Crunch Time

The loss of reverie

I'm pooped. I mean it. Our contemporary culture and its accompanying stresses has left me exhausted. Not in the physical sense, mind you, but in the mental.  The speed at which everything runs today is zapping my cognitive resistance.  What is eroding in me is attention.  I can't focus.

Despite our wondrous technologies and scientific advances, we are nurturing a culture of diffusion, fragmentation, and detachment.  The thesis of a very important book by Maggie Jackson entitled Distracted posits that the way we live is eroding our capacity for deep, sustained, perceptive attention - the building block of intimacy, wisdom and cultural progress. She writes that

"Increasingly we are shaped by distraction...the seduction of alternative virtual universes, the addictive allure of multitasking people and things, our near religious allegiance to a constant state of motion: these are markers of a land of distraction...This is why we are less and less able to see, hear and comprehend what's relevant and permanent, why so many of us feel that we can barely keep our heads above water, and our days are marked by perpetual loose ends."

It suddenly dawned on me that I no longer waste time. My days have been subdivided into smaller and smaller units of efficient time. I have lost reverie. Reverie is a state of being lost in one's thoughts; to daydream.  When is the last time you daydreamed?  When was the last time you deeply pondered a sunset, or sprawled on the grass with your arms behind your head letting your thoughts wander with the movement of the clouds? 

If, like me, it's been a while, then you are overly distracted.  We are in essence not nurturing our inner selves when we lose reverie. I encourage you to go ahead and waste some time every day.  Don't let the efficiency bug infect you. Give yourself permission to go against the speed, expectations, and distractions of your life. Don't respond to the annoying "ping" of arriving email - stay focused on the task at hand. Shut off the television and read a book for two hours straight (think you can?). Don't check Facebook or Twitter for a whole week.  Have a three hour dinner with good friends. Let go of the guilt for wasting time.

You'll be a more interesting and deeply peaceful person as a result.

Peepholes

It's snowing and cold today where I live.  These conditions create a stubborn glaze of ice on the cars parked outside. The sounds of frantic scrapping on the windshields ricochet through the neighborhood.

In our haste to get on our way, we tend to clear a peephole through the ice just large enough to see ahead.  Yet, such a strategy is dangerous.  It limits our field of vision and diminishes our capacity for strategic response. It's a quick fix with potentially devastating results.

Today's hyper accelerated, disconnected world can quickly ice our souls.  Yet we tend to navigate through it with only a peephole of vision.  As a result, we steer our way through contemporary life with a limited perspective, a diminished response, and a deflated spirit.  A more expansive sight line is needed to keep our souls thawed and our lives expansive.

Have you ever had a conversation that went far deeper than the words spoken or an experience where you felt you had participated in something sacred–that you had been part of the unbidden activity of a reality much more expansive than yourself?  If so, you are experiencing life beyond the peephole.

One of the more significant resources I found to scrape ice from my soul and broaden my vision is the book "God hides in plain sight: How to see the sacred in a chaotic world" by Dean Nelson.  In this colorful, story-driven introduction to sacramental living, Nelson offers human beings a way to see the presence of God amid the chaos and acceleration of every day life.

An expansive life beyond the peephole.  That's the way to go!

Artists of being alive

I recently received a card from a wonderful colleague and friend of mine.  It was created by J. Stone cards.  I find myself reading and re-reading the words that were inscribed within it. May their tribe increase!!

the most visible creators i know of are those artists who express the inexpressible -- with out brush, hammer, clay or guitar. they neither paint nor sculpt -- their medium is being. whatever their presence touches has increased life. they see and don't have to draw. they are the artists of being alive...

It's On

Southwest Airlines launched a new Ad Campaign on June 1st aimed at tough times. At the end of the ad a narrator intones that the airline doesn't fly around tough times. It's on, and they're ready.

It's on for all us... 

It's on every time our minds persist in discouraging thoughts.

It's on every time we think we can go it alone without the comaraderie of those who care.

It's on every time we stubbornly refuse to admit our fear and hide behind a facade of platitudes.

It's on every time we avoid nourishing our souls with silent listening, contemplation, and transcedent faith.

It's on every time our decisions preclude others who are in greater need.

It's on every time we become too enamored with our technology to solve our problems.

It's on every time we rely on massive military might to secure our happiness.

It's on every time we stop taking initiative for the health of our relationships.

It's on every time we live without grace.

This is the time of our lives. It's tough. It's on. Are you ready?

The constants of change

My main focus over the last twenty years has been helping people effectively migrate through the quandaries of contemporary change.  Without a doubt, the recent perplexities we are encountering are unprecedented in their scope and the challenges for us is extraordinary indeed.

I've discovered too the irony that change is consistent in its effects.  The larger the scope of the change the greater these constants seem to become:

1) It is frightening: Change makes the world seem less predictable.

-Franklin D. Roosevelt's first inaugural address took on an unusually solemn, religious quality, and for good reason. By 1933 the depression had reached its depth and the nation was struggling. Roosevelt’s first inaugural address outlined in broad terms how he hoped to govern and reminded Americans that the nation’s “common difficulties” concerned “only material things.”  It is in this address he uttered the now infamous words, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself". 

We must learn to harness fear's energy and make it our heart's ally and not its enemy. 

2) It is threatening: Change implies that what exists now is inadequate

-We can get so confident in the way we've done things in the past, that it is can be a surprising and agonizing moment to discover that it no longer works for our current condition.  When we are threatened by change we usually choose one of three stances in reponse: Retreat, Retrench, or Relaunch.  For me relaunching is the most adventuresome and leads to richer discoveries and deeper redemption.

3) It is embarrassing: Change requires admitting and understanding our past errors.

-Being vulnerable is one of the most powerful attributes we can harness.  I believe it requires two elements: Humor and Honesty.  Laughing at ourselves is one the most mature defense mechanisms human beings have at their disposal.  In spiritual terms, it is the closest we can come to confession. Being vulnerable forces us to get to the heart of the matter in deliberately open ways. It means not pointing fingers at people or the past.  It means taking responsibility. Honestly interrogating our hearts during change is the first step in moving through change unencumbered by anxiety, insecurity and blame.

Magic happens

Today I had the honor of witnessing the Teacher of the Year ceremony at Denver Academy. It was particularly poignant since the award is now named in honor of a long time Denver Academy teacher and one of my all-time best friends, Kevin Gregier. He passed away last November (2008) from cancer at the age of 64.  I miss him every day.

The afternoon summed up so well the wonder of Kevin Gregier as a teacher and the magic of Denver Academy as a place for learning.  Wonder and magic together provide enchanting elixirs to enliven our educational quandaries:

•Learning that is centered more on the varied needs of the student than in the confines of a curriculum.

•Teaching that is liberated so educators can bring their own whimsy to their subject matter.

•A commaraderie that goes beyond selfishness, looks to the betterment of everyone, and exhibits a genuine joy to be in the company of each other.

•An awareness of a spiritual transcendence that resides not only in the hearts and minds of students but is embedded in the very nature of education itself.

•Leadership that realizes life is messy and in a constant state of flux. They are not afraid to take a risk for the sake of the contemporary student or for the enhancement of a teacher's well-being.

•An extended community of parents who take an active role in sparking the perpetual potential of every child they come in contact with.

Thank you Denver Academy and all the places like you who provide an educational environment where wonder is taught and magic happens everyday.

Quoted hope

The following are recent, hopeful contributions that were spoken into my life from a variety of sources. I'm pondering them now because I didn't have the best of weeks.  Since I explore quandaries that arise from accelerated, discontinuous change, and the subsequent angst they can sometimes create, I offer these to you as well:

• "Healing is the restoration of integrity to injured tissue."  This was emailed to me by a pastor after I crashed on my bike. My flesh was wounded, my ego was bruised, but after this timely contribution my spirit was restored. 

• "A stronghold is a mindset that is pregnant with hopelessness." This twittered statement resonated deeply within me because I was again struggling with the depression that has marked most of my life.  I am earnestly exploring the thought processes and patterns that keep me straight-jacketed in despair.

• "You can't think your way into good acting, but you can act your way into good thinking"  I over heard this in a bar and grill in North Carolina. I instantly interfaced it with the previous stated contribution on strongholds.  One of the more powerful molding factors for our thoughts is the simple child-like ability to pretend.

• "You never get a second chance to make a first impression" This was spoken into my life from a friend who was a Disney Imagineer.  It has ramifications across so many disciplines and vocations, but particularly for me now as I ponder the radiance of an authentic, creative life from a joyful core that is constantly nurtured.

• "In the end, the only thing you really own is your story" This was a line spoken by the character played by Hugh Jackman in the movie "Australia".  We're connected to the human race by the stories that arise among us.  In a commodified day and age where we are seen more as consumers than human beings, remember to develop a story for your life where love is truly exemplary.

The Star of our own show

 Since one of my favorite topics is emerging culture, my radar activates when I hear two psychiatrists, Joel and Ian Gold, calling a new psychosis for our YouTube society “The Truman Show” Delusion.  There seems to be a small but growing number of psychotic patients who describe their lives as mirroring the main character in the 1998 film “The Truman Show.” 

The character, Truman Burbank, leads a very ordinary existence in the suburbs, starting from the time he was in the womb, and is being filmed for a very popular documentary show that he is unaware of and that he cannot escape.  Everything in his life, from the small product placements of advertisers to his own intimate family affairs, is scripted and put in place for the voyeuristic fascination of the world.  All those around him (actors in the show) claim ignorance or avoidance when Truman begins to suspect something isn’t quite “right” with his reality.

For sufferers, the “Truman Show” delusion is so pervasive it involves the patients entire world, and everything real is unreal.  Truman Burbank lived in a world where everyone around him were actors in a script, a charade whose entire purpose was to make him the focus of the world’s attention and add to the financial coffers of advertisers. When he discovers the ruse, he desperately and deliberately tries to escape its superficiality.

We live in a dramatically different media environment today than when that movie was released ten years ago.  There is an overwhelming influx of media pervasive technologies, with cameras and microphones everywhere.  Video sharing sites and video blogs enable hundreds of thousands of people around the world to see our lives unfold in real time.  With the advent of YouTube just four years ago, personal documentaries are some of the most popular posts on the world wide web.  The popular ones add needed advertising dollars to companies bottom lines.

Like Truman, one would think that the desire to escape all that mediated pervasiveness in our lives would be greater than ever.  I mean really, who would want all that public intrusion? Yet, if truth be told, I don’t think we want to escape at all. Deep down we want to be the star of our own Truman Show.  It makes the idea of an invited and welcomed delusion one worth significant exploration...

Nothing Like the Real Thing

A previous post I wrote highlighted the late 90's toy senstation, the Furby.  I referred to an article that mentioned the rapid technological transformations of the past few decades which have impacted the world views of children.  They didn't have any problem describing the Furby as an object that is neither animate or inanimate.  They put it in a new in-between category (that older generations have a hard time conceiving of) that was created to accomodate their technological world view.

However we categorize it though, in the end, the Furby is only just a toy and not a companion.  It can never replace the interactions we get from real puppies, bunnies, and cats.  Same can be said for nature.  There just is no technological substitute or simulation (now, anyway) for the deep pleasures that only a hike outside can provide. 

Consider a recent study be the University of Washington psychologist Peter H. Kahn, Jr. and colleagues.  Paul Bloom in the New York Times Magazine reports that the scientists put 50-inch high-definition televisions in the windowless office of faculty and staff members to provide a live view of a natural scene.  Though people liked this, health measurements regarding heart-rate recovery from stress revealed that HDTV's were shown to be worthless. No better than staring at a blank wall.  What did help with stress was giving people an actual glass window looking out upon actual greenery. 

So, I'm going to go outside.  A half-hour walk in the park will trump the best half-hour of "The Office" on TV anyday.

Cylon Rewind

For those of you who watched and loved (as I did) the Sci Fi channel's series Battlestar Galactica, will no doubt have been intrigued by the spiritual quandaries raised by the interface of man verse machine.  In the show, man created robots (cylons) to do some of their grunt work, but the technology used evolved in a way that gave sensience to the robots.  The machines began to take on true flesh and blood qualities becoming more and more "human".

Well so much for Science Fiction...here is a picture of an Australian performance artist who is reversing the evolutionary process through his art.  Wanting to explore what it is like to be more integrated with technology, he implanted a Bluetooth-enabled artificial ear in his arm.  Man "evolving" to be more like machine? umm... More on the story here