‘Release Your Inner Tortoise’ is a quote that I heard today from the founder of the Slow Movement website (http://www.slowmovement.com/). This struck a strong chord as I sat watching the rain clouds gradually parting to let the sun squeeze ever so slowly through. My enthusiasm for the Release becoming the mainstay of my plan for the New Year waned a little as the idea drifted into the realms of was my Inner Sloth crying more loudly for release? However, by the time the Inner Sloth got its act together, the rain clouds had made a comeback. My expedition to check to see if the birdlife on the ponds are behaving in a manner that is seemly for a Sunday morning had to be delayed. Sloth is too slow. A Racing Tortoise is the way to go for the year ahead.
Some recent neurological research by Dr. Barrett and her colleagues at Mass. Gen. (http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.2724.html) ties the size of the amygdala to the size of a person’s social circle. A new question for next year is ‘will the size of my social circle increase?’ If it does, my amygdala might enlarge and will this be a good thing? A smaller amygdala is associated with a less worried or fearful nature, so a tortoise approach to the year is to be recommended. It will give time for my amygdala to adjust and thus regulate my optimum circle size.
Nice Jim. I wonder how the birds are doing on the log now.