In Session

So as I mentioned, my online classes started and I spent a few hours last night jotting down notes, sketches and answering online questions while going through insights to innovation.Initially its a bit intimidating. There are nearly 400 people taking this online course. Notifications and emails are consistently coming in. I'm tempted to read them all! There are unique challenges throughout and you choose one to focus on throughout the course. One of them reminds me of the openIDEO challenge: developing a product or service with credit unions for 60 year olds. There were some really great projects that came about of that.We started the course by observing visually. We looked at items in people's bags - without judgement. I believe the without judgement aspect is really difficult because we've been conditioned to do so for very long. We fail to look at things objectively and we begin to insinuate, project, plant our ideas to what we see.For example, with the bags we saw, one person had an old banana peel in their bag - what thoughts come to mind? It looked yellow and brown so it had to be eaten that same day, or no more than a day old. With a judgmental mind you may be disgusted but what if there was nowhere to throw out the banana peel? Or what if they are health conscious and wanted to keep healthy snacks around? What if they were a gardener and wanted to reuse the peel in their mulch?Now that's only one item coming form one person. If you were to empty your bag what would be in there? Something that is unique in my bag - an emergency clothing kit. Something tends to go wrong with my clothing - it like never fails to miss me.I really liked the idea of keeping an ah-ha journal. It entails capturing a photo of what you've observed to be different and writing about it. I often journal and write and keep notepads, moleskines and the likes with me. This is a way to put a spin on it.The challenge I chose involves healthy eating habits for the family. I'm  excited to go out an observe, ask questions, and capture stories people share. So much happens with food around and often times we opt for whats quick, cheap and easy. So much so, that we've opted for food that isn't really food, put on weight at an even younger age, resulting in major health issues in the future. The focus in this challenge is on children and I secretly want to be better in my own health, so I decided its to jump into this one.Let's not forget I still have a goal of dropping a few pounds this year. I'm hoping this helps in putting me on track, gain more awareness and education of food and our connection to it. I'm still a weak behind in the course (they give you a pace to follow but there is flexibility in scheduling as well).Health and nutrition is a major part of our being yet its an area where we lack so much discipline. I'll keep you updated with the course! In the mean time, whats in your bag? What healthy meals do you enjoy?