The You Need Project

Michael Jackson communicated it best when he sang:”I’m looking at the man in the mirror,I’m asking him to make a change” 

How often do you look in the mirror?

In other words: How often do you examine yourself? your thoughts, your actions?

If your reading this with the o_O face than, YOU NEED REFLECTION!

Self- reflection allows us to take a moment to evaluate the things that we say ,do, and think. In Reflection We can ask ourselves questions like:” why did i do that?” or “why didn’t I do that?”, who do I truly want to be? where do I really want to go? Am I happy? etc…

Reflection takes the attention off of everyone and everything else and brings the attention to the one thing you can control…YOURSELF.

Reflection is  a beneficial skill that is becoming increasingly more difficult to do in today’s fast-paced society. Many of us feel like we don’t have enough hours in the day as it is but reflection can happen in a subway car, or at home when your alone.

 Making time for reflection can help to reduce stress by taking the time out to process the things that we go through in life. This can be done in silence,aloud, in prayer , in writing, or through artwork .

Reflection is a process that is sure to be revealing. So go on and discover what is within you and remember that a mirror can only show you what you put in front of it.

-Contributed By Lonnie Woods III

Okay, maybe you don’t actually need naps. I do, but not everyone does.

But! If you do need a nap, here is an interesting way to try napping. I haven’t yet tried it myself, so if you do definitely share and let everyone know if it works.

How to take a Caffeine Nap

Step 1: Drink some caffeine. 

Step 2: Set an alarm for 20-25 minutes from now.

Step 3: Sleep.

Here’s what should happen: caffeine takes about 15-20 minutes to start
taking effect, so the goal is to have it wake you up before the alarm goes
off. You’ll be waking up in stage two (out of four) in the sleep cycle,
when you’re not in a really deep sleep yet. That, combined with the
caffeine, should keep you from feeling groggy.

Researchers at a British sleep center found that out of all the things you
can do when tired and driving, a caffeine nap was the most effective in
waking you up. Keep that in mind on your next road trip when your eyelids
start to droop.

Here are some links on relaxation and breathing exercises. They give great tips and methods to be calm, to take a break and they will probably be super useful around midterms.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/relaxation-technique/SR00007
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00521/three-breathing-exercises.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meditation/MM00623
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/201110/taking-break

Here we go! A new year, a new semester.

For some of you it’s the first spring semester in college, for others, it’s the last. In everyone’s case though, we need to remember our basic needs. This is a good chance to reflect on the past semester. What went well and what went not so well. If we really managed our time well, if we got enough sleep, and paid attention to our food necessities.

There’s a good chance we weren’t perfect.

I, for one, could have managed my time a bit better. I ended up pulling one too many all nighters, which is just plain unfortunate.

But now! Now is the time to plan ahead for this. Who knows what strange occurrences this semester will bring and before it does we can at least make sure our lives are in order, and our needs are met.

Get a planner. Put down your classes. Mark down events, birthdays, parties. Schedule yourself time to do work, time to sleep, when you’re going to eat (Especially for those who’ve scheduled three classes back to back. I’ll never understand you, but commend your perseverance). And we can even schedule in break time. My favorite part of doing all this is you end up seeing how much free time you really have and how you can use that.

Maybe instead of just eating ramen in our rooms, we can treat ourselves to one the delicious restaurants in this city. Instead of just sleeping, maybe we can take a warm bath, truly relax and create a ritual of sleep.

All of this to say, you need to plan ahead. Through this we can have a successful and enjoyable Spring Semester.

You need to be prepared.

This article has been floating around facebook and is definitely worth a read. It features our very own Director of Health and Counseling Martha Cedarholm.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/arts/art-students-mental-health-a-complicated-picture/27923

This article sheds some light on the art and design student, how our academic process is different than a liberal arts education, and reminds us that we need to pay extra attention to our mental health to survive an intense education.

Air.

 Air, air, air.

 Breathing for a human is subconscious. Interestingly, for dolphins, breathing is a conscious effort. But for us, it is easy to forget about.

 Do not assume I am attempting to tell you to inhale and exhale. I know that you are going to breathe without effort. Whether you’re breathing in the Brooklyn air or that of your cigarette smoke, you will breathe. But, when was the last time you stopped to simply breathe and do nothing else. We should probably all do this at least once a day. I’m not sure if it’s living in the moment or simply forgetting, for a moment, about all of your stress and just breathing.

 As artists and designers we are constantly told that we need to keep working. Keep creating. Never stopping to smell the roses. Why? Because that is how one succeeds in a creative field. While I do not dare argue that consistent productivity is not only useful, but essential. This does not mean we forget to take care of ourselves.

 It took me about three years to figure that out. Fifteen minutes to yourself. Or maybe you can take thirty minutes to watch your favorite TV show. Take that half an hour to meditate.

 Just as we need sleep to recharge, we need to take breaks to keep going. When we’re working, we should be working, and when we’re taking a moment to breathe, we should be breathing.

 Do not let yourself burnout.

 You need to breathe.

Here are some great links to site about healthy eating habits.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/default.htm

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/

http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/

And here's Myrtle Menus! A great place to find food.

http://myrtleavenue.org/shoppingGuide_myrtleMenus.cfm?cat=Restaurants%2C%20Cafes%20%26%20Bars

Oh, and if you don't like talking to people to get delivery, there's always GrubHub and Seamless

http://www.grubhub.com/

http://www.seamless.com/

NOM NOM NOM

Food.

Nom nom nom food. Eating can be such a pleasure. It can also be inconvenient. And sometimes, in the cafeteria, food that looks good, just isn’t. Mostly though, eating is a great chance to take break. A break from work, from studio, from thinking. We can gossip with friends while we eat. We can eat alone and ponder every texture and flavor. We can watch TV while we eat.

So many options.

The best part about this is that it’s such a great excuse to stop working on whatever project you’re working on and breathe. You need to eat, take the time to do so and you’ll have more energy to complete what you’re working on. Your brain will be more able to handle the process.

“What time is it?”

“6 PM.”

“Really?! Damn, I forgot to eat.”

Honestly I have been guilty of this on more than one occasion. I’m still not entirely sure how this happens. But here’s my theory. We get so wrapped up in getting everything done that our basic bodily needs just fly out our heads only to return when we’re so hungry our stomach starts eating itself. There’s definitely more than a few solutions to this. One that has worked for me is to carry a granola bar or a banana with me at all times. They’re portable and don’t take up much space. They keep themselves clean so you can just toss it in with your studio stuff. You can even eat them in class without it being awkward.

Now, I’m not going to tell you how much you should eat. I know very little about calories. (Except that a food calorie is equal to 1000 actual calories. Oh and a calorie is the measurement of how much energy is needed to increase the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.) I’m not even sure what my own calorie intake is supposed to be. I probably eat too much. Hopefully my metabolism keeps up for a bit longer.

What I will suggest is that you do eat. I have heard far too many stories of students passing out due to lack of food (and sleep) and a trip to the hospital sounds like it would take longer than taking the time to eat. Yes, food in Brooklyn is pretty expensive. While CulinArt doesn’t really help that, Associated does. Sometimes Pioneer is even cheaper. I know quite a lot of people don’t have kitchens in the residence halls, but you do have a meal plan, and a microwave. I have heard almost every complaint about CulinArt in existence but every time I visit a different school and try their cafeteria food, I am thankful for CulinArt. They certainly do try. Over the past four years I’ve been here alone, I’ve seen vegetarian options increase, coffee options explode (we have Frappucinos now?!), and quick premade sandwich options seem to grow and change every day.

No one is less happy then an underfed, tortured art school student. Make yourself happy. Make your body happy, give it what it needs, what you need.

You need food.

Here’s some great resources on sleep.

Use them, give them to your friends. It’s the weekend. Get some sleep.

http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_tips.htm

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/

http://www.sleep.com/
http://www.umm.edu/sleep/relax_tech.htm

There’s nothing better than lying down in bed and drifting, slowly, to sleep. This is especially true after a long day of classes, work, or actually pretty much anytime. At least this is how I feel.

I love sleep. Sleep is a time to recharge. That was literal and figurative.  Your body really does need its sleep. Without it learning is near impossible. Sleeping gives your brain a chance to process the information it received. And who doesn’t feel great after they had a nice, uninterrupted rest.

Being an architecture major I was led to believe my freshmen year would be unbearable. If I slept on a regular basis, I was doing something wrong. Around the third or fourth week of classes I brought my sleeping bag to studio. I would stay up Wednesdays before Design, not sleeping so I could do as much as I could before my professor came in for our 2pm class. After class at 6pm I would begin my drawing for Representation, stay up till around 4am and crawl into my sleeping bag on the floor of the fifth floor of Higgins when I had had enough and needed to pass out. Regularly I would not sleep on Sunday nights and Tuesday nights.

Then came second semester. I had an on campus job. I was taking Connections. I was tired of being tired. I was tired of getting sick because I had not slept enough. I was tired of not taking care of myself.

We need to take care of ourselves.

Too many people accidentally cut themselves after midnight. Too many people are so tired that they end up in the hospital because they sewed their finger or cut into it with an X-Acto knife. And quite honestly, once you are tired enough, the quality of your work goes down. Your exhaustion taxes your imagination and functionality. Coffee can only do so much.

One day, I realized that I wasted too much time. Time I could be spending working was time I was spending talking. Time I could be doing a drawing was time I was on facebook. And believe you me, I am on facebook just as much as I used to be, but at different times.

Studio was stealing my soul.

It doesn’t have to. That is what I need you to know. Studio is important. Studio gives us an opportunity to work outside of our rooms with the benefit of others opinions. Studio can push you, inspire you and become a part of you. Do not let studio steal your sleep.

Yes, sleep can seem inconvenient when you’re in the middle of a project. Sleep can seem like it is easily put off till the weekend. Sleep can seem so easy to skip. Sleep keeps you young. Sleep keeps you going. Sleep is there to rejuvenate your mind and energy on the most basic of levels.

Sleep is inspiring.

If you get enough sleep and you sleep on a regular schedule, you may in fact dream.

“To sleep, perchance to dream.” – Hamlet

Ignore the whiny and unfortunate true meaning of that quote. Know “what dreams may come.” And when they do, the inspiration is invaluable. The amount of projects that have been influenced by my dreams is innumerable. That’s probably not true. I’m just too lazy to count. In any case, dreams are not all for naught. Use them. Use this time. Get sleep.

We are artists.

We are designers.

We are true people who need their rest because no one knows how mentally taxing it is to be an artist/designer except for an artist/designer.

You need sleep.