I was watching this hot tub video today, thinking about how our society is constantly in search-mode. It's like there is this understanding that we've lost something, but we can't figure out how to find it. For over fifty years now, our default has been to buy more stuff to satisfy that void.
If you've ever studied economics, you probably understand why shopping has become a national pastime. It is crucial to our GDP, which is required to grow to support our government and boost the image of our elected officials. But I digress. For a great insight into the story of stuff, and why we shouldn't be buying into it, check out Annie Leonard.
What I'm getting at is once we're all shopped out, and we're still feeling empty, where do we turn? For some it is yoga, meditation, religion, family. Perhaps it's sports, travel or gardening. These are all good - very very good. But what if you don't have time for these activities? What if you are so caught up in the grind that there is no time to pursue your passions?
I have three questions for you to ponder:
- What are your meaningful activities?
- Do you have enough time for your activities?
- If not, what gets in your way?
1. Meaningful activities? I love public hot tubs, especially for the conversations in them, which is why I was really disappointed with Harbin Hot Springs recently because not only were the regular tubs not hot enough, silence was required. I like the steam hut at Channel Rock, but it takes too long to stoke and I personally can't stay long in a sauna. I wish IslandWood had a hot tub.
ReplyDeleteLately I've found drumming and massage to be an alternative meaningful activities. Drumming because in order to be effective you have to listen, but it is more in your hands and body then in your mind (which I am too much in most of the time). I love giving a massage (and receiving) for the same reason, and have had some wonderful conversations that way.
In the past cooking together a big Thanksgiving supper for all of the "tday orphans" who didn't have family nearby was a very meaningful activity, but now it seems they all have families of their own so it doesn't happen as much anymore. But definitely cooking and eating together is a great "social grooming" activity. In my old gaming company we would take turns on Friday's making brunch and eating together — it was very bonding.
2. Do I have enough time? I've become a lot more conscious about time lately. Some of it comes from my Scan Focus Act discipline — I don't want to spend more time doing less. But part of it is an intent I established several years ago when I realized my social channel capacity was over-extended, so I decided to focus on the relationships that were meaningful. One of which was with Gifford and Libba, which is why I've gotten so involved with the BGI community.
More recently, I had a minor heart attack 3 years ago, and though I've had not real physical consequences it was a huge wakeup call. I'm not old enough to accept feeling older, but it definitely mad me feel that time could be a lot more limited then I thought and I should focus.
I'm not sure if those two are really answer to your question, though. No, I don't have enough time, but I'm am working harder on making the time I do spend be meaningful.
3. What gets in your way? Probably the biggest thing is not being fully present. Thinking too hard, or multitasking too much can be part of it. While I think you can be fully present while doing either them, if you are doing them without intent then you can waste a lot of time.
The other hard thing for me is consistency. I know it is going to take me 10 years to master the hang drum, and in order to do so I must play every day. But I'm lean towards novelty seeking so sometimes it can be boring, especially when practicing alone. So I have to work harder at that.
Another barrier is overcommitment. We have a tendency in our lives, especially when we are trying to do good, to overcommit ourselves. I think better to under commit and succeed in doing good then to not succeed at all, but it is hard to say no.
-- Christopher Allen
All feedback is most welcome, Christopher, whether or not it specifically answers my questions. My goal is find common threads which we can weave into a new vision, and your responses provide a great start. I love the term social grooming, as it lends such amusing imagery to processes in which we all engage. Your presentation on dunbar numbers and group size will be useful in this blog, and I am hoping to backlink them in the near future.
ReplyDeleteIs it coincidence that we saw that video in Creativity class? How very weird and very cool if so.
ReplyDeleteThese are great questions to ponder and ones that I think that everyone should stop to think on periodically throught their life. A year ago I would have said "no, I don't have time for these activities", this year is completely different. Having meaningful activities incorporated into my daily life has made such an impact on my mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing.
I think it's safe to say that a large part of our population does not do the things that are meaningful to them. Perhaps this is why they feel the need to fill that void with unmeaningful stuff?
A good community structure could free up a lot of time. Imagine: you're good at fixing computers and your neighbor is good at tuning up a car. You just wasted all day trying to figure out how to replace your starter and your neighbor just wasted all day trying to figure out how to remove a virus. If the community structure was there and these two were willing to trade their time they would have both saved lots of time that they could've filled with meaningful activity, resulting in a pareto improvement!
Systems are being created for this barter of services: www.timebanks.org
I plan on getting involved with it this summer to free up even more time for the things that mean the most to me in life: my family, getting outside, getting involved with my community.
Thanks for the link to timebanks.org, Miriam. I have tagged it in del.icio.us with: share community timebank activism social barter collaboration economics finance sustainability local mgt566sx marketing. Systems like this are good for the environment and good for the soul. And thanks for giving Pareto efficiency a progressive twist. I love it!
ReplyDeleteJulie
Hey Julie I'm impressed how did you upload that video? I can't even figure out how to add links to my blogs. As you can imagine I'm still in Tech hell.
ReplyDelete