Re-List 2012
The better part of 2012, I have spent reading lists and at the end of the day, they have done nothing if not make me more dissatisfied with the status quo. What I have read that has inspired me have been an array of unlists: a friend’s food blog, a new podcast from Bill Moyers, a blog I stumbled upon, and one I sought out, as well as re-reading the Tao te Ching.
And so here is my Re-list for 2012:
1. The lists I have read in the past 15 days have inspired me to quit reading lists. Everything you need to know about life is contained within the Tao – I’ve read nothing that has inspired me as much as rereading this passage.
TtC #9:
Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval
and you will be their prisoner.Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.
2. Connectivity – this is something I have read about in every list because I study media, but no one has gotten it right so far. I adopted a child in 2009 and he is growing fast. I force myself to be connected with him because at my age I know that work fills all available space. An ex colleague of mine took two weeks off for maternity leave over a decade ago. Another leaves in the morning and returns at night to her kids. I want to be present. The reason I had more time to read lists this year is I accompanied a friend to the midwest where she, in her 40s, adopted a newborn baby. That experience was simply put, incredible. It made me realize how fast my own son is growing up and so I drove 90 miles an hour after being away for a week to be present in his life. And how this relates to media? – I purchased a bottle of Perrier Pink Grapefruit (it’s the same sparkly water with a dash of pink grapefruit juice) on the way to a dinner party and loved it. I went back to get more and the small grocer was out so I did a shout out to my larger grocer – Rouses – on Facebook and as Rouses has done in the past, they responded immediately, with all of the information I needed to be satisfied and get more. Here is one local grocer who gets social media, who gets connectivity. Makes me proud.
3. In the blog I stumbled upon, one post described Woody Alan’s work habits (working five hours a day) and what we can learn. Right now America is anti-Europe, calling on the European schedule – time off and 35-hour work week – as the antithesis of what we need to be doing. I disagree. A woman in Croatia said her grandfather told her all you need in life are two chairs – one to sit on, and one to put your feet on. I began this year again as an entrepreneur. I aspire to help companies tell their stories, launch products, and green-light their strategies. It’s a simple plan. My friends tell me I’ll be working harder than ever with my own business. But I disagree. Read #1 and #2 – aspiring to be rich is not an option, but neither is failure.
4. Give, but also receive. I started working on a community project back in 2011 that took up a lot of my time. Too much of my time. I then proceeded to pick up two other community endeavors – working more closely with my son’s school and a broader conservation project. I was soon overwhelmed. My new company’s DNA has social and philanthropy in its blueprint, but that doesn’t mean at the expense of living. This year, give a little, take a little. Time is a valuable resource.
The monarchs are dying around my neighborhood – I keep trying not to step on them. It seems butterfly season has lasted longer than usual given the continued high temps in New Orleans. I read somewhere that if there was no change, there would be no butterflies. We know only too well here that change allows other things room to become, even while we mourn what we lost.