{"id":51,"date":"2017-11-07T12:16:49","date_gmt":"2017-11-07T10:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/midgard.uwasa.fi\/fi\/midcom-permalink-1e7c3a4c4578210c3a411e786336fef30d9c95fc95f"},"modified":"2020-10-08T00:41:03","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T21:41:03","slug":"smile-and-your-heart-is-aching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/","title":{"rendered":"Smile and Your Heart Is Aching"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is the day. The day when something must be done. I know that. I have prepared for that. I\u2019m ready, I know I am. Just when I\u2019m starting it happens. Again!<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if there is a real word for it, but I have named it the Big Mind Explosion. If you have experienced it, you know what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s the moment when your mind is filled with everything you ever had to do, but you didn\u2019t, with everything there is to do (even the very minor things) and everything you ever wanted to do. Cleaning the kitchen. Not only doing the dishes but also a total organizing of the drawer you never even use. Calling your friend. Yes, you called her yesterday and the day before that, but there is this one thing you just remembered that happened in your childhood years ago, and you just need to get it out of your chest right now. It is obvious that if kept any longer, that dramatic memory might cause some serious mental issues. That\u2019s something to take very seriously.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the training program you have neglected for a few weeks. Ok, maybe a few moths would be a more accurate expression. But that program cannot be neglected anymore. But why settle for training of one day when clearly you can compensate for also all the exercises you missed. I\u2019m not even going to go to the wonderous world of Internet and the social media. Let\u2019s just say that it might be possible to spend some time in that realm also\u2026<\/p>\n

I know there\u2019s a word for that. I even know the word. Procrastination. Yes, the word is procrastination. I don\u2019t like that word. It has negative connotation. It\u2019s almost as if the word cries to me: \u201cLook at the mirror, go deep into yourself and stop coming up with excuses!\u201d Well, I don\u2019t like to be pushed. Neither do I like to be placed in front of a mirror. When you do so, there\u2019s just always something in your face, just next to your nose, or maybe in your hair. Sometimes even in both: in your face and in your hair! Very uncomfortable situations\u2026 Anyway, the word \u2018procrastination\u2019 causes me nightmares. And the nightmare is also in my list of \u201cwords to be avoided\u201d. In fact, it\u2019s just below the word procrastination. So, in order to avoid both the unpleasant word (procrastination) and its unpleasant consequences (nightmares), I will replace the word procrastination with something else, something little more positive. I will replace it with word smile<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I became aware of my exceptional smiling skills in high school. Not that I wasn\u2019t smiling before. In fact, I am sure my ability to smile, no matter what, is innate and something I have always done very naturally. But it was in high school when it first hit me. It was during the test week. I had one extremely important test coming and I needed to read a lot. And I did. I read Harry Potter. Two Harry Potters to be exact. I need to admit that realizing the smiling was not one of finest moments. It did not make me smile.<\/p>\n

Since that day, I have learned something about smiling and the mechanisms behind it. I know a little about intrinsic motivation and how it is challenged by have to\u2019s<\/em>: schedule, possible evaluation, deadline, etc. I\u2019m not going to bore you with details (I\u2019ll save the boring bites for later, since motivation is sort of one of the main topics in my dissertation) so let\u2019s just say, that it is somewhat depressing to realize that knowing about the smiling doesn\u2019t automatically lead to being able to get that stupid grin off your face.<\/p>\n

As a skilled smiler, I have come up with all kinds of ideas on how to get a serious expression. Many inoperative ideas and only one thing that has actually kind of worked: It doesn\u2019t stop me from smiling but it does make my life even just a little bit worse. I came up with the idea by accident. There was this thing, as always, that I needed to do. And as always, I smiled. My face was probably already cramping for all the big smiles. My friend was watching my twitching face, probably feeling sorry, and gave me a piece of advice: Make a \u201cto-do-list\u201d. As you know, it\u2019s a list with all the things there is to do. Very beneficial and makes things more efficient. At least so I was told. So, I gave it a try. And just like that, after just a few smiles, my list was done. I smiled, simply a happy smile this time, thinking all the smiling was wiped away with the list.<\/p>\n

I was wrong. I found the list very boring. It never had any surprises, expect the one time my daughter had drawn on it. I know all the listed things and the making of a list of them did not make me want to smile any less. In fact, I think I wanted to smile more than ever when I could, at a glance, see all the undesired things waiting for me, calling me by name. I panicked, grabbed the list and tore it apart. Very mature, I know. I screamed I would never ever make any \u201cto-do-lists\u201d again. Instead, I went even further and declared I would make my own list the \u201cnot-to-do-list\u201d. So that was exactly what I did. The List. Instead of listing all the things I needed to do, I listed all the things I didn\u2019t need to do, everything I maybe could do but just didn\u2019t feel like it and everything there was to do but that were not important. After finishing, I congratulated myself for being so clever and fooling the almighty \u201cto-do-list\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n

To my big amazement, my The List, the \u201cnot-to-do-list\u201d turned out to be valuable, besides my big protest against all evil and inequality of the world and flattering, to my ego. I realized it the next time I had a smiling day, a day when there was something big to be done. Normally, those days were all about smile after smile, but this time turned it out to be different. When my face was turning into a smile because of The Big Mind Explosion reminded me the car needed to be washed right now, another thing popped into my mind. My \u2018The List\u2019. Wasn\u2019t there something about cleaning and washing things inside and outside the house if it wasn\u2019t decided before? I stopped smiling until another good idea came into my mind, giving me a grin: Instead of doing what I was supposed to, I needed to do some Online shopping. Yes, the very important shoes needed to be bought. But no, wait, that was also in my \u201cnot-to-do-list\u201d, wasn\u2019t it? I needed to check it immediately (note: not after a smile) and yes, there it was: \u201cNo shopping (online included)\u201d, right after the \u201cDon\u2019t use the social media\u201d. Well, it was my list. The one that made me really proud. I obviously couldn\u2019t help but to follow my superior list. And just like that, my smiling was gone, for at least for that day, and I noticed carrying out chore after chore with a serious face. That day I learned something. I learned that instead of just concentrating on what to do, I also needed to clarify what not to do!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a smiler. Still. What can you do when you just have such a happy personality? However, I have learned, at some extent, to decide when to smile and for how long to smile. At least I have avoided all the bigger cramps after my discovery of \u201cNot-to-do-list\u201d. Now, when the day comes, the day when something needs to be done, I am ready. I am ready with not just one list, but with two: \u201cTo-do-list\u201d and \u201cNot-to-do-list\u201d. I guess it\u2019s not all about focusing on the result, but also controlling the competing voices. It\u2019s not that smiling is all bad. It\u2019s about being in control on when to smile and what to smile about. Keep smiling, but do it on your terms!<\/p>\n

Johanna Huhtam\u00e4ki<\/strong>
Doctoral student<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the day. The day when something must be done. I know that. I have prepared for that. I\u2019m ready, I know I am. Just when I\u2019m starting it happens. Again! I don\u2019t know if there is a real word for it, but I have named it the Big Mind Explosion. If you have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-en","category-yleinen"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSmile and Your Heart Is Aching - V\u00e4it\u00f6skuiskaaja<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fi_FI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smile and Your Heart Is Aching - V\u00e4it\u00f6skuiskaaja\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is the day. The day when something must be done. I know that. I have prepared for that. I\u2019m ready, I know I am. Just when I\u2019m starting it happens. Again! I don\u2019t know if there is a real word for it, but I have named it the Big Mind Explosion. If you have […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"V\u00e4it\u00f6skuiskaaja\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-07T10:16:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-07T21:41:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/midgard.uwasa.fi\/fi\/blogs\/project\/thesis\/whatsapp_image_2017-10-24_at_11-55-39.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Verkkotoimitus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Kirjoittanut\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Verkkotoimitus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Arvioitu lukuaika\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minuuttia\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/\",\"name\":\"Smile and Your Heart Is Aching - V\u00e4it\u00f6skuiskaaja\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/midgard.uwasa.fi\/fi\/blogs\/project\/thesis\/whatsapp_image_2017-10-24_at_11-55-39.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-07T10:16:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-07T21:41:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/#\/schema\/person\/319e1845d73682bca6fa1ab8c4abe593\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fi\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/midgard.uwasa.fi\/fi\/blogs\/project\/thesis\/whatsapp_image_2017-10-24_at_11-55-39.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/midgard.uwasa.fi\/fi\/blogs\/project\/thesis\/whatsapp_image_2017-10-24_at_11-55-39.jpeg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Smile and Your Heart Is Aching\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/\",\"name\":\"V\u00e4it\u00f6skuiskaaja\",\"description\":\"Vaasan yliopiston jatko-opiskelijoiden ja tutkijoiden yhteinen tutkimusblogi.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fi\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/#\/schema\/person\/319e1845d73682bca6fa1ab8c4abe593\",\"name\":\"Verkkotoimitus\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/098d26568df95bfc2c21200c7ef07951?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/098d26568df95bfc2c21200c7ef07951?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Verkkotoimitus\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/author\/rkalmi\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Smile and Your Heart Is Aching - V\u00e4it\u00f6skuiskaaja","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/","og_locale":"fi_FI","og_type":"article","og_title":"Smile and Your Heart Is Aching - V\u00e4it\u00f6skuiskaaja","og_description":"This is the day. The day when something must be done. I know that. I have prepared for that. I\u2019m ready, I know I am. Just when I\u2019m starting it happens. Again! I don\u2019t know if there is a real word for it, but I have named it the Big Mind Explosion. If you have […]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/","og_site_name":"V\u00e4it\u00f6skuiskaaja","article_published_time":"2017-11-07T10:16:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-07T21:41:03+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/midgard.uwasa.fi\/fi\/blogs\/project\/thesis\/whatsapp_image_2017-10-24_at_11-55-39.jpeg"}],"author":"Verkkotoimitus","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Kirjoittanut":"Verkkotoimitus","Arvioitu lukuaika":"7 minuuttia"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/","name":"Smile and Your Heart Is Aching - V\u00e4it\u00f6skuiskaaja","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/midgard.uwasa.fi\/fi\/blogs\/project\/thesis\/whatsapp_image_2017-10-24_at_11-55-39.jpeg","datePublished":"2017-11-07T10:16:49+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-07T21:41:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/#\/schema\/person\/319e1845d73682bca6fa1ab8c4abe593"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fi","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fi","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/midgard.uwasa.fi\/fi\/blogs\/project\/thesis\/whatsapp_image_2017-10-24_at_11-55-39.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/midgard.uwasa.fi\/fi\/blogs\/project\/thesis\/whatsapp_image_2017-10-24_at_11-55-39.jpeg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Smile and Your Heart Is Aching"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/","name":"V\u00e4it\u00f6skuiskaaja","description":"Vaasan yliopiston jatko-opiskelijoiden ja tutkijoiden yhteinen tutkimusblogi.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fi"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/#\/schema\/person\/319e1845d73682bca6fa1ab8c4abe593","name":"Verkkotoimitus","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fi","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/098d26568df95bfc2c21200c7ef07951?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/098d26568df95bfc2c21200c7ef07951?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Verkkotoimitus"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/author\/rkalmi\/"}]}},"post_meta":"<span class=\"author\"> <span class=\"vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/author\/rkalmi\/\">Verkkotoimitus<\/a><\/span><\/span><span class=\"posted-on\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/smile-and-your-heart-is-aching\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><time class=\"entry-date published updated\" datetime=\"2017-11-07T12:16:49+02:00\">07.11.2017<\/time><\/a><\/span>","post_categories":"<span class=\"entry-categories cat-links\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/category\/yleinen\/en\/\" rel=\"category tag\">In English<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/category\/yleinen\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Yleinen<\/a><\/span>","post_thumbnail":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions\/107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwasa.fi\/thesis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}