Things Unusual. And Marshall McLuhan

It was Superbowl Sunday the other day. Preceded by a media circus filled with both the usual and the unusual. Of course, in Superbowl week, the unusual has become usual. Anyway, the other night, I was channel surfing and spotted a showdown of Superbowl ads. I tuned in and quickly found myself chuckling as they played Superbowl ad after Superbowl ad. Suddenly, I realized I had just inadvertently watched two full regular ads from our local channel. What tipped it off was that it just wasn't entertaining. And I had seen it before about 10 times.

How ironic is this? I was - deliberately - watching a bunch of ads. No irritation, no discomfort, enjoying the show. It was all good until "the ads" came on. Wait - what? Ads during ads. When are you supposed to go to the bathroom? Do you have to wait until "the show" is over? Talk about a paradigm shift. The advertisement is the show... which brings to mind Marshall McLuhan's "The medium is the message."

If you need some high-caliber thought bites, Look up Marshall McLuhan quotations. The one which captivated me recently was:

Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century

Okay, so maybe that is what happened with the show I was watching. I was consuming media and, quite literally, appreciating the artfulness of the commercials. Until the commercials began.

So here's the question: What does this ad stuff have to do with kettlebells, fitness challenges, or Parkinson's Disease?

My answer: Not much, other than the fact that you can appreciate commercials (well, good ones) if you want to; you can fit kettlebells or other wellness activities into your live if you want to; and, well, things like Parkinson's Disease happen on their own terms, whether or not you want them to.

So unusual things can provoke you to think about familiar things in new ways. When it comes to improving our personal wellness, perhaps the important factor is those small, incremental changes we fight ourselves to make. It's only after time (usually a lot of it) that they add up into significant change.

If you're not sure you buy this, how many 80 year-olds do you know - with or without Parkinson's Disease - who have walked over 400km in the last two years?