Recently, I was reading “Why Twitter Will Soon Become Obsolete” by Jason Clark . Very well written and insightful piece that was another reminder of how rapidly change is coming at us.
Jason makes the case that while micro-blogging – the 140 character limit of posts (tweets) that Twitter pioneered – is here to stay, there is no reason to believe that Twitter itself will have the staying power of say a Google, Apple or Microsoft. The marketplace is littered with the dead and dying business entities that once generated all of the buzz that Twitter now enjoys e.g. Netscape, AOL, Friendster and MySpace to name a few.
But apart from marketplace vagaries that are hard to explain even after they have occurred (read The Age of the
The Exercise and Pursuit of a Consciously Created Life
Saw the same guys again (see my original post on Mexican Music on May 8th, 2009.) They were waiting for the train with me at the very end of the subway platform, talking amongst themselves – there were more of them this time – and checking their instruments.
Once again I was engrossed in what I was reading, but I was not in the dour mood I was last time. The train comes and I’m successful in finding a seat on the crowded subway car. Within seconds the guys start playing that same music, and again I find myself smiling. Just amazing: the transformational power of music. And these guys, just like the last time, are only going through the motions, expressionless, but… Continue reading
“Taking any course that cannot translate into a practice that you incorporate into your life is like going to a movie.” Francis Wade
Francis Wade is a fellow philosopher, entrepreneur and a good friend of mine. He said the above quote in a conversation I was having with him about my philosophy of living life as a practice. I was telling him about the book S.H.A.M. – How the Self-Help Movement made America Helpless by Steve Salerno – which highlighted the cultural phenomenon of “there’s something wrong … especially with me, and there’s one thing that can fix it, all I have to do is find it.”
The book SHAM talks about how people go from course to course looking to
I've finally crossed into the light and got myself a Macbook 13". Yet I'm still compelled by the forces of darkness and will be for some time I think. You see old habits die hard and while I know the Mac is great, the fact is it doesn't help you make the adjustment to it's way of doing things and some things I discover are definitely a step backwards. For example, there are no plug-ins for the Mac on Skype and if you own a blackberry you won't be happy with the Mac version of the blackberry desktop.
Hence the reason I am still pulled to the "dark" side. Apple is truly compassionate however as there is no judgment about my continued dance with old habits, and in fact they actually… Continue reading
I’m so proud of myself. Today I came across an article explaining why it’s wasteful to “pre-wash” dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, and I DID NOT send it out to anyone.
Why is that noteworthy? Because I realized that my sending it out was my way of being right about and making the Pre-Washers I can think of; wrong.
As part of living life as a practice one of the practices I’ve adopted is the practice of observing and noticing things especially about myself. I’ve come to notice the tell tale signs of resistance in my body: feeling tense, rigid, my breathing becoming shallow, my mood becoming irritated, my body language closed, often accompanied by an urge to speak out. Almost every time I give in to
This is an excerpt from my upcoming book on "The Practice of Acknowledgments".
Hugs are to acknowledgments what wireless is to the internet. Nothing quite says I see you and your being around means a lot to me than a hug. As part of the human need to belong, to be acknowledged, we all need to be touched. (Sniff. Just hold me.)
I don’t recommend this in the paranoid and litigious American workplace environment, but among your friends and loved ones, hug EVERYBODY.
Hugs come in all configurations and intensities. I differentiate between the hugger - the person initiating the hug - and the huggee - the person being hugged. Here are a few common ones:
The overhand where the hugger comes in with at least one
Imagine you’re the proud Father or Mother of the cutest three year old boy who barely talks, and one day as you’re walking through the mall the little darling starts screaming, “Help me, help me,” to anyone that looks in his direction.
My mother related this true story to me the other day about a friend of hers who lived this - not-so-funny to her - true account with her young son. Not-so-funny to her, but absolutely hilarious to me. Maybe it’s the way my mom tells this story, as she imitates a young child’s voice, but whether its her or the story I laugh till I cry when she tells it.
Can you imagine this little kid? He would do it whenever he had the attention of adults.
Random Quote
“Don’t worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.”
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