Scholars at Atlanta’s Georgia Tech University delved into a topic that few academic institutions have attempted: The origins of the term “going viral.” Their discovery, that going viral has been around for more than 120 years, came about as the result of access to databases covering more than 10 million newspaper pages. The first example? Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan’s 1896 Democratic National Convention speech….
Once upon a time, spring break made parents of college-age kids crazy because these school sabbaticals earned reputations for being endless parties inviting risky behaviors by unleashed collegiates. It’s not hard to understand why students wanted to break free after a semester of hard work in classrooms, labs, and during exam times. Over time, spring break grew to be such wild occasions, average travelers grew…
How important are arts and music festivals? Georgia Southern University Masters candidate Kimberly F. Rudolph wrote her honors thesis on the topic. Art festivals, she discovered, are more than excuses to shop. They’re unifying, too! According to Rudolph’s research, art and music festivals are community-building events that bring like-minded people together, so even if our politics and opinions are diverse, when we share entertainment experiences,…
Are you a planner or are you the first person in your crowd to grab opportunities to be spontaneous? This personality trait has nothing to do with being rash or taking risks. Spontaneous people are fun to be around because they tend to be happier, more creative, flexible, adventurous, and they seem to handle stress more efficiently as a result. If you’re a spontaneous person—or…
Ever wonder why news reports of immigration surges from Central America always exclude Belize? The U.S. Center for Immigration Studies recently called this English-speaking nation the land “that creates few problems for the U.S.,” and it also speaks to a population that has no desire to live anywhere else in the hemisphere. Further, while Belize and neighboring nations enjoy similar, if not identical climates, that…
Do you take the sun for granted? There’s a reason winter vacations in the sun are so popular. You have fun, relax and the gifts you give your body are priceless. As days grow short and winter looms on the horizon, do you work hard to ignore signs that your body wants to hibernate? Of course it does; you’re entering a season that leaves the…
Beaches are supposed to be tranquil stretches of sand and surf conducive to relaxation and tranquility, but in Belize, a good-natured “battle of the beaches” has been underway since the nation became the trendiest destination in Central America. The contenders for this ongoing debate are Ambergris Caye, the small island known for its party scene, Caye Caulker — idyllic despite offering visitors less beach to…
When vacation time rolls around, are you savvy enough to set a specific goal that you hope to accomplish during your time away from pressing concerns at work and home? It’s important to articulate what you hope to get out of your vacation, Inc. magazine contributor Glenn Leibowitz explains, because “Taking time off isn’t enough.” How to set a vacation goal? It’s not a complicated…
There are plenty of reasons to rely upon regular routines, including staying more efficient, cutting stress, and enhancing happiness. Further, routine keepers tend to avoid procrastinating since routines are known to buffer life’s endless demands and provide much-needed structure. But the downside of routines is that they don’t work for everyone, could trigger boredom and monotony, and can stop us from growing in new and…
According to the psychologist Todd Kashdan, early man pursued wonder and found it in every new discovery. As a result, our earliest ancestors loved nothing more than playing with bones, rocks, turtle shells, and other beachfront finds, and encountering magnificent mountains and caves often triggered pure joy. For ancient Mayas settling in the area now known as Belize, one of the most revered offshore sites…