Happiness and Other Survival Techniques

Before MIrc, ICQ Chat, MSN Messenger, Facebook, Skype and Twitter took over my life,

I was a nerdy kid who had love (and attention span) for books.

I used to love burying myself in fat, glossy books that had all the factual stuff-- the oldest rock in the world, the world's fastest man, the evolution of skirts from the Victorian era to 2000, absolutely anything and everything. 

Yes I was such a nerd...

Now I seem to have problems with my attention span. I barely have the patience to sit through a movie and I prefer to read short, summarised articles off the internet. Although I do have periods where I would go crazy ordering books off Amazon, it takes a while for me to actually get my brain to relax and adjust to the fact that reading is meant to be done in a calm and quiet state. 

I blame the lifestyle that I lived over the last 4 years. If it's not staying up stressing over uni work on the weekdays, it's buzzing through manic shifts at work on the weekends. Over the years I've gone accustomed to being so wound up over the issue of time and rush that my mind has balled up into a tensed knot. 

Anyway, craziness aside, while blog browsing (something I actually have the attention span for) I stumbled across United Colors of Benetton's Survival Guide website, which is the perfect fusion of a factual book and short summarised articles.

I am in love with this website! It's only a shame that I missed their London exhibition Transport, Shit, and Happiness, which was about surviving the fuel crisis and making good use of the human poo (yes, weird but somewhat fascinating me thinks. I'm such a weirdo)

I found this article (The Fly and the Water) on their website about introducing toilets and sanitation into rural communities particularly interesting. The approach is simple: dip a strand of hair in shit, put it in a glass of water and let the 'colour' spread, then offer it to anyone to drink, and people will understand the psychological aversion and develop an understanding on how open defecation is unhygienic. I feel sick just thinking about it but that only means it's an effective message in helping to cut down easily preventable diseases in parts of the world where basic living is still at a primitive stage.

Image from Survival Guide-Colors Magazine 

I really should perk up my life by going to all the crazy exhibitions in London while I'm still here. 

Thank you United Colors of Benetton, you reunited a childhood hobby with an antsy workaholic! :D