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Soul inspiring?
A video sent to me by my friend Guillaume who lives in Seattle Washington, USA. He is a soulful man from the region of Normandy in France. We met in Lyon.
The international vibrations and voices move me. The power of each voice singing one song in different cities. Is this what makes for an inspiring city?
The inspiring cities website suggests it it’s a matter of culture, but not just the arts.
Culture: everything that makes us human, everything that is passed from one generation to the other, everything that makes life in cities a positive experience.
I have three things that inspire me in Lyon France where I live and three that are not inspirational.
- The VeloVs inspire and the métro does not. There are not enough trains. I’m a human being not a sardine.
- Les Berges du Rhône green inspiration. (Check out Mayor Collomb’s blog) The increasing areas of obscene ugly graffiti and trash depressing.
- Play areas for children bring joyful inspiration. Not enough crèches and the economic disincentives to create them irrational. How can you have such a high demand for a service that goes unfulfilled because of the disincentives to run them as a business?
The inspiring cities’ website is based in Amsterdam. It’s no surprise. What do the Dutch know in Amsterdam? They suggest searching for the soul of a city to find its inspiration.
What is the soul of Lyon and the city where you live? Is it a positive experience? Are there incentives to be entrepreneurs no matter your nationality, gender or ethnicity? Can you move about and navigate the city safely with enough breathing space. Is there beauty or trash and tags?
Let’s be soul inspiring and always expat-friendly!
I’m thinking about my dog. Why? Having a dog brings an enduring friendship and an abiding contentment. This is worth more than the disgust of scooping his poop.
My faithful Minpin always looks forward to my turning the key and entering the house. He begins to sense my return before I reach the door. I hear his joy, his rapid breathing, his doggie conversation, and his tail that wags his entire little body.
He never stops his whole body and soul greeting until I sit down, give him a hug some touches and a kiss. He snuggles deeply into my arms and makes a sound of deep fulfillment.
I miss my dog. But thinking of him is easy in the present tense. I can feel his life in my mind. He lived a long life and I have not replaced him.
If you love pets and are now moving to another country your pet is a relocation essential, don’t leave it unless it is impossible. It’s like leaving your only child behind, could you do it? The unbridled love a pet gives can be the difference of settling in quickly or not. Why?
Moving ranks at the top of list with other life-changing events, death and divorce. Not pleasant company those two, death and divorce.
According to health experts, the body’s “pre-programmed” response to stress includes:
- increased blood pressure
- increased metabolism (e.g., faster heartbeat, faster respiration)
- decrease in protein synthesis, intestinal movement (digestion), immune and allergic response systems
- increased cholesterol and fatty acids in blood for energy production systems
- localized inflammation (redness, swelling, heat and pain)
- faster blood clotting
- increased production of blood sugar for energy
- increased stomach acids
Pets not only buffer the physiological impact of a stressful life event but also enhance you sense of well-being, dog owners in particular. Why?
Dog owners in comparison to owners of other pets spend more time with their pets and feel that their pets are more important to them. Dogs more than other pets provide their owners with companionship and an object of attachment.
Expats who have pets also have more opportunities to meet and interact with their neighbors. Pets give you social capital because they are associated with values of warmth and friendliness. This is another way pets exert their influence on cultural adjustment. They make you expat-friendly.
Sure do miss my dog. Thinking about getting one soon.
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