Showing posts with label create. Show all posts
When I was taking classes in college I
had a professor who had a big complaint about the University. He
didn't believe we had enough coffee shops. Not being much of a coffee
drinker, he meant this figuratively instead of literally. The idea is
that what our university lacked was places where people could gather
and talk, brainstorm, argue and laugh. We lacked community and
idenity because the only goal the university had was to get students
out as fast as possible with a degree.
It is in that spirit that I'm
announcing the Virtual Coffee Shop. Usuing Google+ (sorry Facebook
doesn't do this well, or at all) people can group chat with up to ten
other individuals. This is called a Hangout. Using the Hangout
feature I want to see if we can create a Coffee Shop feature on the
internet. What will be talking about? I don't know. Politics,
religion, science, comedy, jobs, the governments use of taxpayer
dollars to fund research to combine spiders with goats in order to
create material stronger than kevlar...it could be anything.
If you don't have a Google+ account it
is very simple to make one. You no longer need an invite, but if you
want one just to feel special...let me know and I'll send it your
way. Once you've done that, type in my name and add me as a friend.
I'll start the hangout at 8pm MST (7pm PST). It should just show up
in your timeline. Technical details you can private message me.
Let me know if you are interested in
comments so I know if this is worthy of pursuit. Or find me on Google+ and jump in randomly!
One love. DFTBA.
We are all searching for something.
Often in life we feel lost or scared or confused, but what we are is
directionless. We've stopped searching. As we stop searching we begin
to feel confined, isolated and afraid. We are out-of-sorts, and we
continuously wonder why.
It is because we are not in our
Element. It is because we have not remembered our Authentic Swing. It
is because who we are in actuality is not who we are pretending to be
in reality.
These are all topics I've hit on
before. Topics I've hinted at and mentioned. My posts on Zen and the Art of Teaching are all about this, in the broadest sense. Yet, I've
never tackled the issue head on. Partly, because it is still
undefined in my own mind. Partly, because I know that my ideas are a
collection of Ken Robinson's and Leo Babauta's and Kevin Smith's and
Steven Pressfield's and Joe Rogan's and John Green's.
The names I mentioned are just the tip
of the iceberg. Each of those individuals were inspired by others
stretching back through time. Rogan loves Graham Hancock and Hunter
S. Thompson. Kevin Smith is motivated by Wayne Gretzky and his own
Catholicism. Pressfield studied Indian cultures and religions.
Everyone is a collection of other people's ideas. It may be that
there is no originality whatsoever, only the ether. Only the Element
where all possibilities exist simultaneously and continuously. Where
our Authentic Swings can be remembered.
I am mixing different terms which may
be confusing to those trying to pay attention. Let me be clear:
There is something beyond our own
internal bodies. Something outside the clicking clock that operates
our organs. It goes by many names; heaven, yin and yang, the Field,
the Element, the Middle Path, Nirvana, consciousness, the ether,
Alpha and Omega. Arriving at a name is problematic because it has a
tendency to alienate those unfamiliar with this new name. Or it
causes suffering because of preconceived notions and biases.
I realize these problems exist. Help me
circumvent them. I am calling this consciousness outside ourselves
The Element. It is what drives us in our searching. It is both the
destination and the path. The Element is where we all wish to reside.
We have been there before. When we are
playing sports and get into the zone our bodies seem to become
extensions of our minds, reacting at our slightest will, and
sometimes, without our will at all. Almost on pure instinct. When we
are writing and the words seem to flow from our fingertips. The pen
flies across the paper, our fingers dance across the keyboard and
beauty emerges. We are in our Element when we are in love and when we
are at play. I know we have all been there before. The key is how do
we remain there.
How can we be in The Element at all
times? That depends on who you are. Are you an athlete, a warrior, a
writer, a lover, a singer or a saint? To put it another way, what is
your Authentic Swing? The path you will take is not identical, in
fact it can not be identical, to someone else's. Your path is based
on who you are and the experiences you have. It is individual and
personal. Yet, it is still The Element.
The Element is universal. It is calling
to all of us, and we are searching for it. The more we realize this,
the more we become aware of the cues. We begin to see what leads in
the right direction and what leads us astray. Awareness is the first
step towards The Element. You must open your eyes before anything
else can take place. Yes, the light is bright, but we must embrace
it. We lose our way not because The Element has shifted the path, but
because we choose to shield ourselves from the light.
Take the first step. Open your eyes.
A friend showed this to me and it was too amazing not to share.
Jason Reeves: We Are The Lovesick
we are the lovesick. the fearless ones.
the never giving up.
the hearts undone. sick with the desire to love. to live so far
beyond the boundaries given to us. we are the fence-hopping
fools who never stopped to read the signs. the ones that left
the world behind. like dreams we've drawn in neon light. just
moments in the sea of time. we are the lost ones wandering.
the soon to be smoldering. last to be found. the first to fall and
fail to fly then shatter on the ground. we are the rebels running
wild through a darkness that can swallow us. but we've set fire
to our souls. burning brilliant blinding gold. the flames that illuminate our lonely road. our futures holding fates untold. we are the ever-refusing to fold. to fade away or worse to lose. the few that bend and break apart the cages of our rules. born desperate for the promise of the mystery unknown. we are the lovesick. and just like the sun we will always rise. hope still shining in our eyes..
the hearts undone. sick with the desire to love. to live so far
beyond the boundaries given to us. we are the fence-hopping
fools who never stopped to read the signs. the ones that left
the world behind. like dreams we've drawn in neon light. just
moments in the sea of time. we are the lost ones wandering.
the soon to be smoldering. last to be found. the first to fall and
fail to fly then shatter on the ground. we are the rebels running
wild through a darkness that can swallow us. but we've set fire
to our souls. burning brilliant blinding gold. the flames that illuminate our lonely road. our futures holding fates untold. we are the ever-refusing to fold. to fade away or worse to lose. the few that bend and break apart the cages of our rules. born desperate for the promise of the mystery unknown. we are the lovesick. and just like the sun we will always rise. hope still shining in our eyes..
It is terribly scary to be alone
Whether literally or figuratively.
Being on the outside of a group is frightening.
So be kind to others.
Buy a round for everyone, share a story.
Be willing to open up.
Best advice I ever got or can ever give
Be Kind.
This is the beginning of a big idea. I
wanted to get my thoughts out now because they are still fresh in my
mind, but tune in often to see me continue this series.
It all starts with my post on The Energy of People. Which was influenced by Jay Mohr (@jaymohr37). The
basic concept is that people all give off certain energies and it is
the job of the teacher (or in Mohr's case, comedian) to manipulate
those energies to achieve the desired result.
 |
| "...and that's why the chicken crossed the road." |
As I go about teaching it becomes more
and more apparent to me how similar teaching is to stand-up comedy. I
perform a routine every day. Sometimes it's four 10 minute bits with
5 minute breaks in between. Sometimes it's an hour and half,
non-stop, Dave Chappelle at the laugh factory, crazy train. I stand up
and do these routines 3 times a day, twice a week, and then I write
new material for the next two days. Then the performance starts all
over again. (To explain, our school uses an A/B schedule. I teach 6
classes, 3 each day. Hope that makes sense.)
Ultimately, it's all about those
energies my students are giving off, and how I manipulate that
energy. How I use it to make them laugh, to focus them, to quiet
them, to get them to share something. But what is the most important
part of this energy-manipulating equation?
Me.
It starts with knowing myself. Knowing
my own energy. Knowing who I am. In order to feel this energy and take it in,
change it, then deliver it back out- I need to be at peace. I need to
be zen.
Athletes call this being in the zone.
Ken Robinson calls this the element. The book I'm stealing this blog
entry's title from, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, calls
it Quality. Both are talking about the same thing; being in an
environment where you are comfortable, knowledgeable and capable of
producing results. When you get to point where "work"
doesn't feel like work. It feels like creation.
I'm not perfect yet. Far from it, but I
love going into the classroom to work towards perfection. There are
moments where I tap into it. Great, wonderful, perfect moments that
artists always hope for when things just flow.
One of these moments happened today. It
was my second day of giving the same lesson (remember, A/B schedule),
and so I was already feeling like a comedian who had worked out his
material the day before. The lesson was regarding the Spanish
explorer Juan Ponce de Leon. The textbook mentioned that he is often
remembered for failing to find the fountain of youth. Near the end of
class a student raised their hand and asked, "Why would someone
be remembered for failing to find something?"
There's a bunch of different possible
responses to that. It's Friday, with 5 minutes left in class. I could
blow it off- "Because the text wanted something interesting to
write about." I could dismiss it- "I don't really know."
Perhaps I would have given one of those
answers if I had been feeling anything other than perfectly calm, in
my element, zen.
I looked to my right, stared at a
student for a few seconds who was talking to a neighbor until he
quieted down. Now the class is silent, all attention on me. It's my
audience to win over or lose completely.
"Why would someone be remembered for failing to find something? Good question. No, great question... I think it is because of the time period that had come just before. These explorers are sailing only a few generations after the dark ages; a time of decay and disgust. A time when there was no growth in culture or art or science. A time where someone was born, lived and died without ever traveling more than 25 miles from their home."
"Then come these explorers. They tell stories of lands so vast it fills the whole skyline from end to end. They tell stories of strange new people, and of riches so plentiful they make kings and queen look like beggars. They tell stories of cities made of gold and mythical fountains that can let you live forever."
"I think we remember these people because it doesn't always matter if you find what you are looking for. After times of darkness, sometimes the most important thing you can do is tell someone a story that gives them hope."
Bell rings. Class dismissed.
In a world where we are so often told
that work is just a device to make us money; I think it is important
to find something that you can do in your own element.
I think I've found mine, and I know
that every day it's exciting to go back in and find myself in that
zone of peace and serenity where words, and concepts, and laughter
all flow effortlessly.
It's either that, or I'll try my hand
at stand up comedy.
Thanks for reading. Love you all.
This is the first post in my Zen and the Art of Teaching series. Check out the second post here.
This is the first post in my Zen and the Art of Teaching series. Check out the second post here.
I broke up my driving over many days instead of doing it all at once. It also gave me a chance to see a bunch of friends...and not live out of my car for awhile. Which was great. I felt like even my car started saying, "Man, you smell."
So my trip has consisted of two periods/phases/sections: The alone period and the not alone period.
The different feel to each of these periods is striking. I am a solitary guy. I'm introverted, need to be alone to recharge and think, enjoy the quiet. At least that's what I would have told myself a week ago. Now I am unsure.
This is a work in progress (in my head) so bear with me as I try to discover what I am talking about.
Jay Mohr (@jaymohr37) talks about stand-up comedy as moving energy. The crowd comes in with a bunch of different energy, and the comedian comes in with his energy; and his job is to feel the energy in the room, take it, change it, and then redeliver it back to the audience. Normally in a way that makes them laugh, but also in ways that can make them think. See George Carlin for the best examples of both.
I tell you that to tell you this. I think we all have different energies that are constantly bumping into the rest of the energies present. If you're a paranormalist you call this aura. If you're religious you call this a soul. If you are a Jedi you call it the Force.
I don't like to get tied up with words to define indefinable concepts. So I'm rocking it like Jay Mohr and going with energies.
The self-generated energy- the introverted energy- is the one that I feed off normally. It's what inspired the last post. It's what drives this blog. It's where I find my motivation for doing things like driving 3,000 miles alone. And up until a few days ago, I would have said it was the only energy I really used.
Then I stayed with a certain family for a day (I didn't ask if they wanted their name on the blog, so we will go sans name for privacy reasons). Let me first explain that I am the oldest in my family, my brother is 18, and my sister is 16. However, I haven't exactly spent a lot of time at home the past two years.
Needless to say, it has been awhile since I was around little kids.
 |
| This is my family. I put this in because this post was text-heavy and it needed a break. See, one small child. The tiny one is my first cousin, once removed and lives in Georgia with her family. I, for the record, am the gray-shirted, jean-wearing, strapping young lad in the first row. |
This host family has one married-aged, one college aged, three teenagers, and two young kids (ages 5 and 9, if memory serves). Along with the little ones there are three friends that, as far as I could tell, spent the majority of their time at the house too. Making five kids under 10.
My introverted, self-generating energy wasn't exactly front and center.
The energy present was palpable. Kids are running, screaming, crying and laughing almost constantly. Teenagers are asking about parties and colleges and all that good stuff. And super-mom (and the college-aged daughter who played super-mom while mom was away for a bit) is handling all with ease.
I enjoyed it quite a bit. Like Jay Mohr I consider myself someone who is good at feeling out other people's energies. With young kids there is no "feeling out." They bring the energy and smack you in the face with it. Sometimes they just smack you in the face.
Either way there is no mystery. Everything is a game. Everything is funny. Everything is sad. Everything is...exactly what it is at that certain moment.
It's beautifully simplistic and surprisingly complex all at the same time. As we get older it's all about what happened to us previously, and what we are going to do in the future. Rarely are we so enthralled with each moment as these little kids. And that energy is infectious.
I love the whole concept Jay Mohr outlines. A movement of energy from audience to performer back to the audience. It's a concept I've latched on to since I heard it a couple of months back. However, while Jay Mohr was talking about adjusting the energy in order to make people smile and laugh; I'm talking about letting others energies affect our own in positive ways.
Letting the enjoyment and enthrallment of the young inspire us to play often. Letting the beautiful work and talent of the musician inspire us to think deeply. Letting the strength and foundation of our parents inspire us to build ourselves up.
More than anything though; allow the energy of conversation to flow freely and deeply between friends. Be honest. Be kind. Use all the energies available to us to create wonderful moments filled with laughter, bliss and happiness.
Thanks for reading.
DFTBA
When I have class at 8am I can't sleep.
When I have no class I go to bed at 10pm.
Ironic.
___________
I write excellent poetry when I'm in love,
or depressed.
I always write excellent poetry.
_____________
Played this at least 10 times on repeat today. Last four minutes are magic.
"You don't remember what happened. What you remember becomes what happened." -John Green
In this case, I wish I could remember falling asleep three hours ago.
Firstly, I believe in giving credit where credit is do. So see Leo Babauta's post for my inspiration.
An excellent place to begin. To create. I'm not entirely sure what it means or how it is properly done. I know that I do it often. I believe that it is one of the truly unique things we can do in this world. What we wear isn't unique, what we say isn't unique, how we act isn't unique. And yet originality does exist. In a surprising number of shapes and iterations. How is this possible? creation.
We all have the ability to create. As children we played pretend and make-believe. We danced when there was no music, we talked to things that only we saw, we saw things no one else did. Children are fantastic creators. I don't think they are the best, just incredibly good. Imagine you were drafting a football team, there is a child who has an incredibly strong arm, he seems very mature and smart, and really loves playing football all the time...he's also 12. Do you draft him? Of course not. The kid has potential, nothing more and nothing less. Children all have potential as creators. It's almost like they are instinctual good at it.
We are all creators of one type or another. Whether it is something everyone recognizes as creativity like art, or something more nuanced and under-appreciated, like farming. Both are creation in very real, tangible senses of the words. While we may not all understand every work of art, we do recognize that something exists in the space in front of our eyes. In farming it may be possible we don't know every aspect that went in to production, yet nobody denies that something exists where previously nothing had.
Even the more metaphysical ideas are creation. The things that aren't tangible. Ideas are created all the time. Our brains are a powerhouse of creation. The difference between having an idea or having potential and true creation is the part when you bring it into the world. Ideas are the backbone of all creation (all things if you want to be technical) but unless we bring it out into the world that idea is wasted.
Everything you see here, and some that you don't, I did in one day (as of 5pm on May 29, 2011). In one day I created something that I had put off for months. I've had blogs before. I write all the time. And yet for months I put this off, for no real tangible reason. Something came up, I didn't feel like doing it, there was something else going on.
But do you want to know the kicker? The thing that stopped me more than anything else...I couldn't find a really great template. I searched and I searched but either the coding was too advanced for me or it didn't fit my style. Months I spent not writing because I couldn't find the very best template in the world. I wanted drop-down menus and snazzy features that could be instantly linked to every social networking site known to man. Now look at this site. Clean, simple, and to the point. You know what the best part of that simplicity is...it doesn't get in the way of me creating.
I am still wondering what exactly I will put on this blog. I have a world for acting and creation, my podcast with Rolando Fuentes. That's a character based on myself. Some things I really feel but mostly I just am trying to get people to smile. More than that is that it gave me something to do, an outlet. I have, and will continue to have, my personal writings. Things that nobody, or so few as to constitute nobody, will ever see. So what is this for? Right now I'm hoping for a blend of the two. My "stage" persona of the podcast and the "real" me. But the truth is that I am still working on it, and I will always be working on it. I started writing because it felt like what I needed to do. I had to create.
So many roadblocks get in the way of creating. Embarrassment, pain, negative feedback, laziness, pride, etc. I'm hoping this blog will be a way to overcome some of those roadblocks. I hope you will participate in my creation by creating something of your own. Create a comment. Create a tweet. Create a post. Leave the computer and create a lego set, or a movie, or a new idea. Never stop creating. It is the one truly unique thing that you can do.