A few weeks ago I wrote that in my attempt to isolate myself from negativity, I stopped reading newspapers. However, my wife Elfa still does, and she recently showed me an article which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on November 26, 2020 written by Nora Mishanec titled, “With less need to yell, birds’ singing is best in decades”. It describes the experience of ornithologist Jennifer Phillips, who “was astonished by hearing that the birds sang more softly in the relative quiet of the pandemic-stricken city. They began using a lower register — a more seductive trill — that hadn’t been recorded locally since the 1950s.” 

Birds’ singing sounds are as natural in the natural world; however, why do humans sing? I googled the two questions. Surprisingly, there were ten websites (the same number as for birds) that listed the reasons. I liked one titled, “5 Reasons Why People Who Sing Are Happier, Healthier And Live Longer (Regardless Of How Well They Sing)”. The most appealing reason for me was, “They will live longer” and “They have better posture and look younger”. So if I am planning to live a long and happy life, I should consider learning how to sing. Unfortunately, I do not have a good ear. Oh well, one cannot be good at everything.

You might have heard the saying, “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet”. Online I learned that this quote is attributed to both Hellen Keller and Mahatma Gandhi.

The coronavirus has created an environment, where most of us cannot enjoy our lives to their full extent. Everyone is waiting for the “miraculous” vaccine to return our lives to “normal”. Unfortunately, we cannot meet our new granddaughter for that reason. But why should we stop feeling that we are alive? We still can enjoy many things we were accustomed to. We cannot travel to Europe, but we can go to Hawaii and Mexico after testing negative for the coronavirus. Some of our friends have rented homes in Oregon and resort areas in California. Next week we are going to our favorite place for four days – The Sea Ranch (a story will follow). After we received the phone call from Tatyana, I asked my wife Elfa to start making reservations for next year’s travels. One of the ways to feel alive, is to celebrate life. Today, Friday, December 11^th, is the first day of the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah. It is called the Holiday of Lights and commemorates events which took place in 140 BCE. We are celebrating it together with our daughter Alona and her boyfriend Jeff, who specially came from Southern California. It is going to be the first celebration for our granddaughter, who together with her Mom, Tamar and Dad, David will join us through Zoom.

Let’s count our blessings and let light into our lives.

Perhaps this was a coincidence; however, when Netflix released the new season of The Crown on Sunday, I read in the November 2020 issue of AARP The Magazine, the 10 rules of the world’s largest reigning monarch, who turned 94 on April 21^st (though her official birthday is on June 13, because on that day the weather is better for an outdoor celebration).

5. Sweeten the self-talk. Elizabeth II observed “The trouble with gloom is that it feeds upon itself”.
6. Brush aside vanity. Self-distancing is an ability to be an amused spectator. 
7. Never stop playing. Activity will keep your muscles and mind agile, thanks to play’s unique ability to suspend the brain in a youthful, flexible state.
8. Keep the faith. Regardless of the worries the world throws, there is a higher throne on which to lay them.

The history of the celebration of Thanksgiving goes back to 1621. However only in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. We usually associate the holiday with family gatherings to share the turkey dinner and the Black Friday shopping the next day. Years ago, I specially visited downtown to photograph the shoulder to shoulder crowds in front of the Macy’s store. I did not go there this year, but I suspect today there are no crowds. And I think that some families are concerned to get together for the celebration, because of the Coronavirus. Then what is left from the holiday? I believe what started it in the first place, the attitude of gratitude. When I Googled the phrase, I found an article which appeared on May 10, 2019 at goodjobpal.com titled, “Why attitude of gratitude makes you happier and the science behind it.” In the article it was defined as: “An attitude of gratitude means making it a habit to express thankfulness and appreciation in all parts of your life, on a regular basis, for both the big and small things alike.”

As a part of my expression of gratitude to you, I produced a new 2021 art calendar; a tradition I started last year. I am going to mail it to my clients for whom I helped to get mortgages in the last three years. I hope you are one of them. If I helped you before 2018, and you would like to get one (you can see the photo images at mannykagan.smugmug.com), please let me know, and I will gladly send you one, as long as supplies last.

In the last two weeks, I wrote about how to have a healthy body. This week, I want to bring your attention to the healthy mind. I am re-quoting Earl Nightingale, “We become what we think about most of the time.” But how do we know what to think about? We acquire our knowledge from various sources every moment we are awake, based on the foundation which we received from our parents the moment we were born, and later friends, teachers and books. But there is something else which might affect how we think or act and it seems we all inherited it from cavemen (or cavewomen). I learned about it in “I Done This Blog” by Black Thorne, posted on October 15, 2019. It starts by describing how a negative experience while driving to work can have a negative effect over the rest of the day. Turns out, we need to blame the caveman for that experience. Research shows that our brains evolved to react much more strongly to negative experiences than the positive ones. This reaction is supposed to protect us, better be safe than to be eaten by a tiger. But there are no hungry tigers, at least where we all are. Nevertheless, many of us prefer to be safe rather than sorry. It’s called the negative bias. According to research, our focus on the negative things is rooted in how our attention works.

As far as I am concerned, I decided to isolate myself from the sources of negative information. No more reading the news in the newspapers or listening to the Public Radio Forum. My rational is very simple, since I can do nothing to change external events, I will work on rewiring my brain to focus only on the positive information. To do this, I have to change old habits. 45 years ago, I decided to stop the habit of eating meat to become a vegetarian. 18 years ago, I changed the habit of drinking alcohol to keep a clear mind. Now my objective is to become a positive thinking person. It is a gradual process. To help, I came up with the sixth way to beat the negative bias; to laugh a lot and to entice others to laugh together with me. My next book “42 Encounters with Laughter” is going to be available on amazon.com before the holidays. Stay tuned.