I honestly don’t know where the weeks are flying by. Alas, it is time for another issue of the Carnival of the Vanities hosted this week by Generic Confusion.

I love reading the posts that catch my eye each week. This week there are a number that get me thinking that I really enjoyed like “Organic Price vs. Ethics” and “Whatever Happened to Manners?” . If you want to get your panties in a twist with someone who doesn’t “get it” when it comes to marriage, you can read the ultra conservative “What is Marriage?” post. At least it is a thoughtful and decently written post, even if I don’t agree with the author.

Happy mid-week reading…..

I stumbled across this post on stress management over at DiVITA Speaks http://www.divitaspeaks.com by way of the related post on Lip-Sticking which I read regularly. I loved it because it illustrates a simple yet powerful concept central to the issue of stress and burnout. You can’t hold a glass of water forever without reaching exhaustion and needing to call 911.

In the article, Benecia Beyer references a post from the blog Spiritual Struggle which is now defunct. It asks the pivotal question “How heavy is a glass of water?” Do you know? Have your answer in mind? If so…read on to see how much it REALLY weighs.

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, “How heavy is this glass of water?” Answers called out ranged from 3 ounces to 6 ounces. The lecturer replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you hold it.”

“If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

He continued, “And that’s the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all of the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.”

As someone who often struggles with letting go (don’t we all) and wanting to keep plugging away at something rather than take a step back, I think this is a great metaphor and reminder that sometimes you just have to put things down. Whether it is a problem you can’t solve, a grudge, or a behavior or activity that is no longer working for you, you need to let go. At the very least we all need time and space to rest and relax in order to keep our energy reserves and effectiveness high.

• What glasses have you been holding onto until you ache?
• Are you headed for a breakdown in effectiveness in any parts of your life or business because the burden is becoming increasingly heavy?
• Where do you need to put the glass down for a while and rest?

While I rarely wax political in this space, I want to draw your attention to a series of radio interviews called “Same-Sex Marriage: Who Cares!?” The reason this is relevant to the personal and business topics I write about is because without equal rights under the law lesbians are at a disadvantage and have to overcome additional hurdles to success. (Of course, we don’t let any of these obstacles deter us because we’re powerful and persevering women!)

You can check out the PR about the series here.

This series is spearheaded by one of my colleagues Souldancer who is just a fabulous guy doing great work in the world. A great lineup is planned featuring impressive women like Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon, M.V. Lee Badgett, and Colonel Cammermeyer to name a few. The complete lineup can be perused at the program guide. He is still looking for some guests to fill in a few of these blanks in the schedule:

• A constitutional scholar to speak to historical efforts regarding amendments driven by a particular interest group
• A state level expert to speak to what they believe states in general have to LOSE by a federal law that permits same-sex marriage.
• A national organizational level expert of a religious denominations to speak to what they believe their denomination (or similar groups) have to LOSE by a federal law that permits same-sex marriage.
• A nationally visible lesbian family to share their thoughts on how a law that permits or denies same-sex marriage impacts their family.
• A nationally visible our person to share their thoughts on how a law that permits or denies same-sex marriage impacts their workplace.
• A nationally visible South African or Australian gay or lesbian to share their thoughts on what they’ve experienced as their country struggles with this issue.
• Nationally visible gay and lesbian nonprofit executives to share their thoughts on how large non-profits shape US society in general and the impact they may the proposed constitutional amendment to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples.

If you or someone you know is interested, you can contact Souldancer directly at info@souldancer.org or drop me an email and I’ll put you in touch.

Please visit “New Voices” which is hosting this series and tune in for Same-Sex Marriage: Who Cares!?.

Wednesday night I stepped out of my usual routine to attend a lecture by Dr. Robert S. Mattison, curator of the current Andy Warhol special exhibition at the Allentown Art Museum. What I can tell you for sure is that doing things you don’t usually get to do can do wonders for your passion, inspiration, perspective, and even your business. Not to mention it is like giving your energy level a little juice!

As a super achieving academic, I never got to take any of the art history type classes that my fellow attendees were reminiscing about on Wednesday night. After all, these courses weren’t “practical” and certainly there was no time in my over-achieving schedule to fit in such “fluff”. Since then, I’ve enjoyed numerous museums around the world, though I would not call myself an art buff by any stretch of the imagination. I experience art from my gut and have little in my head in the way of facts, theory or academic discourse to go on. This is in contrast to many other areas of my life which is why I think I had so much damn fun!

The special event was held at The Edge Restaurant in Bethlehem, PA and I heard about it through a colleague of mine who bills herself as “The Idea Lady”. If you ever need business ideas or PR help, she’s the one you want helping you. I share this because it illustrates the power of connections whether it is business, pleasure, or simply needing a helping hand. And, it is not having connections for connection sake. It is my philosophy that it pays to meet people with similar tastes and standards, people you genuinely enjoy spending time and having a conversation with. The restaurant and their Andy Warhol themed event were unbelievable. As a total foodie and wine/drinks kind of person, I can be hard to please. This place far surpassed my expectations and it only fueled my inspiration from the evening even more. Once again, a reminder that the little things do matter.

Like I said before, I am not well-versed in any artist’s work. The closest I get to knowledgeable is with a few well-known names, specifically photographers. While I have seen some of Andy Warhol’s work in person, and the common images we’re all familiar with (the soup can, Marilyn Monroe, etc.), it was my first introduction to a lecture that put all the pieces together. One of the most impact full points the curator shared had to do with the Marilyn pieces. Marilyn Monroe was of course a beautiful actress that personified Hollywood glamour. The media made her into a larger than life icon and goddess and in many ways destroyed her. In Warhol’s work (his portrait of Marilyn) he pushes colors that takes the beautiful and makes it almost grotesque. If not grotesque, it is at the very least outside the lines of realism and convention. Thus, as in much of his work he challenges preconceived notions of art and pop culture.

So what does this have to do with you, your business, and your personal life? It offers you the opportunity to consider acting “as if” you were an artist at times within your life, especially those times when your life is feeling stale and your business is not booming as you’d like. Try this challenge on for size:

Choose a famous artist you like, or maybe just adopt a dreamy mindset of what you think an artist-type would do. Then, spend a few hours, a day, maybe even a whole week and see your life or business through her eyes. Move and feel like an artist might. Question convention and question the things you do out of habit because that’s the way you’ve always done them (or someone told you that you should do it that way). See how it feels and what ideas pop into your head. Journal a bit and see what connections and creative possibilities open up for you.

I have admired the quanitity and quality of posts at the Carnival of the Capitalists for a while now. I had a dose of insecurity about submitting my material there for a while because I originally made the erroneous assumption that posts needed to look like a course in Economics or Accounting 101. Funny how sometimes I truly don’t take my own advice! It was a “like DUH” moment when I connected with part of the core truth of the work I do — business is so much more than just the numbers and techniques we use to make sales, earn, and invest money. And, the mindset and habits for success transcend industry; they even transcend what we would label as business or career.

That’s enough of a peek into the inner workings of my mind….Onto the the topic at hand. You can read this week’s roundup in its entirety here.