Just me and TED

Well, I’m exhausted!  I spent the afternoon watching Sarah and Reb bake goodies for Christmas.  This year, Santa discovered that he has celiac disease and diabetes so the cookies they baked were either gluten-free and/or sugar-free which is extremely helpful (and coincidental?!) because BFF eats only gluten-free and I eat only sugarless goodies.   The girls made peanut butter cookies, saffron shortbread cookies, chocolate chip vanilla brownies and ginger snaps.   The willpower it took not to eat the treats has lead to my utter exhaustion!  :P

But what a joy it is to watch others bake!  The house smelled delicious (and actually still does!).   Now, the house is empty (just me and the cats!)  so I'm sitting here wondering what I should do to keep my mind busy.   I must admit that the smell of home-baked cookies and brownies is driving me a little crazy so staying occupied is probably a good idea! 

Over the last two weeks, I’ve watched The Last Holiday, It’s a Wonderful Life, Love Actually, The Perfect Holiday, The Holiday, The Santa Clause and all of the tacky made-for-TV Christmas movies that I recorded, and surprisingly there are still so many more to watch before Christmas (two days to go!).   I've yet to watch (this year!) the last two movies from The Santa Clause trilogy, Elf, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Christmas Story, Arthur’s Christmas (yes, the aardvark cartoon!), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Frosty the Snowman, Frosty the Snowman Returns, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Miracle on 34th Street, Scrooged and A Christmas Carol (am I missing any?).  I guess I’ll be watching Christmas movies after Christmas along with my usual viewing of Bridget Jones’ Diary.  

Right now, I think I need to do something that is a little more stimulating than watching Christmas movies; although The Christmas Story is one of the most stimulating (you’re going to shoot your eye out!).    Sure I could read but I currently have “Breaking Dawn” by Stephanie Meyers (Twilight!) and “Going Within” by Shirley MacLaine on the go, and I’m really not in the mood to read (is it possible that I'm crashing after being high on sugar fumes?).   Maybe I should dance? 

Nope!  Just tried and it turns out that I'm really not in the mood for dancing either.   Sadly, not even ‘N Sync’s “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” can get me dancing tonight.   I know, I’ll watch Hugh Grant dancing in “Love Actually" because that usually gets me grooving :) 

It worked!  I think I just burned at least 500 calories dancing so now it’s time to busy the mind again.  I’m realizing that because I've been wavering from my usual diet (mostly a vegan diet with no eating past 4 or 5pm!), I’m feeling tired, lethargic and very much lacking in the energy department.   Note to self:  when you eat well, you feel well! 

No movies, no books, no dancing.  Okay, I think I’ve got it….

What better way to spend the eve of Christmas Eve than by watching videos with on TED!  On what?  Were you wondering if TED was my new boyfriend?  Ha!  Ha!  Or did you think this was a blog post dedicated to one of my favourite television characters:  How I Met Your Mother’s Ted Mosby?   Sorry!  TED is actually an acronym (yes, this is a good example of an acronym!) for Technology Entertainment Design, and is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading".  The website is a collection of “riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world”.  Every year, there are three “TED Conferences” held throughout the world.    The conferences are described as follows: “Each year, the world's leading thinkers and doers gather for an event many describe as the highlight of their year. Attendees have called it "The ultimate brain spa" and "A 4-day journey into the future, in the company of those creating it."   What I love about the site (www.ted.com) is that you can search the videos by theme or speakers.    There’s also a new feature - “TED Conversations” - so if you have an idea, question, or debate inspired by any of the “talks”, you can start a TED Conversation, or you can join one that already exists.  For example, one of the conversations was started with the following questions: “If you could teach the world 1 valuable thing you learned, what would it be and why?”.  It’s really nice discovering a site on the internet that encourages intellectual dialogue! 

You can either check it out on your own (http://www.ted.com/), or you can watch some of my favourite TED talks.  What I love is that you can get lost in a plethora of videos that inspire you, make you think, enlighten you, and increase your knowledge and understanding of a myriad of topics.   When you click on one video, you are given recommendations for other TED videos.  It's neverending!  The really good news is that these videos keep you from pigging out on holiday treats!  :)

So as I watch a video that I enjoy, I'll include the link to the video on YouTube but you can easily find these videos at http://www.ted.com/ by clicking on “speakers” and typing the speaker's name or simply by doing a search on the TED website.   ENJOY!!!

STEVE JOBS:  HOW TO LIVE BEFORE YOU DIE   

ELIZABETH GILBERT ON NURTURING CREATIVITY

BEN GOLDACRE ON BATTLING BAD SCIENCE

ERIC MEAD: THE MAGIC OF THE PLACEBO

DAVID BLAINE: HOW I HELD MY BREATH FOR 17 MIN

GRAHAM HILL: LESS STUFF, MORE HAPPINESS

GRAHAM HILL: WHY I'M A WEEKDAY VEGETARIAN

BOB THURMAN: BECOMING BUDDHA -- ON THE WEB

TONY ROBBINS: WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO, AND HOW WE CAN DO IT BETTER

STEPHEN HAWKING: ASKING BIG QUESTIONS ABOUT THE UNIVERSE

LOUIE SCHWARTZBERG –ON GRATITUDE

Wow...I've learned a great deal tonight but one of the greatest lessons has been that the best teachers can sometimes be the people you disagree with the most!   

Now if you only have time to watch one video, in the spirit of Christmas, you should watch Louie Schwartzbertg’s TED talk on gratitude (the last video....best for last?).  Watching this video felt like I was giving myself a gift! Not only is the photography amazing, but it’s a great reminder of the importance of gratitude.   Mr. Schwartzberg really has me thinking about how grateful I am for all that I am and for all that I have in my life.  I'm grateful for each and every blessing because I'm learning that everything in my life is a blessing (even the shitty stuff!).      

Many of us are thinking about gifts right now - what we’ll give and what we’ll receive during the holiday season – but it’s important to remember that the greatest gift is the gift of NOW.  Be grateful for every moment (and the person/people you are blessed to spend it with!). 

HAPPY EVE OF CHRISTMAS EVE :)

Don't text and drive!  :)
(seriously though...don't text and drive!)