Category: Monday’s Food for Thought

Monday's Food for Thought

Monday’s Food for Thought: Not Just A Girl

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A few weeks ago, a friend of mine sent this link to me. It was from creative Texas based photographer Jaime Moore, who was looking around for inspiration for her daughter’s five year old photos, and didn’t wish to go the Disney princess route. She decided to teach Emma about real women who paved the way for all modern women.

In Jaime’s own words, she says:

It started me thinking about all the REAL women for my daughter to know about and look up too, REAL women who without ever meeting Emma have changed her life for the better. My daughter wasn’t born into royalty, but she was born into a country where she can now vote, become a doctor, a pilot, an astronaut, or even President if she wants and that’s what REALLY matters. I wanted her to know the value of these amazing women who had gone against everything so she can now have everything.

Even though I don’t have a daughter, it did strike a chord with me, as I often forget about the sacrifice many women have made on my behalf. In this celebrity crazed ‘you’re famous for just being famous’ society we live in, it was a great reminder that these women’s sacrifices had great costs, but paved the way for our careers, and ability to vote.  Their sacrifices gave us a chance and a voice.

-Mandy

Monday's Food for Thought

Monday’s Food for Thought: Can Color Boost Your Mood?

thegraduatewife2 Comments

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When I was younger, a classmate presented a paper about how colors affect mood. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but lately I’ve come around. My husband and I have both been pretty down lately. Day after day of grey skies, job rejections for both of us, illness, writing, research not going well, traffic jams, and unexpected expenses, it seemed like it was one thing after another and neither of us could catch a break.

I was at the store replacing my crumbling black loofah, and I reached for a bright yellow one. The thought popped into my head that it would be like a little ball of sunshine in the shower every morning, and you know what? It is.

I noticed more and more that I was choosing things based on how the colors made me feel, rather than what my favorite color is. I bought the orange candle instead of the blue. I’d go to the coffee shop with the light brown walls and wooden tables instead of the one with the neon-green walls and aluminum tables.  I bought the pink flowers instead of the mixed bouquet. I wore the brown slacks instead of the black.

Having noticed this new trend, I did a quick search on the meaning of colors (since I forgot most of what my classmate said).  To sum it up, this is what I found.

Pink – soothing

Red – passion and excitement

Blue – relaxing but can cause exhaustion

Green – nurturing

Yellow – energy and brightness

Purple — healing
It’s not a cure-all by any means, but it is adding a little bit of happiness on a grey day!

Do you find that colors affect your mood?

-ML

Monday's Food for Thought

Monday’s Food for Thought: Angelina Jolie’s Medical Choice

thegraduatewife4 Comments

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When I saw Angelina Jolie’s op-ed piece in the NY Times last week on her preventive double mastectomy, I applauded her. And then I admired her bravery and willingness to go public with a very private, personal decision.

Last year, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since her two younger siblings died of cancer, and her older sibling survived a bout with cancer, she decided to be genetically tested. Unfortunately, she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene. We have talked several times about what she might have done differently in her 30s and 40s if she had had this information; it’s very likely she might have done something preventive, given her family history.

I love what Jolie said in the article:

On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.

For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options. I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices.

Armed with the knowledge that my family now carries the BRCA1 gene, I decided to be genetically tested last summer. It wasn’t a hard decision to make, but my husband and I talked through several options of what we would and should do if my test came back positive. I had prepared myself for the possibility of preventive surgery as one of my options. Thankfully, my test came back negative. Even so, I remain vigilant about my own health.

I’m happy to say that my mother has made a full recovery, using both holistic and conventional medicine. Her oncologist officially declared her in remission two weeks ago.

Would you consider preventive surgery as an option? How do you feel about genetic testing?

-Mandy

Monday's Food for Thought

Monday’s Food for Thought: ‘My space is small. My life is big.’

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There have been a few posts on here in the past that have touched on the idea of the ‘freedom’ that comes with owning less ‘stuff’.  Many of us have learned this beautiful lesson the hard way through moving and having to downsize for grad school.  I came across this simple little article a while back in the NY Times and thought it summarized quite well what I’ve learned in my heart the past few years on this subject.

As we approach the summer with family moves and thoughts of  storage units swirling in our minds, I thought this might provide some good food for thought this Monday.

-M.C.

“Intuitively, we know that the best stuff in life isn’t stuff at all, and that relationships, experiences and meaningful work are the staples of a happy life.”

Monday's Food for Thought

Monday’s Food for Thought: It’s Crowded at the Top

thegraduatewife2 Comments

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Freakonomics recently did a broadcast (you can find it here) giving a surprising explanation as to why the U.S. unemployment rate is so high.

To quote them:

So it appears that, while returns to education remain strong, there are far too many highly educated workers for the available jobs. We also make note in the podcast of a new paper by Hal Salzman, Daniel Kuehn, and B. Lindsay Lowell which argues that, for all the hand-wringing about the U.S.’s inability to educate (or import) a sufficient number of STEM workers, there is in fact no shortage of such workers and that only half of U.S. STEM graduates end up with a STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering, Maths) job.

What do you think? I know this topic of conversation has been widely discussed in our house! Do you think there are too many highly educated workers?

-Mandy

Monday's Food for Thought

Monday’s Food for Thought: 12 Things Happy People Do Differently

thegraduatewife1 Comment

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A friend of mine recently sent this article to me, and I enjoyed it so much I thought you might also. I wonder what life would be like for all of us if we practiced any of the happiness habits listed in the article on a regular basis? Would it change the world we live in?

Do you practice any happiness habits not listed in the article? If so, would you be willing to share them below?

-Mandy

Monday's Food for Thought

Monday’s Food for Thought: Your Apples Are A Year Old?!

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Do you know the age of the apple you just purchased from the grocery store?

I recently saw this article on Food Renegade, and found it completely fascinating. Did you know the average age of a supermarket apple is 14 months old? I honestly didn’t know anything about controlled atmosphere cold storage warehouses before reading this article, but the more research I do, the more disillusioned I grow with our food industry.

What do you think? Does it make you want to buy local and eat seasonally? Do you have the option to purchase any of your produce from nearby farmers?

Something to think about this Monday morning!

-Mandy

Monday's Food for Thought

Monday’s Food for Thought: What You Have To Offer

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On September 30th of 2011, in front of a sell-out theater at the BFI in London, Charlie Kaufman delivered the final lecture in BAFTA’s 2011 Screenwriter’s Lecture Series.

Below is a short clip from his 70 minute lecture that someone recorded and added images to.

It’s incredibly inspiring and thought provoking.  Brings up so much food for thought this Monday morning…consumer culture, entertainment, our role and responsibility in the beautiful yet tragic world around us.

Enjoy!

-M.C.

Monday's Food for Thought

Monday’s Food for Thought: For Women Only

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I know that we generally try to keep in inclusive here at The Graduate Wife, and that a lot of our content is just as applicable to graduate husbands as it is to graduate wives. This particular Food for Thought, however, is for those of us who are biologically women, and I hope that if you are a male checking out this particular post, you will consider yourself warned!

Some time ago, a friend of mine let me know about a handy thing called a DivaCup. I can say that after having used it for nearly five years, my period is much cleaner, easier, cheaper, and overall more pleasurable to manage. Because of my unique cycle, I also find it helpful to supplement with GladRags, another great little product which helps cut down on waste of all kinds, and saves money as well.

I know not everyone is up for these options, but before you write them off completely, consider these facts from the GladRags website:

If you menstruate 340 times in your lifetime, using 20 disposables per period, that amounts to 6800 pads or tampons thrown away. Now consider all the women using disposables in the world. If 500 million women use disposables throughout their lifetime, that’s 3.4 trillion pads or tampons thrown away! Not only is landfill space taken up, but these materials cannot be reused and are no longer part of the resources available to us. Then, of course, there’s all that packaging, (wrappers, boxes, applicators) that are also thrown away, all the garbage bags used, all the diesel fuel used to truck those products to the stores week in and week out.  Using GladRags for even a portion of your cycle makes a difference!

I always think it’s silly when I see that commercial advising women to “Have a happy period.” But for me, at least, approaching it in a thoughtful and deliberate way has made it a more tolerable, if not quite joyful occurrence.
What do you think? Have you tried any of the above products, and has it made a difference?
-Keeley
Monday's Food for Thought

Monday’s Food for Thought: A moment of peace

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Shortly after the New Year a good friend of mine told me she was trading in a traditional New Year´s resolution for just one word. That’s right. She picked one word that was to be her theme for the year.  I’m not a big fan of resolutions anyway so I thought I would give it a try too. With her help, I decided my word for the year would be “peace“.
Amidst the stress of being a graduate wife, our daily hustle and bussle of things to do, all the “electronic noise” we are constantly subjected to (how long has it been since you posted on facebook, used the Internet, saw/heard an advertisement, or read a tweet?), I find myself in a very frazzled state sometimes.
So my Monday’s Food for Thought is to take a moment to actually have time to stop and think!  Here’s to turing off the computer, leaving the dishes in the sink for a few more minutes, taking a deep breath, and finding a moment of peace on this Monday.
 
When’s the last time you gave it a whirl?
-Bianca, a current graduate wife