On Higher Ground

Some wiser folk celebrate the new year on Halloween, it being the Sam Hain Celtic Harvest festival that was repurposed by the Christian Church as All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day. As a Harvest Festival, it is a time for bringing in the grain in time for winter and giving thanks to the Earth mother, but Christians can actually celebrate this Celtic new year by consecrating it to the Lord and being thankful to Him instead of some Earth goddess or Lunar harvest god. Here's what you can do on Sam Hain for your own thanksgiving ritual and also for good fortune for the following year. It really works too!

Learning psychologists have proven that taking notes by writing them out longhand helps improve working memory. Longhand notetaking is meant to help students filter all facts and only choose which are important and how to string them together on their paper notebook. This activity helps one learn better and retain information longer in working memory areas of the brain. If you want to keep sharp, better keep a real paper notebook and a pen and use them all the time. A healthy mind also comes from figuring things out while you take notes.

Most of us would not want to be too far from our own hometowns when we look at places to study, work or live. But travel and relocation by itself creates a situation where you may benefit most from the learning to survive and succeed in a different place. Since next year is a Yin Fire Rooster year, it is also one of the best time for a fresh start doing work or studying in the ASEAN or anywhere you want. Find your fortune in travel.

People grab every opportunity to get ahead of each other without thinling about the consequences when life is like a rat race.. But the secret of success that everyone should learn is that waiting with a good attitude or wu-wei is a part of every productiive endeavor. Learn to wait. But work towards your goal with smarts, patience and a good sense of humor. Remember Christ teaching us that we be of good cheer to overcome the world.

For most people, music is as essential for living as everything else (food and shelter). Know why people can't live without music and why it can heal everyone--from creative people who run out of ideas to kids in high school trying to soldier on and make it out alive. We keep our soul if we can still hum a tune, dance with happy feet, or play our playlist in the middle of the most trying and desperate times.

A recent Cornell University study revealed that experiences turn out to be more memorable and valuable to people than just owning stuff. Even as a gauge for society's well being. That means going out and having fun in a concert, enrolling in some learning course that enriches your knowledge and skills, or travelling around the world as a backpacker. Memorable experiences may turn out to be a new way for the powers that be to help their citizens enjoy life. Not just the latest GDP figures for growth.

Are you having a hissy fit because everything is going to the dogs? A stressful day can really piss off anyone, but you can reboot your mood just by sitting down for a while and reading a book. Psychology research has proven that reading for 45 mintues can reduce stress. So bring books instead of an aspirin or seeing a shrink.

We are often told to think before we act by some gurus. But intuition and trusting your instincts may be the better way of deciding when to take risks and when to hold back. Here are some suggestions how to keep your instincts well honed, most of them just common sense advice on keeping a healthy body, mind and spirit. Be inspired, take care of yourself and know that your gut tells you more that could hold true or else you wouldn't feel that way. Whether staying away from trouble or forging ahead with a decision.

Artists who ply their trade for a living are renown for stunning work. The stereotype of the starving artist is now more of an inconvenience because even mediocre talent can get ahead with good work, unlike any other trade. An artist is held in high esteem, first by kids and now even by Hollywood, which commits huge resources to make their art as visually appealling to their target audience. Know the first Filipino painter who sold his painting for a million dollars...

Some of the most extraordinary minds in our history are special because they taught themselves or learned through homeschooling. Albert Einstein is one very exceptional scientist who was homeschooled and achieved far more than those who learned through the rote systems of learning. Homeschooling rocks!

Many writers and Christians as well are inspired by C.S. Lewis children's books, The Chronicles of Narnia. C.S. Lewis was himself homeschooled for most of his young learning life and he grew up into an amazing person, and friend of J.R.R. Tolkien of Lord of the Rings fame. Their love for old languages and creative folktales fostered a kinship as well as the inspiration to create the some of the best and groundbreaking books for both fantasy and inspirational teaching.

Are you too attached to your mobile elextronic device or tablet for work, creativity, and design notetaking? What happens if your device becomes bricked? Can you survive with pen and notebooks? Some of the most precious work and design tools are simple and utilitarian, like a good pen and a nice notebook with good paper. Get yourself the best you can get and doodle away!

Homeschooling might work as a smarter and more focused way of letting kids learn craft, and core values. Christopher Paolini is a prime example of a kid who could. At 15, writing his first novel, a fantasy epic called ERAGON, which went on to become a cult bestseller and a Disney movie to boot. Homeschooling produces some incredible talent indeed.

A library is the best place for anyone to spend time to read. To cultivate an enjoyment for reading books. Reading books for pleasure promises anyone greater rewards than not finding joy in reading at all. And libraries help kids dream of changing their world for the better. No one survives life without dreams.

Even for excellent athletes, homeschooling has produced incredible individuals. Not from their sports achievements per se, but with how they deal with adversity and how they win and how they don't let it all go to their head. Homeschooling builds character. One of the best products of homeschooling among sports athletes is former Pro Football quarterback, Tim Tebow, an underrated yet heroic quarterback who defies odds, spearheading come from behind victories in the NFL at his prime.

In the U.S. as well as in the Philippines, young people are choosing to be farmers. Organic produce and staying healthy is a real concern. And good markets provide an incentive for everyone to live and become like Farner Abraham. The rewards of growing your own food are outweighing being a corporate slave. And more rewarding than most would give the farming life credit for. Modern Farmer beat magazines like Vogue and GQ for Nationa Magazine of the Year, so you know kids aren't that fussy about their duds anymore, but are curious about growing the best year-round spuds. Amazing.

If the bubble bursts and the economic downturn makes life impossible, a BARTER NETWORK saves a community of people who have a stockpile of goods to trade and services to offer for trade. Having nothing to trade and nothing useful except a former career as a call center agent will bite you back worse than anything. Time to learn a trade AND keep an emergency stash of supplies.

One would think that the previous disasters would teach us that being prepared for extreme stiuations should never be taken for granted. Water, canned goods, instant noodles, rice, batteries, a torch or two--get yourself ready when extreme weather season comes around. Here are a few pointers on keeping emergency rations.

Saving money is not really hard. Being a penny pincher helps you save efficiently and being wise with money will help you build your savings up. You can even save thousands of pesos each year if you know to pay yourself first and set aside an amount as savings from every paycheck you receive every month.

A wandering mind figures out things. Plans solutions. Is more creative--more so than rote thinking methods, psychologists' research say. When kids minds wander, they think of better ways of doing thinks and may come up with more innovative solutions to both simple and complex problems. Encouragng kids and even adults to have daydreaming time or scatterbrain moments may even sustain healthy and productive, thinking strategies.

Living off the grid ensures that when the grid collapses, you survive. Check out 5 of the best places for off the grid living in the Philippines.

The Emoto experiments are a Japanese study on how the energy of thoughts and even the emotiveness of music can transform how water crystals form when they are frozen. The study has a hipster flavor because it revealed that feel good messages like 'Thank You' accompanied with an emotional intent of goodwill affected water crystals to form better than harsh messages like "I Hate You.' Music had the same effect, classical creating nice water crystals and rock and metal creatign distorted forms.

Inspirational advice from a scientific study claiming that miracles do happen and they happen like clockwork. All you need to know is that special things occur, always out of the ordinary, that are a blessing no matter how small or big they may seem. You can even try to measure how many things happen that are a one-in-a-million gig for you. According to Littlewood's law, miracles always happen to a person every 35 days or so. Start counting your blessings!

A scientific study proving that all living things feel, Cleve Backster's polygraph experiment with plants showede that individual potted plants and even trees in your garden can sense their owners no matter how far away. Plants can even sense physical danger and emotions from people. This might help people care for their food forests and container gardens better too. Talk to your greens and it also helps you ease through the day even if other people think you are going cuckoo.

Attitudes and Behavior that Keep One from Success. Be flexible. Get unstuck from unproductivity by taking smart risks. Dont' stick with bad people, they'll pull you under like an octopuss. Know that you make your own success and learn by stumbling along the way and getting up to run again. The world doesn't owe you anything. You succeed by sheer will, hard work and a sense of humor..