shoes will simply be turned into the safe surface for an inner-city basketball court.No matter how humble or noble an old shoe’s future turns out to be, it’s better than tossing it in the trash, don’t you think?

Current, soon-to-be-retired shoes, on their way to the donation pile.

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But am I inadvertently creating imbalance to some features through activities that could easily be adjusted? Are there ways to bring a little more balance to the teeth, eyebrows and smile?

Imbalanced vs Balanced Teeth

One time I was looking at a picture of Katie Couric. Here’s one that will suffice to illustrate my point. For some reason, when I glanced at the photo, my eye went to her teeth. I saw that one of her front teeth was “bigger” than the other—that the gum was worn higher on her left front tooth than her right.

I thought, “She must brush with her right hand and focus more attention on that one.” I’m not picking on Katie—it’s just that her photo was the first one to draw my attention to this. In fact, be sure to note that the photo I selected is from People magazine’s “Most Beautiful People 2007” issue. Obviously her unbalanced teeth take nothing away—she’s stunning.

Anyway, I looked at my reflection in the mirror and saw that I’m doing the exact same thing! I leaned in, and sure enough—one tooth, bigger. I thought, “Whoa! I’ve got to go easy on the brushing!” I’ve got to ease up on my left one, for sure. In my morning fog, I’ve got to pay more attention to my ablutions.

So that’s the first tip—for more even gum-wear, pay more attention when brushing. Because the gum doesn’t grow back. And I don’t want people to point to me as illustrative of someone who is “long in the tooth.”

Okay, so the second is like it, only different.

Imbalance vs Balanced Eyebrows

One time I was talking with a friend of mine who is a tad older than I. She pointed to one of her eyebrows and said, “Look! One goes up higher than the other. See? The other hardly has any strength to lift at all!” And sure enough, she lifted one high and when she tried to lift the other, it was lethargic.

“Let that be a lesson to you, Ann.”

“What’s the lesson?” I asked.

“I think you should exercise both while you’re young,” she said. “Remember when your mom said your face would freeze that way? I think it kind of does.”

So I went home and looked in the mirror to compare my eyebrow lifting abilities. I’ve always been quite, um, expressive. When I make faces, they are big. I call my face “elasti-face” or “stage face,” as this post explains. So I can lift both eyebrows high. And I can isolate my left eyebrow while the right one stays down, doing sort of a quizzical Spock imitation.

But I can’t lift my right eyebrow on its own.

So at the advice of my friend with the weary eyebrow, I have practiced lifting just the one now and then.

To balance things out a little.

Balanced vs Imbalanced Smile

Oh, and the smile. Corner lifts are something to consider, as well. Does one side of the smile go up higher than the other? Maybe the muscles on the opposite side need a little exercise? When no one’s looking, I practice a one-sided grin. Or, well, I hope nobody’s looking—if they catch me “exercising,” they’ll think I’m smirking.

Keeping a Balanced Attitude about Balance

After 40 years of overzealous, unbalanced brushing, I won’t know if a tamer toothbrush regimen will really make a difference, or if I can one day lift each eyebrow individually, but I figure it can’t hurt.

As for the tooth, I just hope I can avoid using Sensodyne for a few more years.

Symmetry isn’t attainable; in fact, asymmetry offers some visual interest.

I guess this is more about balance.

Like rotating your tires.

I’ve been experimenting with how-to and helpful-tip posts for the past five days. If you’re curious:

Six Questions Worth Asking Myself

7 Ways to Enjoy Everyday Fun

7 Keys to a Happier Mother’s Day

13 Tips for Finding Five Minutes of Free Time for Mom (without multi-tasking!)

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To participate in Monday FunDay, just post a story, idea, or explanation at your blog of how you and/or your family has livened up Mondays (or any day).Then link up via Mr. Linky below (if you don’t have a blog, simply explain your idea in the comments) and we’ll collect all the ideas in one place. Again, please remember: ideas must be squeaky-clean, family-friendly fun.First, here’s Ann’s Family Friendly Monday Fun:The other day I saw this cute public service TV ad encouraging kids (and adults) to get up and play (with three LPGA spokeswomen introducing “Be a player”). It’s a campaign to address childhood obesity.Here are all the videos in one place.The LPGA video shows kids playing kickball and leap frog, spinning in circles, and jumping rope. It looks and sounds like so much fun, I plan to take their advice and go outside with the kids to “get up and play” for at least an hour. They can do whatever they want, of course, but I might suggest jumping rope (and try it myself).The Smallstep Kids website offered a link to a site that had ideas to get started with jumping rope. The site uses some animated line drawings to explain some “stunts” to jazz up the jumping, and include a page with rhymes to chant while jumping. Click on a rhyme and a play button pops up. Click on it to hear kids chanting it. I think that musical element adds a layer of fun to the activity.The main point of the campaign is to just get up on one’s feet and move around, play, and have fun. That’s exactly what we’ll do on Monday FunDay.What about you?

Instructions for the WordPress Mr. Linky (which is different than the ones you’ll see on WFMW and other Typepad or Blogspot blogs):1. Write your post. Type up your Monday FunDay edition and post it at your blog.2. Come back to this post and click on Mr. Linky. A window will pop up.3. Type in your name (or blog name) and if you like, you can include a short “teaser” for your idea in parenthesis. Something like this:

Ann K (get up and play)

3. Paste in your url. Below the spot for your name, there’s another for the url of your own post. Copy the url for your own Monday FunDay and paste it in (including the http:// part of it).4. Press Enter. That’s it! It should be saved by Mr. Linky.To see what others have posted, click on Mr. Linky and pay a visit to the fun bloggers who have joined in!It’s fun to have fun, but you have to know how![Check out previous Monday FunDays]

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Students, writers, entrepreneurs, home educators—anyone whose work requires sustained mental attention—will benefit from a mind that’s undistracted, rested, fresh and alert. Whether you’re called on to be creative, think on your feet, or to take good notes and recall them later for work or for a test, you’ll perform better if you refresh your mind.

But how?

This post (updated in September 2015 from the original 2007 content) offers several ways we can experience mental refreshment. Some of these suggestions will work better for someone who needs the refreshment of a little intellectual stimulation, while others will suit someone whose mind is on overload and needs to be refreshed through intellectual rest.

We’ll look at:

9 ways to refresh your mind when it’s overtaxed and needs a break

and then

8 ways to refresh your mind when it’s sluggish and needs stimulation

9 Ways to Refresh Your Mind When It Needs a Break

Long stretches of studying, writing, creating, or working on building a business leave our brains overstimulated, overtaxed, full and frazzled. On those occasions, we need a mental break. The following methods help temporarily clear away distracting thoughts to find mental refreshment.

1. Monotask vs. Multitask

To refresh your mind when it needs a break, stop multi-tasking. Research says multi-tasking causes our brains to be less efficient and focused because rather than doing two or more things at the same time, we’re actually toggling back and forth from one thing to another. “Humans…don’t do lots of things simultaneously. Instead, we switch our attention from task to task extremely quickly.” This NPR article continues:

“Switching from task to task, you think you’re actually paying attention to everything around you at the same time. But you’re actually not,” [neuroscientist Earl Miller] said.

“You’re not paying attention to one or two things simultaneously, but switching between them very rapidly.”

Miller said there are several reasons the brain has to switch among tasks. One is that similar tasks compete to use the same part of the brain.

“Think about writing an e-mail and talking on the phone at the same time. Those things are nearly impossible to do at the same time,” he said.

One big way to refresh the mind: simplify from multitasking to monotasking or unitasking.

2. Listen to Calming, Steady Music

The Mozart Effect has been debated and by some experts claiming faulty research procedures, debunked. Still others claim music does indeed increase productivity. It sounds like you can decide for yourself after listening to music if it calms your mind (some say baroque and other music paced at about 60 beats per minute will work well).

3. Take a Mini-Break from Work or Study

Entrepreneurs offer their methods for changing things up, such as heading out on a bike ride, taking the dog for a walk, or holding a walking meeting. The mind needs periods of rest, even if they are short, to enter “the default mode network (DMN).” Mary Helen Immordino-Yang of the University of Southern California and her co-authors explain:

[W]hen we are resting the brain is anything but idle and that, far from being purposeless or unproductive, downtime is in fact essential to mental processes that affirm our identities, develop our understanding of human behavior and instill an internal code of ethics—processes that depend on the DMN. Downtime is an opportunity for the brain to make sense of what it has recently learned, to surface fundamental unresolved tensions in our lives and to swivel its powers of reflection away from the external world toward itself…. When it has a moment to itself, the mind dips its quill into our memories, sensory experiences, disappointments and desires so that it may continue writing this ongoing first-person narrative of life.

Michael Taft recommends “deliberate mental breaks during ‘all the in-between moments’ in an average day—a subway ride, lunch, a walk to the bodega.” So get up, stretch, and walk around.

4. Take a Nap

Ten to twelve minutes may be the ideal length for a power nap that leaves the mind most alert. The National Sleep Foundation recommends a bit longer—20-30 minutes—for short-term alertness. “This type of nap provides significant benefit for improved alertness and performance without leaving you feeling groggy or interfering with nighttime sleep.” If you have time, a 90-minute nap moves through an entire sleep cycle.

5. Take a Vacation

Sometimes our minds need a longer break to get the rest and refreshment they need. Though it seems counterintuitive, productivity increases with rest. An article in The New York Times explains, “[S]trategic renewal—including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations—boosts productivity, job performance and, of course, health…. [T]he greater the performance demand, the greater the need for renewal. ”

6. Get outside

This article from the National Park and Recreation website talks about how outdoor recreation can offer mental restoration, and Dr. Andrew Lepp, assistant professor of recreation, park and tourism management at Kent State, observes that the mind will benefit from outdoor recreation’s “psychological benefits, including the prevention or reduction of stress; improved self-esteem, confidence and creativity; spiritual growth; and an increased sense of exhilaration, adventure and challenge from life.” Go for a walk around the neighborhood. Try hiking, if you’re physically capable. Go biking or canoeing. Find a park and walk a trail. Toss pebbles in a stream.

7. Read

Psychology Today reports, “Neuroscientists have discovered that reading a novel can improve brain function on a variety of levels.”

The researchers found that becoming engrossed in a novel enhances connectivity in the brain and improves brain function. Interestingly, reading fiction was found to improve the reader’s ability to put themselves in another person’s shoes and flex the imagination in a way that is similar to the visualization of a muscle memory in sports.

The researchers’ evidence suggests, as reported by ABCNews.com, that “simply reading a good novel can keep that enhanced ‘connectivity’ working for days, and possibly longer, after we have finished the book.”

8. Find friends

Phone a friend—or two, or three friends. Spend time together. Human interaction seems to keep our minds refreshed. Social psychologist and neuroscientist Matthew Lieberman claims “relationships are a central—though increasingly absent—part of a flourishing life.” He “sees the brain as the center of the social self. Its primary purpose is social thinking.” I’m a writer—a rather solitary pursuit. I find that time with friends keeps me mentally alert—interacting with them, I often generate new ideas for books and articles. They ask good questions and get me thinking. Friends are essential to a refreshed and refined mind.

9. Meditation and Prayer

The Mayo Clinic recommends meditation as a way to reduce anxiety and stress on the overtaxed mind. Prayer and study of scriptures can refresh the mind, as well. The University of Minnesota, writes, “The word ‘prayer’ comes from the Latin precarius, which means ‘obtained by begging, to entreat.’ Prayer is rooted in the belief that there is a power greater than oneself that can influence one’s life. It is the act of raising hearts and minds to God or a higher power.” Among other mind-refreshing benefits, they cite “positive feelings” of “gratitude, compassion, forgiveness, and hope, all of which are associated with healing and wellness,” and a mind-body-spirit connection, claiming “when prayer uplifts or calms, it inhibits the release of cortisol and other hormones, thus reducing the negative impact of stress on the immune system and promoting healing.”

8 Ways to Refresh Your Mind When It Needs Stimulation

Many of us find ourselves in a mental slump, in need of intellectual stimulation—a different kind of refreshment than that needed by the overtaxed mind. Those who are staving off the effects of aging on the brain or those who are trying to sharpen their mind to balance activities required of them throughout their work day can try the brain-building, brain-stimulating activities suggested below.

1. Music to Stimulate the Mind

We touched on music to calm an anxious mind craving restful refreshment. If you need mental stimulation, however, you can also listen to music. Scientists found that people may receive more than a sensory reward from listening to music. They also gain “a direct intellectual one too—even if they’re not aware of it. The nature of that reward, Salimpoor believes, based on this and earlier research, has to do with pattern recognition and prediction. ‘As an unfamiliar piece unfolds in time,’ she says, ‘our brains predict how it will continue to unfold.” The article continues:

[S]omeone raised on rock or Western classical music won’t be able to predict the course of an Indian raga, for example, and vice versa. But if a piece develops in a way that’s both slightly novel and still in line with our brain’s prediction, we tend to like it a lot. And that, says Salimpoor, “is because we’ve made a kind of intellectual conquest.”

Combine music with exercise and you may experience even more enhanced cognitive benefits. Making music is extremely beneficial to the mind, as well, so pull out that old piano primer or dust off your guitar.

2. Drink Water

Drink water throughout the day to help refresh the mind, but especially first thing upon waking. After several hours of sleeping during which we have no fluid intake at all, our brains benefit from a big glass of water when we get up. Chris Bailey of A Life of Productivity points out that our brain tissue is 75 percent water. “When you’re not properly hydrated, your brain operates on less fuel, and you can feel drained, or experience fatigue or mood fluctuations to awaken and energize the mind, drink a glass of water.” Dr. Joshua Gowin writes at Psychology Today, “Our brains depend on proper hydration to function optimally. Brain cells require a delicate balance between water and various elements to operate, and when you lose too much water, that balance is disrupted. Your brain cells lose efficiency.” He continues:

Years of research have found that when we’re parched, we have more difficulty keeping our attention focused. Dehydration can impair short-term memory function and the recall of long-term memory. The ability to perform mental arithmetic, like calculating whether or not you’ll be late for work if you hit snooze for another 15 minutes, is compromised when your fluids are low.

To refresh and enliven the mind, drink water.

3. Drink Coffee

In a health publication from Harvard Medical School, Stephanie Watson writes, “If a study published in this month’s Journal of Nutrition is any indication, the caffeine in coffee might offer not just a momentary mental boost but also longer-term effects on thinking skills.” The study went on to show that people, especially those aged 70 and older, “who took in more caffeine scored better on tests of mental function.” If you enjoy and can tolerate the caffeine, it appears that coffee can energize the mind, but drink in moderation. The Mayo Clinic warns there’s a limit. More than 500 to 600 mg a day can cause side effects like insomnia, restlessness, fast heartbeat and muscle tremors. Each person is different, so pay attention to your overall response if you drink caffeine.

4. Eat Right

Everyone’s talking about superfoods, so I’m adding a mind diet to the list of ways to refresh and energize the mind. Rush University Medical Center recommends the MIND diet to stave off Alzheimer’s. Dr. Martha Clare Morris and her colleagues developed the “Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay” (MIND) diet. “The study shows that the MIND diet lowered the risk of AD by as much as 53 percent in participants who adhered to the diet rigorously, and by about 35 percent in those who followed it moderately well.” You can see simpler, shorter lists of foods that aid in cognitive function for a smarter, healthier brain at WebMd and Huffington Post. Avocados, berries, salmon, nuts, and dark, leafy greens often make it onto these lists—fried foods never do. Even if you’re young and not yet concerned about age-related brain diseases, eating healthier will result in a more energized and alert mind.

5. Physical exercise

Lots of articles explain how physical exercise benefits not only our bodies, but also our minds. I know that when I walk, jog, or pull out my hula hoop and start spinning it around my waist, my mind clears and engages—I get ideas and solve problems. When a few days pass with no aerobic exercise, I get a little fuzzy. In addition to all its other benefits, physical exertion stimulates and refreshes the mind.

6. Mental exercise

With increased interest in health and wellness for an aging population, research into slowing dementia and Alzheimer’s has resulted in tons of tips for mental stimulation as well as brain-building games and techniques. This article in The Washington Post reviews websites with games purporting increased mental stimulation. (Another article from The Washington Post talks about both physical and mental exercise.) Happy Neuron seems to have consolidated some interesting games, and Lumosity has become well known as a brain-training, brain-stimulating program. Look around. You’re sure to find some fascinating activities—even the search itself might count for a bit of mental exercise.

7. Be Curious

Refresh your mind by being curious. “Curiosity is the engine of intellectual achievement—it’s what drives us to keep learning, keep trying, keep pushing forward,” writes Annie Murphy Paul. She cites George Loewenstein, a professor of economics and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, who claims curiosity arises, “when attention becomes focused on a gap in one’s knowledge. Such information gaps produce the feeling of deprivation labeled curiosity. The curious individual is motivated to obtain the missing information to reduce or eliminate the feeling of deprivation.” Curiosity is a driving force in my life, key to my passion for lifelong learning, critical to my writing process, and essential to keeping my mind refreshed—so much so, I document and publish a monthly Curiosity Journal to share my intellectual discoveries.

8. Laugh

Laughter offers a range of benefits such as improving your mood, exercising the brain, and masking the brain. In a way, laughter could belong in both categories, as something to both relax and energize the mind, freeing your thoughts from the intensity of study or work, and energizing the mind that needs stimulation to stay alert. Dr. Thomas Crook writes in Prevention magazine:

[R]esearchers at the University College London Institute of Neurology found that as study subjects tried to understand verbal jokes, areas of their brains important to learning and understanding were activated. This means that as your brain wrestles with the meaning of a clever punch line, it’s getting the same kind of workout it would from a brainteaser.

A good knee-slapper also produces a chemical reaction that instantly elevates your mood, reduces pain and stress, and boosts immunity (suppressed by both stress and pain).

Tell some jokes, laugh till you cry, and find your mind restored and refreshed.

9. Write

Write in a journal, write flash fiction, write poetry, write essays. Write content no one will ever see, playing around with your thoughts and ideas. Creative writing prompts are a great tool (see bottom for my simple product that delivers a prompt to your email inbox once a week).

Tend To Your Mind

Whether your mind needs refreshment in the form of a break, to refuel after a mentally demanding stretch, or in the form of stimulation, to keep synapses firing strong to stave of cognitive decline, tend to the mind to keep it refreshed.

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