December 10, 2020
reader,
If you're new here, well howdy! Welcome to my weekly blog about Houston arts and culture, plus whatever else I wish to share from my brain. Scroll to the very bottom for more about it.
I'm having a blast doing two weekly Facebook Live chats on my Facebook page: MONDAY MEDITATION CHATS at 10am (the latest one is here) and WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE arts & culture chats at 9pm (the latest one is here). Please tune in every week!
A special note if you're a parent or caregiver: be sure to follow my GISH PICKS page and this blog for not only my KID PICKS but also my CAMP PICKS (holiday day camps). I'll be sending out my round-up of WINTER CAMPS this coming Friday, December 11 so keep an eye out for that email or head to my website for the links.
As you read, please note that all the words in purple are linked to websites.
WHAT'S ON MY MIND THIS WEEK? Those of you who know me in person, know that I am an energetic gal. However, I have lately noticed a loss of stamina (so much so that I wrote a Facebook post about it!). I am an extreme extrovert so one thing I realized is that I'm not getting my usual energy hit from being around or interacting with people in pre-pandemic ways. And it's the holiday season, a time for all of us to play together more than usual, SIGH.
However: that's ok, because I know this will end, my stamina will come back, and our lives will become a "new normal" kind of thing.
In the meantime, I have been researching ways to re-energize myself and came across a terrific article by well-known doctor Sanjay Gupta called "How Coronavirus Affects the Brain" in which he details what little is known about the effects of the virus on that most vital organ. He also included a very helpful sub-article, "How to Build a Resilient Brain," which has 5 steps to staying healthy right now, which I've listed below. You can click here for the full article with more details. Here's to better health for all of us!
❤️ STEP 1: Maintain social connection in a physically distanced world.
❤️ STEP 2: Eat for resiliency.
❤️ STEP 3: Move more -- exercise remains key to mental sharpness and a healthy immune system.
❤️ STEP 4: Boost immunity through sleep.
❤️ STEP 5: Ward off anxiety and fears by learning something new, to distract from the negative news.
Hanukkah starts today (Thursday, December 10), and there will be a virtual lighting of the Menorah at Houston City Hall this Sunday, December 13 at 5pm. Click here for all the details and the Zoom link.
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GET READY FOR THE HOLIDAYS! Next week will be my final blog for 2020 (whew, I need a break!) so I'll be bringing you a short-n-sweet round-up of live and virtual holiday events in Houston. I can't wait to share them with you!
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LET'S CONNECT! If you are wondering wassup with me, my offerings are below. If you'd like to keep up with all my doings, please click here to get a sorta monthly newsletter from me full of info about my events and more, including my IGNITE YOUR LIFE! art project. Be sure to follow my Facebook pages too -- Gish Picks Kids and Gish Picks Adults. I'm always throwing words and pictures around somewhere!
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⬆️CLICK ON IMAGE FOR MORE INFO⬆️
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The Museum is housed in the historic art deco terminal building that was once the Houston Municipal Airport -- it's a protected landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The space includes several galleries with exhibits containing aviation memorabilia, such as silver service items, models, documents, and photographs. Before you go, please check this page for COVID guidelines and more information about what to expect when you get there.
Tickets are a little higher than usual through January 3 to cover the costs of the special Christmas tree exhibition: they are $10/adults, $4/children (3 years old and up).
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And now -- the two virtual events I am PICK-ing this week. Please note that even my VIRTUAL PICKS are always Houston-based because I am very committed to Houston arts & culture.
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➡️ Virtual for KIDS: Emancipation Park Conservancy kicked off their inaugural "Holiday in the Tre" event last year (and I PICK-ed it!). Thankfully, they are doing it again as a virtual event this Saturday, December 12 at 2pm; all the details are here. The event was created to celebrate the holidays while also encouraging community collaborations, economic empowerment, and awareness. This year's online party features a "Frozen Sing-Along" and a performance by Houston-based KoumanKe’le’ African Dance & Drum Ensemble.
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➡️ Virtual for ADULTS: Mildred’s Umbrella Theater Company continues their digital 2020-2021 season with the third installment of their reading series, FEMFEST HOUSTON, a series that focuses on new plays by women of various demographics. This round will be BLACK WOMEN’S VOICES, and will feature two full plays and four short plays by African American women. Curated by Dabrina Sandifer, and in collaboration with Esurient Arts, FEMFEST HOUSTON: BLACK WOMEN’S VOICES will be filmed on an outdoor stage with a small, invited audience, and then streamed for flexible viewing through December 20.
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HIRE ME! If you want help getting centered -- or for focusing your life -- here's how I can help (I'm available for groups too):
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One-on-one or small group labyrinth walks or nature mandala-making sessions (or both!), all done with masks and physical distancing. The fee varies based on what we are doing.
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Stay tuned for virtual labyrinth walks I'll be doing for the Spectrum Center on first Saturdays starting Saturday, February 6. You'll get all the details in this blog, or via my monthly newsletter (subscribe to that here).
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Virtual Life Path Sessions; see more about those here. It's $50 for 45 minutes during COVID.
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Virtual meditation lessons for up to 30 minutes. I've been doing weekly Monday Meditation Chats and was interviewed on Great Day Houston about fun ways to make sounds for meditation (see that here). The fee varies based on what we are doing, and all ages are welcome.
To book me for anything, please call me at 713.492.1173 or email me. I'd love to help you find PEACE in this crazy time.
In non-pandemic times, and since I started publishing my blog in 2004, it has been a space to promote my curated list of unique live Houston area cultural events (PICKS) on the weekend for adults and kids. Because of COVID-19, those haven't happened since mid-March so I originally re-worked the format to focus on 5 Houston-based arts & culture organizations in my (Almost) Daily Dose of ARTS PICKS blog each of the NINE weeks of quarantine. You can see each edition - and read about 45 arts groups! - here.
And now I'm bringing you an ⭐️ARTS PICKS Spotlight⭐️ each week -- featuring an arts & culture space that is open -- and you'll get info about all of their activities and sometimes a video to bring them to life. Alongside that, I'll also be PICK-ing one local virtual event each for ADULTS and KIDS.
I'll keep doing all of that until public events start happening again on a larger scale and I can start curating live event PICKS again.
In the meantime: please enjoy my weekly Spotlights and VIRTUAL PICKS, and please stay healthy!
Sincerely,
Sarah Gish
713.492.1173
P.S. If you want to IGNITE YOUR LIFE now or anytime, check out my list of "12 Ways to Ignite Your Life Daily" -- and watch the 12 videos I made about each Way here. I'm very proud of that list and my work and I hope it will help you live a fully creative life. Meditation, taking care of yourself, enjoying life, and laughing -- plus more! -- is what will get us through this global pandemic.
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