Russian dolls come in sets. They are nested wooden figures of decreasing size placed one inside another. Each wooden doll, except for the smallest one, can be pulled apart to reveal a smaller doll.
Russian dolls are a good metaphor for goals, and every so often I come across a goal that is, metaphorically speaking, the biggest of a series of Russian dolls. These goals seem to hold within them numerous other goals. The picture below is one such visual goal:
To many, this image is of nothing more than a homely building in a cold place. From my perspective, however, this image is a visual goal that has galvanized me for the last three weeks. The pictured building awakens different facets of me to a vision that’s been developing for some time. This photograph is parsimonious. It is powerful. It is a visual goal that encapsulates several smaller goals. One glance at it is a powerful reminder of all the goals nested within.
The pictured building houses a condo that I would like to own. The photo, however, represents much more than property ownership. Here’s why . . . Read the rest of this entry »
Reading Stephen Smith’s free e-book, “Project Planning in Context,” I was continuously struck by a sense of potential. Sure, Smith’s book didn’t have the spit and polish of some of the e-books out there. At the same time, however, “Project Planning in Context” got the job done.
Essentially, Smith’s e-book is a good primer — an introduction to the idea of planning out a project by considering its context. At the very least, Smith saves his readers from slogging through years of posts on the subject from people like Merlin Mann. Smith clearly covers the pertinent details and avoids unnecessary length. More importantly, “Project Planning in Context” fills a niche: there are, after all, an unbelievable number of e-books on the general topic of productivity, but far fewer resources that cover the topic of planning large projects effectively.
[Note: I intentionally decided not to use a beach photo. Lifestyle design means different things to different people; it isn’t just for middle-aged businessmen living as expats in coastal regions, although that is the stereotype.]
Lifestyle design (LD) has a lengthy past but a short history. The art of (sometimes radical) lifestyle configuration, however, has been practiced for quite sometime by liberated people from all walks of life.
The growth of the Internet has enabled those loaded with cash to disconnect from the 9-5 without disconnecting from their Porches, Louis Vuitton gear, mobile cash cow businesses, and brokerage accounts. The Internet’s rise has also allowed persons from less auspicious backgrounds (like myself) to live creatively without making seemingly prohibitive income sacrifices. Indeed, if one plays their cards right, a mainstream Internet presence can eliminate the monetary drawbacks that used to come with a a non-mainstream lifestyle. Technology has come a long way, and I’m glad that lifestyles are starting to catch up.
Here’s a list of lifestyle design resources that might be of help to the interested.
Answers by Rudy Rauben (see here for more info); edited by Clay Collins.
[Editor’s Note: There’s some controversy in the comments about the “No Gurus and No B.S.” statement. For more information about our position, see this comment, and this comment below].
About This Guide
Rudy is a good friend of mine who’s been actively meditating for over 20 years. This guide sprang forth from a series of questions I’ve asked him over the course of several months, which is why we’ve kept the Q & A format. In one case, my question and Rudy’s answer have been placed, verbatim, in the guide. In most cases, however, clusters of answers have been aggregated, spliced together, etc., and questions have been written to address certain themes that arose during our discussions. This guide represents less than a 10th of the edited material culled from our conversations.
1. Let’s start out with a basic question. Why meditate?
The simplest answer would be to gain clarity, peace of mind, health and personal development, but I’m not sure these answers necessarily explain a whole lot in and of themselves. We need to discuss what inhibits clarity and what brings discord to our minds, and what promotes well-being.
We begin meditating by learning to "still" our minds, so our thoughts don’t just run amok. Overly rambunctious thoughts cause a lot more stress, tension and deluding impulses than most people commonly realize; and this in turn has a deleterious effect on mental as well as physical health.
The process of calming the mind and allowing our thoughts to settle out is commonly referred to as "centering." We want to be able to consciously "center" ourselves at will, especially in circumstances when we find mental agitations, erroneous preconceptions, stress or volatile emotions beginning to mount– influences that interfere with a clear awareness and realistic understanding of the circumstances we find ourselves in. In light of this, meditation is a training program whose purpose is to recognize the way we comport ourselves "internally" (psychologically, emotionally, creatively). In the service of this "tuning the breath" is a very helpful technique. Read the rest of this entry »
The Growing Life is dedicated to my grandparents, Dowlin and Daisy, and to their California citrus nursery. They’ve lived the growing life quite literally, and their story’s far from typical.
Their Story
Dowlin and Daisy met in 1955 and married 3 months later in California. Dowlin was 23 and had dropped out of high school several years earlier to work and support his parents (I followed in his steps, but left high school for very different reasons). Daisy was an 18-year old transplant from Tennessee. At the time of their honeymoon, they collectively had $50 to their names.
Their honeymoon lasted a day. The following morning they moved to Yuma, Arizona to start an agricultural labor gig. It lasted a month, and they were paid with a little money and 100,000 seedlings used to start a citrus nursery in California’s Sonora Desert. After starting the nursery, Dowlin worked 18-hour days, tending to his citrus nursery by day and working for others by night to maintain cash flow.
From these humble beginnings came the largest citrus nursery in the U.S. What touches me is not the nursery’s size, however, but the humanity it’s infused with. Yes, millions and millions of citrus trees were raised on that dusty, dry desert landscape. But my grandparents and their nursery also gave birth to aunts, cousins, families, as well as my mother, brother, and me. We’ve all lived there (at one time or another), grown up there, and have hundreds of memories associated with its every square foot. My psyche is inextricably bound to my grandparents’ nursery, to its desolate desert landscape, and to the truckloads of trees that have come and gone over the years. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s probably not something I’d post here, but what I most enjoy about guest posting is the ability to write about topics beyond the scope of The Growing Life (like writing, for example).
"Don’t worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive." -Howard Thurman
In the song "My Roller Coaster," singer/songwriter Kimya Dawson recalls her mom saying "I hope someday you get paid for being Kimya Dawson." Here’s the song if you want to listen:
Given how some parents encourage children to adopt unwanted professions or identities, Kimya’s mother’s statement is powerful. Kimya’s mother hoped she would get paid just for being Kimya. Kimya now gets paid for playing anti-folk concerts across the U.S. and for being her beautifully quirky and authentic self (you may have heard her 6 songs on the Juno soundtrack).
In a world of increasing competition and economic downturns, we’re working more hours for less pay, taking fewer vacation hours, and generally burning out. Perhaps this explains the popularity of alternative career books, stay-at-home jobs, and psychiatric medications. The societally scripted routes to success are failing us.
Digg/claycollins
Facebook/Clay Collins
Linkedin/pub/0/aa7/940
Twitter/claycollins
Del.icio.us/claycollins
GMail/Clay Collins
