What feeds us? Laugh our pants off.. (to avoid burnout)

In this fast-moving life full of stresses and burnout.. Pandemics, social distancing and isolation I think it's easy to feel a little frustrated.

As much as you try to have a PMA 24/7 let's just get real.. nobody can sustain a cheerful disposition every second of every day. We all have highs and lows right, thank God for both as both offer an opportunity for either enjoyment! or some growth. But yeah on the flip side I'm sure there are people out there who absolutely disagree with me.. this conversation really isn't for them types of people 🙃😜 moving on.. let me just say im wide open for friendly debate but absolutely won't entertain anyone looking to vent frustrations in my direction. Take that elsewhere aint nobody got time for that.

So if you're still with me, It just got me thinking.. As I'm scrolling Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn checking my emails, texts & Whapp messages (there are literally a million ways to keep in touch) with the endless ways reaching out to people all around us what actually, truly fulfills us?

What I'm seeing a lot of recently are targeted adds. On one hand It's actually nice.. im being shown new things, undeniably interesting for me! You too if you like jewellery and hair and beauty products, it's stuff i like but it's beginning to get so irritating.

Every which way we are all being targeted and sold to. Marketing.. knowing what makes us stop scrolling is money? Understanding the psychology of sales is money. A product needs to capture our interest pretty much immediately and long enough to watch a video or read an article to hook us.

And you know well, i digress completely. What i want to actually know is how to feed people. Genuinely. How to to leave people a little more full than empty. When I post my content it's not about sales. It would be nice to know that somebody took something positive away with them. One tiny thing.

I decided to Google "what gives emotional pleasure" my search results came up with a load of articles on over "emotional eating!." I thought okkkk i need to rephrase that obviously it's not "niche" enough. So I searched "What emotionally gives people pleasure" now before we get all x-rated on this, this is a family post so let's keep things clean.. 😜


Lindsay Gibson, Psy.D. says..

"Emotional pleasure restocks your inner shelves, so you'll be ready for the future. There's nothing frivolous about it: for a small investment, it brings huge psychological and physical benefits.

And..

"Pushing ourselves without regular infusions of pleasurable pastimes sets us up for emotional exhaustion. This is what the old expression, "A change is as good as a rest," means. Our brains require interludes of enjoyment, allowing us respites from the pressure of stress and preventing burn out."



Ahhhh yes.. Preventing burnout. If I need to be completely honest right now I think I've been extremely close to burnout so I can 100% empathise here which is why I guess this topic interests me.

If I felt close to burnout then the chances are then a lot of people around me have also felt this way or are even feeling this way right now. I can't be alone here. So how can I learn more about this.. How can I even help to alleviate potential burnout for not only myself but for others too? At the end of the day I am a Photographer I'm a Healthcare worker I'm a daughter a sister an auntie and a friend.. i provide photography services.. But I'm also inspired by art and inspirational quotes, motivational enriching, nourishing kind of things but I also need my healthy relationships.

So I'm sat here just thinking to myself, life is short. Life is fleeting. We never know how much time we've actually got in this world. So what I wanna do is to in some way add some type of genuine value to people's news feeds and lives.

Which leads me to what gives people pleasure? So let's start with makes people feel good..

A sip of coffee in the morning?

A hug off your child?

A movie?

Sports?

Travel?

Art?

Relationships?

Oh come on i can't forget our furry friends, your dog/your cat.. Ok goldfish.. your pet hamster whatever choice of companion.

What about a long hike amongst some amazing landscapes?

Comedy...

Thanks bro for sending me this awesome picture just now. Want some Popcorn? 🍿

Ahhh I think my friend we just need to kick back and relax. Smile more. Laughter has to be the best medicine! Laughter has been proven to decrease stress hormones it increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies! thus improving your resistance to different kinds of diseases. It triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural feel-good chemicals so really what more is there to say here?..

If suffering burnout, social isolation, stress and frustration and that Spa day, Cinema pass, trip to a City Art gallery, Museum or your favourite Gig is put on hold during COVID-19 pandemic then there is really one powerful infection-fighting thing you can reach for right now, this second! without spending a single penny!

We all just need to laugh.. Laugh with me now! Just for the sheer joy of it!.... Yes it may appear a little crazy.. people seeing you laughing wildly to yoself.. or heck! They might even join you. But you know I'm 100 percent sure I read somewhere once that Laughter is also very catching so I'd rather be spreading Laughter around than the corona virus, you know what I mean.

So let's release some endorphins, kick back and LOPO. Laughter is the best medicine. 😜🙃🤣😘🙂🙌👍

#LMPO