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Memory and Movies

Coursera Class: Understanding Memory through Movies

This month in my Year of Learning, I’ve been focusing on Memory. It’s been enlightening and interesting, and … well, hopefully, memorable!

I enrolled in the Coursera Class: Understanding Memory: Explaining the Psychology of Memory through Movies offered by Wesleyan University and taught by John G. Seamon. By the way, Seamon has a book available with the same content.

John G. Seamon does video lectures in the Coursera Class about Understanding Memory

This has been one of my favorite Coursera classes. Each lecture highlights a movie. Seamon gives an overview of the plot and then explains concepts from the movie that help us learn more about how our memory works.

I’ve seen many of the movies that are from the course, and it’s been super-interesting to me to dig deeper into the psychology of the characters and the plot and for Seamon to help us understand what’s realistic and what’s not.

First Lecture: Sometimes Life Imitates Art – Film:Fifty First Dates

In the first lecture, Seamon gives us an example of how the movies we see may influence what we believe and affect our brains in unexpected ways.

He showed us clips from the movie, 50 First Dates, in which Lucy (played by Drew Barrymore), suffers from a type of amnesia that she gets as a result of a car accident. Each day when she wakes up she can only remember her life up until the day of the accident (which she doesn’t remember.)

She creates new memories only for a day, but she loses those memories at night when she goes to sleep.

We learn in this first lecture that amnesia doesn’t really work this way.

If Lucy’s brain damage were severe enough to stop her from making lasting memories, she would find it hard to remember anything new for more than a few minutes.

Lucy would be able to follow short commercials on television. But longer stories would leave her baffled and confused, as she would forget earlier scenes.
Lecture 1: Sometimes Life Imitates Art – Film: 50 First Dates

However, shortly after the film came out, there was a patient (known as FL) who experienced a similar type of amnesia as Lucy. The doctors were baffled because the brain scans did not indicate any damage that would cause this amnesia, but also didn’t think FL was faking her amnesia.

They discovered that FL’s favorite actress was Drew Barrymore and that she had seen the movie, Fifty First Dates, before her accident.

The researchers surmised that FL was experiencing amnesia, but it was functional not organic amnesia. The origin of each type of amnesia is different. Functional amnesia has a psychological origin, while organic amnesia has a biological basis.
Lecture 1: Sometimes Life Imitates Art – Film: 50 First Dates

Amnesia can be either Functional (psychological) or Organic (biological)

Movies and other media affect our beliefs and our brains

I found it incredible that a movie could affect someone’s psyche enough that it could create functional amnesia. I’m finding that there is so much more that might affect our brains than I realized. And, in turn, our brains and what we think, affects our health – mental and physical!

News, social media, music, and movies will influence our beliefs and our brains!

Summary

Coursera’s class about Memory and Movies is very interesting and informative!
There are two types of amnesia: functional (psychological) and organic (biological).
Movies (and other media) can influence us into believing a false reality.

Memory Improvement Podcast Binge: Kwik Brain with Jim Kwik

Listening to Podcasts for Learning

My 2023 Project is to do more focused learning, picking a new topic each month. The 3 topics for the first quarter of 2023 were Purpose, Blogging, and Taxes, specifically in retirement.

For April, my primary topic is “Memory Improvement.” (Stay tuned for my end-of-month summary post.)

One of the awesome ways we have of learning in this modern era is by listening to podcasts. Each month, as my primary topic has changed, I’ve searched for podcasts related to my primary topic. (By the way, listening to podcasts while doing my daily walk, has been a great way to keep me motivated to always get those 10K+ steps in.)

When April rolled in, I searched for podcasts having to do with Memory Improvement.

I’ve always been pretty good at memorization and some of the podcasts are specifically designed to help learn and practice memorization techniques. For example, a few years ago, I learned 100 digits of Pi, and this month, I’m learning about the 46 US Presidents (which is also helping me learn more about US History.)

Kwik Brain with Jim Kwik

Even though memorization skills are handy, what I like about the Kwik Brain with Jim Kwik podcast is that the topics he covers are all about Brain Health which is a lot more than memorization skills.

I’ve been so interested in Brain Health that after doing the “Napkin Test” with Richard Leider, I discovered that my “purpose” was to “Have a healthy mind and help others with brain health.” This is exactly what Jim Kwik is doing with his books, podcasts, and coaching!

At the end of each podcast episode, Kwik encourages his readers to leave a review about what they learned. Since I’m always walking while I’m listening, I don’t have a very handy way of doing that, but I’m going to summarize some of my takeaways.

Brain Health Takeaways from the podcasts

Having a positive attitude about aging is one of the most important things we can do to maintain a healthy brain. With all we are learning about brain health, scientists are finding that are brains can continue to improve throughout our life.
From 314: Lessons From The World’s Longest Study on Happiness with Dr. Robert Waldinger: Relationships are key to mental health. We need to have people we can trust and confide in who will listen to us and help us “destress” at the end of the day.
MEDSRX Acronym to help remember healthy brain habits: Meditation, Exercise, Diet, Sleep, Relationships, Xtra!
From 311: Simple Ways To Get Your Daily Brain Nutrition with Maria Shriver and Patrick Schwarzenegger I learned about Mosh Bars, a health food bar that I want to give a try.
From 326: Revitalizing Your Brain: Unlocking the Power of Mitochondria with Dr. John Lieurance I learned that Dr. Lieurance practices in Sarasota! He’s doing exciting work with regenerative medicine.

Next steps

There’s a lot left to explore in this area and I’m excited to keep learning! Besides the many podcast episodes I have yet to listen to, I also want to check out Kwik’s books and classes.

Kwik’s podcast doesn’t have ads, and he depends on listeners for reviews and to spread the word, so I wanted to leave this blog post. I’m very impressed with all of his podcasts. They’re interesting and he has a lot of high-profile, trustworthy guests.

Brain health is an important topic at any age, but especially can affect those of us who are in our 60’s and worried about the possibility of decline. I highly encourage anyone who wants to maintain a healthy brain to check out Kwik Brain with Jim Kwik.

April Adventure: The Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC

Cherry Blossom Festival 2023 in Washington DC

The Cherry Blossom Festival is an adventure inspiring awe

Last year was the year of Microadventures. I did some kind of activity or excursion at least once a week that inspired awe. My “rules” were that I had to do it with another person and then blog about it.

This was a wonderful habit to get into and even though I haven’t been blogging about all my 2023 Microadventures, I am going to blog today about a very awe-inspiring excursion: The 2023 Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC.

What makes this a full-blown “adventure” (as opposed to a “micro”-adventure) is that I’ve been planning for it ever since Scotty moved to Washington DC last year! This took planning and travel and was a much anticipated escapade.

I just love flowers, flowering trees, and had heard how gorgeous the cherry blossom trees would be when they were at their peak.

Timing the peak

One of the difficult things about seeing awe-inspiring natural beauty is that it’s difficult to time the peak days, which change from year to year.

Because I needed to make my travel plans in advance, I just estimated the peak to be around early April, and got nervous when this year’s peak turned out to be March 23.

Even though we were there 9 days after the peak, there were plenty of beautiful, full trees. The weather was cool (about 57 degrees) but sunny so the scenery stunning. I absolutely want to make this an annual event (as long as Scotty is living in the DC area). Maybe next year, we’ll be able to hit it right at its peak. Now I feel confident, though, that it’s still worth going even a week or so past peak bloom.

Photos of the Cherry Blossom Festival in historic Washington DC

The Cherry Blossom Trees surround the Tidal Basin of Washington DC’s National Mall. This is where you’ll find all the historic monuments honoring our country’s forefathers.

The Jefferson Memorial framed by Cherry Blossom Branches

Martin Luther King Memorial Surrounded by Cherry Blossom Trees

Tulip Garden with the Washington Monument in the background

Cherry Blossom Trees in the Japanese Lantern section

Getting off the beaten path

The one downside of this adventure were the crowds. Luckily, we were able to take the subway to get to the National Mall, but the sounds of cars honking and whistles blowing (from people who were directing traffic and pedestrians) kind of took away from the audio ambiance.

After getting our fill of the trees around the National Mall, we got back on the subway to the Armory exit and from there took a Lyft to the National Arboretum for more beauty.

Cherry Blossom Trees at the National Arboretum

The National Arboretum offered up more opportunities for Spring Blossoms. Scotty kept saying they should have a race through these trails. After I’d scoffed at such an idea, we saw that, in fact, there was going to be a 5K in early June when all the azaleas would be in bloom!

It also was the season of bluebells! The vast blooms on this walking trail right by Scotty’s house were gorgeous and plentiful.

All-in-all, this was a super-successful adventure. These early April flowers fill me with joy and I’m so grateful that I was able to experience such a memorable sight with Scotty.

March Learning: Doing Taxes in Retirement: Can’t We Ask Siri?

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich: https://www.pexels.com/photo/tax-documents-on-the-table-6863183/

AI Apps can do everything! Why not do our taxes?

AI Apps are all the rage these days. They can even write poetry!

But you know what they can’t do? Our taxes!

Why, in this day and age, do we not have an app to do our taxes? Yeah, I know about Turbo tax and all the other software out there, but even using the tools, taxes are so unbelievably complicated! At least for me.

This month, my goal was to learn more about managing my money in retirement. My “deliverable” was to do my own taxes.

When I retired a few years ago, I was very intentional about only wanting to spend time on activities that brought me joy. Doing my taxes does NOT bring me joy, so I had been continuing to delegate that task to my accountant.

However, I have plenty of time now and this year my theme is continuous learning. March 2023 would be dedicated to learning more about money and by the end of the month I’d have my taxes done.

Learning about taxes in retirement

Even though doing my own taxes this year was very frustrating, I’m glad I persevered. Here are some of the benefits and things that worked well about doing my taxes myself:

Now I am much more aware of what deductions I can make so I will do better at record-keeping and should be able to lower my tax bill going forward.
I’ll save the money I was spending on an accountant.
I was able to exercise my brain (something that I need more of, now that I’m retired.)
I ended up using Turbo Tax because the service included access to accountants who could step me through the tricky questions and double-check things for me. It was nice to have that service, but I don’t think I’ll need it for future years.
I also went to a seminar at the library and learned more about Social Security and Medicare benefits and how those would be affected by taxes. (I just turned 63 and I’m not collecting Social Security yet, but trying to understand all the tax implications now.)

Playing with AI is more fun than doing taxes in retirement

What did NOT work well for me about doing my taxes is that I really procrastinated working on them. I also did not spend nearly the amount of time learning about money management that I wanted to this month.

There are plenty of resources – podcasts, books, Websites, courses, etc. that are available to help us manage our money in retirement. I was planning on really digging in, but I did the bare minimum to get my taxes done.

One of my distractions was all these new tools and apps that use AI. They are super-cool and impressive! I couldn’t believe that the tools could write blog posts and poems in just a few seconds! It was amazing and also… sort of depressing. Blogging and poetry are two of my only creative outlets.

Experimenting with AI – Poems about Doing Taxes

When I was procrastinating with doing my taxes and experimenting with AI, I asked an app called “Chatster” and Google’s “Bard”, to “Write a poem about doing taxes.” Though they aren’t too bad, I think I could do better.. but I’ll save that for another day.

This is what they came up with:

Chatster poem:

Taxes, oh taxes, a dreaded chore

A task that I cannot ignore.

With forms and receipts, I must prepare,

To ensure that I pay my fair share.

I gather all my documents.

And sort through every cent,

Calculating what I owe,

And what I may get back, you know.

I enter numbers line by line,

And hope that I don’t make a mistake this time.

For the IRS is ever watchful,

And mistakes can be quite costly, so I’m mindful.

But as I finally hit submit,

A sense of relief begins to hit.

For though it may have been a pain

I know that I have done my duty as a citizen.

Bard poem:

Taxes, oh taxes,

How I hate thee!

Let me count the ways.

I hate the way you make me feel,

Like I’m being robbed of my hard-earned money.

I hate the way you make me spend hours filling out forms,

When I could be doing something more productive.

I hate the way you make me feel like I’m always being watched,

Like I’m never free from the government’s grasp.

But most of all, I hate the way you make me feel like I’m not good enough,

Like I’m not contributing my fair share.

But even though I hate you, taxes,

I know I need you.

You’re the price we pay for living in a proper society.

So I’ll do my taxes,

And I’ll grumble about them,

But I’ll know that they’re necessary.

And maybe, just maybe,

One day I’ll even learn to love you.

Freelance Writing in Retirement

Freelance Writing is a good way to get some supplemental income in retirement.

Amber Petty Will Teach You How to Get Freelance Writing Gigs

Benefits of Freelance Writing in Retirement

In my last blog post, Blogging in Retirement, I wrote:

If you have expertise in a niche domain you might be able to make money by writing or blogging on an established site.

What does being “retired” really mean? I view it as a time when we no longer have to “work” in order to earn living expenses. Yet, surprisingly, there’s a lot about work that I miss!

I think when we’re in the midst of work stress (office politics, long days, boring tasks, pressure to perform) we fantasize about how wonderful retirement will be. And it is! Most of the time.

But if you’re like me, you want challenge! You don’t want all that expertise and knowledge you’ve gained over the years to go to waste!

Writing about your expertise in retirement has multiple benefits:

You can get a little income (always fun to have a ‘splurge’ fund!)
You can share your knowledge, providing guidance to others.
You can continue to learn what’s new in your field of expertise, which will help you stay relevant in your field.
You can foster connections with others who share your passions, interests, and skills.
You can improve your writing skills.

Write What You Know!

I kind of fell into my freelance writing gigs because back in 2009, I blogged a lot about my field of work (Agile Software Development and Quality Assurance). Exciting, right? I’d gotten laid off from my highly paid QA Manager job. Uggh! This was a terrible time to be laid off! So many of us tech managers were unemployed and it was very difficult to land a new job!

However, a leads group suggested blogging about your expertise in order to increase your credibility and Web presence.

Actually, that blog landed me a job as a Site Editor for an ePublication, SearchSoftwareQuality.com. It turned out to be the lowest paying job I’ve ever had, yet provided the highest professional development of my entire career.

Not only was I able to learn from and network with the best thought-leaders in the industry, I learned more about freelance writing. I was a writer as well as the editor, so I was the one deciding on which articles to accept. And at the same time I was able to keep up with trending topics in Agile Software Development and QA.

Once I went back to a corporate management position, I was able to continue freelance writing as a side-gig.

Getting Started with Freelance Writing – Amber Petty

I was lucky to find the right contacts years ago and know who to go to when I’m up for a “work-related” writing challenge. But it’s much more fun to write creatively! (That’s why I love blogging!) Could I actually get paid for writing about an interest rather than my career expertise?

Curious about how someone new might approach freelance writing, I attended Amber Petty’s free workshop, Write Your Pitch in 30 Minutes. I’d heard about the Workshop from my good friend and fellow writer, Becky, who described Amber as the “BOMB-diggity!”

I was dazzled by Amber and her style! She’s a student of Improv (another one of my wannabe skills) and I just love her bold look and personality. Her writing style’s so entertaining that I even look forward to her marketing emails! (Now that’s a rare talent!)

I’ve been to a lot of these free webinars and I know they always end with an ask to join a longer class. Even though I feel very confident that I could do this on my own, I was tempted to join the 10-week class because I liked Amber so much.

The free workshop was informative and included a valuable spreadsheet with 250 leads of publications accepting pitches!

Amber’s generous heart shines through in the workshop and in the personal interactions she’s had with Becky. Her energy and authenticity are contagious.

So even though I’m holding off on the 10-week class, I’m keeping Amber on my radar. My sense of people (usually spot on) tells me Amber is someone to be trusted to provide high value. If you’re getting started with Freelance Writing, her site is a must.

Note: I don’t get any Affiliate Link credit for recommending Amber. I just agree with Becky… She’s the BOMB-diggity!

February Learning: Blogging in Retirement

2023 Project: Focused Learning in Retirement

My 2023 Project is to do some focused learning each month. In January, my focus was about Finding Purpose in Retirement, and in February it has been about Blogging in Retirement. In March, it’s going to be about Financials in Retirement.

I’m using the “in retirement” addendum because I’m learning that learning in retirement is a lot different than learning in school or at work. It really requires self-discipline. No one is holding me accountable except myself. I’m the only one who really cares if I complete these learning goals. There are no grades or certifications, accolades, or recognition. (That is, unless I choose to take a class or program that gives those things. )

However, part of my process is to hold myself accountable by writing a blog post about what I learned, so.. that’s what I’m doing now!

Making Money Blogging in Retirement

I’m a very experienced blogger. I love technology and have been interested in blogging and social media platforms and tools since they’ve been in existence. I’ve been blogging personally and professionally since 2005. Here are a few of the personal blogs I’ve created:

My Carpe Diem Life: My personal blog about love and relationships

Happier at Work: Part of a passion project to bring more happiness to the workplace

Who Gives a Twit: A Blog about Social Media

Carpe Diem Coaching: This is a free WordPress.com blog that I actively used in 2009 and 2010 for career networking and growth

These blogs were all created for free and were very easy to maintain. You don’t need to be a techie to create or write a blog.

However, it is very difficult to make money from blogging when you’re just doing it as a hobby using free blogging software. You can put ads on your site, but the payout is so small and the market has gotten so competitive that, unless you have a very big following, you’re not going to make much money this way.

That being said, if you have expertise in a niche domain you might be able to make money by writing or blogging on an established site.

I’m a freelance writer for TechBeacon and write articles about Agile technologies for them, which is an excellent way to make some extra cash and still keep current.

Other Ways to Make Money Blogging

Besides ads or freelance writing for established profitable businesses, many entrepreneurs make money with their blogs with Affiliate links or by using their blogs as a marketing platform to sell other products or services that they provide.

Since I have a background in coaching, training and writing, I’ve thought this blog might be a good opportunity for me to build a big network and that some day it might set me up to market a book, course, or do some freelance coaching.

The thing is, the market is saturated with people trying to gain attention with their eBooks, newsletters, Webinars, and other offerings. It’s very difficult to be competitive unless you dedicate time and resources to really gaining followers. Most entrepreneurs that are successful with this have virtual assistants and high-priced offerings.

Can Older Women Make Money Blogging offers up an optimistic point of view and I don’t want to be discouraging. However, I’ve realized for myself, that I don’t want to invest the time and money it would take to be competitive.

Blogging as a Hobby in Retirement

Even though I’d like to put CarpeDiemDay on the map, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d like the time I spend on this blog to be much more of a hobby than a job. In retirement, I’m very conscious about wanting to limit my screen-time.

On the first page of Carpediemday.com I have links to wonderful Websites and blogs that promote the messages I believe in. There’s no need for me to try and reinvent the wheel.

Blogging might be a good way to network and find others with common interests. This was especially true for me with professional networking. In retirement, not so much. Though it’s still a good avenue for making virtual connections, maybe because there are so many social media networks available to us now, I think there are better ways to make friends and connections.

For me, the real benefit of blogging in retirement is that it gives me some purpose. I like the accountability of writing something at least once a week. If I can post something of value, all the better.

What I Learned about Blogging

This month I learned a lot more about WordPress and Plug-ins such as Yoast. I learned techniques to improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization) so that I might increase traffic to my site.

I was reminded I need to target an audience. (This is another reason I’m using the “in Retirement” suffix more.)

I also learned more about the many tools available to create newsletters, create a brand, and monitor traffic.

Conclusions

After being the recipient of “Carpe Diem Day” as a 60th birthday present 3 years ago, I had felt self-imposed pressure to get a lot of followers on this site.

I still would like this site to act as my legacy. (Stella has agreed to maintain it after I die.)

I still would like to blog weekly, following some of the blogging practices that I learned about this month around readability, SEO, and adding value to a targeted audience.

However, I would like its primary purpose to promote others and the other sites who are spreading messages about living life to the fullest. Yay!

January Learning: Finding Purpose in Retirement

Watching a sunrise or sunset will inspire awe and might help us with finding purpose in retirement.

Finding purpose in retirement was one of my January goals.

I’m a bit obsessed with self-help literature. My self-appointed retirement “job” is to be as healthy and happy as possible. All the positive psychology literature says that “purpose” is very important.. kind of a pre-requisite to happiness and health! In fact, I keep reading articles about how having purpose is instrumental in longevity. It’s come up over and over again as one of the most important factors for health and happiness.

Anyway, I admit, my purpose has been kind of sketchy lately. If I split life into 5 different 20-year segments, I’d say my purpose was/is/will be:

Years 0-20: School / Learning
Years 21-40: Good Mother / Job / Good Wife
Years 41-60: Good Mother / Job / Look for new Husband
Years 60-80: Play?!?
Years 80-100: TBD

Yes, I’ve been doing a LOT of playing in these retirement years when no one is dependent on me. We’re down to the final 40 years of life and I didn’t do nearly enough playing in the first 60. (Maybe that’s why I never found that new husband…)

But I digress…

Besides “playing,” I do find purpose during these retirement years in accomplishing goals. It helps me to have a Yearly Project, such as my 2022 Year of Microadventures.

My 2023 project is focused on Learning. I plan to take a class each month and be very focused and engaged, finding opportunities to apply what I’m learning to my life. My topic for January was Purpose.

Coursera Course for finding purpose

I started by taking this Coursera Class: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Life.

Finding Purpose in Retirement through Coursera Class: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Life

Unlike the usual way I take Coursera classes (which is to listen to a couple of videos and then never finish the whole course because I get distracted by tons of other things) I stayed focused! I was super-intentional about doing the readings, listening to the videos, doing the exercises, and even participating in the forums. I was very purposeful about taking this course on purpose. (Yup, pun intended.)

Books for finding purpose in retirement

I also read 3 excellent Self-Help Books that addressed purpose:

Finding Purpose in Retirement from reading “The Power of Meaning”

Stella loaned me this book and it’s probably the first self-help book that I read cover to cover. (I’m always so motivated in January to meet my goals!)

The book split Meaning into Four Pillars: Belonging, Purpose, Storytelling, and Transcendence. I had a lot of “ah ha” moments and very deep reflections about the meaning of life. Way too much for this blog post that I’m trying to write fast since it’s the last day of January.

Finding Purpose in Retirement by reading The Book of Joy, the book chosen for the One Book, One Boulder Program

Wow! This is an amazing book! I saw that the Boulder Library was looking for people to lead a Book Circle with their One Book One Boulder Program, so I signed up! I’ll be blogging more about this so stay tuned!

Finding Purpose in Retirement by reading, “Los Cuatro Acuerdos” – The Four Agreements in Spanish!

The third self-help book I’m re-reading (but this time in Spanish!) is Los Cuatro Acuerdos (The Four Agreements) by Don Miguel Ruiz. This is a classic! I’m reading it with my friend, Cathy, so we’re having both a Spanish-practice session as well as being reminded of these Four Agreements:

Be impeccable with your word
Don’t take anything personally
Don’t make assumptions
Always do your best

Spirituality

One common thread in a lot of the literature about purpose is belief in something greater than ourselves. I’m a Christian, but admittedly, I haven’t spent much time in church since Covid began.

I started a new Sunday morning tradition to get up to see the sunrise, take a long walk along the beach, and then go to a church service.

The Awe of a Sunrise — Finding purpose in Retirement: The Feeling of Awe from watching the sun rise

It’s funny that the first morning I did this, I listened to a random podcast in my queue and it was Dacher Keltner talking about the Power of Awe! He even mentioned a sunrise!

Finding Purpose in Retirement: The Harvey Memorial Community Church

Walking distance from Leffis Key in Bradenton Beach where I watch the sunrise is this little community church that I attended last Sunday. The congregation was welcoming (I was the only new member!) and the Reverend was an excellent (very funny!) speaker.

Summary

This blog post has already gotten long so I won’t try to recapture all that I learned about finding purpose and meaning in this short summary. I will tell you, though, that many times when I reflected on the wise words of these teachers, authors, and speakers, I was moved to tears.

Life, and the meaning we bring, is such a mystery. It’s easy to think none of what we do matters.. we all die..

But what we do now, while we’re alive, will matter to the other people who are alive now. And what we do now will influence others, who will in turn influence future generations.

I guess what it all boils down to is love. I started the year thinking my purpose was “to be as happy and healthy as possible” but I’m going to update it to this: My purpose is to love.

2023 Tuesdays with BB & Yvy #1: Robinson Preserve

Yvy (pronounced “Evie”) and BB at Robinson Preserve

Last year I blogged at least once a week about my Microadventures. This year I’ve been going with “Healthy Aging” as my loosey-goosey theme. I’ve also thought about blogging each week about someone I admire. I can do a twofer with this post by blogging about Becky and how she contributes to my brain health!

Healthy Aging

One thing that’s super-important for healthy aging and brain health is having good friends. Having new experiences is also great for the brain, so new experiences with good friends is like a double-dose of brain food!

During my snowbird months while I’m in Bradenton, FL, I’ve wanted to get into a routine. My best and very wise friend in the area is Becky Burns. We are both busy with our various projects, but I asked Becky if we could have a weekly get-together while I was in Florida. I love weekly rituals and rather than comparing calendars every week, it’s so much easier to just have a regular day/time blocked off so I can look forward to “BB Time!”

We agreed that Tuesday mornings worked well for both of us and Becky suggested that each week we could do different “microadventures” such as walks, paddle-boarding, cafes, beach, etc. Perfect!

A New Experience: Robinson Preserve and Sage Biscuit Cafe

I asked Becky to pick our first outing. The next morning I got an email titled, “2023 Tuesdays with BB & Yvie #1: Robinson Preserve.” I love the title of the email, both because it caters to my systematic titling of activities and uses my self-suggested nickname! (Though, I like spelling it Yvy, even more to really confuse people!)

Our scenic walk through Robinson Preserve was followed by a healthy brunch at Sage Biscuit Cafe. CarpeDeeLicious!

Robinson Preserve is a 600+-acre coastal preserve located in northwestern Bradenton.

Plenty of scenic hiking for Jack, Becky, and I to enjoy.

Delicious healthy brunch at Sage Biscuit Cafe in Bradenton

Someone I admire: Rebecca Burns!

Becky is a wonderful blog-post topic for a variety of reasons:

She’s always interesting, fun, creative, witty, and willing to try new things.
She doesn’t mind being the topic of blog posts!
She’s one of the few people who reads my blog and often sends me a supportive comment, even when I know I’m being lazy about the writing.

In the Spring of 2020, we were Covid Lockdown partners at her home and she was my co-host on Season 2 of my Carpe Diem Connections Podcast.

In fact, I’ve blogged about Becky quite a bit, as an example of beauty and birthday-celebrator, as a supreme listener and animal-lover, as a guest on my podcast talking about self-acceptance, and on countless other posts as a fellow-adventurer.

I’m so grateful to know this wise and wonderful friend and I bet my brain is 10x healthier than it used to be, thanks to our friendship!

iFly Indoor Skydiving: I Can Fly!

Tony and I give indoor skydiving a try at iFly Orlando.

iFly Indoor Skydive in Orlando — Adventure at iFly Indoor Skydiving

Another flying adventure

Even though my year of Microadventures is over, the adventures continue!

Knowing I’d be in Florida for the winter, Tony invited me to join him in Orlando for yet another flying adventure! (I’d also had an unexpected hang-gliding adventure in November).

Wow! Another opportunity to fly? I only wish I’d had my SuperCarpeDiemWoman cape! (Well, actually, we had to wear a special flight suit so… nevermind about the cape. At least I had my butterfly pants and Carpe Diem shirt for the pre-flight picture.)

iFly Indoor Skydiving was yet another activity that I didn’t even know existed!

“Cousin” Tony is friend, family, and most importantly, a VIP Carpe Diem Adventurer!

What’s it like to have an iFly Indoor Skydiving Adventure?

Tony, an experienced iFlyer, had bought us each three flights with one of them being a high flight, where the instructor brought us up high in the wind tunnel and spun us around.

We didn’t have our phones or cameras when we were all suited up and flying, so no pictures of me flying, but here’s a YouTube video of what it’s like:

Yeah, that’s exactly what it was like! OK, we weren’t doing any fancy flips, but our instructor, Ryan, did tell me I did “very well.” And for the record, he didn’t say that to everyone. I was a proud graduate of the First Flight of iFly Flying School.

My Certificate of Completion of my first iFly flight

iFly Indoor Skydiving is for every age!

I thought this might be a fun thing to do with Diego and Reneya and asked what age range could fly.

“The youngest is 3 and we’ve had a few people who are over 100,” answered Ryan.

Ages 3 to over 100! One of the women in our group was celebrating her 70th birthday. I love an activity that spans all generations! Maybe I’ll take Mom, too!

If you’re looking for something fun and exciting to do, fly it out!

Adventures in Water Drinking

Water Drinking is not usually considered fun, but it’s time to change that!

It’s a new year and I’ve really been struggling with figuring out my 2023 “theme.” The year of Microadventures was so successful and I wanted to figure out something equally fun that I could blog about each week.

I had a lot of different ideas that sort of fizzled.. a year of learning, a year of helping, a year of new people, a year of healthy habits. My friend, Michael Bolé shared an article about a woman who did a new thing every day! Oh! That’s appealing!

I’m nixing any of the “every day” ideas, though. I’m already pressured enough not to break my Duolingo streak (I’m on Day 1403, thank you very much!)

Healthy Habit For Week1: Drink More Water

The “healthy habit” I was focusing on for Week 1 was “Drink More Water.” So trite and boring. Been there, done that. Certainly water-drinking is about as opposite of a “new thing” as you can get. We literally do it every day and it doesn’t even taste that good! Which I guess is why it’s so hard to drink as much as we’re always told to drink. And don’t get me started at how inconvenient it is to have to pee so much!

Making Water Drinking Fun: Hydration Bars

But that new-thing-every-day article got me thinking: How can I have an “adventure” with water drinking – do something I’ve never done before.. I’d remembered hearing something about “hydration bars” and I excitedly googled “Hydration Bar near me” and several local-area options came up!

“That’s it!” I thought. “I will have an adventure at a Hydration Bar this week!” I pictured myself in a new-age spa doing something really edgy and trendy, yet healthy… a healthy version of a Hookah Bar experience. (This idea excited me. I once wanted to try a Hookah Bar experience… but then I learned it involved smoking.)

Anyway, I checked into Hydration Bars and found out that these aren’t really “bars.” They are IV treatments that start at about $150!

This idea quickly lost its appeal. I’ve had an IV and it’s not at all exciting. Also, I’m really cheap. I don’t even like to pay for the fancy waters in the grocery store.

And just because they call it a “Cocktail” does not make it a fun drink! Those are cockamamie tales! “Crocktales!” That will be my new word for these “Hydration IV Treatments” that you get at “Hydration Bars.” (Not to be confused with Mocktails, which really are quite lovely non-alcoholic drinks you can now get at some real bars.)

I googled “Why do people go to hydration bars when they can just drink water?” thinking I must be missing something. The AARP article, The Truth Behind Trendy IV Vitamin Water Therapy confirmed my assumptions that basically, this would be a ridiculous over-priced “adventure.” (Come to think of it, that’s true of many “adventures” but I’ll save that rant for another day).

Cheaper Ways to Make Water Drinking More Fun

I decided to “be me” and do something cheap, yet pretty and different to liven up my water-drinking experience: Making infused water.

The result was not nearly as pretty as the pictures in the article.. are the strawberries supposed to float? Of course, the “Squeeze the Day” quote on the water bottle makes it fun even if this doesn’t look like the magazine or taste much different from water.

I also splurged on a “fancy water” from the grocery story! ($2.49 is much better than a $239 Kate Crocktale!)

This was surprisingly delicious. It was sweet. I’m guessing that whatever sugar (or fake sugar) they put in this drink to make it so tasty negates any of the health benefits from drinking it. Oh well. It still was a new experience.

Finally, to round out this exciting water-drinking adventure, I bought a new water filter pitcher. This will not only keep my water clean, but helps me monitor that I’m drinking my daily quota. (Logging was not working for me.)

As for me 2023 theme? I’ve decided on “Healthy Aging.” .. on the cheap!