doing things outside of your usual is such a humbling experience...

Soulstice swim

If you do miss the Royal Ludroth though, you can find a Zamtrios later in the Loloska region. Therefore finding a den with them in or forcing the issue with a Paintball shouldn’t be too problematic. These, alongside their smaller Ludroth offspring are fairly common. The first one you can find will be the Royal Ludroth, which is found in the Alcala region. You’ll need to wait a little while until you find your first Monstie that has the Swim skill. When you exit your village for the first time and are greeted with the open sea you’ll be forgiven for thinking you will be able to swim right away. Navirou will remind you if you try to swim with the wrong Monstie and encourage you to change to the correct one. You can now freely swim about and explore. You don’t even need to press a button, just move into the water to jump in. Then all you need to do is make sure you are riding that monster as you approach deep water. So when you are looking through your Monstie collection you’ll want to make sure one of them has this skill. Like other special traversal methods in Monster Hunter Stories 2, like climbing vines or jumping, to swim, you need to be riding a monster that has the special skill required to execute it. How do I swim in Monster Hunter Stories 2? As such swimming is highly recommended in Monster Hunter Stories 2. Often this deeper water will house glowing orbs which are items you can pick up, or will separate the mainland from treasures you can’t otherwise reach. Whilst some of this may be shallow enough for you to go through unaided, most of it is much deeper and therefore blocked off without assistance. Which areas can you swim in?Īreas on the map that are coloured in light blue indicate water that can be navigated through. We’ll show you in this handy guide, exactly how you can swim in Monster Hunter Stories 2. It’s well worth swimming around to see what treasures await you in otherwise inaccessible areas. You’ll find for example that sometimes there is deep water blocking your path to treasure, items, and even dens in the overworld. Most of the time you can explore everywhere without assistance, however, there are some obstacles you can’t always overcome. The earlier you place an order, the earlier your parcel being received.Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin sees you wandering across wide-open spaces, as well as traipsing around monster dens and darker, narrow caverns. It's the greatest time to purchase gifts or decorations at unbeatable prices for your upcoming Christmas holiday. What you only need to do is browsing those coupons on HotDeals, choosing your favorite Soulstice Swim Promo Codes & Coupons, and redeeming them when you pay your bill. What's more, all coupons have been verified and are updated daily. And there is another good news that you don't need to find those deals for yourself as HotDeals has collected all Soulstice Swim Cyber Monday Promo Codes for you. As one of the stores joining in the event, Soulstice Swim provides their customers with a large number of fantastic Cyber Monday promotions. On that day, you can find a lot of products like flight tickets, event tickets, clothes keeping discounted to a large extent like Black Friday sales. The shopping event usually begins at 0:00 and ends at 24:00 on the first Monday after the Black Friday. Currently, it has become one of the busiest online shopping days together with Black Friday in many countries. Click the best coupons now, start your shopping now! Don't miss this Soulstice Swim money saving page, save up to 50% OFF on your favorite items with the time-limited Soulstice Swim Promo Codes, Coupons and deals for September 2022.Ĭyber Monday is another e-commerce celebration in which many amazing discounts are released by those online retailers. For the sun chasers and experience searchers around the world - see you out there.Daily updated Soulstice Swim Promo Codes & Coupons has been selected in. Soulstice Swim swimming outfits hold up to whatever experiences you can toss at them and look similarly as great straight out of the compostable bundling as they do following a half year of relentless surfing or sun pursuing - whatever you're into. In view of that, they set out to make the most ideal swimming outfits. They know just as you do how significant great style, a fantastic fit, and great quality texture are so as to feel great when you're going on your next precipice bounce experience in Bali or while tasting a spritz on the sea shore in Positano. Conceived on the late spring solstice of 2015, Soulstice Swim is a brand that thinks as much about maintainability and biologically neighborly style rehearses as they do about venturing to the far corners of the planet.

By Falling We Learn to Go Safely - 8

@kataang-week 2020 prompt #2 - Soft

This continues my Kataang Week 2019 fluffy slice-of-life experience.

Also on AO3

<<< First Chapter  << Chapter 7

Chapter Eight

Aang had barely stepped through the front door of the apartment when Katara thrust a bundle of soft fabric at him, pushing him toward the bathing room and bidding him to change. He knew she'd seen the growing weariness in his face over the last few days as the negotiations wore on. It seemed that helping non-benders and benders live together in a peaceful and equitable society was even harder than helping people of other cultures do the same. Instead of earth and fire nation citizens being at each others' throats, the people of both these nations were fully aligned by bending status. He'd met children with bending abilities who'd been disowned by their non-bending families. And neither side would yield even the tiniest concessions.

It was exhausting and completely stupid. But he couldn't tell any of them how idiotic they were being without looking like he was choosing sides.

In the bathing room, he stripped and rinsed off quickly. It was definitely easier to wash up fast when you were a bender, that much was certain. He held up the clothes Katara had given him, recognizing the fabric as something she'd been working on since they'd arrived. She'd neatly deflected his questions on the project, and here he was getting to be the recipient of her labors. He smiled, hugging the fabric to his chest for a moment. He loved that she made him things with her hands, not just her powers. There was no bending on earth that could duplicate the craft of carefully honed skill. Maybe that was an angle he could explore when he met with the townsfolk next.

All thoughts of returning to the negotiation slipped away as he pulled on the comfortable knee length pants. They were so soft, it almost felt decadent to have them brushing his skin. And while he would have once found the length odd, they were perfect for the season and climate. Any longer and they would have been too much, and he would have missed out on the deliciousness of this fabric. He pulled the shirt over his head, again delighting at the softness. It fit loosely, comfortably, like a gentle hug from a loved one.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, letting out all his frustrations as he exhaled. It was so like Katara to know exactly what he needed.

When he returned to the main room of their apartment, he found his girlfriend placing light snacks on the low table while adjusting cushions. Though she'd teased him about cross-training in pillow bending, she'd been quick to adopt it as well.

She looked up, probably more alerted by the sound of the door than his silent approach. A contented smile, one he loved to see, appeared on her face. "Oh good. It fits just as I'd hoped. How does it feel?"

"Spirits Katara, this is the most comfortable outfit I've ever worn. What's this fabric?" He shook his head. "I've never felt anything like it."

She nodded. "It's a local specialty," she explained, reaching out to run her hand down his chest. Though to anyone else it would have looked like she was testing the fit, but he knew she was doing it to soothe him further. "It's called viluna and it comes from the wool of the alpaca-pigs native to the area."

"How have I never heard of it?" he wanted to know. "Airbenders traveled everywhere when I was a kid. Is it one of the new inventions?" With the war being over, and people no longer focused on the development and production of weapons and machines of destruction, the world was seeing a burst of creative ingenuity.

"It's apparently been around for a long time, but the method of making it was very time consuming until some of the more recent looms became available." She gestured to the pillows, encouraging him to sit. "And people couldn't really focus on producing and distributing it during the war. The process of making it is a highly guarded non-bender trade secret, and you can only buy it in the non-bender market." She shrugged. "I thought it would be a nice way to help you relax while you're trying to help these people. There's so much hurt here." Her eyes were sad, and he knew she was thinking about the fractionalization her own tribe had gone through.

"There is," he agreed. "But I think I'm on the cusp of figuring out how to help them begin to move past it." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she settled beside him. "Thank you, Sweetie."

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Written as a 30 minute sprint with no revision or research (so please forgive errors and lack of town name).

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Check out Chapter 9 >>

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Discover How Positive Psychology Can Transform How You Teach

Do you see the best in your students now? Or will you be so focused on classroom management there is only time to get the job done each week?

Do you teach online and see a group of anonymous students you may never really get to know? Or do you take the time to learn what you can, through discussions and feedback, to help students with their developmental needs?

Teaching students is not always a matter of showing up for class, disseminating information and instructions, facilitating class discussions, and providing feedback. It is more about the instructional approach you take and its effectiveness when utilized. This is especially true for online instructors who teach in a technologically enabled environment. Your classroom presence as the assigned instructor, or lack thereof, determines how students respond to your involvement in class and whether or not they engage with you.

More importantly, your choice of an instructional strategy will influence how well your students make progress throughout the class. Their continued development depends upon you more than your instruction. There is an additional strategy you can use, one that can encourage progress, which requires only a change in your focus and choice of wording, and it is called positive psychology. This is centered on the enhanced well-being of your students and it helps to renew their self-motivation.

The Importance of an Online Presence

An online class may seem like a cold and uninviting environment; however, the involvement of an instructor can change all of that through visibility and engagement on a continual basis. It demonstrates to students the instructor is engaged and fully invested in their class. But there is more to being present than logging into the class and checking off required duties. There must be substantive engagement and the discussion board is one of the most crucial interactive elements of an online class. This is where the instructor can work with students and provide help when needed, guide them when they are off track, and prompt their knowledge retention, critical thinking skills, and intellectual involvement.

Working with Online Students

In a traditional classroom the instructor has control in how the class proceeds. They conduct a lecture and a lead the students according to a specified plan. With an online classroom the playing field, so to speak, is leveled. Students may cooperate and work with their instructor, or they may simply ignore them, complete the required work, and believe somehow they will pass the class. In this environment instructors must gain the cooperation of their students and nurture a productive relationship. Credibility and trust are both built through one interaction at a time. It can be easy to engage some students, especially the overachievers, while others may prefer to remain hidden behind the anonymity. But if you set high expectations for students and they aren't responsive, it means they have shut you out.

Positive Psychology Basics

There are three phases commonly used to describe positive psychology and includes well-being, happiness, and optimism. Martin Seligman is generally credited with bringing positive psychology into practice and the purpose was to help individuals recover from depression through a positive perspective. As you learn more about this particular branch of psychology you will find that it is much more than positive thinking. It is also a strengths-based approach to human development. When positive psychology is utilized in treatment programs, not only is there a focus on strengths, there is also attention placed on positive emotions. The goal for this type of program is to create hope and restore a sense of well-being within the patient. While this is a simplistic overview, it shows there is another approach to bringing about change within adults.

Appreciative Inquiry and Distance Learning

Positive psychology aligns with appreciative inquiry, which is also strengths-based and the focus of my work as an online educator. I took appreciative inquiry and translated it for distance learning, as an instructional strategy, and called it appreciative andragogy. Andragogy is a theory that addresses how adults learn and is distinguished from the theory of pedagogy or the instruction of children. The basic premise of andragogy holds that adult learning occurs through a process of action and self-reflection.

Appreciative andragogy emphasizes the positive nature of adult learning and the enhanced view of self that will occur through supportive interactions with an instructor. Through the use of appreciative andragogy as an instructional method, the instructor may have a tool that can build nurturing relationships and increase the instructor's presence within an online classroom environment. With a positive approach to student development the student is likely to experience a greater sense of motivation, engagement in the classroom, and improved performance overall.

Deciding to Implement Positive Psychology

As an educator you will develop a routine for how you manage a class and the many responsibilities that come along with it. For example, you develop a standard approach to how you interact with and communicate with your students and over time you may not question or examine it. As a faculty trainer, I have seen patterns of facilitation and found many instructors who put time and thought into their instruction. It is evident because their communication is done with purpose and their feedback is focused on a balance between guiding and correcting students. That approach to instruction is the easiest for adding in elements of positive psychology. It would be a matter of building from students' strengths and coaching them, encouraging them, and offering resources for their developmental needs. The purpose of taking this approach is to help students create positive emotions so that they are encouraged to continue making progress.

The other pattern that I have seen as a faculty trainer is that of facilitation on the fly, or being reactive instead of proactive, and trying to keep up with the work while often missing some of the important instructional requirements. The feedback returned to students is generally quick and to the point, and there is minimal substance provided. For this type of instructor, they will find implementing positive psychology can be overwhelming and any attempt to use it will seem disingenuous to students. This instructor will need their own professional development before utilizing any new instructional method of this nature.

Positive Psychology Strategies for Instruction

I recommend a student-centered approach to teaching, which will allow you to focus on the best of your students. When students are the center of the learning process, they are transformed and the class is transformed into an engaging and dynamic environment. The following is a list of my strategies and what I recommend when I train faculty.

#1. I will work to prompt student engagement. This applies to their participation in discussions and involvement in the class. I want students to know they are encouraged to try and supported in class for their efforts.

During class discussions, I will try to respond to every student at least once and when I do, I will ask direct follow-up questions which help to promote higher order or critical thinking skills. If I discover students are not involved in discussions, or there are some who are absent from class, I will reach out and check in with them.

#2. I will encourage the effort made by students. Students need to know that even when they believe their effort has fallen short, you still recognize the attempt made.

When I provide feedback for assignments and learning activities, I will use the sandwich method and begin the feedback with something positive. Then I'll address a developmental need and conclude with a positive statement. If I have a student who is struggling, I can always encourage them based upon the effort made as it will determine if they will continue to make an effort. If they are making an attempt and only receive negative feedback, they can easily become discouraged and give up.

#3. I will encourage reflection through self-assessment. Any form of reflection must be taught as a productive exercise, one in which the student is looking for possibilities and opportunities, not failures, if it is to be implemented successfully.

If I can teach students to be reflective it will help them learn to self-assess their progress in class, rather than believe they have no control over their outcomes. I can also suggest self-assessment techniques such as a one-minute paper which will help them review what they know about a subject. Through the use of reflection and self-assessment I can help students take ownership of their involvement in class, which aligns with the theory of adult learning.

#4. I will work to be an example for students. As an online instructor I need to establish a highly visible and interactive virtual presence, which is also referred to as a social presence according to the Community of Inquiry framework.

Being visibly present means I am actively engaged in the class and class discussions, and students develop a perception I care about the class, which translates into the level of attention they will likely receive from me. I have found students follow my lead and if I am active and responsive, there is a good possibility they will be too.

#5. I will leverage my subject matter expertise. I want to create an inclusive, informative, and safe environment for the exploration of course topics.

Providing engaging feedback and discussion posts requires the use of my own background and knowledge. As we know, students can benefit from the inclusion of examples from our experience and expertise. How I share this is through the class discussions, when I provide real world context, along with weekly feedback, as it can help guide students as they attempt to comprehend the course subjects.

#6. I will always try to consider the perspective of the students. I need to engage in my own self-reflection to make certain I understand the needs of my students.

As I reflect upon the progress of my students, I will ask myself: What are their developmental needs? Are the instructions provided clear and concise? Is the feedback a true reflection of their progress and does it help to guide their thinking about the topic they have written about or discussed? When I provide feedback, I will think of students individually and provide personalized guidance rather than canned general comments. My site Applied Positive Psychology

#7. I will try to lead the way to application of what was learned. With a student focus and concern for the student experience, I can also help students learn by making the course relevant to what they are interested in.

In other words, as self-directed adults who are taking courses for a specific purpose, they need something more than reading about subjects in a textbook; they need to know how to apply what was learned so they can use it, whether in their personal lives or careers. When students are provided with a context for what they are reading about they are more likely to retain that knowledge in the long term and they will develop a perception that they have actually learned something in their class.

Potential Challenges and Benefits

There are many benefits to adding a positive or strengths-based approach to your facilitation. For an instructor who already demonstrates care and concern, coupled with meaningful interactions, this will be another tool and a natural fit to their instructional approach. Students will likely respond in an enthusiastic manner because it will create a sense of hope as it is tied to their continued well-being. Of course, not all students will respond to this approach and some will keep their distance. With online learning you really do not have an opportunity to approach them in class and engage them in a conversation. You can certainly extend the courtesy of an outreach attempt but it is dependent upon their perception of what it means to them.

Overall, that is the point of this approach as students who have positive experiences in the class with their instructor will be encouraged to participate in the learning process. By taking a strengths-based approach you can teach students to develop persistence and self-confidence, as they have skills and abilities to draw upon no matter what learning activities they are required to complete. The use of a positive psychology frame of reference also creates a feeling of satisfaction for the instructor. I can state this from my own experience working with appreciative inquiry. I'm not a subject matter expert in either field but I know how it has helped the continual development of my work with online students and online instructor. You can also experience this through the use of a positive facilitation instructional practice. When you focus on the best of someone, it encourages hope, elicits positive feelings, and creates a sense of self-renewal and self-determination, which is vital to student and faculty success in the online classroom.

writtings Cae 1) It is widely understood that on March 8 we honor women's velour, as a way of expressing thanks to each and every woman in one's life.  Yet, is an International Women's Day (IWD) really needed? By the way, we do not ignore how long women have struggled for their freedoms, and how many occasions they have been abused, harassed or put down.  In reality, women often fall prey to several accidents and equality is far from being achieved. Despite of this, the date was established to put together women from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds around all borders to recognize and continue working for unity, fairness, prosperity and progress in their several decades’ struggle. There is definitely clear evidence today which suggests the incidence of domestic violence against women and children. Racial representation is thus not a gender concern but a social and economic necessity. We will always fight for it, not only on this day but on a regular basis. Women deserve to be noticed and encouraged from across the globe. And, no matter what gender you associate with, or what role you hold, we also ought to dedicate ourselves to fair justice. Unfortunately, there are many attitudes that hinder women's equality, people who claim that we as individuals can not make any change in today's culture and some may also suggest that there is no gender disparity all over.       2) Nowadays we are willing to see anything we want, thanks to the Net.  In addition, it has led us to come up with tv shows of truth or skills, which have definitely enhanced their success over the decades. Yet, because of the excitement it offers, is there something else to watch reality shows than television? TV shows draw all sorts of viewers and we can view them at what ever time of location we want, due to social media. What more, TV shows were created for the intention of attracting the audiences. Programs such as "The Ellen show" more widely known as "The Late Night Show," welcoming popular celebrities to chat about their recent news and ended up playing some type of game. And they're just directed at fun. However, there are many TV shows including "The Voice" or "The X Factor" where contestants have to face/reach certain prompts. In fact, jurors are often too picky, resulting in the participants reacting negatively. What most parents believe is that children who go there to join are revealed, and this may potentially be detrimental to them. As well as getting subjected to negative factors, not just social media. I honestly feel that, irrespective of their programming, tv shows will definitely have a detrimental effect, either on their audiences or on their participants (such as the ridicule and criticism hey often experienced). Additionally, others can also be detrimental to children and teenagers because they can mimic such behaviors or aggressive behavior. 3) Traffic jam is now one of the biggest urban issues owing to the congestion it creates, the disruptions during the peak hours, among others, the road rages. To address this problem, municipalities ought to come up with many methods of rising traffic and preventing the usage of private vehicles in the city center. But how do they possibly? Therefore, most citizens agree that fees will be levied on vehicle owners and businesses, whether commuting through peak hours or parking. The government should then enhance the standard of public transit and allow everyone to utilize it for the revenue collected. Although it is possible that this may definitely be done, tax levies may place undue strain on citizens who have no travel. While taxes do not impact people with a strong economy, it does not affect people with a poor income. On the other side, cities should also undertake an outreach program, raise consciousness about how often traffic delays impact the community and how effective public transit is. Along with this, the initiative may consist of social network advertising, newspapers or radio shows that are low-cost approaches relative to improvements in public transit upgrades. A campaign like this is low key successful, though, since it relies on people changing their behaviors. In my view, the most successful solution will be to introduce taxes in the town at those hours. So far as an urgent remedy is concerned, levying taxes will insure revenue to increase the Efficiency and health of public transit, with residents seeking to stop having their vehicles in the area. 4) Recently I watched “Die Hard,” which came out in July, 1988, is basically two one-hour TV shows, or two one-hour episodes of a police drama, all of which are realized with a specific directorial flair. The first hour is the story of John McClane shouting out a band of terrorists who take over Nakatomi Tower and keep the workers of the Nakatomi Corporation hostage of offices in its thirtieth floor. The police arrive in the second hour, accompanied by the F.B.I., and McClane tries to kill the terrorists with the help of the powers of order. McClane's solitary fight has a spare, elemental force that ludicrously disperses when the police arrive. I should have worked out the film for at most another fifteen or twenty minutes; instead, it drags on for another hour, to achieve full apocalyptic fire and emotional resolution.  To John and Holly, whose marriage had been disrupted by her acceptance of a great job in Los Angeles, the film provides emotional redemption. Thus John remained out of a sense of police duty in New York. This also provides another character's emotional resolution, Al Powell, an L.A. Police officer who had been McClane's key contact for most of the ordeal, via walkie-talkie, with the outside world, a cop in a desk job, on his own request, since his rookie year, when he shot a thirteen-year-old whose toy gun he mistook for a real one. On the other side, "Die Hard" strikingly rejects the cinematographic stereotype of aggressive black villains. The film features three big African-American characters, Al is a comic limo, Argyle's driver, and Theo, the tech whiz of the terrorist band. And the film reflects another ethnic anxiety. The film is based on the Nakatomi Company, led by a Japanese-American man called Joseph Takagi, an symbol of the concern that Japanese high-tech corporations were trying to control the American economy at that time.  I highly recommend this film and if you're into action movies, you'll like it. The main character faces very tough challenges throughout the entire film, and still finds a way to overcome them in a specific and violent way. Much like the special effects, there are plenty of plot twists and cliffhangers that will give you chills.

Chart Delineation Part 2- Moon by Sign

 The position of the Moon in your chart tells you about your emotional needs. It’s a more deeply buried part of you than your Sun, but it’s very important in looking at someone’s motivations. The Moon’s sign tells you what you need to feel nurtured and secure. It’s often referred to as the “Inner Child”. Interpretations below the cut.

Moon in Aries: These individuals are very individualistic and active. They feel most nurtured when their autonomy is respected and they can take charge of their own lives. There is a need to constantly keep moving, and they don’t handle boredom well. They can at times be aggressive and aren’t the best shoulder to cry on, but they are endlessly passionate and are good people to have around when the going gets tough as they have the willpower to plow through pretty much any obstacle.

Moon in Taurus: These individuals are gentle souls. It’s hard to get them riled up, and they’re very stable and level-headed. They feel most nurtured when they’re comfortable. They don’t like leaving their comfort zone, and are constantly seeking comfort and security. They love pleasant and beautiful things, including both “the finer things in life” and things that make them happy for more sentimental reasons. They’re good people to have around in times of trouble, because they’re stable and practical without being harsh or cold. However, it can be hard to get them moving in both a literal and metaphorical sense.

Moon in Gemini: This is another placement that’s constantly on the move. These individuals love learning, and bounce from one interest to another stuffing their brain with interesting tidbits of information. They don’t handle boredom well. There is a strong need to communicate, and these people feel most nurtured when they feel like they have a good social circle where they can communicate freely. These relationships don’t all need to be especially emotionally intimate; in fact, these individuals prefer to keep most of their interactions light-hearted. They can be moody, but often try to rationalize their feelings instead of dealing with them.

Moon in Cancer: The Moon rules Cancer, so this placement is where it expresses its energy most potently. These individuals are highly emotional. They feel everything very deeply, but often guard their heart as it is so easily wounded. These individuals feel most nurtured when they feel like they can express their emotions and the people listening will empathize. Cancer is often thought of as the Mother archetype, so these people have a strong need for nurturance as well as to nurture others. They are endlessly caring, but also can lash out when they are emotionally wounded.

Moon in Leo: These individuals have a strong desire to create, as well as to be recognized for their creations. There is a strong need for personal pride here. These individuals feel most nurtured when they feel that they have contributed something worthwhile to the world. They thrive on praise, but are easily offended by criticism. Self-expression is also a major theme here. They usually have a ton of solar energy about them, making them the kind of infectious personality that really lights up a room.

Moon in Virgo: These individuals are methodical and practical. They feel most nurtured when they can have everything in its proper place and everything planned out. They have a lot of anxiety, and quickly become stressed when they feel that their surroundings or the people around them are too chaotic. They do well at any task that requires them to perfectly dot every I and cross every T. They also tend to be very intellectual, but are more likely to gain in-depth knowledge on a narrower range of topics rather than take Gemini’s Renaissance Man approach. 

Moon in Libra: These individuals have a high need for social harmony. They feel most nurtured when everyone around them gets along and treats each other respectfully and fairly. They have a need for egalitarian relationships; they won’t put up with an overly domineering partner, but they don’t like to take charge either. Their fear of confrontation can lead to passive-aggressive behavior, or a pattern of letting too many things slide until they become frustrated enough for the other shoe to finally drop. They’re very kind and charming, but can sometimes be superficial as they want to please everybody.

Moon in Scorpio: These individuals have extremely turbulent emotions. They feel everything very intensely, but have a tendency to keep those feelings guarded. Like Cancer, they don’t instantly trust people enough to freely share such intense feelings. They feel most nurtured when they feel powerful, as they have a strong need for control. They are sensitive to betrayal and double-crossing, and these fears can cause paranoid thoughts and behaviors. But these individuals also never shy away from unpleasant emotions, so with people they trust they will be very honest about their deepest, darkest fears and encourage the other person to unload in the same way. 

Moon in Sagittarius: This is another very restless placement. These individuals never want to be tied down, and feel most nurtured when they are able to explore and expand. They crave new experiences and don’t handle boredom well. These are the people who want to see every country, try every food, climb every mountain. They are generally just as comfortable with foreign and exotic things as they are with familiar things. They never want to take life too seriously, and often try to bury unpleasant emotions through adventures and other distractions.

Moon in Capricorn: These individuals have a reputation for being cold and lacking emotional sensitivity. Their approach to emotional issues is to attack the direct material causes of the problem, so they can often neglect self-care. They feel most nurtured when they feel successful, but find success more intrinsically motivating than other placements that chase success in the name of fame or fortune. These people are very driven and motivated, and will plow through any obstacle on the way to their goals. However, they also have a tendency to work themselves to the bone as they try to bury their emotional issues in material success.

Moon in Aquarius: These individuals have a tendency to be emotionally detached. Where Gemini is the Renaissance Man, Aquarius is the Enlightenment philosopher. These people feel most nurtured when they feel free of any restrictive status quo. There is a desire to change the world and an inherent rebelliousness here. They are easily bored, not because they have the same need to keep moving as other signs, but because they’re averse to anything too traditional or orthodox.  They’re also the type to try to rationalize their emotions instead of processing them properly.

Moon in Pisces: This is another highly emotional placement. These individuals are very sensitive and intuitive, and they have a tendency to take the whole world’s pain on their own shoulders. They feel most nurtured when they can give themselves over to some higher calling. Pisces wants to save the world, but in a much more spiritual sense than Aquarius. Because they feel so deeply, they’re very prone to unhealthy coping mechanisms (the stereotype is that people with Pisces placements often turn to drugs, but there are many ways this can manifest).They’re also very prone to self-deception.

Obsidian’s Tyranny: First Impressions

So the other day I finished the first act of the Iso-RPG Tyranny. I should preface this post with an acknowledgement that I was too young for the Iso craze of the 90s to have nostalgia for me, and my opinion of Obsidian’s previous work is decidedly more mixed than a lot of other people (New Vegas hot takes may be in the future...). Having said that, Tyanny’s pedigree and subject matter made it of interest for me.

Tyranny is a game from the studio behind Fallout: New Vegas, Planescape: Torment* and other RPGs focused on questions of political and moral philosophy. While many other games allow the option to be a villain, Tyranny is focused on villainy, with an emphasis on political manipulation within the resident Evil Overlord’s armies as you go around crushing a rebellion that leads into a deeper mystery.

Right out of the gate, Tyranny’s character creation system makes a real and engrossing effort to invest you in the world by presenting options for your character’s behavior in the military campaign so far. On a lovely little map with moving pieces, you have to decide which locations you were responsible for, and which atrocities you committed/enabled. This mostly amounts to “which of the two Evil Armies do you want to get in good with,” but it really is an exceptional and quick way of giving you a very broad overview of the kinds of stakes and methods you’re likely to see. The fact that this gets referenced a bunch in dialogue by parties also involved makes it feel more real than, say, Mass Effect’s “select 1 of 3 backstories and have a 5 minute sidequest about it 20 hours later” system.

The two principle villains factions to juggle early on are...well...”simple” but with enough of a new spin on old ideas to be compelling and play off of one another in interesting ways. One is a rigid hereditary military order that values hierarchy and chain of command ruled by general who magically protects his soldiers, and the other is a chaotic whirl of bloody meritocratic barbarians ruled by a brain stealing spymaster with an underling who mind controls people. You get to spend a lot of time dealing with both of them and make various decisions to endear yourself to one or the other, or play them off of each other. Their underlying ideologies are each individually compelling, as are their aesthetics. I’ve currently sided with the team militarism for specific story reasons, but I want to state that I was EXTREMELY torn between them on both aesthetic and ideological grounds and don’t consider my spur of the moment decision to be anything definitive.

One of the more interesting things in the game is how power is manifested. The Evil Overlord has the ability to enact magically destructive laws which trigger catastrophic events when certain conditions are met, and end when other conditions are met. The one you’re dealing with at the beginning of the game says “Our armies must capture this territory by a certain date, or everyone in the region that territory is in will die.” It’s the player character’s job to a) enact this law, in view of all the major players who then know what the stakes are and are then motivated to set aside all other considerations and b) direct operations to make sure the task is done. This leads to a number of really interesting bits that I think sets this game out from others: 

1) An immensely powerful evil overlord whose very words shake and burn the world still needs human agents to see their will carried out. 

In this world, the Overlord is really only directly capable (so far) by changing broad scale incentives to encourage or discourage certain kinds of behavior. Otherwise, all matters are delegated to local powerful magic users and political players, who in turn must delegate further to local underlings. At ever level of this hierarchy, there are personal conflicts, attempts at advancement, and ideological disputes. This is a really compelling way to try and examine political power in a genre context, and I’m interested to see where it goes in the long haul. 

It’s one of those personal level conflicts that is dictating my loyalty at present, but I’m looking to jump ship to maintain my political flexibility at the first out I get.

2) Human agents, even motivated by abundantly imposing sticks, are STILL going to be divided and snipe at one another because they fundamentally view their approach as the correct one, not only the one that benefits themselves.

You walk into a tent with two demigods as a level 2 dickwad and proclaim the word of God to get them to work together. It barely works, and you spend the entire remainder of that first act trying to manage these two personalities who are both GOING TO DIE if they don’t accomplish their goals. Fundamentally, the armies don’t operate under the same material incentives, both mundane (Militarism dudes rely on limited access to highly coveted resources and therefore benefit by reducing access to resources for folks that aren’t them, Barbarian dudes rely on a vast pool of conscripts that can ascend through the ranks and therefor benefit from having a large population well equipped to draw upon) and magical (Military Leader has magic that binds only his soldiers but keeps them well, Barbarian Leader has magic that benefits from eating prisoner’s minds for information and perspective diversification). 

And there just seems to be no way to get these dudes to work together. It takes all your effort just to keep them from killing each other, even in the face of total annihilation. And it remains utterly believable, because each side believes that the other’s method is fundamentally incapable of achieving the results they need because of fundamental differences in how they govern their military campaigns. Militarists see townsfolk as mouths to feed and aides to traitors, Barbarians see them as bodies to throw at problems that might end up proving themselves worthy in the future. These aren’t really reconcilable approaches, and competition for resources and territory means that you’re constantly being made to pick between them with no option for compromise.

All in all, I’m impressed so far. So long as the mystery leads to interesting stuff, the party ends up having interesting stuff going on, and things don’t go in a “turn against the empire and become goody two shoes” direction, I think I’ll be pleased.

---

*The rightful succession to the Torment legacy is winding, but Obsidian markets themselves as the rightful successors and people more versed than I in the subject tend to agree with them.

Changing Habits? You Need to Shrink the Change

Whatever your objective, kudos for planning to improve your health and well-being. But do you know how to set yourself up for success? When it comes to making changes, should you think big or start small?

The answer may surprise you in our aim-high culture, yet decades of research have made it clear: you’re more likely to achieve your goals when they’re small and attainable. It’s humble, incremental shifts that truly help you alter long-held habits. Read on to learn how to “shrink the change” you hope to make in the coming months.

Want to keep your New Year’s resolutions? Try shrinking the change! Find out how to shrink big changes into manageable steps and get a free activity handout to help. #healthylifestyle #changeagent #chriskresser

Forget Willpower—Here’s a Better Method for Changing Your Habits

If you believe that the key to changing an unhealthy habit is to grit your teeth and tap into an elusive thing called willpower, then you’re falling into an age-old trap—one that trips up even the most determined individuals.

When asked, many people regularly cite lack of self-control as the number-one reason they don’t follow through on lifestyle changes like eating right and exercising. (1) And yet the science shows that when it comes to changing your behavior, willpower isn’t as important as you might think—and it can even sabotage your efforts.

For example, past studies have found that people who say they have excellent self-discipline hardly use the skill: they simply don’t put themselves in positions in which they need to call on self-control in the first place. For example, they don’t white-knuckle their way into resisting candy bars or bags of chips. They just don’t keep this stuff around to tempt them. (2, 3)

Piggybacking on these findings, recent research adds that those who do actually exert willpower aren’t necessarily more likely to accomplish their goals compared to those who don’t use willpower. Once again, it’s people who experience fewer temptations overall (who strive not to be tempted, versus not to act on temptation) who are more successful. (4, 5, 6) And here’s another strike against willpower: in this particular study, participants who exercised more self-control reported feeling exhausted from doing so.

This latter finding hits on a growing body of research into “willpower depletion,” the idea that willpower is a limited resource, one that becomes weaker and less reliable the more you tap into it. Think of self-control like a cell phone battery that charges while you rest; it’s full when you wake up, but runs down over the day. Willpower appears to literally drain your brain, negatively impacting cognition and functioning and thus your chances of meeting your goals. (And unlike a battery, you can’t just “recharge” your willpower overnight.) (7)

Your Strategy Instead? Think Small—Really, Really Small

As I see it, then, the best way to address the challenge of any big behavior change is to shrink the change down into small goals. That way, when it comes time to take action, willpower doesn’t even enter the equation.

How small am I talking? Ridiculously small. You want your goal to be entirely doable.

Take this example. Say your overall aim is to reduce stress through a meditation practice. Instead of thinking, “Starting now I’m going to devote one hour a day to meditation practice,” start much (much) smaller. Your small steps for getting there might look something like this:

Find a space in my house conducive to meditation. (If needed, the next goal could be to spruce up or reorganize the space.)

Buy a meditation cushion.

Download a meditation app, such as Headspace.

Use the app one day this week to meditate for one minute at a time.

Use the app two days next week to meditate for two minutes each time.

Keep going until you’ve worked your way up to regular, longer meditation sessions. Eventually, you’ll no longer need any guided help, and you’ll have built a new habit.

Here are some other ideas.

Big change: Be less sedentary and more physically active. (Hint: “Go to the gym five days a week” is likely too big)

Small goals: 

Buy a pedometer or fitness tracker this week

Take 2,000 steps a day next week by taking the stairs, taking walking breaks at work, and parking farther away

Call a friend and schedule a 30-minute walk in the next three days

Take that 30-minute walk

Big change: Get more sleep. (Hint: “Get to bed an hour earlier every night” is perhaps too big)

Small goals:

Start turning off electronics and dimming the lights half an hour to an hour before bedtime

Go to bed five minutes earlier than normal this week

Go to bed 10 minutes earlier than normal next week

Big change: Eat better. (Hint: “Cut out all fried foods and sweets” may be too big for you)

Small goals: 

Drink black coffee one day this week

Swap one fast-food breakfast this week for a homemade omelet

Try one new vegetable in the next two days

Notice something about these examples? They’re distinct and measurable. (Note the specific amounts, distances, time frames, and so on.) That’s because this strategy for behavior-change success isn’t only about making small goals—it’s also about tracking those goals and celebrating every incremental win.

As humans, we tend to focus on what’s wrong rather than what’s right. Making your progress visible and recognizing your victories fuels hope that you will accomplish what you’ve set out to.

Try This: Shrink the Change for Your Next Big Goal

Before you read any further, I want you to try this out for yourself. Get out a pen and piece of paper and take a moment to practice shrinking the change while it’s fresh in your mind.

First, select one behavior change you’d like to make for yourself within the next 30 days. List the small, concrete, and doable steps you can take to achieve this change. Try to limit yourself to just a few steps; don’t get bogged down listing everything at once.

Finally, for the steps you’ve outlined, list how you will track and celebrate each goal you accomplish.

Ready to practice? Enter your email to join my newsletter and download your free handout to help you shrink the change!

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Why Shrinking the Change Produces Lasting Results

When you set small goals, track them, and honor your achievements, you build the momentum and confidence needed to fulfill your larger mission. And checking off accomplishments just feels good, doesn’t it? Ever wondered why?

When you deliver on a promise to yourself, your brain essentially rewards you by releasing the “feel good” neurotransmitter dopamine, which is responsible for pleasure, learning, and motivation. You experience greater concentration and the desire to re-experience the activity that triggered the dopamine release. (8, 9)

This is precisely why shrinking the change works: with each win, dopamine rewires your brain for continued success. Conversely, each time you fail, you deplete your brain of dopamine. Put another way, the brain learns from success, not failure.

Science bears this out. In an MIT study involving monkeys who were trained to view and then choose certain images from a computer screen and get a reward when they picked the “correct” answer, when the animals—whose brain activity was being monitored—were right, they received a positive brain signal that was the equivalent of a “great job!” high five, along with the reward.

Furthermore, the neural stimulation from choosing the correct image spurred the monkeys on, and with their focus sharpened, they were likely to get the next answer right. After an error, however, there was little change in their brain activity. The monkeys—like us—learned from their successes, and not their failures. (10)

The Big Picture: Better Habits Make for Better Health

The small goals that lead to a successful reversal of unwise habits have far from a modest impact on your health. In fact, behavior change may be the single-most important way you can prevent and reverse chronic disease.

As I’ve written before, we now know that our genes are not our destiny and that environment—including the lifestyle choices we make—is the primary driver of health and longevity. The five most important behaviors for preventing chronic illness are:

Not smoking

Exercising regularly

Drinking moderately, or not at all

Maintaining a healthy body weight

Getting enough sleep

Shockingly, according to the CDC, only 6.5 percent of Americans practice all five habits, which could explain the meteoric rise in chronic disease. (11)

A recent Harvard study looked at these habits’ impact on longevity (with healthy diet substituted for enough sleep). Researchers found that men who followed all five habits could add an average of 12 years to their life; for women who did the same, that number jumped to 14. Participants experienced a decrease in mortality from cancer and cardiovascular disease, in particular. (12)

Making It Stick: Get the Help of a Health Coach

Even when you set small, manageable goals, meeting them—and sticking with the resulting changes for the long haul—won’t always be easy. I encourage you to seek the support of a health coach as part of your Functional Medicine care team. A health coach will walk with you through the process of behavior change and encourage you every step of the way.

Health coaches are uniquely qualified for this supportive role. They are highly trained in human behavior, motivation, and health, and they embrace a variety of strategies—like shrinking the change—to help guide you while you’re changing your habits. They don’t follow the typical “expert” model that’s so common in healthcare. Instead, they partner with you to understand your current condition, flesh out your goals, create doable objectives, and hold you accountable.

And because of their approach, you get results. In one of many studies on the impressive success rates attributable to health coaching, coached obese individuals were more likely to have lost at least 5 percent of their body weight up to 24 months after completing a coaching program than those who did not have intervention. (13)

Working with a health coach can help you achieve lasting change here. (And if you’re interested in becoming a health coach yourself, check out my ADAPT Health Coach Training Program.)

The take-home message: Society may tell you to shoot for the stars, but it’s perfectly okay—and actually advisable when it comes to changing your habits—to aim for what’s within reach. Small goals will help you achieve seemingly small behavioral changes that add up to big benefits for your health.

Now, I’d like to hear what you think. What habits are you trying to change, and what small steps can you take to help you reach your goals? Comment below and share your story!

The post Changing Habits? You Need to Shrink the Change appeared first on Chris Kresser.

Source: http://chriskresser.com January 01, 2019 at 02:02PM

I'm in a neuroscience PhD program and I just decided I would join my second rotation lab and the PI is happy to (and has money!) have me. While she has some ideas on what directions she wants me to take, specific ideas are up to me, and I'm feeling pretty stressed out trying to come up with something that's a thesis-worthy idea. How do I deal???

Hi there! And congrats! It sounds like you’re in a fantastic lab. 

I know it sounds daunting to come up with a thesis project, and it kinda is… but lets see if we can make it a bit more manageable by breaking it all down! So I’m not 100% sure what you mean by “specific ideas”, so I’m going to answer this in a very broad “how do i come up with a good PhD dissertation project?” kind of way. 

A PhD thesis should be an independent project but still related to your lab’s current work. I would strongly advise to not stray too far away from the parent projects of your lab. Picture the lab’s current research as a tree. You want your thesis project to be a branch–have it take its own direction, but still be able to gather resources (ie. funding, equipment, lab member expertise, preliminary data) from the trunk. 

So your process of deciding on a project could go something like this*: 

*If your PI already has a general idea/project overview she would like you to focus on, go ahead and skip to step 4

Familiarize yourself with your lab’s specific field (by reading lots of papers), and your lab’s current projects (by reading the lab’s papers and grant applications, talking to the other members, etc). Find a few projects that have “future directions” or “future applications” that haven’t been explored yet in the field, but could have significance. 

Meet with PI to discuss these ideas and whether any are feasible dissertation projects.

Choose a potential project (or a few) together.

Make a list of all the preliminary data–from your lab and from the field in general–surrounding that potential project (I like to make almost a word-vomit word doc of “what we know” and “what we don’t know” to get me going). Oftentimes as you study the existing data, a “hmm i wonder if…” pops up, which can be used as the start of a project or any specifics. 

Meet with PI to go over these data (and any other ideas).

Come up with a research question and then testable hypothesis (testable meaning it’s something that can be explored using the scientific method within the resources and time available to you).

Meet with PI to go over the hypothesis and whether she thinks it’s feasible for a PhD project.

Come up with 2-4 specific aims (aka mini-hypotheses that further break down your main hypothesis. I would highly recommend looking at your PI’s existing grant applications and/or PhD proposals of current and past students to get a sense for how to structure these aims).

Meet with PI again to go over these aims.

Come up with experimental approaches to each aim, along with predicted results and what they could mean in regards to the main hypothesis. 

Meet with PI to discuss these.

Rinse and repeat steps 8 - 11 ad nauseum until they approve (in the meantime you could be working on other things, like learning techniques, maybe prepping for Aim 1 if it’s pre-approved, etc). 

Bonus: congrats! by creating specific aims, you’ve just started a grant proposal! perhaps you can submit it somewhere :O

As you can see, your PI should be involved in almost every step of the process. You truly want their guidance in all these early steps so you’re going in the right direction. There’s nothing worse for both parties involved for you to start on something in the lab that the PI doesn’t think is a good use of their money and your valuable time (and yes, your time is valuable!). It is also possible that at any point in this recipe you’ll have to start back at #1. I think I made 2 or 3 different PhD project proposals before my PI and I were happy with one (but on the bright side, she actually took one of the “tossed” ones and grew it into a full-fledged grant proposal for the whole lab, so yay!)

A more few things to keep in mind:

The research you do as a doctorate student is an avenue for you to learn the “Ph” part of your PhD: how to think outside the box and then apply it to your field. Your project is there for you to add tools to your toolbox. So if there’s a snazzy technique you’re itching to try that could work with your project, be sure to propose it. 

Coming up with a good solid project will take time. I think it took me almost half a year to get all the specifics down. There’s going to be a lot of reading, a lot of jotting down ideas and then crossing them off, and a lot of back-and-forth’s between you and your PI. And that’s all part of the process, and oh what an important process it is! So it’s ok to take your time. 

Your project may change as time goes on, and that’s ok. As it oftentimes happens in science, what we predict will happen doesn’t always occur (or it does, but there’s a variation). So it’s ok if say, you finish Aim 1, and your results are totally not expected and it ends up completely changing the trajectory of your project. That’s ok, because that’s science! 

Lastly, your PI probably has an entire project mapped out for you, but she wants to see if you have any ideas of your own because a) she wants to encourage your curiosity and passions, b) it’s good exercise and part of being a successful scientist, and c) new members of a research team sometimes have a different perspective on things and thus can come up with some really neat ideas! As my old PI used to say: “You hire a tech if you want stuff done; you hire a grad student if you want innovation.” 

I hope I answered your question! And if not, please let me know! I’m always happy to help to the best of my abilities. 

Best of luck, future Dr :)

How to Fit Two Weeks' Worth of Clothes in a Carry-On and Other Travel Tips

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How to Fit Two Weeks' Worth of Clothes in a Carry-On and Other Travel Tips

Jessica Nabongo was born and raised in Detroit after her parents immigrated from Uganda. Since then, she has lived everywhere, from Japan to rural Benin, charting her travels in her blog, Catch Me If You Can.

Nabongo turned her passion into a business when she started Jet Black, a boutique travel company that focuses on encouraging tourism to throughout the African diaspora—Africa, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. But she isn’t desk-bound, despite her clients’ demands; working remotely, so far she’s logged 75 countries and counting of the world’s 195.

Nabongo visits a leather tannery in Marrakech.

Photographer: Elton Anderson

Nabongo’s airline of choice? Delta. “I usually do 120,000 [miles] per year, but this year, as of last week, I’m already at 90,000, so I’m going to do closer to 250,000 [in 2017].”

Don’t trust the photos on a hotel’s website when you can do this instead.

I use the geotag feature on Instagram—it’s my new method of checking out hotels. You find a hotel that has four or five stars, and you’re looking at the pictures on the website thinking, This is amazing. But I want to see what [guests] are posting there. When I was looking for hotels in Zanzibar, for instance, many of [the geotagged photos] didn’t look like their pictures on their websites at all. People had geotagged them, and I could see it wasn’t a very nice beach.

Checking on the geotagged Instagram photos from the Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti in Tanzania will tell you what it really looks like.

Photographer: Andre Perry

You can always avoid checking your carry-on, even on a full flight.

On a recent trip I traveled between Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Djibouti, Qatar, and Bahrain with my handy-dandy Away bag. I love the way it rolls and charges my devices [with a built-in battery]. Depending on the region of the world you are in, [airlines] can be pretty strict about the weight of your carry-on bag, often asking to weigh it. Generally the maximum is 14 kilograms, or 30 pounds, which somehow for me is never enough. So when I approach the counter and they say I have to weigh my carry-on, and I know it’s too heavy, I say, “Actually, it’s camera equipment, so I can’t check it.” Airlines don’t want liability for electronic equipment. It works every time, even if they tell you to check it at the gate. And it is  true, as I have a camera and a lens in there. It’s just the  isn’t camera equipment.

How to fit two weeks’ worth of clothing in a carry-on.

The first thing I do before packing is write down a list of where I’m going, and I put in the climate as far out as I can tell [from weather reports]. I count up the number of days and count out my underwear to make sure I have enough. Then I lay out all my bottoms and my tops, then use Flight 001 spacepaks for them. They are absolutely the best thing on the market. I’ve tested them, trying to pack without them, and it doesn’t work. Using them, though, I can usually get two weeks’ worth of clothes to fit in a carry-on bag. I recommend the number 2, 3, and 4 models. And I use a long wallet from Flight 001’s T5 collection to keep my boarding passes and my passport together.

Nabongo says the best thing about Bali is that "every city is different. Ubud is all about relaxation and being one with nature. The energy is serene and calm, yet so very alive."

Photographer: Elton Anderson

A two-point plan for scoring the best flight deals every time.

Every morning I read flight deals like they’re my I check The Flight Deal, Secret Flying, and Airfare Spot. If there’s a place I haven’t been, I allow them to dictate where I travel next—like when I went to Bali, because I found a ticket for $450 from L.A. And Chase Sapphire Reserve is the best thing that’s ever happened to me; it blows the American Express Platinum card out of the water for anyone who calls himself a real traveler. It comes with a membership for Priority Pass, which is at over 1,000 lounges around the world. Sometimes, when I fly a small regional airline, it’s given me access to lounges in places like Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar. And the rewards system is insane. I have not paid for a plane ticket in four and a half months because of Chase. The annual fee is $450 per year, but you get a $300 travel credit every year, so if you charge a flight from New York to L.A? Boom! You get a $300 credit, so now the annual fee is really only $150.

"When in Kampala, be sure to stop at National Theatre in the city center," Nabongo says. "It's my favorite place in East Africa for shopping. Visit my aunt in stall 14!"

Photographer: Sarah Waiswa

Where to shop in Africa.

I am obsessed with the National Theatre in Uganda [which also features local artists’ work], because your money goes so much further with the exchange rate of the Ugandan shilling to the dollar. If you’re going to Kenya, I highly recommend stopping in to Kampala on the way and going there: The craftsmanship is amazing, on everything from bags to serving utensils. I love walking around a city [in America] with one of the bags, which are practical and fashionable.

Embrace the rain—for the right reasons.

I always recommend traveling at the end of the rainy season. I’ve done this in East Africa, the South Pacific, and Southeast Asia. I just Google “rainy season” plus whatever country to find out. Most recently, on that trip to Bali, I went toward the end of the rainy season. The lodging is cheaper—I’d estimate around 30 percent cheaper, on average—and I love taking pictures without other people in them! I got lucky, as I spent two and a half weeks in Bali, and it rained the day I arrived but never again. And I always travel with this footwear: little hunter green ankle booties from J.Crew, which are easier to walk in [than knee-high Wellington boots], take up less room in your case, and are really cute. And I have a pair of bright yellow rubber Chuck Taylors, which are waterproof.

Take that, St. Barts or Ibiza. The best island you’ve never heard of? It’s in Africa.

Nabongo says Lamu Island is one of Kenya's best-kept secrets. "There is a lot of local tourism to the island, but most outside visitors travel to Mombasa and Diani. The food in Lamu is incredible, the people are super nice, and the sunset dhow boat rides can't be beat."

Photographer: James Anthony

Lamu is a quaint, quiet island off the coast of Kenya, which all my Kenyan friends told me about. It’s a short flight from Malindi, where most tourists go, and like much of the East African coast, it’s largely Muslim. I went during Ramadan, so it was extra quiet, very calm and peaceful. We stayed at Forodhani House, which is really good for a family or a group of friends. But if you want more of a hotel, try Majlis. The architecture and culture of the island is a mash-up of Swahili and Arabic influences. Like Zanzibar, it’s a spice island, dating back to the old trade between the Arabian Peninsula and India. So the best part of a trip there is the food—the best samosas I’ve ever tasted, and I grew up in a home eating a ton of Indian food, with a Ugandan mother who makes samosas. I already told her, “Mommy, you’ve got to rethink your recipe.”

How to chop onions without crying, wherever you are in the world.

When I graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science, I spent an extended stay in Benin, working with a small Italian NGO. We were living about 250 kilometers from [the largest city] Cotonou, in one of the world’s poorest countries, so you can imagine what life was like. We lived with some nuns in a convent, because there was a cave nearby where people came for pilgrimage. The convent was the only place in that area with electricity and running water, but not hot water. One time, when I was cooking my own meal, I was struggling with chopping onions, and my eyes began to water. One sister, from Nigeria, handed me a matchstick and told me to put it between my teeth, flammable side out, and it would prevent my eyes from watering while cutting onions. To this day, I always put a match in my mouth when cutting onions, and it works like a charm.

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