October 7th, 2014
What is something that you are wanting or needing to do, but you’re not doing it because it’s hard? You are afraid. Afraid you will fail. Afraid you will disappoint yourself, or others. Afraid you’ll look like a fool. Afraid it’s not a good idea. Afraid (insert your reason or fear here).
Name it. Then, do it. TODAY. I dare you… I would love for you to comment on what it is you’re going to finally do, and report back here so we know you did it. And I thank you in advance for doing so. The rest of us will learn from, and be inspired, by you.
I would never ask you to do anything I am not willing to do. So I’m going to do it too. For the record, I’m going to give up my cell phone on the weekends for 30 days. Specifically, I’m going to turn off my cell phone at 6pm on Friday evenings, and not turn it back on until 8am on Mondays. I’ll do this for the next 4 weekends. It’s a start. This is hard because I value connectivity and do quite a bit of sharing via the device that is my cell phone. In other words, I use it for good, and I am effective at not letting it suck my time. However, what I do allow it to do is distract me. It divides my attention.
When one of my sons is talking to me and I’m taking a photo or reading Brain Pickings on my phone in the morning, my multitasked attention bothers me. I’m tired of my attention being divided, and am grateful that I’m at choice about doing something about it!
Clay Shirky, author of Cognitive Surplus, and Here Comes Everybody, and professor of new media at NYU, says when he asks students to turn off their cell phones during class, “it’s as if someone has let fresh air into the room. The conversation brightens.” (See this article –– it’s a fascinating and worthwhile read for anyone looking to be more present in this time of technology-enabled multitasking.)
I want to move toward undivided attention, and this is how I will start to accomplish it. I encourage you to hold me accountable. (Just please don’t “patrol” me – simply support me. I will do the same for you)
Thanks, and good luck!
February 27th, 2013
I just returned from the Wisdom 2.0 Conference in San Francisco. What an awesome experience. I am filled with new insights, inspiration, hope, and overwhelming evidence that a “course correction” is in the works. Some 25 percent of corporations are incorporating mindfulness into their organizations.
The increasing, ever-enabling technology has been a gift to us in so many ways. We are able to have more relationships, to do more, and to do it all without restraint of time or geography. Many of us are “on” and plugged in 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The down side is that it’s getting harder to unplug and to be present during areas of our life that are important and meaningful to us. Our phones have become like what Alone Together author Sherry Turkle calls “phantom limbs.” We are so distracted by our devices.
Wisdom 2.0, founded and organized by Soren Gordhamer (author of Wisdom 2.0: Ancient Teachings for the Creative and Constantly Connected, and a mindfulness leader who, as project director for Richard Gere’s public charity, Healing the Divide, organized the Healing through Great Difficulty Conference with his Holiness the Dalai Lama), is an event that brings together thought leaders who, through interviews and presentations and engaging conversations with those in attendance, attempt to answer: “How can we live with greater presence, meaning, and mindfulness in the technology age?”
The conference beckoned me because it converges all of the areas that I’m most interested in, in my life and work: Technology, mindfulness, compassion, entrepreneurship & business, and neuroscience.
Check out Google’s Meng Tan’s compelling presentation. It is a short video and worth every minute of your time.
In short, Tan provides evidence that we can do very simple exercises to train ourselves to be more compassionate and charismatic. For example, he challenges us to pick two people every hour, look at them, and in our minds, wish them happiness. This takes about 10 seconds, and according to Tan, this simple act makes us energetically give off compassion, which spreads to those around us.
I was so moved by the presentation that I shared the video with my husband and our three sons, who are ages 5, 10 and 12, the first morning after my return. Then, that evening, during dinner, everyone shared that they in fact did that, and that it felt good to do something that might benefit others.
I will be blogging more about the presentations and insights I gained from the conference over the next several weeks, so I hope you’ll check back often.
Thanks for reading my blog, and for stopping by Epic Life.
