Writing as a therapy

Available on Amazon

I wrote my book (Peeling the Onion) purely as a therapeutic exercise - in fact it was not intended to be a book, it was a series of essays, I was urged to publish it by so many people I did so to quiet them more than for any other reason. But a secondary reason was the thought that perhaps some people could benefit from reading about my experiences. Writing each chapter was sufficient for my purposes.

I didn't realized that this was a recognized form of therapy until I decided to expand on it here, and doing some google searches informed me I was not the first to come up with this idea.

It struck me how writing about the main discomforts experienced with the ladies' toilets in our new office had minimized considerably, if not eliminated, my issues with it. I now just accept the way it is.

Then, more recently, expressing my annoyance on my Facebook status, at the tuneless whistling in the office seemed to reduce my irritation. I am guessing that is why most people take to their status to express joy, excitement, dread, irritation and sadness - it helps.  It really does help just to write it down.

According to this article:

"Over the past 20 years, a growing body of literature has demonstrated the beneficial effects that writing about traumatic or stressful events has on physical and emotional health."

As I mentioned, there is a lot of information to be found on the Internet regarding the benefits of writing, in particular in keeping a journal. Many of the articles I found recommend keeping your writing secret, for me, it really didn't matter if it was never read again, or read by the entire world. Just putting it on paper (or the electronic equivalent) helped.

I suppose what helped me most about it was that in order to write, I had to organize my thoughts, then examine and reexamine them, then face and accept my reactions, and in doing so, let go of a whole lot of emotional garbage surrounding the memories. Frequently allowing suppressed memories to surface resulting in an emotional purgative.

Somehow, putting it all into words, while in no way invalidating my feelings, started the healing process. I was able to let go of the resentment, and accept the injustice. The benefits were immediate and ongoing.

Here is what I found with just a very rudimentary google search:

The process is better explained in this article:

The most substantial effect at play is perhaps the cognitive process of taking apart our experience and configuring it for the telling. As leading theorist in writing therapy James Pennebaker explains, “The development of a coherent narrative helps to reorganize and structure traumatic memories, resulting in more adaptive internal schemas.” The result? Having given language to traumatic experiences, we’ve in a sense contained their potency. The chronic stress they’ve induced – and the corresponding physiological impact like weakened immune function, systemic inflammation, hormonal imbalance, and impaired cardiovascular function – diminishes.

Psychology Today:

Over the past few decades the therapeutic power of writing has been discovered. Old people are encouraged first to learn to write but then to tell their story.

The task can require serious, introspection: an attempt to make sense of the past. To examine it from various angles rather than simple to try to shift blame onto others.

BJPsych Advances

Writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events has been found to result in improvements in both physical and psychological health, in non-clinical and clinical populations.

Good Therapy deals with keeping a journal as a therapeutic exercise

And finally, the good old wiki page.

Back in the toilet

Seriously, I am not obsessed with toilets, despite the fact that I have written a few times around the subject. There was most recently the toilet roll discussion, and quite a long time ago I wrote about the toilet seat positioning, then there was a piece dealing with the inadequacies of the toilet in the office where I previously worked.

This time, I am  back in the toilets at the office - different office. This is a brand new building, in fact it isn't even completed - the top floor is still windowless and unfinished. But we moved in this month (not into the top floor of course) and immediately the toilet grabbed my attention. I suppose it is relatively normal, after all, apart from the hours spent at my own desk, the only other place I visit with any frequency is the ladies bathroom. Don't get me wrong - I don't run to the toilet every 20 minutes. But it is one place that cannot be avoided.

I suppose I get frustrated when things are not done right, and yes, I guess that means right according to me, after all that really is all I have to judge by.

But when I explain it to you, I am sure you will agree. The first and biggest annoyance is the fact that the stall doors do not have any display to indicate occupancy or vacancy. Yes, there are locks, but they are not the kind that slide a polite sign, red or green or 'occupied'  or 'vacant'. This problem could be tolerated if it were not for the fact that the doors have springs on them, so when you exit the stall, with the best will in the world, you can't leave the door open to show that it is available. It closes quietly but firmly behind you.

So, as I see it, you have three or four options. You can shove on the door to see if it will open - something I hate to do in case (as has often happened) someone has not locked the door and screams and embarrassment follow. Or, you can hunker down and peer under the doors, I am not keen on that idea because if someone came in while I was doing that, I could be accused of being a somewhat disgusting pervert. You could listen carefully outside each door to see if there were any sounds that might give a clue - again could be considered somewhat perverted. Finally, you could yell out 'anyone in there' like the cleaning crew do. I am not comfortable with the yelling idea either.

I reluctantly settled on a variation of the first choice. I walk briskly in as though heading for the last stall in the row, but casually push each door I pass with just one finger - if it moves without any screams from within, I nip into that stall. I might add that while I am there, should someone else come into the bathroom, I cough loudly so that they don't have to exercise their favorite method to locate an empty stall. Perhaps a sign on the inside of each stall 'Please cough while in situ' might help.

There are a few other things about these bathrooms that bother me, albeit less than the absence of a occupied sign.

On the wall opposite the stalls there are two .. things ... I am not sure what they are. They look like magazine racks. So I guess they are intended either for magazines for those who have time and inclination to linger over their ablutions, or else they are for placing paperwork or laptops while hurrying between meetings. So far I have never seen them being used by anyone.

Come to think of it, so far I am the only person I have ever seen in the bathroom closest to my office. One of the many bonuses of working in a male dominated occupation.


Another minor annoyance is the appallingly bad tile work on the walls. I mean seriously, I have tiled many walls and floors, and without training, I could do a better job. Thankfully it is not on the floor because the tiles are so uneven, someone would surely trip.





And last, but not least is the fact that there is a very nice sink, with a faucet that is motion activated, but the soap dispenser is not, and it is very close to the faucet. One must take great care when pumping the soap dispenser, to avoid activating a spray of water all over one's arm. I am trying to get into the habit of making sure my sleeves are well rolled up before pumping soap, at least I can dry my arm if it accidentally gets sprayed.


Oh and that is another thing I forgot, the paper towel dispenser is crammed full of very small pieces of paper - like the size of a Kleenex, and no matter how carefully you try to extract just enough to dry your hands (and possible one arm) - which I must say is quite a few pieces - you will get a big chunk of them come out, way more than you need.

It is all such a waste because I am sure that it cost quite a bit to put this inadequate bathroom together.

Parenting

 


Being a parent is probably the single most difficult and definitely the most rewarding experience of my life, seeing what amazing parents my own children have become is my ultimate reward, but recently one of my nieces, now a mother herself, told me that she modeled her parenting style on me. Not only was that a huge and unexpected compliment, it also brought home to me how much our behavior will influence children, and not just our own children. It is a mistake to think that just because they are children, and don't appear to notice, they are not being influenced by everything around them, and in particular, by the behavior of the adults in their lives.

This appears to be the current definitive definition of parenting, according to my research:

"Parenting (or child rearing) is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the aspects of raising a child aside from the biological relationship." Davies, Martin (2000). The Blackwell encyclopedia of social work 

This definition would indicate that parenting ends at some 'adulthood' point. It doesn't. You can't switch it off. At least, assuming the parenting switch is on, it can never be switched off, this wiki is in agreement with me on that point.

"Parenting doesn't usually end when a child turns 18. Support can be needed in a child's life well beyond the adolescent years and continues into middle and later adulthood. Parenting can be a lifelong process. " Wiki.

There is no way to train for parenting. Yes there are all sorts of classes and websites that claim to prepare you, but as every child is different and the learning experience never ends, no amount of training can prepare you. From the moment of conception, everything you do for the rest of your child's life, has a bearing on how they develop, physically, mentally and emotionally. We learn on the job and we never stop learning, and we never stop making mistakes, the hope is that the mistakes are few and do not cause lasting damage - and most of all, that we learn from our mistakes.

Frequently we learn our parenting skills (or lack thereof) from our own parents - and this is not always a good thing, for some it is possible to observe our parents mistakes and not repeat them, but for others the sad truth is that is not always the case. Many people who were abused as children will in turn be abusers but fortunately not all. I believe it takes a mixture of compassion, intelligence and imagination to get past our own childhood experiences and avoid 'visiting' the sins of our fathers upon our own children.

Some people do not have it in them to be parents, other than biologically, and for them the scars they leave on their children can often be lasting and deep.

I found this very interesting article by Kathy Caprino in which she quotes Dr Tim Elmore on the 7 Damaging Parental behaviors that keep children from becoming leaders:

• We don't let our children experience risk
• We rescue too quickly
• We rave too easily
• We let guilt get in the way of leading well
• We don't share our past mistakes
• We mistake intelligence, giftedness and influence for maturity
• We don't practice what we preach

What is interesting about this list is that the inverse is also equally bad:

• We let our children run wild
• We are never available when needed
• We never praise
• We accept no guilt or responsibility
• We burden our children with our problems
• We fail to recognize intelligence and giftedness 
• We don't preach - don't communicate and don't lead by example

And with the second last item - many parents recognize giftedness - such as a talent for some sport, and instead of allowing their child to enjoy their talent they push too hard, attempting to live vicariously through their child, taking the fun out of it and frequently destroying all interest the child may have in pursuing the activity.

To that list I can add a few more to produce, not necessarily leaders, but well adjusted adults and potentially good parents.

I believe the following:

Accept responsibility for your mistakes and apologize

It is impossible to go through life without making mistakes, parenting is the same as anything else, we will make mistakes. But by accepting responsibility and apologizing for those mistakes, we not only reduce the damage they could potentially cause, we also teach our children an important lesson.

Sometimes parental behavior goes beyond mistakes and that thin line is crossed into emotional, or even physical abuse. It is a fact that the most abusive of parents will perpetuate the damage they do by continuing to deny they have done anything wrong. This is a very good article on why this happens. For those who suffered abuse as a child, here is an article on how to get past it.

Another good quote from Robert Brault

It is never OK to beat a child.

For as long as I can remember, my grandmother could command absolute attention and perfect behavior with just her eyes. She never raised her voice, she never raised her hand. Chapter One of my book describes how she did it:

"There were rules to be obeyed and the only punishment incurred for breaking those rules was the ‘Look’. It was all she had to do to stop us in our tracks. She would slightly widen her flashing eyes, and pierce our bodies with a stare, nothing more. Just one look and then she returned to the sweet Granny immediately. She never prolonged the punishment, nor even needed to lecture us. We behaved and she forgave and forgot." Peeling The Onion, Chapter One

It is never OK to use a child as a 'weapon' or ask them to take sides

When parents argue, the child should never be drawn into the argument, never be forced to side with one parent. This is most common, and most damaging when a marriage ends and there is shared custody. An inadequate parent will use the child, or children as weapons to hurt the other parent - and they end up doing irreparable damage to the child, and ultimately permanently damaging their own relationship with that child.

There should be consequences NOT punishment

This is a very good article on the difference. Consequences will also be different for each child, and some punishments will devastate one child and have no effect on another. For example I know of a man who frequently locked his very young son in a dark and cluttered garage as a punishment, this child had a fear of the dark and was absolutely terrified for the entire time - in serious danger of suffering emotional injury. When the same father attempted to use this punishment on his second son, the effect was entirely different - that boy had no fear of the dark and an insatiable curiosity, he spent the time happily investigating the rusty old tools left carelessly lying around and climbed over old furniture and clutter, in serious danger of suffering physical injury. Of course, this was most definitely abusive behavior. He was a man without compassion and without imagination, despite his own miserable childhood, he treated his children as he had been treated himself.

The rules and associated consequences for breaking them should be clear

And should be enforced consistently. Children need boundaries and they need to be able to trust their parents to protect them. Setting and enforcing boundaries consistently give a child that sense of security. Boundaries should remain constant.

There should be rewards for achievements

However, as with item number 3 in the first list - rewards should be earned and not lavished for no good reason. Just as in real life - sometimes achievement is its own reward. To constantly praise for mediocre performance is to prevent your child from excelling and also will not prepare them for the real world. Conversely to not recognize effort, but keep demanding more than the child is capable of, will eventually cause them to stop trying.

It is never right to denigrate a child

Most children have fragile egos and building or damaging their self esteem depends almost entirely upon a parents attitude. To denigrate a child, or to compare them unfavorable with their siblings is a major mistake and frequently one that cannot be corrected.

Be honest

Always, taking into account a child's age and what they can handle, be honest. Children can tell if you are not. A simple example: I sucked my thumb, actually into adulthood, and might have managed to give it up, given the warnings of damage to my teeth and germs etc; however when I was about six years old, a friend of my parents told me I would grow a thumb down the back of my throat if I didn't stop. I knew that was not possible, knew he was making it up and as a result, doubted everything that had been said and continued to suck my thumb. I also never trusted that man again.

It is wrong to tell a child a lie because making the truth easy for them to understand is difficult, or uncomfortable. Where do babies come from? NOT from a stork, or under a mushroom. If you can't be honest with your children, do not expect them to be honest with you. That comes under the heading of practice what you preach.

Be a parent

It is possible to be both parent and friend, but be a parent first and foremost, be a parent that your child can trust enough to come to when they are in trouble, be a parent your child is comfortable confiding in. And above all else, listen to what they say to you - really listen.

Piggy in the middle

Anyone remember that game?

It summarizes what it is like to be a middle child. You are stuck between two others passing the ball over your head as you desperately try to catch it. It is pretty much the opposite of dodge ball, instead of trying to hit someone with the ball, you are trying to avoid them touching the ball.



According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the definition of Piggy in the middle is:

Once the 'piggy' has caught the ball, they get the opportunity to not be in the middle, and whoever threw the ball has to be the piggy. A loose ball is free for all. So, not exactly like being a middle child.

I was very surprised to discover how much has been written about the effects, both good and bad, of being a middle child. It was slightly amusing to notice that most of what has been written - by people qualified in medicine and / or psychology - was written by middle 'children'. Also, the definition of a middle child appears to apply to any child who is neither first of last in a group of siblings. Therefore, all children who are not the oldest and not the youngest, are middle children. The true middle child, in my opinion is the 2nd of only three children.

The term is then extended to make exceptions for gender - for example if the oldest and the youngest of three are boys, and the middle child is the only girl in the family, then she, apparently, doesn't experience the same 'middle child' syndrome as say, the middle of three boys, or three girls.

Am I a middle child? Depends on how you look at it. I always felt like I was, and I was the middle of three girls, but the third of six siblings. According to all I have read, given the order in which we were born, I am a middle child. We were, boy, three girls (me in the middle) then two boys.

Here is a very good definition of middle child syndrome - and it also explains why such a syndrome exists. I must admit I can relate to a lesser degree - being the middle of three girls, my older sister naturally got new clothes, I got to wear her old clothes when she had outgrown them but by the time I was finished with them they were not worth passing down so my younger sister got new clothes. It is very strange the apparently small injustices we hold on to - forever it would seem - because I still feel a mixture of sad and angry when I think of my confirmation outfit - my older sister's cast off confirmation outfit. Yes, my younger sister got a new outfit for her confirmation.

However, on the positive side, many of the traits that helped me to reach for, and grasp so many opportunities in my life are as a result of that very syndrome, assuming it truly does exist. I figured out early on that nothing is handed to you, you have to go out and get it.

I gathered a list of middle child traits from a number of websites, many of which were identical and so I guess all copied from the same source. Here are the main ones:

• You are independent
• You are happy doing your own thing
• You are tough
• You think outside the box
• You are happy to not be the center of attention
• You are not afraid to take risks
• You are more likely to fly under the radar at extended family gatherings
• You are empathetic towards others
• You are a lot more well adjusted than you may appear

I have to admit I think that kind of describes me. I do like this from Psychology Today - advice for middle children:

• The amount of parental attention you received as a child doesn't define how well you turn out.
• Sometimes you need to be able to walk away, especially when you are being taken advantage of.
• Sometimes you need to step up to the plate - like when there is conflict you simply can't avoid.
• You are moderate and well balanced by nature, so don't be afraid to rock the boat once in a while.

I felt neglected and left out as a child, but I suspect any child in a large family feels like that, as a teenager I started to appreciate the fact that I truly appeared to be invisible a lot of the time and as an adult I really appreciate the fact that I am independent and not afraid to take risks.

I don't think I suffered any more than my siblings, nor do I think I had any greater advantages, just different. And the bottom line is not what cards you are dealt, but how you play your hand that is important. Ultimately, as I mentioned in a previous blog entry - we are responsible for our own lives, happiness and outcome.

I repeat what has become my mantra:  If you don't like it, change it!

I will #banbossy!

A long time ago, I discovered quite by accident, that I was very bossy, at least that is how it was defined back then. This trait was not very apparent when I was growing up because I was so painfully shy that speaking to anyone other than immediate family was extremely difficult. It is not easy to be bossy if you can't speak.

Looking back, I am amazed that I actually attempted to correct this quality - for yes, had I been male it would have been admirable, but that was then.

We are moving into an era where it is fast becoming a quality in women also, thanks to people like Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.org and #BanBossy and I find myself having to work to reverse the damage done by a relatively expensive 3 day training course for Executive Secretaries.

I think the exercise that exposed my behavioral quirk was designed to foster team cooperation - at least that is the only plausible answer I can find for it. Back the, I was what was called an Executive Secretary - now referred to as an Administrative Assistant. There were about 20 of us on the course being held at the Irish Management Institute. For this particular exercise, we were divided into teams of 5. Each team was given a task to complete within 15 minutes and our efforts to accomplish this was captured on video. We were sent to a recording booth and the timer started.

I had come down with a very bad head cold just before the course started and that probably helped to reduce my patience and counterbalance my natural shyness. The task we had been set was "we were a group of staff members in large factory and we were responsible for arranging social activities. We had to plan an outing and get the word out to the entire staff immediately", we had to document the outing and how we planned to get the word out.

The minutes ticked away and we were sitting there self consciously doing pretty much nothing. I couldn't stand it any longer and the bossy came out. In other words, I took charge. We got down to planning and every time someone got side tracked I pulled them back to the task at hand - I forgot to mention I am also very competitive and I didn't want our team to fail.

We succeeded in our task within the allotted time. Then, when all the teams had finished our videos were played along with critiques invited from all the attendees and supplemented by the instructor. We were the only team who actually completed the exercise, but I was heavily criticized for being too bossy. Needless to say I was mortified, I had stepped outside my comfort zone and as a result all attention was on me - the bossiest trainee in the room.

Looking back on it, I am not very surprised that I didn't at least get some recognition for being successful, that was the early 1980's and it was still not very acceptable for women to 'take charge'. But to this day I fight to overcome that horror of being bossy but if you take a look at the definition of bossy - I was NOT bossy I was taking charge.. As Shery Sandberg says:  When a little boy asserts himself, he's called a “leader.” Yet when a little girl does the same, she risks being branded “bossy.”

I WILL #BANBOSSY!

Toilet Rolls & Paper Towels

It is very strange the things that people get worked up about. One thing, the toilet seat positioning, I wrote about before. And remaining in the toilet, there is the paper roll replacement issue, though the paper towel roll replacement in the kitchen could come under the same heading.



I bring this up because I am guilty of feeling hard done by when I find just an empty cardboard roll and I feel that I am the only person who replaces it. I do feel strongly that to use the last of either roll and just walk away without replacing it is just plain inconsiderate.


Then there is the 'almost' replaced roll. The empty cardboard roll hangs on the holder, but someone has found sufficient energy to place a new roll on top of it, just couldn't quite muster up that extra effort to put it on the roller - or, they manage to get that far, but can't quite figure out how to dispose of the empty roll - goodness knows the Internet is cluttered up with whole websites dedicated to things to do with empty toilet rolls. Pinterest has 1001 ways to use them!

I know for a fact that I am not the only person who replaces either roll. I have actually seen my husband replace the paper towel in the kitchen, and I frequently find fresh, untouched toilet paper in one or other of our bathrooms, leading me to believe that someone other than myself, replaced it.

But yet people do complain when they have to replace a toilet roll, mind you, once replaced that opens up another can of worms - was it replaced correctly? There is a wiki dedicated to toilet paper orientation.

In our house, there is a right way and a wrong way to replace the paper towel in the kitchen also. Of course you probably read my blog entry on how to stack a dishwasher? There are numerous other everyday tasks that have a 'right way' and a 'wrong way' to complete. My husband blames this on the fact that we were both born in September, and everyone knows that Virgos are perfectionists - he says this in almost the same breath as declaring that astrology is something that he does not believe in.

On the left is the correct way to do it, on the right is incorrect.

One of the other things about toilet paper that I find strange is the folds that hotel cleaners put on the roll - our cleaning service does it too and I always feel a bit mean tearing their careful fold off, in fact I sometimes think perhaps I should refold it when I am done? I wonder what they would do if all of our toilet rolls had little folded points on before they even started cleaning, would it ruin their day?


A quick google search turned up some interesting methods suggested to combat the empty toilet roll issue. Personally, I think it is a losing battle and I don't care to waste time fighting against the inevitable - so I resolve in the future to just replace the roll and get on with more importing issues.

But the irritants don't end with paper rolls. There is the habit some have of putting empty containers back in the fridge or on the pantry shelf. Leaving cabinet doors open, putting just one too many pieces of trash in the bin and still not emptying it, so many others I am sure.

Sages & Pundits

I was explaining to a colleague why I was sitting at my desk chatting with him, at 5 a.m. CST (my time in Texas) which was 3.30 p.m. in his location, Bangalore.

I start work between 4.30 and 5 a.m by choice, because I wake naturally around 3 a.m. every morning, frequently a little earlier. Starting early also means I can finish up early, most days, and I get to miss most of the traffic.

It has been years since I heard an alarm clock and while I will try to sleep in until 4 or 4.30 a.m. at the weekends, if I can - I will always wake around 3. Even when daylight savings time hits us, twice a year, my internal clock doesn't skip a beat and I wake at 3 by the clock, irrespective of the adjustment. Fortunately I absolutely love those early morning hours when my world is quite.

Most Westerners tease me about this peculiar behavior and accuse me of keeping 'Irish time' no matter where in the world I happen to be located - and it is true that when I am in Ireland, I tend to wake at about 3 a.m. CST, rather than GMT and I have very little difficulty adjusting to time differences when I travel.

My Eastern friend declared with delight that I must be a sage or a pundit. Now, I thought I knew the meaning of the term 'sage' but the term pundit in Western circles appears to have lost it more mystical and acceptable meaning. To me a pundit was someone who was somewhat sleazy - being more a political or even bookies tipster, so I looked up the true meaning of both words and felt somewhat complimented- I will interpret 2. below 'a learned man' - to be referencing 'mankind' as a whole rather than specifying gender in this instance. Particularly as one of my most revered people, Gandhi is quoted as saying:

“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?"

Having searched for a more Eastern definition of sage or pundit, I came across this site which has a wealth of information on Hinduism: "... sages had understanding of things and places which normal people like you and I could never even imagine..." and "... had complete understanding of everything in this world and the heaven..."


I started my quest feeling somewhat complimented, and while my quest to find more information on Hinduism will continue, I find myself feeling very highly complimented. That is praise indeed even if that praise is not entirely deserved.

Company Culture

I have worked in a number of different companies, in London (England), Dublin (Ireland), Ontario (Canada) the Bay Area in California and in Austin Texas. In each, the company culture was completely different. Naturally, between countries there are differences, and needless to say, my working life has spanned quite a number of years and during that time so much has changed.

When I started working, no executive would dream of typing up his own documentation, memos, letters - and there was no such thing as email. I started my working life as an invoice clerk, and, as dusk settles on my career I am a Quality Assurance Engineer, testing software - well, I am hopeful dusk will settle as retirement begins to look very enticing - right now my working life has the appearance of a mid summer evening in Ireland when the sun refuses to set. In between I had a myriad of different jobs and a number of years hiatus as a stay at home mom. Some of the companies I worked for were in the following areas: Pharmaceutical, Retail, Travel, Finance, Industrial Development, Banking, Mechanical Engineering, Petrochemical, Recruiting, Education, Electrical Manufacturing, Food Manufacturing, Logistics, Software and Horse Livery - not necessarily in that order.

One thing I am certain of, a company, no matter its size, has a culture which is essentially the personality of the company, and is a direct reflection of the personality of the head honcho. Depending on the size of the company, this personality may or may not be watered down, or bolstered up, by the personalities of the executive team.


A very fitting definition, considering how different companies are, when it comes to their culture and the importance, or lack thereof, that the company executives place on the nurturing of this. Almost exclusively, I have left jobs because of a negative or repressive culture, and stayed in positions because of a supportive and positive culture despite other aspects of the job being less than ideal. Where some cultures have been manifestations of human intellectual achievement, others have been a cultivation of bacterial growth and not the good kind.

Experts estimate it costs more than twice an employee’s salary to find and train a replacement. And churn can damage morale among remaining employees, plus those who leave frequently take the best with them. I have started job searches whenever there has been churning of staff and once they have departed and settled comfortably in their new digs, then the poaching starts.

According to Frances Frei and Anne Morriss at Harvard Business Review:

“Culture guides discretionary behavior and it picks up where the employee handbook leaves off. Culture tells us how to respond to an unprecedented service request. It tells us whether to risk telling our bosses about our new ideas, and whether to surface or hide problems. Employees make hundreds of decisions on their own every day, and culture is our guide. Culture tells us what to do when the CEO isn’t in the room, which is of course most of the time.”

I left one job, after many years, because what had once been a fun, supportive and enjoyable place to work, with reasonable remuneration and good benefits deteriorated over a fairly short period of time, into a very unpleasant, unsupportive workplace. The benefits were slashed to save cost to the company while at the same time money was spent on things that in no way improved the working environment for the majority. The laughter and lightheartedness in the corridors and kitchen was replaced by whispered, disgruntled conversations in the restrooms and cubicle areas. And worst of all, staff who made the effort and misplaced their trust by speaking to executives about the unwelcome changes, deeply regretted their naiveté. What was significant about the culture at this company is that it changed from being a boring lack lustre environment, into an exciting, challenging and very enjoyable one, and then quickly fell into the disgruntled unhappy place I finally left. Each change in the culture, coincided closely to a change in the CEO. Coincidence? I don't think so.

It is no surprise that many of the reviews of the GlassDoor.com Top 50 Best Places to Work are centered around the culture. As an aside, I am proud to note that a Texas company, HEB are placed 7th in the list.

All of this is very obvious so is it greed or stupidity that results in a less than acceptable culture? Or perhaps a bit of both. Definitely it indicates someone at the top who is in it for the short term.

Lefties

I come from a generation where writing left handed was frowned upon, and corrected usually with detrimental effects. When my youngest brother started writing with his left hand at school, he was forced to use his right hand. The good thing about that is that he can now write with either hand, the bad thing is no matter which hand he uses, his writing is almost illegible.

My husband is left handed and what got me on this particular train of thought was the discovery that there is a 'left handed' and 'right handed' way of hanging clothes on a coat hanger. My husband retired recently in order to be take care of his mother who lives with us, while she is still perfectly capable of taking care of herself, due to failing eyesight and good sound common sense, she has chosen to quit driving. As her eyesight is expected to continue to deteriorate, eventually we expect she will need more than just a driver.

Meanwhile, because he is no longer working, my husband has taken over many of the household chores, in particular the laundry. I still do the ironing early on Sunday morning but no longer have to wash, dry or hang the clothes.

That was when I noticed this phenomenon. It got me thinking about being left handed in what is essentially a right handed world. When we remove clothes from the dryer, we hang them immediately, that minimizes the chore of ironing them. I had never noticed before that there is a right and left way to put a shirt on a hanger. I, right handed, hold the hanger in my right hand with the hook turned to the left, insert the hanger into the right shoulder of the shirt, (on the left facing me) then into the left shoulder (on the right facing me). Now, with my right hand I can easily hang this up.

A left handed person, at least my husband, does completely the opposite, holds the hanger in his left hand, hook to the right, inserts it first in the left side of the shirt (which is facing him so on his right) then in the other shoulder, now it is ready for him to hang easily with his left hand.

What intrigued me most about this is that when I went to remove the shirt to iron it, I felt totally turned around, the natural way - or at least natural for me, wast to remove from the side to my right first, but it felt wrong because the hook was facing in the 'wrong' direction. Of course, this was just a very minor discomfort and not difficult to adjust to, there are many other things that pose greater difficulties.

My first car in the US was a stick shift, and I had been driving a stick all my life, but changing to a car with the driver side on the left, that put the gear shift on the right, it was my first real experience of how difficult things must be for people who are left handed. So many things are designed for those who are right handed. Door handles and locks all placed on the right side. And, while left handed scissors are available, they are not easy to come by, manually operated can openers, and a computer mouse can be configured for left or right handed people and some kitchen knives are very obviously designed with the right-handed user in mind.

Many people say that left handed people are smarter, my belief is that is because they are forced to use more of their brain, the right side naturally because they are left handed, but they have to use the left side just to live in a right handed world. My husband is most definitely smarter than average, as are the other members of my family who are lefties, my highly intelligent grandson and my beautiful and very talented niece.

Fortunately these days it is much more accepted and children are allowed to develop according to their genes - because researchers have located a gene responsible for right- or left-handedness, according to a 2013 study published in the journal PLOS Genetics.

Apart from the forced right handed writing, I couldn't find any references to forcing left handed people to do anything else with the right hand. But what is very interesting is that my husband, who I mentioned before writes with his left hand, and I might add his hand writing is a lot better than mine and I am and always was right handed. However, he bowls with his right hand, and apparently always has (incidentally he also does that better than I do), as you can see from the photo, my grandson bowls with his left hand.

Here are some very interesting things research has come up with about left handedness.

• Make up between 7% and 10% of the population
• More likely to have allergies
• More prone to migraines
• More likely to be insomniacs
• Use the right side of the brain the most
• Three times more likely to become alcoholics – the right side of the brain has a lower tolerance to alcohol!
• More likely to be on extreme poles of the intelligence scale
• Tend to reach puberty 4 to 5 months later than right handers
• More likely to suffer stuttering and dyslexia
• Twice as likely to be a man
• There is also a left hand day, and a left handers club. See here for more information. 

According to this article regarding left handed US Presidents, Daniel Geschwind, a professor of human genetics at UCLA says : "Six out of the past 12 presidents is statistically significant, and probably means something,"

Rain

I am no stranger to the rain. I grew up in Ireland. When I first moved to Central Texas, and for a number of years after, I did not join in the local excitement when it rained, neither did I understand their reluctance to go anywhere in the rain. Of course, bearing in mind the driving style of Texans (see my blog here) and their determination to ignore changes to road conditions and refusal to adjust their driving accordingly, it is somewhat understandable. If the Irish waited for the rain to stop before doing anything, they would do nothing at all, and my firm belief is that if I didn't dissolve before, I surely won't at this stage in my life.

However, in the last 5 years my attitude has changed, don't get me wrong, I still don't allow the rain to stop me from carrying on my daily life, and I still don't dissolve when I get wet, but I do get very excited when it rains, and the more it rains, the happier I am. That is because I have finally realized what the results of prolonged drought will do to a country.

Central Texas has the most amazing landscape, and a large number of lakes although all of them are man made, the only natural lake in all of this giant sized state is Caddo Lake in East Texas. As with everything else in Texas, when it rains, it rains BIG. Flooding, in particular, flash flooding, is a very real hazard. The lakes are mainly for flood control but they are also the only source of drinking water for the majority of people living in a very wide area surrounding them. They are also a great recreational resource.

The Highland Lakes on the Colorado river, which flows through Austin, were formed by a series of dams. There are seven lakes in all. One of the more popular is Lake Travis, it is our favorite and we have gone boating and fishing on Lake Travis for years. Plus, it is the source of all of our water supply. The last three years of drought have seriously depleted the levels of all of our lakes and Lake Travis looks very sad indeed.

In this photo the levels are down very slightly

In the photo to the right, you can see just how bad things have become. This is almost exactly the same view, the island showing above the surface to the left of the picture is known as Sometimes Island, as it only sometimes appears. However, in the past three years it has not only been visible, it has developed a lush growth and has turned from an island into a archipelago, and then into a peninsula.

This website has some very interesting information on the lakes, including the chart below, which is interactive on the website. 

As you can see, at the time of writing, because we have had a few weeks of healthy rainfall, the level is rising, but we are still seriously below normal:










What truly amazes me is that people who have lived in this area all their lives, and have seen serious flooding - flash flooding, and severe drought, still waste water at an alarming rate, and with every flood event, there will be deaths and frequent rescues as people ignore the warnings, and the road closed signs and still drive, or attempt to drive across low water crossings.




Most homeowners and businesses in Texas have sprinkler systems to water their lawns and green areas, and the water they use is coming from the same source as the water we drink, the sadly depleted lakes. It is one of the more painful sights in Central Texas to see a sprinkler system running, often during the hottest part of the day, and the precious water is flowing across sidewalks and down the street.






Just slightly less painful is to see a sprinkler system running during a heavy rainfall. Less painful because at least it is raining.

And I have finally learned to welcome the rain.

How to deal with the difficult or crazy people in your life

...and everyone has at least one, if not more, difficult people they are obliged to deal with.

Buddha never said this, but had he been Irish he might have

I got started thinking on this topic when a friend posted a link on Facebook to an extremely good Forbes article on the subject:

I thought it was too good to not share, and what a good subject to blog about. However the more I researched the subject, the more I found that people way more qualified than I had already written really interesting articles and I would better serve you, my readers, by letting you read these yourselves.



I was interested to read in one article a suggestion to do something I have observed my mother in law do - very effectively - she will wait quietly for a natural pause in a conversation she does not want to engage in, and then say something totally unrelated - always managing to pick a topic that will be guaranteed to distract the speaker - and it always works. As soon as I realized that was what she was doing, I wait for it to happen and observe mesmerized. It is like watching a little old lady redirect a flow of lava.

Here are links to some of the better articles I found.

WebMD
Psychology Today
Think Simple Now

However I couldn't resist posting some of my old and new favorite quotes on the subject. This first one was extremely familiar to me - I wonder if this is where she got the idea.

"...When dealing with someone difficult, interrupt the pattern by asking a question completely off-topic..." — Paramhansa Yogananda

"You cannot control other people. You can only control how you respond to them.
You must change how you react to people before you can change how you interact with them,”
— Rick Kirschner, N.D., coauthor of Dealing with People You Can’t Stand.

“Most of the time, difficult people just want something different than we do,
— Ronna Lichtenberg, author of Work Would Be Great If It Weren’t for the People.

"To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee"
— William H. Walton 

"Hating people is like burning your own house down to get rid of a rat."
— Henry Emerson Fosdick, American author (1878-1969)

“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.”
 ― Wayne W. Dyer

Please! It is Paddy's Day!

Or, St Paddy's Day, or St Patrick's Day .. or just Patrick's day.  But never, ever Patty's day.

I am normally a very mild mannered person. There are only a few things that will spur me into an argument. Obviously, if anyone hurts one of my children in any way, shape or form, I will assume the perfectly normal protective mother lion pose. But I am not talking about that here.



I mean those debates people appear to enjoy, political, religious or otherwise, I don't get involved. It isn't that I don't have an opinion, or that I don't care; I do, and I do. But I do not care to debate, argue, bicker or discuss. However, when I hear someone say Patty's Day I can't keep my mouth shut. I respond as to whistling. I hate whistling! (read my blog entry here).

This time of year, I hear it a lot and I have not been able to prevent myself from explaining to the offenders - St Patrick was a man - what man in his right mind would admit to being call Patty, even if he was?

This blog explains it better than I ever could, so in future I will just refer everyone here - and I will be doing them a favor because it is a blog well worth reading.

Are you happy?

My 5 year old grandson has appointed himself the 'barometer' for the level of happiness all around him, and he takes his responsibilities very seriously. If you spend any time in his company, you will be asked 'Are you happy?' and he will expect an answer. I don't know what he would do if the answer was no, but I am fairly sure he would do all in his power to rectify the situation because he genuinely cares about other people and their state of mind and general well being.

I mention this because my mind was on the theme of happiness, recently my son said that he hoped that I was happy, and indeed I am, but the question sent me down the rabbit hole, thinking about happiness and how different the definition is for each person.

Like the song said '.. different things to different people...' And it is most certainly relative to your last experience. If you have been going through hell and misery, then any level of improvement can be described as happy.

What I believe is, if you are not happy then you are doing something wrong and you need to change your direction. Your happiness is not only your responsibility, it is something that only you can control, it is something you should control. I not only believe this, I do try to live by it. And, as always, I refer you to my book. I also think that helping out those less fortunate generates a sense of happiness and well being.


I love to read The Good News Network, just reading about the things people do simple because it is the right thing to do, or because they feel a need to help out someone less fortunate - that makes me happy and it certainly balances out the constant flow of bad news that media believes is all we want to hear.

Some Quotes on Happiness:

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
―  Gandhi

"Be happy with what you have and are, be generous with both, and you won't have to hunt for happiness."
―  William E. Gladstone

"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."
―  Lincoln

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
― Dalai Lama XIV

“Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

"Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Some thoughts on travel

I have been lucky enough to have traveled a lot, lucky because I enjoy it and because much of my travel, at least within the US, was for work, so cost me nothing. My international travel is entirely personal, costs quite a lot but is so worth it.

For at least 15 years after moving the the US from Ireland, I returned to visit at least twice year, at first visiting both Ireland and France in the same trip, then alternating. My sons lived in Ireland and my daughter lived in France. In the last few years my visits have reduced to just once a year, partly due to the cost, but also because I can't stand another winter visit to Europe. I have become too spoiled by the constantly heated homes in the US, in Europe the cost of home heating is so high that no matter what form of heating you have, it is only run for short periods of time, such as early morning and late evening. If you live like that all the time, you do grow used to it. I am no longer used to it.

When I was traveling for work, naturally I had to use the cheapest, or the company recommended carriers. As a result I have had the misfortune to have experienced just about every US domestic carrier. I have spent long hours hanging around airports, and occasionally unexpected overnights due to missed connections and canceled flights. When I have a choice, I fly Delta. I chose Delta originally because they fly directly into Dublin from Atlanta, and flying from Austin to Atlanta is an easy trip, and if you have to spend any time waiting in an airport, Atlanta is a good place to do it. I continued to fly Delta because I started to amass a considerable amount of frequent flier miles, but also because I have had a better experience with them than with any other carrier, and taking in to account the fact that I have flow way more times, and way more miles with Delta, that is a fairly good recommendation.

I used to have a yearly membership to the Delta Sky Club - as much as I was traveling, it was worth it. But now that my travel is reduced, I will just buy a day pass if I am going to have a long lay over, that is if it is 3 hours or more, which it frequently is with International Travel. The comfort and facilities in the Sky Club make it well worth the cost.

I stress - not just about travel, I stress about everything. However, with travel it is very easy to find things to stress about, missed flights, lost luggage, luggage overweight - the list goes on, things I do to reduce the stress of travel:

• I always book flights with lengthy lay over times, I prefer to hang around the Sky Club than make a mad dash for a tight connection, or worse, risk missing a connection altogether.
• Pack all my liquids in my check in bags - no plastic bags to worry about at security
• If I am traveling with carry on only, I do so without liquids - I have actually been known to mail the minimum makeup needs to my daughter, ahead of my travel, so that all I need is there when I arrive. Every woman has bottles, tubes or jars of makeup with just a little in the end, these are what I send ahead and leave behind. My granddaughter has great fun with them after I am gone.
• I carefully weight my packed check in to ensure it is not over weight, just a couple of extra pounds can cost $100. If I have to check more than the allowed weight, two smaller bags, each within the allowed weight, is cheaper than one large, overweight bag.
• I take a photo of my packed bags - I know, this sounds really OCD but if you have ever lost your luggage and, after an 8 hour flight and 1 hour search for bags in a very large baggage claim area, then had to describe in detail the lost bags - you would also start doing this.
• I always bring my Kindle, with an extended battery pack, loaded with a number of books and a couple of movies and my favorite music.
• My carry on consists of a backpack which contains my laptop, kindle and one change of clothes - in the event my check in luggage does go astray, or I get stranded overnight, at least I do have one change of clothes and generally lost luggage is rounded up within 24 hours
• I also purchase comfort seating, early boarding reduces stress for no apparent reason because I do know the flight will not go without me so long as I have checked in and I am at the gate on time, and I do know I have a seat and will get on eventually, but comfort seating is also .. comfortable, not that I really need the extra space, but early boarding and early deplaning is definitely less stressful
• And finally, I have my Global Entry TSA Pre Clearance (see below).
• When ever possible, my European port of departure when returning to the US is Dublin, Ireland. There you clear both US Customs and US Immigration before boarding your flight. So arrival in the US is as easy as domestic travel within the US. This is particularly useful when making a connection once you land - tired, jet lagged and disorientated, just get off that plane and head for your connection.

I have to say, I have no issues with TSA, if they are doing their job right, they are keeping me safe, who can argue with that? But Global Entry Pre Clearance is a real luxury.

This allows me to by pass most of the queues at security and I don't have to remove my shoes nor unpack my laptop.


Anyone else got any good tips?

Osmiroids

Osmiroid nibs

When I was at school, which was a long time ago, and not for very long. Chapter 4 of my book describes that short episode in my life, and my Peeling The Onion Facebook page illustrates it. As I was saying, when I was at school, one of the items on our school list was an Osmiroid fountain pen, with an italic nib. These pens came in an assortment of colors, so although everyone had exactly the same pen, they were not all identical. The nibs were, or they were supposed to be.

Because this was in the 1950s and cartridges had not yet been invented for fountain pens, we all had to carry bottles of ink in our school bags in order to refill the pen. Most of us had ink stains in the bottom of our school bags, and across many of our books, from leaking bottles of ink. And we always had ink stains on our hands - not just from the messy job of filling the pens, but because they frequently leaked while in use.

This is how we were expected to write, and most did.

This is my butcher boy hand writing

We had handwriting classes, and we were all expected to write in exactly the same italic script. I guess I just had a different drum beat in my head, because while all the other girls were practicing writing in exactly the same way, I didn't see the point.


I really don't think that I was a rebel, because I wasn't trying to stand out, nor was I trying to be difficult, I just didn't see the point in changing my writing, and writing the same as everyone else, so I didn't. At one point I remember a very frustrated Scottish nun look at my exercise book with absolute disdain, she told me with disgust that I wrote like a butcher boy. Apparently part of what disgusted her about my handwriting was the presence of loops.

To be honest, I really didn't care. I hated school, and it wasn't long before I figured out the system and avoided going altogether.

Naturally I regretted it later and (read my book) I did manage to do some catch up, but looking back, I think I probably ended up with a better education that most of my peers from that era, even if it took me a lot longer and my handwriting is not as good.

I still wonder from time to time, how Mother George knew what a butcher boy's writing looked like, and did she believe they too were all forced to write in exactly the same way?

I found this blog about Osmiroid Pens, apparently they have quite a cult following, and not just nuns.