Back From The Edge

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 title grabbed me (it is truly an obscure Shakespearean reference). As I listened to the interview, I realized it fit the theme of slowness I have been exploring this week. I haven’t read this book yet, so I can’t recommend it. However, it is intriguing to me.

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

Yesterday I posted a video in which Carl Honore talked about the slow movement. It struck me because I am an adrenaline junky. I’m not into extreme sports, I don’t ride a motorcycle, I don’t parachute, I don’t do any of that stuff. What I do is distract myself and am constantly looking for a new stimulus. I move from activity to activity without pause. I go from working on the computer, to watching TV, to playing on the computer. My day is full of large and small adrenaline hits. One of the most difficult things for me to do is to be still and quiet. I am nurturing a habit of daily meditation. I have started recording my success rate. As of today it was 50%. I find it very difficult to sit still for 10 minutes and when I do meditate I invariably have monkey mind. This is where my thoughts jump from one to the other just like monkey swinging and jumping from tree to tree.

Professor Guttorm Fløistad summarized the slow movements philosophy this way:

The only thing for certain is that everything changes. The rate of change increases. If you want to hang on you better speed up. That is the message of today. It could however be useful to remind everyone that our basic needs never change. The need to be seen and appreciated! It is the need to belong. The need for nearness and care, and for a little love! This is given only through slowness in human relations. In order to master changes, we have to recover slowness, reflection and togetherness. There we will find real renewal.

I ordered a book by Carl Honore entitled In Praise of Slowness: How A Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed. It will be my next read. I’ll let you know what I think. In the mean time, take a look at the website http://www.slowmovement.com/ it provides insights and resources for those interested in the slow movement.

Maybe the reality of the “slow movement” just hasn’t gotten around to me yet. In the video below, Carl Honore explains the need and the outcomes related to embracing my inner tortoise.

At my last corporate job, I burned out. I Was traveling, planning, selling, and all of the other hundred things that comes with working for a small company. Eventually, I just couldn’t do it anymore and I physically and emotionally collapsed. I am still journeying back from that edge and am stronger for it.

I have been getting involved in several projects lately that include going to grad school and starting a business. I have been finding that I’ve been getting back on the treadmill. This video reminded me about the need to have times in my life when I slow down. Every moment does not have to be full of productivity and planning. In fact, it helped me to remember that I am much more creative when I embrace slowness.

Let me know what you think of the video. Specifically, what do you think of slowness? Do it seem to have a value?

The slow movement

This video got me thinking. . .

If small changes yield large changes in organizations, maybe it is true in my life. Maybe I am looking for big differences in my life to come from significant changes. The changes could be moving to a different part of the country or world, changing jobs, getting married/divorced/single again/living together, making a lot of money, immersing my life in art. Maybe the reality is the largest changes come from small acts such as keeping a gratitude journal, 10 minutes of meditation each day, walking a few times a week, sitting outside for a few minutes a day. Maybe my life is like a ship with a rudder. Small changes to the rudder brings about substantial changes in course.

It’s something to think about at least.

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” Robert Collier via @mencobabelajar

My whole life, to one degree or another, has been about accumulation. I have an insatiable desire for more stuff. A better computer, more books, more music, different clothes. . . well you get the idea. As I try to step back from the edge, I have come to recognize that this desire for more stuff gets in the way of my peace. There are a couple of reasons. First, my physical surroundings impact my mental and spiritual self. If I live amidst clutter, I will experience clutter in my heart and mind. The second is related to the first, when my stuff is out of order, I spend an increasing amount of time trying to organize my clutter. I move it around. I try to find the right place for it. I end up wasting time. Third, my desire for stuff robs me of my now. I am always thinking of what could or should be. It puts me someplace other than here and now.

To step back from the edge, I use the sustainability motto of reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Reduce: I am trying to consistently look to get rid of stuff. Since I can’t organize clutter I have to get rid of it. Sometimes it’s easy, a usb cord that doesn’t work any more or a broken DVD (it’s amazing what I keep around). Sometimes it’s harder like a wooden car that I painted with my kids at a story time a while back. It was in my trunk forever, but I decided to get rid of it. I try to find ten things to chuck each day. Envelopes, corroded paper clips, old files will do.

Reuse: Before I buy something new I try to see if what I have something that will do the job even if it’s old or a little worse for ware. I don’t really need a new mic stand, I don’t use the third one very often and when I do the tape holds it together just fine. What I have work fine. If it doesn’t-  reduce.

Recycle: maybe something I could get rid of would bless someone else. So why not give it to them. Notice I did not say sell, I said give. A few years back I wife and I decided it was time to get new dishes. The old ones were chipped, scratched, mismatched. We decided to Freecyle them. Freecyle is a network of groups that makes it possible for you to give away your stuff to those who could use it. When we bought the new dishes we Freecycled the old ones and to my surprise we received a number of requests. We offered them to a mom who needed them because their dishes were ruined when their cabinets collapsed. That was a great feeling. Besides, now the dishes won’t sit in a landfill somewhere.

I don’t try to organize my clutter, let it bring me down, or take me out of the here and now.

How do you reduce, reuse, and recycle?

Kudos to Fly Lady who inspired me to think this way. Take a look at her book Sink Reflections