March 17, 2021

by drplasticpicker

I love to live for the early mornings. It’s 6am and I have my cup of coffee in my Unicef mug that my co-troop leader of Girl Scouts gave me years ago. It’s an image of kids holding hands of multi-ethnic dress encircling the mug. It’s been 1.5 years of being Dr. Plastic Picker, and I asked Mr. Plastic Picker last night how old my eco-avatar was and he said definitely at least two. I looked back at my blog post and indeed this blog is only 1.5 years. This is evidence that this journey has slowed down time. It seems like I’ve been this identity for two years, but it has only been 1.5 years. Is it possible? It seems I have been Dr. Plastic Picker for glorious decades.

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March 16, 2021

by drplasticpicker

OMG my title is so witty this morning. I’m back at the kitchen table after having slept a blissful full night of sleep and realizing it was so deep and restorative. I did half of the YouTube video “Yoga for a Dull Momet” by Yoga by Adrienne, and ceremoniously threw up cell phone out of arms reach when I went to sleep. I was rewarded with a good night of sleep.

For me this journey as eco-avatar Dr. Plastic Picker has had unexpected benefits. One of the first things that miraculously happened is that my sleep improved. As a former research fellow at an NIH group studying sleep, I knew that sleep was important. I had read up on sleep. I had given advice on sleep. I had written about sleep. But I did not understand common sleep issues until I realized that I had them, and I never addressed them and they kept on getting worse. Getting our work iPhone and then becoming Assistant Boss and the barage of text and messages sent my sleep into dangerous dysfunctional category. But now my sleep is better after having picked up a lot of litter. I don’t think it was the litter picking that did it (although the exercise and having to concentrate on little bitty pieces of plastic helped), I think it was being outside under the sun and moon.

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