Well this is good. It's only 10:30 and I'm on to my end of day writing. I'm starting to get a healthy feeling of consistency to this. Right now I am noticing my tendency to try and do multiple things at once or do lots of things quickly. To jump around and think about other things and then come back to work on this. I want to cultivate monotasking in my life. Practice the art of focus, and of putting intention and dedication into any practice.
Other things that it feels important to write down.
Last night at the house reflection circle I was thinking about the other things that I want to cultivate in my life:
peace, spaciousness, patience, love, hosting, balance.
Some other things that struck me in the circle:
Enlargening our perception of the system so that things become clearer. This can also be 'tracking', 'awareness'.
The practice of staying present to your family, even while you're in the middle of those dynamics which always play out.
The concept of metaconnection. staying connected to someone on a higher level because of awareness of their patterns.
Non-transactional interactions.
Some questions I'm left with:
How is vulnerability not vulnerability?
How is sacrifice not sacrifice?
For any given coercive pattern, can we practice something to dismantle it?
What would an acceptance & desire meditation look like?
About Simon.
The more i have been reading about positive psychology, the more I have been talking with Jean, the more I have been thinking about it, the less positive it seems that Simon is on the medications right now. It's actually seriously concerning and when I think about it I get quite sad. I'm wanting to talk to mom and dad about reading this book Flourish by Martin Seligman which I am reading so that perhaps we could get on the same page and provide Simon with a consistent support system, one that was more likely to get him recovering than the road he's on right now. So I want to talk to them about that. Jean has been so helpful in her reaching out to him, especially in this time of high stress for her. I think I will read some more of Flourish tonight.
Oh yeah, I should let dad know about the next LRC intro.
The dates for the LRC learners is May 21, 22,23 Saturday-Monday because it's a long weekend. Tanya and I are meeting at 4 oclock tomorrow to talk about that.
What Went Well, May 3
Going to the library to do web design.
Playing ridiculous doodle games with Alex at Coffee Culture.
Tonight I was struggling with the concept of spending the evening alone and just coming up to my room to do something by myself, but when I finally let go of that and came up here to watch a TED talk and read Flourish, Tanya immediately came and knocked on my door, and decided to stay and watch that TED talk with me. It was the one by John Hunter about the World Peace Game. It was an affirmation that it is almost always 'letting go' that can lead to results you were desiring in the first place. Coming to my room early and sitting down to do this writing is really working well for me.
Showing posts with label What Went Well. Show all posts
Showing posts with label What Went Well. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Election Day and What Went Well (2)
What a frackin' day.
Today was Canada's 41st federal election, and also the first election in which I was able to vote. So I did. I swapped my vote with someone out east. I voted liberal here, and they voted green party there. It didn't work. We just discovered that there's going to be a Conservative majority. !()*&^@(*YKJHQWR(*YKJKFH(*Q
yeah... interestingly, the official opposition party will be the NDP, significantly beating the liberals.
It also seems that all 4 KW regions have elected conservatives into power. I'm trying to figure out how I want to respond to this news, while my initial reactions are anger and sadness.
Time to focus on What Went Well today.
It strikes me that the first thing that went well was the slow cooked porridge that I made this morning. I put in some apples and cooked it for about 15 minutes and it was soooo much better than the oats I have been eating. Part of this process was sitting and writing down my to do list for the day to get myself organized. In general, the process was satisfying and produced results.
The next big thing that went well was my visit with Simon when he showed up here at the house with Jean. First off, we listened to an Art of Manliness podcast. It felt a lot like what I imagine listening to old radio shows felt like and was a lot of fun. Sometimes I saw Simon smiling at the show. After that we went for a walk around Waterloo park and that was really great. We talked about how part of his mood may have to do with the winter weather, and how summer may improve his mood. We talked about our childhood and how it was hard growing up different from most kids that we were around, and how that must've been hard for our parents too. Also how much we appreciate the way that they did raise us, even if sometimes we resented them for it. We talked about the exciting possibility of us being able to raise children in a way that they're surrounded by others of similar mind and values and don't have that isolating experience. Then we walked balancing along the train tracks all the way home. I can feel how the dynamic is shifting between us in a way that I'm really excited about.
And of course, it is a rare Monday evening that I consider the House Reflection Circle to have not gone well. It went extremely well. With all of us, Jean Adam Tanya Emma Charlotte Todd and I, all there we moved into the living room for space and comfort. If I think about what went well about it, it's really that we are all so open and vulnerable with each other. It doesn't matter what's happening, we just sit through it together there. As usual, discussion led down a really interesting path about vulnerability and sacrifice and the art of hosting. I felt really open to the group and found myself really engaged with the discussion. Sometimes I take more of an outsider's perspective. After that Adam and I went down to Starbucks to grab some cookies.
So that's what went well number 2.
Today was Canada's 41st federal election, and also the first election in which I was able to vote. So I did. I swapped my vote with someone out east. I voted liberal here, and they voted green party there. It didn't work. We just discovered that there's going to be a Conservative majority. !()*&^@(*YKJHQWR(*YKJKFH(*Q
yeah... interestingly, the official opposition party will be the NDP, significantly beating the liberals.
It also seems that all 4 KW regions have elected conservatives into power. I'm trying to figure out how I want to respond to this news, while my initial reactions are anger and sadness.
Time to focus on What Went Well today.
It strikes me that the first thing that went well was the slow cooked porridge that I made this morning. I put in some apples and cooked it for about 15 minutes and it was soooo much better than the oats I have been eating. Part of this process was sitting and writing down my to do list for the day to get myself organized. In general, the process was satisfying and produced results.
The next big thing that went well was my visit with Simon when he showed up here at the house with Jean. First off, we listened to an Art of Manliness podcast. It felt a lot like what I imagine listening to old radio shows felt like and was a lot of fun. Sometimes I saw Simon smiling at the show. After that we went for a walk around Waterloo park and that was really great. We talked about how part of his mood may have to do with the winter weather, and how summer may improve his mood. We talked about our childhood and how it was hard growing up different from most kids that we were around, and how that must've been hard for our parents too. Also how much we appreciate the way that they did raise us, even if sometimes we resented them for it. We talked about the exciting possibility of us being able to raise children in a way that they're surrounded by others of similar mind and values and don't have that isolating experience. Then we walked balancing along the train tracks all the way home. I can feel how the dynamic is shifting between us in a way that I'm really excited about.
And of course, it is a rare Monday evening that I consider the House Reflection Circle to have not gone well. It went extremely well. With all of us, Jean Adam Tanya Emma Charlotte Todd and I, all there we moved into the living room for space and comfort. If I think about what went well about it, it's really that we are all so open and vulnerable with each other. It doesn't matter what's happening, we just sit through it together there. As usual, discussion led down a really interesting path about vulnerability and sacrifice and the art of hosting. I felt really open to the group and found myself really engaged with the discussion. Sometimes I take more of an outsider's perspective. After that Adam and I went down to Starbucks to grab some cookies.
So that's what went well number 2.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
What Went Well
This is an exercise called What Went Well that I read about in the book Flourish by Martin Seligman that involves just writing down three things that went really well today and reflecting on why they went well.
Okay I guess first off I'm going to reflect on my digital 'initiatives' such as enhancing my use of social media like twitter. On twitter today I made a list called changemakers that follows of those accounts on twitter that I think are part of the collaborative shift. Then I sent a link to the list to Venessa Miemis. @Webisteme started following me on twitter and I mentioned Michael Bauwens in a tweet and he responded to me personally. Exciting stuff. I'm really starting to be able to use twitter for useful purposes. Then I shared with Jean about how that list works and also how "the tweeted times" works.
I'm going to throw in one little extra one just because. I took a 2 hour nap this afternoon that did my brain a lot of good. Neuronapping I call it because it felt like I had to sleep in order to get all of these thoughts together and organized in my brain.
The Moving Feast was tonight and the whole thing went quite smoothly, starting with a great conversation with Tanya in the kitchen over supper and then walking down with her to The Button Factory and helping her set things up (so that I know how to do it next time). I even had sent her some songs earlier on in the day by leaving them in the Dropbox that she put in the playlist. It felt like my capacity for hosting and organizing was pretty high. I certainly felt response-able for the situation as it unfolded at the Moving Feast, there being a number of new faces there. Reaching out to Greg for a while, who had been spending his time just standing still, was actually quite fun and it seemed to get me into my body (the effort of holding someone else's experience). And so the dancing itself was lots of fun, but I think what really "went well" was my connection with Tanya this evening that started around five oclock, and only just ended now after seeing her briefly in the kitchen and conversing. I felt really connected to her after a dance that we shared at the Moving Feast and just in general the conversation that we had felt quite powerful.
Another thing that I felt went well today was calling Alex after I got back from the Moving Feast. Even though we just talked about what we had been up to, it was nice to do that because we are getting to know each other quite well. It feels important to stay connected to her, both because it's lots of fun and because I know that she really wants to maintain the connection. I almost didn't think to call her, and then it just struck me, and I called, and we had a lengthy conversation that was both fun, and sometimes deeper about the experience of being ditched by a friend, and it felt good to share that experience with her. I keep thinking about that night that I spent lying with her at Skaidra's. "Well whatever it is, we certainly have a strong connection."
It does feel good to have done this exercise. I'm left thinking about the positive outcomes of today, and I hope they stay with me till I'm asleep.
Okay I guess first off I'm going to reflect on my digital 'initiatives' such as enhancing my use of social media like twitter. On twitter today I made a list called changemakers that follows of those accounts on twitter that I think are part of the collaborative shift. Then I sent a link to the list to Venessa Miemis. @Webisteme started following me on twitter and I mentioned Michael Bauwens in a tweet and he responded to me personally. Exciting stuff. I'm really starting to be able to use twitter for useful purposes. Then I shared with Jean about how that list works and also how "the tweeted times" works.
I'm going to throw in one little extra one just because. I took a 2 hour nap this afternoon that did my brain a lot of good. Neuronapping I call it because it felt like I had to sleep in order to get all of these thoughts together and organized in my brain.
The Moving Feast was tonight and the whole thing went quite smoothly, starting with a great conversation with Tanya in the kitchen over supper and then walking down with her to The Button Factory and helping her set things up (so that I know how to do it next time). I even had sent her some songs earlier on in the day by leaving them in the Dropbox that she put in the playlist. It felt like my capacity for hosting and organizing was pretty high. I certainly felt response-able for the situation as it unfolded at the Moving Feast, there being a number of new faces there. Reaching out to Greg for a while, who had been spending his time just standing still, was actually quite fun and it seemed to get me into my body (the effort of holding someone else's experience). And so the dancing itself was lots of fun, but I think what really "went well" was my connection with Tanya this evening that started around five oclock, and only just ended now after seeing her briefly in the kitchen and conversing. I felt really connected to her after a dance that we shared at the Moving Feast and just in general the conversation that we had felt quite powerful.
Another thing that I felt went well today was calling Alex after I got back from the Moving Feast. Even though we just talked about what we had been up to, it was nice to do that because we are getting to know each other quite well. It feels important to stay connected to her, both because it's lots of fun and because I know that she really wants to maintain the connection. I almost didn't think to call her, and then it just struck me, and I called, and we had a lengthy conversation that was both fun, and sometimes deeper about the experience of being ditched by a friend, and it felt good to share that experience with her. I keep thinking about that night that I spent lying with her at Skaidra's. "Well whatever it is, we certainly have a strong connection."
It does feel good to have done this exercise. I'm left thinking about the positive outcomes of today, and I hope they stay with me till I'm asleep.
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