Lessons from many travels

How might we communicate our frustrations without imposing hostility or judgement onto one another?

How many people whom you give your attention to communicate from a place of care, or with intent to create positive meaning in their relationship with you?

Learning to take care of kids before you have your own
5 year plan for family

"Donaldo, you are right. We are using euphemisms such as
Economically marginal' and avoid more pointed terms like 'oppression.'"-Pedagogy of the Oppressed

I hesitate to post a lot of information and statements on facebook. I also remind myself there are people who are willing to die just to tell the truth (Marie Catherine Colvin), or risk death for the sake of education (Malala Yousafzai), and others who are willing to risk incarceration in rough places just to learn (other readers of this book).

That said, I'm glad this book's available for all to read online:
http://www.users.humboldt.edu/jwpowell/edreformFriere_pedagogy.pdf

New game! "Science Says"

Hooray, an idea for a new game: "Science Says"

As justification for play/games and open fun for better engagement, innovation,productivity, and clearer thinking.

Inspired by spending too much time in stiff conference environments (this time at the USGBC's Midyear Meeting held in the Westin Book Cadillac, Detroit). I found myself wishing we had jungle gym equipment for professionals, or an actual time in the conference schedule designated as "recess".

Consider it an improvement upon the old game "Simon Says", which I suspect was intended to hammer children into complacency and obedience.

"Simon says..." "jump up and down!" to be more creative!

With "Science Says", it's actually about advocacy--advocating for better outcomes using some truth of science (e.g. fitness and creativity research). Yet people have an opportunity to ask why, experiment to find out what the results may be, and see if it's something they can replicate.

[edit: also inspired by witnessing Adam S. Poswolsky's game/silliness agenda item at his book marketing rapid prototyping day (see the agenda in the picture!) for his new book "The Quarterlife Breakthrough". ]

Hooray!

Another Take on Afterlife for the Living

"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of great moral crises maintain their neutrality" -John F. Kennedy [*possibly attributed to Dante Alighieri]

Considering the above quote, moments of great moral crises are opportunities for us to live. Choose  to maintain neutrality--in other words, choose indifference--and we forfeit an opportunity to live and exist to our fullest within the moment.

So in the spirit of keepin' it real: It is often in retrospect that we burn by flames of our own anger, shame, and unrest over those pivotal moments of crisis in life.  It's a waking and living afterlife in itself.

For a few tangents, I'll pose a pseudo-scholar's conjecture: Perhaps Dante's inferno was also an early attempt at psychology--using heaven and hell as allegory to how we live our lives immediately as well as in his broader interpretation of religious afterlife. [disclaimer, last time I read Dante's Inferno was in high school, early 2000s]

I'm tempted to loosely ponder how other dimensions of reality and alternative universes can exist via physics too, but that's probably too much pseudo anything for today...

Emotive Mechanics in East Detroit

Yesterday I met with an East Detroit school principal at his school. Few things ground human relationships like concern for the safety of people who have been harmed, and you could see it in his face as he spoke about the number one thing his students ask for help with: safety from violence in and outside of school.

You can read about that in the news or a policy report. Hearing it directly from Detroit youth, or taste gunpowder in the air from a recent shooting, and see it momentarily tug at a grown man's composure takes the experience to a different level.

The issue moves him and his staff, he's doing things to cultivate a culture of empathy and appreciation to help the most "at risk" youth in the school move forward from within and beyond the city. I call that emotive mechanics. We aim to change the way people look and feel about the world with tangible actions, but we're guided by a judicious mix of our own emotions and tools for making sense of the world. In that sense, we're emotive mechanics too.

A Devil's advocacy and simple actions

Yesterday morning I had a dream that I was at work and a lab user told me a story about "the devil's advocate".  Normally, the expression "Devil's advocate" refers to someone who offers insightful reason for a contradictory if not controversial position in a debate.  But in this story, the person spoke about immense hope and changing the world--and before anything conclusive about what the first step to take toward making a better world might be, he added another condition and new story.  It was endless.

His advocacy led to nothing.

In that case, the Devil's advocate advocates to move us emotionally, while hacking emotional sensation and rapid dependency on the next detailed caveat. In lulling our being into the next caveat, the Devil's advocate shifts our attention from any prospect of moving forward to look for the next caution and item to fear. We're smitten by grandiose prospect, while simultaneously disempowered by its monolithic complexity and our loss of self-agency when relying on someone to create a vision and path for us to follow.

Conversely (and in waking life), I spoke with another person about mantras and music as both means and ends to sensing spirit and confidence yesterday.  I think it ties in really well with the same practice of self-empowerment by scaling down big initiatives into something you can act on. There was a lot of great insight from the discussion I'll share another time, but for now I'll send some links.

Converting grand intentions (like new years resolutions) into habits that are tangible and actionable:
http://blog.bufferapp.com/the-science-of-new-years-resolutions-why-88-fail-and-how-to-make-them-work

http://blog.bufferapp.com/what-the-research-on-habit-formation-reveals-about-willpower-and-overall-well-being

The academic research it's based on:
http://psyserv06.psy.sbg.ac.at:5916/fetch/PDF/10978569.pdf

[He]artful dialogue: Co-creating artful conversation with courage

New life-challenge: turn curiosity into courageous questions quickly.

Not so new but still challenging for me to do: elicit passion and wisdom from other people as soon as appropriate.

“Art ain’t about paint. It ain’t about canvas. It’s about ideas. Too many people died without ever getting their mind out to the world.” — Thornton Dial, SR.

Art, as I’ve come to understand, exists as a special form of communication. It’s communication that inspires a sense of wonder—a deep curiosity that has us ponder the encounter and ideas behind what we engage. It compels us to activate our curiosity as we wonder about the possible implications an encounter can have on our lives or the that of others.

I saw Thornton Dial SR.’s quote in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s folk artist exhibit. It was liberating as much as it was validating: To make art, one requires no rigorous history of training, art degree, special materials or extraordinary circumstances to start. To me, Thornton Dial’s quote was an invitation to make whatever was on my mind if I so wished to do so. Better yet, it comforted me to know there’s boundless opportunity to share any idea, including those that can’t be experienced in writing. Perhaps what we have to share comes forth as good and beautiful. Whatever we choose to do, the act of honestly communicating our ideas certainly brings us closer to truth for our minds and hearts. Whenever that happens, it’s an invitation to live life artfully.

Looking at Mr. Dial’s quote again, it also applies to how I look at living life when speaking with and listening to people. There’s an art to good conversation and dialogue. If we consider Seth Godin’s distinction between the characteristics of work and art, artful conversation becomes a palpable ideal. Godin believes that work can be recognized as something people want to do less of, while art is something people want to make more. In that sense, we can all strive to make artful conversations. Both are important, good work can be necessary for creating better art.

.      .      .

I believe everyone benefits being in and moving from a place of passionate curiosity. Being as Rachel Carson describes, in a “sense of wonder”. When activated, it entices profound intrigue straight from the spirit. Whether mentally or physically, that place could be our own, among others, or perhaps better yet: shared. What matters most is that we speak with the flames of inspiration, those burning deeply from within our being to create that place.

If there’s dead space or if confusion nags at your attention in a way that prevents peace for everyone in the conversation, call it out and help shake things up. Time and life in the presence of another person are too precious an opportunity to squander. For anyone who grants me the privilege of sharing a conversation, this applies to us too. Call me out if I don’t do so first. Just because I’m familiar with the recesses of awkward pause doesn't mean I necessarily need or want us to stay there.

Perhaps the cost of very good conversation comes from committing yourself wholly to the people you speak with by thoroughly listening and keeping the courage to share what really matters to you. But do so in the greater interest of co-creating an enriching dialogue for everyone involved. Live boldly. Don’t be cautious, but be considerate with presence, intelligence, and equal heart. With this in mind, we can strive to create heartful conversations.

I’m still learning how to do so with excellence. But I like the idea that it’s an endeavor to live and share.