Asking all my life.
Came across Last.fm because one morning I had a great Idea. “How ’bout a community website, where people can upload music and share them?” I thought to myself.
Shortly after looking around I raised my fist in the air “Damn you!” Not only has this been done, it’s been done very well. So well in fact, that not shortly after, I made the biggest compliment. I gave money; not because someone called me begging, but because I felt it was a worthy cause.
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I recently watch Grizzly Man with my Brother and Vanessa, I find myself in slight awe of Timothy Treadwells story. I believe what some see as one man’s struggle to be a Bear, is everyone’s struggle with life. The only difference between Timothy and Us, is he was willing to say it out loud and on film. “I will die…”
Society around us, gives us the ability to cloud the truth. We have savings accounts and stocks, credit cards and mortgages, multi vitamins and fad diets: All saying, live for tomorrow. And in doing so they take away our power which is seeing the truth and the beauty of life which exists in each moment.
For Timothy he was willing to die for the animals, for which he ultimately did. But imagine what could be accomplished if everyone found what they would die for. Now imagine what could be accomplished if we found what we would get fired for; loose our lover for; our trucks; our houses; our blood for. That is a passion that everyone should have.
What would you get fired for?
In my own search for coming to understand what a generalist is, I came across yet another definition for a versatilists. The idea coined from Gartner is that this “new” breed has the ability to bridge the gap between thinking and doing. “Versatilists, in contrast, apply depth of skill to a progressively widening scope of situations and experiences, gaining new competencies, building relationships, and assuming new roles.”
At first thought I seemed intrigued by this word. However, the more I thought, the more I concluded all in all I think it’s a bad title for something that’s been around forever. What I realized is that a versatilists, or at least my understanding of it, is another fancy term for teacher. Everyday teachers go into a classroom and no matter who the audience is, whether 5 or 65, they have the constant battle and challenge to put things in context that can be understood. They have a talent for putting things into a perspective or light that wasn’t seen before. Teachers are found in more places then just the classroom. Teachers do not always stick to curriculum and tests. Teachers often know a lot more than they let on. Teachers know a lot more than just one topic. Teachers bridge the gap between concept and application. Teachers can do a lot more than just “teach”.
This new term so far is focused primarily on the IT industry, and if you look at it in terms of a teacher, it makes sense. The gap in knowledge and culture between the doers and thinkers is so vast it makes the grand canyon look small. Programmers don’t understand marketing, and visa versa. The company I work for tries to use the all powerful Business Analyst, but these people just end up being isolated by both. So no wonder it would take a teacher who understands in depth the world of programming, to effectively “teach” and advise those who don’t know. This person can subtly educate the Board of Directors so they can truly understand the extent of a technology based proposal.
With today’s abuse and lack of acknowledgement of the educational profession in the western world, these people with this talent need to survive. They sure as hell aren’t going to go into the classroom, so why not the boardroom. I say call these people who they really are and by a name that they should be proud of – call them Teachers.
The festivus and gatherings are quiet. I’ve somehow ended up in the office working away through the candy hangover. Why I’m supposed to be in the office for the next three days is a mystery however, the lack of people make it for nice catch-up time. I’m able to do all the dreaded paperwork and documentation and as an added bonus, I’ve been able to sneak in an upgrade of my site from WordPress 1.5 to the new and flashy 2.0, yeah!
And now back to our quieter then normal programming…
I’m not too big on the whole new year’s resolution thing. The idea of making a list and going through it one by one seems to constrained for me. Life, to me, needs flexibility. And so a few years ago I came up with the idea that I think has been doing good for me. It combines the focus for change, like the list, yet keeps it flexible. The idea crept up from my teachings of the native Spirit Guides. The Guide is an animal that embodies lessons that one should learn. Normally stumbled upon through meditation, observation or starvation, these guides are used as a focal point. How does the animal walk, sleep , talk, eat and generally live. By learning about these behaviours one can then take lessons for one’s own life. i.e. “cat’s sleep a lot and I hardly sleep at all and feel exhausted. Maybe I should sleep more” or “when snakes shed their skin it’s slow, and deliberate; often uncomfortable for the snake. So for my own personal transformation, I should keep these aspect in mind: slow, deliberate, and uncomfortable”.
No one needs to have mystic forces choose a guide. No, you don’t need to starve yourself in a forest for days to find one. Matter of fact, my last years guide, the snake, was one I chose while driving in my car. It was was completely deliberate and logical. I knew that for the next year I wanted change – personal transformation, and so with some thought I came up with my guide for the year: the snake. To help I bought a necklace with a symbol for snake. It was my reminder when I looked in a mirror, what I wanted to learn. It was something to play with as I stared out thinking. It was used to focus my thoughts.
This year, I’ve come up with my next guide: Fire. I stumbled upon the idea while looking at various personal horoscopes from different regions. I found that all of them are Fire signs: Ojibwa, Aztec, Chinese, Traditional Greek. Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire. And with some more though I realized that this would be a good focus for the year. Not as intentional as Snake, yet still powerful. So burn baby burn, bring on the fire.
I don’t think the phrase is used much anymore….but if it picked up circulation again and someone said it to
me,”nick, go fly a kite!”
I can now say “o.k.”
Read an interesting post. Must be the lack of morning coffee and it might be my personal insight into jazz. I
saw this quote
“The humble improv”
Now in turn it seems that I read the quote wrong. The quote is actually from Wynton Marsalis, “The humble
improve“. However, what I thought the quote was is still true. The humble really do improv.
In addition to Rajesh’s observation that: “If you lack humility, chances are that you think that you don’t
need help and may not be OPEN to learning new things which in turn will limit your growth.”, being open to
learning new things also means being open to falling flat on your ass. Learning is awkward and messy. There
are times when we get it and fly and others we we bomb and die. In that way it is a lot like jazz improv.
Some call it bastardization; some call it social degradation. I call it evolution. Today I was reading an
article about the internet savvy Chinese. They have adapted various puns when on the internet. Take ‘88′, to
us english speaking crackers it’s just a number; even to the formal trained linguist of the orient, it’s a
number. But not for the text messengers. It turns out ‘8′ is pronounced ba. So put two 8’s together and you
get ba-ba. Sounds a lot like inky or winky ( or whatever the teletubbies names are) say goodbye right before
jumping down their trippy little rabbit hole.
I say good on them. It’s like vulgar language of the 60’s and like the ‘n’ word for Dave Chappelle and rap.
It’s evolution, it’s word play. There has always been a verbal and written language. Take a look at Carmina
Burana. A bunch of young teens writing in the formal written
verse about sex and drugs and alcohol (Gasp!) ? And Shakespeare inventing words that are still used to this day, oh my!
People need to play with language, they need to experiment and try new things. Hell english alone is one of
the choppiest, band-aide languages out there. And it’s evolving. And just because people are using it in
internet slang doesn’t mean it will end up being formal. Do you think for a moment that the common folk of
the late 1500’s – early 1600’s actually spoke like the play’s? No…but they understood, just like we do now.
So I say good for them, and good for all of those out there that are pioneers and play with words.
An interesting point crept up yesterday in The Chrysalis that I had never thought before. I had just finished
reading my homework, and everyone was taken aback. At the time of reading it, I was moven to shake and even a
tear or two crept out. I guess, I to, was taken aback by the piece. But, there kicker of it all is while I
was writing it, it was just something I did. I did not emote the same reactions as reading it nor did it
really feel all that challenging. It seemed ordinary.
It brought up an interesting point about our own personal reaction to ordinary. Ordinary are things that we
know, and things we experience on a regular basis. So often we take things that align perfectly with who we
are as ordinary. It’s like breathing and blinking, it’s so fundamental to your existence that you might not
even notice it.
I believe that everyone has something extraordinary in them, they just have to look for it. So often when I
sit and look for mine, I’m thinking of things on the end of the spectrum, things that I don’t know yet or
things I want to know. Those are necessary things to look at, but one can’t forget the in between; the
ordinary. What are all the things you do in a day? What are the things that you do that come naturally? Maybe
write an activity log for a few days and see what things are common, and seriously take a moment to look at
them. Can any of these things be that passion, that extraordinary thing?
I was reading an article in Fast Company the other day. The article, by the same title, was discussing our
nature against change. You would think that if you were given the choice to change or die, change would be
only nature. However, the article goes on say how although all say they want to change, how in truth, few
ever do. The article triggered a thought into my own dilemma. I can change my bedroom, change the look of my
site (btw: what do you think?), move to new places, but the fundamental things I want to change, remain the
same. So how is it that one makes change?
First, I think you need to have sweet sweet time. Change is never easy, it hurts and sucks. It’s like
shedding skin. Take a look at every creature that sheds skin. If you could ask them how it’s like to lose
that layer, I’m sure all of them would take a puff on there smoke and same, “Man, it sucks”. It’s full of
pain and awkwardness, just take a look at our own puberty process. Everyone knows how bad it really is.
Second, a really good time machine. You know that feeling of going around, and around in a circle. That
feeling of chasing your own tail. You think I’m just doing the same thing over and over again. You might also
think to yourself, “this is pointless, I’m not going to….[fill in the blank]” Well, this is where I’ve taken
a thought from Dari. Some might say it’s a circle, but if you look at the path, it’s more like a spiral.
Sometimes the spiral is wound so tight, that it overlaps, like a snakes coil, and other times there are leaps
and bounds. But there is still motion. There is still progress towards the desire or outcome. But, only with
a really good time machine do we ever see the progress. It never feels different at the time. You ask anyone
in the process of change…ask a teenager, go ahead, ask them how there change is going? If the answer you get
isn’t “F*&@# YOU” or “What are you talking about?” I’d be surprised.
Thirdly, rinse and repeat. It might be an old school train of thought, in a way it is. But how often did you
write, or read, or type over and over in school Even crappy typers can eventually type extremely well with 2
fingers given enough time and practice. Musicians need that repetition, if not, there joints just won’t
stretch the bridge of the guitar, or that octave and a bit stretch. If they don’t practice, they can’t focus
on the melodies in their head during a song. Instead of being in the moment and enjoying the beauty that is
coming from them, they are questioning, what’s the next note? Repetition can do magical things to people.
However, repetition needs will power like no other. It’s hard sometimes to work on something everyday when
there are so many other wonderful things to be doing.
Most of all, there must be the emotional need. There must be a driver; a drive; a goal; an outcome. Something
needs to point the way. And, when the article was proving that death wasn’t good enough, I was first taken
aback. How could dying not be good enough? And the more I thought about it the more it made sense. Everyone
dies. It inevitability makes for an impossible struggle. Whether it be 2 years or 20 years, it ( or they, if
you’ve ever seen Dead Like Me ) will always catch up with you. There is no triumph. I bet that the people who
made a change, found that driver. They didn’t change because they were running away from death, they changed
because they wanted something from life. Something they wanted deep in there core. So what is it that you
want from life? You’d be surprised at how much time, effort and clarity you get when you are working on
something that means something to you.