April 22, 2019

Good morning BOSLadies and happy Monday!

We have a little over two weeks before our next meeting when we will be discussing Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West. In addition to enjoying one another’s company, we also get the pleasure of having a Skype session with the author! We do not have a venue yet for the May 7th meeting so if anyone has an idea for a space that is suitable for a virtual attendee, please let me know. Thank you in advance

If water in the west has really struck a chord with you, I recommend that you check out Cadillac Desert. It was published in 1993 and is filled with scarily accurate predictions about our current predicament – an example being critical shortages expected at Lake Mead by 2020. Cadillac Desert takes you back to the beginning of western expansion to explain the history and politics that led to the current water policy and culture chronicled in Downriver.

On a totally different note, this weekend I came across a study that I can’t get out of my head. In an interview with Todd Herman about his book The Alter Ego Effect, he described a study in which children were given an impossible puzzle to solve. On the second round of puzzle solving, they were given the chance to put on a costume like Batman or Dora the Explorer. When the children had a costume on, they spend much longer trying to solve the puzzles, saying things like “Batman wouldn’t give up”. The idea of The Alter Ego Effect is that you can learn to trigger specific traits of a hero or the person that you want to be – that is your alter ego. You’re stepping outside of yourself and freeing yourself from anything personal holding you back. Herman did a very open and vulnerable podcast episode with Rich Roll that I highly recommend.

As usual, if you have anything of interest that you would like to share with the rest of the BOSLadies, please send it on over! Have a wonderful week!

Thanks,

Amber Poirier