Positive & Happy EnergyFarah Ali Otaki, BS, MPH, CPH

October 2013

1

A pictorial response to the application question:Show us an activity you enjoy doing. Tell us how you think it contributes to your

personal and professional development.

Photo Credits: A flowery passage. FAO 2013

Music:La Galleguita

Alex Fox

Any ‘Liberating Activity’

• A range of activities that bring me joy and positive energy.

• These contribute to my maturation and development, and add value to my personal and professional life, making make me feel glad to be alive.

• The first examples that come to my mind…

2Photo Credits: A flowery passage. FAO 2013

Coffee

• Having a warm and relaxing cup of coffee.

• One filter coffee, with skimmed milk, please!

• I do not drink a lot of coffee, but my morning cup is the highlight of my day…

3

• Somehow it makes my days feel more spacious…

• It is the time when I focus on extensively listing all that I have to do during the day, highlighting the priority items.

• I sometimes use this time to come to terms with any ‘bottle necks’ that arose in the days that elapsed; either accepting them or coming-up with plans to circumvent them!

4

Although I might consider myself to be a ‘professional’ coffee drinker; I do not claim

any sort of professionalism as to the activities that are

coming next ;)

5

Bonding with family and friends

• I consider myself to be a ‘people’ person to the furthest extent.

• I enjoy meeting people, interacting with them, getting to know them better, and learning from their experiences and differing perspectives…

• I like to ‘bond’ with those who matter; I believe that moving away from superficial links, between loved ones, is what makes life worth living!

6Photo Credits: Jasmines. FAO 2013

• Alongside all my roles (as a daughter, sister, colleague, and so on), I always strive to create value in my relationships.

• I always work towards ‘becoming friends’ with everyone whose life crosses mine.

• I never spare an opportunity to assign a common goal with my friends in order to team-up with them and nourish some sort of ‘interdependence’.

7Photo Credits: Jasmines. FAO 2013

‘Walking’ in Nature

•It inspires me to live my life in a vibrant way!•It assists me in framing my problems; putting things into perspective, and separating the challenging components from all the emotions that come along!

8

Floral Photography• There is something in the beauty and delicacy of

flowers, that encourages me to be myself, and to respect and cherish humanity’s diversity…

• Documenting and revisiting those floral photographs allow me to continuously relive the feelings they solicit.

• I enjoy sharing those photos, as a form of expression, with people who I somehow associate those flowers with!

9

10Photo Credits: Purple hues in a sea of green. FAO 2013

Dancing

• When I am happy, when I am sad; whatever I am feeling, I choose to dance it through…

• It neutralizes my emotions and sets the stage for a focused approach to life!

11

12

To my mind, life is a dance; I dance

spontaneously through its ups and downs, with

all those whose lives cross mine…

13

Reading a ‘Self-Enriching’ book• I am passionate about reading!• It improves my communication skills, especially

my writing style• It widens my horizons, increases my imagination

and creativity, and assists me in noticing details in my life without overlooking the overall ‘picture’…

• Reading books helps me in better understanding myself, those around me, and the life I am living!

14

15

Yoga• It assists me in letting go of the

‘past’- not that I have a problem with mine ;) and focusing on the ‘now’!

• It helps me in being present, totally present, in all that I do!

• It helps me in recognizing that things do not happen ‘to me’- they just happen! In other words, to accept things, as they are.

16

Breathing Exercises

• Improve my appetite and enhance my sleeping patterns!

• Clarify my vision and bring peace to my mind• Raise my energy level, and make me feel more lively!

17

Drawing and painting

Solicit my creativity and encourage me to do things ‘my way’!

18

19

20

21

Spending time with youngsters

• Young children are happiness magnets!• It is absolutely beautiful to see the world

through a child’s eyes…• They remind me that all we need is love,

safety, and space to play to create a world where fun is but a smile away!

22

Writing my diary and working on my scrap book

• Documentation, in of itself, means a lot to me!

• It helps me in understanding and recalling the trajectory of events in my personal and professional life, and their associations…

• I enjoy documenting memories of milestones in my life!

23

Visualizations• Creating visual representations that

summarize the research projects, that I am involved in.

• Every now and then, I like to give myself the space and resources to summarize where my research projects stand:– It enables me to better understand the

intricacies of the projects, and to look at them from a holistic perspective.

– I utilize those summaries as a communication medium.

– It facilitates group work, and assists in attaining a homogenous level of understanding among my team members.

24

Cultural Expansion

• I try to attend as much as I can of cultural events, wherever I am!– Almost all the events, incorporate a certain aspect

of ‘Arts’ that introduces an element of creativity and flexibility to my life…

– These events introduce me to new communities of people.

– There is always a message or a piece of information that goes back home with me…

25

Helping Others

• Great opportunities to help others seldom come into my life; yet, small ones surround me every day. I work hard not to miss any of such opportunities...

• It makes me happy and gets me closer to people!

• I learn a lot in the process of helping others!

26

27

28

29

Thank you for your kind consideration!I look forward to hopefully meeting you in the

near future!

Photo Credits: At the edge of green and blue. FAO 2013