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	<title>WIRL Project &#187; Real</title>
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	<description>What It&#039;s Really Like.</description>
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		<title>Paper Towels, Medical Reports and Basket Weaving, Oh My! (My Real Absurdly Unique Dad)</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/paper-towels-medical-reports-and-basket-weaving-oh-my-my-real-absurdly-unique-dad/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/paper-towels-medical-reports-and-basket-weaving-oh-my-my-real-absurdly-unique-dad/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2015 07:55:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Maura McCarthy-Sanborn]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[basket weaving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[embarrassing moments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[father's day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hawaii]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[medical journal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paper towel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unique]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=7146</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s a random title, right? Yet that’s what pops into my head when I think about my Dad. He’s a simple man with a complex witty mind and I am often bewildered by the things he does and shares. Most of the time I laugh or shake my head at the stuff he comes up with, but then sometime later I realize how it truly connects to him and resonates with me. When I was younger, my dad often said “Show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are.” I know there is a great lesson in this quote, but being a snarky teenager, all I could think was, “I’m not showing you any of my friends, you will just embarrass me!” My Dad was notorious for blurting out observations and humiliating me in front of my friends. I would tell him, “When you pick me up at the movie theatre, please park at the far end of parking lot and I will find you.” Well that was all he needed to hear to do the exact opposite. He would come speeding into the theatre parking lot in his 1976 Ford F150 truck, beeping his horn loudly. Then he would park right in front and jump out waving his hands in the air yelling “Hey Maura, your cool Dad is over here!” Oh how I wanted to camouflage myself and deny any association with that crazy man! As the years passed and I finally outgrew my self-centered teenage status, I became more aware of how my Dad really is a wonderfully unique man. He was raised in New York City, the only child of Irish immigrants, whose education did not go beyond elementary school. He worked diligently to achieve and surpass his parents&#8217; accomplishments. He became a physician after studying at a medical school in Switzerland, where upon arrival he had not spoken German a day in his life, yet mastered the language quickly. He then built his own medical practice, serving a great community in New Jersey. I remember him getting phone calls in the middle of the night, talking with hospital nurses and listening intently to his patients. And among all this brilliance and compassion that I witnessed, he was still my quirky, loving Dad. My Dad loves medicine and he is fascinated by human beings and the world around us. He shares this enthusiasm by sending me copies of the Center for Disease Control reports and the Mortality and Morbidity reports (uplifting reading material!). I often get letters in the mail (yes he still uses the US Postal Service!) from him with copies of medical journal stories or excerpts from  “The Economist” about medical advancements or warfare. He says that we should all be informed and even includes my young children in what he calls “interesting fun”! Because learning about the latest disease epidemic and deaths around the world is oh so fun?!? He has an obsession with paper towels and I have no idea how it all started. There is always a paper towel in his pocket or lying on the counter nearby or on his desk or in his car or in his book. He would tell me that it is a simple multi-purpose item that can be used for clean-ups, bandages, bookmarks, notepaper, and more. If you need to find my Dad, just follow the trail of paper towels. I don’t know why Bounty never contacted the man to endorse their product! He went to Hawaii recently and came back with a new-found respect for basket weaving. Doesn’t everyone go to Hawaii and come back raving about basket weaving? Who cares about the beaches and wondrous natural beauty of the islands, let’s talk about the history of basket weaving! He copied information on the topic from his 1970s circa set of World Book Encyclopedias (who needs Google when you have outdated reference books?!) and told me to read about it for our next discussion. He even gave me samples of the material used to make baskets, that he picked up while watching workers weave. I’m holding on to this just in case I decide to make my own basket someday instead of buying one at Target! A few years ago he said, “I’d much rather have my face in a book than be on Facebook.” Well you’re not on FB, Dad, but you inspired me to write this blog because I love you and all your crazy, nutty, tender, and compelling words of wisdom. I know that through all your frankness, you are sharing a part of yourself with me and now your grandchildren too. You have raised my awareness in the world, shifted my perspectives, and exemplified keeping true to yourself even when it goes against the “norm”. You are an amazing father and role model and I will proudly show my friends to you anytime!]]></description>
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		<title>Real is the New Sexy</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/real-is-the-new-sexy-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/real-is-the-new-sexy-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2015 06:47:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[WIRL Project]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Style/Beauty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Genuine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Self]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sexy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Project]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=3728</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How often are people true to who they really are? Social media glamorizes life in a way that seeks perfection and doesn&#8217;t allow for those not-so-magical moments of life to shine through. At WIRL Project, we&#8217;re ready for a change and we agree with Jamie Catto, who wrote an incredible post called &#8220;Real Is the New Sexy&#8221; on his blog. We, at WIRL Project, think what he has to say speaks directly to the WIRL mentality&#8230;check out a summary of his original post below. Being authentic is so far from the &#8220;norm&#8221; that it&#8217;s sometimes perceived as weird or different&#8230;sharing your insecurities and vulnerabilities with others can make some people so uncomfortable that they accidentally reveal where they&#8217;re struggling, just by the way they react to such openness. Listen to them &#8211; take what they have to say and learn from it in a positive way. The way you react to such people will help you grow as a person and learn more about yourself. Being generous in the way you run your life and/or business is unique, but also progressive. Choosing to be inclusive and put others first, while offering a helping hand, creates relationships built on trust and not superficial, empty emotions. But as you do this, notice that others will question you &#8211; they will second guess your intentions and find your generosity hard to accept. Many will even warn you to be less giving and to only look out for yourself, take note of these people in your life. Showing your true feelings, being inappropriate, angry, happy, sad, goofy, serious or candid can take courage, especially as you try to build your own &#8220;personal brand&#8221; and teach other people who you are and what you stand for. Letting there be transparency between your professional, personal, and any other &#8220;self&#8221; can be powerful, in that people see that you have nothing to hide. So, why do we choose to wear masks, hats and capes or try to be someone we&#8217;re not? Author, Jamie Catto, recommends we take off the masks we wear and see who sticks around. Those who do are the ones who have genuinely loved you all along, they appreciate your personal brand, and have been and will always be &#8220;fans&#8221;. These people, who see beauty in your authentic, genuine, real self, are the people you should surround yourself with; not the people who see beauty in that mask you wear. &#8220;Real&#8221; people are sexy because they aren&#8217;t afraid to show who they really are. Others are attracted to this &#8220;x-factor&#8221; because it&#8217;s lacking in so many of us &#8230;confidence, authenticity, self-esteem and honesty. It&#8217;s comfortable to hide, cover up and stay quiet, but what&#8217;s the point in that? Don&#8217;t conform, don&#8217;t cover up and certainly don&#8217;t hide&#8230;be brave enough to be fascinating&#8230;to be real. So, are you ready to be more genuine, real, honest, and maybe even&#8230;.sexy? What have you been hiding? What mask can you take off? Since the very early stages of building WIRL Project, this post, Real is the New Sexy by Jamie Catto, has been so empowering and inspiring to us. Many of the things he states speak directly to why WIRL Project was created in the first place, so we just had to share this with our readers. We encourage you to view the original post in the link below and hope you find his words as inspiring as we do!]]></description>
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