J
ust a quick posting today. I always like to post a resource for the theme of the week. This past week was fun and playfulness as tools for journeying back from the edge.
This week I’m sharing a very interesting, informative, and inspiring presentation entitled The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun.
Please give it a look and let me know what you think.
When I was an undergrad I took an Intro to Psych class. At one point the professor stated that he was not sure when childhood ended and adulthood began. He suggested, however, it had to do with snow. Actually it had to do with how a person responds to snow. We are a child when we see a snow storm and respond ‘Cool’ and think of days off of school, sled riding, snow forts, and snowball fights. We become an adult, he suggested, when we look at snow and respond ‘Oh, $#!^’ and think of shoveling the driveway, being late for work, slow traffic, and all manner of inconvenience. Not very empirical, but in the intervening thirty years I have come to see the wisdom in his assessment. As George Bernard Shaw brilliantly stated it “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
I was reminded of this story as a read a blog post from MyShrink.com. The post covers a wide variety of aspects related to playfulness such as:
It is a great post and I enjoyed it very much. Please, do yourself a favor and head on over to MyShrink.com and give this posting a read. I think you’ll be glad you did.
I normally don’t get a chance to listen to Morning Edition on NPR. However, the other day I caught the last segment. It was an interview with William Powers the author of Hamlet’s BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age
The author begins with the following: “This book is about a yearning and a need. It’s about finding a quiet, spacious place where the mind can wander free. We all know what that place feels like, and we used to know how to get there. But lately we’re having trouble finding it”. That bit sings to me. As I venture back from the edge, I have become increasingly aware of how busy my mind is. I have been exploring different ways to get to a place where my “mind can wander free”.
I have begun reading Carl Horné’s book In Praise of Slowness: How A Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed. The two books appear to explore much the same theme but from different angles.
Since I haven’t read the book yet, I didn’t include it in the rotation of weekly recommendations. I decided to go ahead and post in a rare Saturday posting so I could include it in this week’s theme.
If you’ve read it, I’d love to know what you thought of it.
The blog post 73 tips for simplifying your life, begins with the following quote:
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.” ~E.F. Schumacher
This is very much the same observation as those in the slow movement. This posting does not so much advocate slowness as it does a decluttering or a simplifying.
The blog continues with “Do you want to start making changes so that you can lead a simpler life but do not know where to get started? Here are 100 [Note: There are 73] Tips, Tricks, and Hacks on how to start living a simpler life” [all courtesy of livesimp.ly].
You may find items blasphemous, ridiculous, non-pertinent, but I’d wager there is something on the list that will intrigue you. Continue reading the article at live simp.ly
Let me know which suggestions popped your wheelie.
The slow manifesto:
We shall not flag or fail. We shall slow down in the office, and on the roads. We shall slow down with growing confidence when all those around us are in a shrill state of hyperactivity (signifying nothing). We shall defend our state of calm, whatever the cost may be. We shall slow down in the fields and in the streets, we shall slow down in the hills, we shall never surrender!
A bit tongue in cheek (or maybe just cheeky) but this website [SlowDownNow.org] for the iindm (International Institute of Not Doing Much) contains a wealth of information on slowing down.
Since the theme of this week has been slowing down and the slow movement, I figured it would be a good resource. Join the iindm army and you are entitled to use one of their SLOW badges (yeah, I know ‘badges, we don’t need no stinkin’ badges’).
Also from the site:
If you can slow down when all around you are speeding up, then you’re one of us. Be proud that you are one of us and not one of them. For they are fast, and we are slow. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing slowly. Some are born to slowness—others have it thrust upon them. And still others know that lying in bed with a morning cup of tea is the supreme state for mankind.
Take a look and let me know what you think 
I am not one to link to another blog post, but I am going to make an exception here. Alex Shalman has a blog post that really got me thinking. It is really just the beginning of an important conversation (series of conversations). He states:
In this life I am free. How is that possible? How can that be when the laws of government and gravity, and the need for food, love, and oxygen bind me? The freedom lives in a place called my mind – boy doesn’t that sound weird?
You will find the remainder of his post at Alex Shalman.com
Let me know what you think.
This website/service is based on the premise that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. This is what it says on habitforge.com:
It takes 21 days to form a habit.
You provide a Goal and Desire, and we’ll send you a customized daily email asking how you did.
Simply click “yes” or “no” daily.
Succeed for 21 days, and the new action will be easier than ever.
Skip a day and the clock starts over at day one.
