【推荐1】Music affects our emotions. We tend to listen to music that reflects our mood. When we’re happy we may listen to upbeat (愉快的) music; when we’re sad we may listen to slower and more moving songs; when we’re angry we may listen to darker music with heavy guitar, drums and songs that reflect our level of anger. We may not know why we prefer the artists we listen to, but we can learn a lot about ourselves through our musical tastes.

Consider John, a pleasant man in his mid-40s who describes his mid-20s as a time when he was figuring out his place in life. At the time, he considered himself to be cold, nervous, shy, well-mannered and sensitive. But the music he preferred to listen to was dark, heavy and aggressive. After some time in therapy (治疗), John realized he’d been repressing (抑制) anger and aggression due to years of childhood abuse, and music had become his voice. Now John has been able to unlock his previously hidden emotions and begin to work through the issues.

Cindy, a woman in her mid-30s, has struggled through years of depression. While depressed, she often listened to music that reflected sadness and emotional pain. However, Cindy also noted that she had a passion for upbeat music that made her want to dance and feel free from emotional struggle. But she rarely felt this energy and freedom without the music encouraging. It turned out that Cindy was an energetic and happy child. However, Cindy’s struggle with depression began after her mother’s death when she was 11 years old. With the help of therapy, Cindy is now in the process of breaking through the layer of depression that has covered her since her mother died.

In summary, while music can move us in an intense emotional moment, it also can be used to teach us about unconscious elements of our emotional structure. If we notice a pattern of emotional music that raises questions about our current feelings or about who we are, it could be an important opportunity for self-exploration.

【推荐2】We all are familiar with the term procrastination(拖延症).    1    Thus phenomenon is also called mood repair by some researchers in which we avoid the bad mood associated with our work by spending time on mood boosting activities. Here you’ll find four simple ways to help you quit procrastination habit to grow your career.

    2    

We all need to break down our projects and goals unto smaller, more manageable things. Concentrating on one thing at a time ran help you complete you task more quickly than you think.

Set a realistic deadline.

    3    Tasks are not likely to be concentrated in our minds without a clearly set deadline. The ambiguity(不明确) is also the biggest cause of procrastination.

Step away from a task for a while.

To maintain the level of efficiency, leave your desk to take a break or go outside for a walk.    4    Continuously thinking about your task can cause severe anxiety and make you feel overwhelmed. Taking a break will help you overcome your procrastination and work towards completing your task goals.

Perfectionism wastes time.

It is human nature that we always try to do our best, but in professional life, we all need to complete the task and move onto the next. As no finished product is perfect, we can only try to make it perfect. But if you keep trying for perfection, you will never finish your task. There is no perfect product, anywhere. You can just complete your task that is really good and accept that some faults are unavoidable.    5    

【推荐2】Feeling tired of your constant work? Here are some highly rated films you can enjoy to relax a while.

Never Give In

A look at the life and legend of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. Recovering from a life-threatening brain hemorrhage (脑出血), the greatest football manager becomes aware that his memory might desert him, so he begins to recall the most important stories of his life, both in and out of football, to his son Jason in Never Give In. The film, stories of growing-up and family, includes deeply moving insights from his wife and sons, as well as former players, along the way.

Oslo

Adapted from the Tony Award-winning play of the same name, the film is based on a true story of negotiations between implacable (难以和解的) enemies. It narrates the secret talks, unlikely friendships and quiet heroics of a small but committed group of Israelis, Palestinians and one Norwegian couple.

Blue Miracle

The original film is based on a true story. To save the orphanage, a guardian and his kids cooperate with a washed-up boat captain for a chance to win a profitable fishing competition heroically. The colour blue features significantly in every scene, such as on clothes, interior and exterior of buildings, boats, etc.

The Box

The Box is centered on the true story of a young singer Ji Hoon living inside a“box”and a producer who used to be a big shot in the music industry. The two will cross their paths and sunbathe on a road trip filled with music and jamming sessions (即兴演奏会), chasing dreams and figuring out life as it goes.

【推荐3】Madrid’s Incredible Museums

CaixaForum

CaixaForum is a museum and cultural center that occupies an old power plant. From the outside the building appears to be floating, and there’s a vertical (垂直的) garden with 15,000 plant species growing on the side of one wall. Inside are four floors of paintings, photos, andmultimedia exhibitions, as well as workshops and a theater-auditorium. Even if you don’t enterany exhibitions, it’s worth stopping by to admire the building’s striking outer and innerarchitecture.

Hours: 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM daily

Free admission: May 15, 18, and November 9

Museo Sorolla

This small art gallery is dedicated to the Impressionist painter Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923).The gallery is in his former home and studio, and they’ve preserved the original atmosphere wellso you get a feel for what it was like when he was living and working there.

Hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 AM to 8:00 PM

Sundays and holidays from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, closed Mondays

Free admission: Saturdays after 2:00 PM and Sundays

Museo del Romanticismo

This small museum focuses on the history and daily life of the Romantic period. The museum recreates the Romantic atmosphere in its room displays with furniture, carpets, jewelry, paintings, and other antiques of the time period.

Hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM

Sundays and holidays from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, closed Mondays

Free admission: Saturdays after 2:00 PM and Sundays

Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza

The Thyssen Museum began as the Thyssen family’s private collection of seven centuriesof European painting, regarded as one of the most important collections of the last century. In1992, it was converted into a public museum. It has a great variety of artists, styles, and time periods.

Hours:Mondays from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM,

Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Free admission:Mondays from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM

【推荐2】Create a Post-pandemic Life Full of Connection

This year, much of the advice dealt with how to strengthen social lives still in rebuilding mode after the pandemic. People are thinking about how to reconnect with loved ones and broaden shrunken social circles. They are also figuring out how to hold on to relationship lessons learned over the past few years: to slow down and pay attention to what really matters.     1    

Many of us are eager to continue to reconnect with people we’ve missed. But parties can be exhausting and impersonal, and restaurants are often loud, rushed and expensive.     2    You may set the scene with candles and music and throw open the door to friends with a smile. Your gatherings can be smaller and more intimate with some activities. You will get to feel like you’re all family for one night.

This one hits on one of my favorites — how no one picks up the phone anymore, either to make a call or answer one. You can make an effort to call family members, friends and cherished colleagues on their birthdays, anniversaries and other significant days.     3    

A lot of the focus on rebuilding our bonds these days is on the people we love.     4    Researchers have long believed that couples who try new things together — even small ones, such as a new restaurant or a walk in a new neighborhood — are happier. New experiences help prevent boredom.     5    When you’re constantly doing new things instead of a routine, you’re less likely to fall into your usual rut or check your phone. And when you look at the other person you see excitement.

Magic goes against the rules of nature and physics. During the 2009 CCTV Spring Festival gala, magician Liu Qian managed to drop a coin into a glass placed upside down and transformed a finger ring into an unbroken egg, under the close and watchful eyes of the studio audience, leaving tens of thousands of viewers puzzled by his showmanship.

The mind-blowing performance has set off an enthusiasm of magic all over the country. However, people seldom know that more than 3,600 years ago, the history of magic in China was already underway.

In China, magic goes back many years and has developed from superstitious wizardry into a technologically inspired, sophisticated art form.

Ancient Chinese magic made its appearance as early as 1,600 BC, and was closely associated with divination and wizardry, according to Biographies of Exemplary Women (Lie Nu Zhuan) by Liu Xiang, the well-known historian of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).

In 108 BC, Liu Che, emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, gathered more than a hundred acrobats and magicians in the imperial palace and hosted the biggest magic show in history. Zhang Heng’s Western Metropolis Rhapsody (Xi Jing Fu西京赋) records that Duke Huang of the Eastern Sea (Donghai Huanggong), a showman and magician, did knife-swallowing and fire-spitting shows at this gathering.

Magic continued to thrive in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and began to branch off into separate fields in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Some traditional Chinese tricks such as “Immortal Plants Bean” and “Ancient Color Trick” marked the start of international recognition for Chinese magic.

In the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), there were many cultural exchanges between China and the West. The first generation of modern Chinese magicians like Ching Ling Foo (Zhu Liankui), Han Pingchien and Mu Wenqing went abroad to perform and also learned to incorporate foreign stunts into traditional tricks.

The later generation of magic practitioners, headed by Zhang Huichong, furthered the hybrid form of magic acts by infusing traditional Chinese magic into Western-style illusion acts.

After China’s reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, magicians from abroad began visiting China more frequently. In 1980, Marc Wilson from the United States became the first magician to perform on the Chinese mainland since the founding of New China in 1949. In 2002, David Copperfield caused a stir with his performances of walking through the Great Wall.

And now, Liu Qian has created a hit with his remarkable close-up performances and exposed Chinese audiences to a new, refreshing and delightful art form.