Tag: Jay Bildstein 2016

  • Refreshing Our Knowledge and Skills

    We tend to think of school as something we partake in during the early years of our lives. There is preschool, nursery school, kindergarten, primary school, junior high school, high school, college and graduate school. If we went to these schools in linear fashion, we would be attending them from, perhaps, three years old until our mid or late 20s. However, in today’s day and age, with so much changing so quickly, particularly in the area of technology, we might want to consider school as not only a foundational undertaking, which we participate in at an early age, but as a lifelong endeavor.

  • The Wise, a Poem

    You sit around and think. And you realize some of what you thought you knew, you didn’t. You think of the errors you’ve made. At times, it can be tough. Songs play. Some are laments about the past. Others express pride about actions taken. In the end, our reflections are our own. Assuming we choose to reflect at all. Some reflection is good. A corrective soul tonic, it is. Too much reflection can leave us baking in joylessness. Life is for living.

  • Tender Light from Above, a Poem

    Tender light from above. Sky light, my light, the heavens smile. A bird flies. The sun shines. We are happy. Happiness from the waves of the ocean and the blooming of the flowers. Happiness in all its simplicity. Our internal compass points to joy. We know and we are glad when we follow its course. That path by the eternal endorsed. A walk through nature’s wonders. A satisfaction from seeing the amazing gifts of this world. Behold them now, as we go through in a whirl. Mountains, canyons and the deep blue sea. Heights and depths and perspectives to see. The heart races as we climb a rock face. We smile as we come out of the ocean, refreshed and renewed. Our soul yearns to be by nature imbrued. Worms crawl and ants busy themselves doing that work that ants do. Bees are busy making honey. A breeze blows blades of grass as they gently rock back and forth, a trillion hammocks for organisms, perhaps, too small to imagine.

  • The Stuff of Creative Change, a Poem

    We are jettisoned pods in a bewildering world. We get up and our minds begin to whirl. What is that? What is this? Caught up, we are, in a cosmological twist. And it goes and it goes. And we are wrapped up in it. Do this; do that; an endless struggle to fill a void. Sometimes, if you speak about this, people might get annoyed. Let’s stop a second and reflect. Let’s step away from that awful tendency to deflect. Defensiveness, a potential perennial posture. So afraid are we of confronting ourselves. So afraid of seeing what dwells within. Ah, better we criticize others and grin. Sometimes we do this willfully. Sometimes we do this skillfully. Sometimes we do this with glee. Yet, it never works out for you and me. Tired. Spent.Waiting for something heaven sent. Then again, we are given the tools to create. So why for the great beyond wait? Our empowerment often hides in the shadows. Greatness is around the corner for us. Light the candle. Walk forward. Take action. Create!

  • Tearful Awakening, a Poem

    With a chest full of tears for the human condition Reflecting on loss, sin and potential perdition I sit back and hope Am I just wishing? Perhaps, I’d be better off spending my time fishing. Cried till I couldn’t cry any more Thinking mercy is a state of the heart; something to extend from the start I would like to express myself with more specificity Yet, people are endowed with remarkable plasticity A tremendous ability to change we are blessed with Return to school at later age, lose weight, learn to live without rage How many of us follow through though? Too much focus on what we can’t, when what we can should form the plan

  • Create, Why Wait? a Poem

    Fistfuls of arugula, hoping to improve circulation and such. Walking and resting and walking again, a tonic for the heart they say. Day in, day out, the need to eat, at times tedious. The play of life, repeated like a Broadway show, one after another. No special matinee performances, though. Just this and that, over and over and over again. Looking for a secret solution to every challenge, instead of looking to ourselves and our behavior. Sure, sometimes we need help. Yes, it’s true. But what about helping ourselves as well. When the water rises and you are in a swell, swim! Do not simply wait for the lifeguard. Do what you can do. We have to keep telling ourselves that. Do what you can do. Arrival. An imaginary destination that never existed. The path, the journey, the act of travel is what it is all about. Ask Mr. Cervantes. It is about flow. Creative flux moving forward, stopping time and forgetting place. The ideal cure for entropy, atrophy and apathy. Of these I sing. Don’t wing it. Plan it. Make it happen and you will be happy for the effort.

  • Noticias desafiantes, buena actitud

    Con frecuencia en la vida, nos enfrentamos con noticias que nos presentan retos. Consideremos por ejemplo ir al doctor y que nos diagnostiquen con una enfermedad que ponga en riesgo nuestra vida. No hay salida, esta sería una noticia desafiante, que nos presenta un reto a vencer. Sin embargo, la forma como nos entendemos con estas noticias tendrá un impacto considerable sobre ponernos al reto que estamos enfrentando. Primero que nada, noten que me refiero en las noticias como desafiantes, no malas. El relato taoísta llamado “Veremos qué” se nos ocurre. En este relato, un anciano en una granja en China, se enfrenta una variedad de circunstancias las cuales podríamos apresurarnos a clasificar como buenas o malas. De hecho, su vecino comenta en cada uno de los sucesos teniendo un impacto en el anciano. El vecino dice que es favorable o desfavorable. El anciano, sin embargo, reacciona a las circunstancias diciendo, “Quizás sea bueno, quizás sea malo, ya veremos. "

  • Chris Yandek of CYInterview Doles Out a Heaping of College Football Bowl Game Analysis

    It is college football bowl time. This year, we thought we would do something different. Typically, CYInterview’s Editor in Chief, Chris Yandek, does the sports interviewing around here. And now you might think he will be speaking with some folks with strong knowledge of college football, to break down what to look for in the upcoming bowl games. Well, for this CYInterview, Chris will not be asking the questions. He will be giving the answers. And if you have never heard him talk sports before – particularly college football – you are in for a treat.

  • Putting the Brakes on the Holiday Feeding Frenzy with Neuroscientist, Dr. Kristen Willeumier and Golden Age Bodybuilder Ric Drasin of Ric’s Corner on YouTube, More

    For many of us, the last few weeks have been a time of power eating. For some, this began with bingeing on Halloween candy. For others, Thanksgiving was the moment that the feeding frenzy kicked off in earnest. Oh, and watching football on the weekend while grazing on nachos, chips and pizza has probably not aided us in the battle of the bulge either. With us on CYInterview, to share their perspectives on keeping our weight under control, are two extraordinary individuals. Thankfully, both of them have been with us on a variety of other occasions over the years. Individually, they have shared their insights and anecdotes from their respective areas of endeavor. Now, for the first time, we have paired them up – and what a dynamic duo they make!

  • Taylor Rae

    Writer/Intellect/All-Around-Joyful-Person, Taylor Rae, of Little Local Life, Talks Minimalism, Happiness, More

    Taylor Rae is the writer who runs the blog, Little Local Life. It can be found at littlelocallife.wordpress.com. Ms. Rae, a resident of Brooklyn, writes about the power of minimalism, finding and utilizing things discarded by others – call it urban foraging – and how all of us can consume less and, in so doing, increase our happiness quotient, among other interesting topics.