Blue Zones Project Blog

I moved to Oklahoma from West Texas to manage a retail property without knowing a soul. I met so many wonderful people through my job and built great relationships, but it took me over a year to make friends. I would get so excited when some of my favorite people would walk through the doors where I worked, but I didn’t feel we were close enough to call for a weekend hang-out, that first year was rough!

Get Caught Reading is a nationwide campaign to promote the fun of reading books for all ages. Launched in 1999 by the Association of American Publishers, the initiative is now managed by Every Child a Reader with support from the Lois Lenski Covey Foundation. Supporting well-known figures, including First Lady Laura Bush, Drew Carey, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Donald Duck, Patty Duke, Billy Graham, Derek Jeter, Dolly Parton, Sammy Sosa, Spider Man, Erik Weihenmayer, and others, have all been "caught reading" their favorite books and magazines for print ads and posters seen by millions of people across the country. In addition, more than 200 Members of Congress have been photographed "caught reading" on Capitol Hill. All of these images are available online. Click here to see pictures.

I don’t know about you, but when my work environment changes, my behaviors are greatly impacted. For example, I’m a great drinker of water when I’m consistently watching colleagues refilling water bottles, actively drinking water in meetings, or simply making a statement about how they have not been drinking enough. Remove me from that environment with these prompts encouraging and prompting the healthy choice and I quickly find myself riding the water drinking struggle bus.

The COVID-19 outbreak has instituted new daily habits for each of us, whether you are one of us mandate to stay home and/or someone who is working longer, harder hours than before to keep us safe. Either way, we are all restricted in our ability to physically connect with one another.

While you may not normally be one that binge watches shows, even those least likely to veg out for the day to soak in documentary drama are camping out in pajamas, and breaking out the snacks to stream the popular Netflix Docuseries, Tiger King.