Eudaemonia Machine
I took on a long delayed challenge and wrote a novella during the quiet and solitude that the early days of the pandemic. By my estimation it’s nothing worth reading and unless I put serious effort into revisions, it won’t be shared more broadly. In the year that followed I also wrote a screen play inspired by a dream that consumed me one night. These creative outpourings were for me and me only. Long solitary swims out into a sea of imagination and wonder. The very doing was enough. I had reached a state of Eudaemonia (or Eudaimonia). The common link between these swells of productivity was space.
The Freedom of Constraints
Some constraints are the result of our respective socio-economic situations. Others come from the compounding of unfortunate circumstances or bad decisions. And yet others come from self selection. The last is my favorite. The conscious creation of boundaries to set constraints in a given situation. I call it addition through subtraction.
A Meaningful Delta
I was once invited to attend a meeting to plan a meeting to schedule meetings. This was a real request from a Deloitte consultant to me while on a project in New York. I declined that invite and every single other meeting invite he sent. I wish I could say that was the last wasteful meeting invite I ever received but anyone who has worked in corporate America knows, meetings, whether meaningful or not, are all too common. They are death by a thousand paper cuts.
My Spirituality
To be clear, I am not religious. From the earliest age I needed too much empirical proof to make a leap of faith. I also could not accept the idea that any of my friends and family would be "excluded" in an afterlife because we did not share the same belief structure. If they are in fact good people, what God would no want them in their company? This question made me think that belief was asking me to make a choice between ideology and the people closest to me. I could not reconcile that and thus moved away from any religiosity.
Individualism–Collectivism Scale
You can trace the individualistic mindset of Americans to its founding. That pursuit of various individual freedoms fueled the don’t tread on me spirit. Whether it was the freedom of religion, the lawless expansion into occupied indigenous lands, or the right to practice morally bereft chattel slavery. Americans have demanded the room to pursue what they solely want no matter the impact to their neighbor. It is no surprise then that "the United States scores highest on the individualism end of [the individualism-collectivism scale ... and consequently] is the only industrialized country in the world that does not provide its citizens with universal health care."
Revisiting Minimalism
I find I have to constantly explain the idea of Minimalism to everyone I discuss it with because their first idea is some Monk like existence, barren of joy or material belongings, wasting away alone in some empty white walled room. That’s the double entendre in the naming this philosophy, Minimalism. In reality, Minimalism should be equated with Essentialism. An essentialist philosophy that is reinforced by mindfulness. The two fuel the thoughtful consideration of everything we bring into our lives and how we allot our time and attention.
Getaway Cabin Review
It is not unreasonable at first glance to consider Getaway just another form of glamping. Set up in purchased lands near natural preserves, each Getaway location serves as a nearby escape from many major cities. The sites are home to over 20 micro-habitats spaced evenly apart, across serene settings. Ours was located in Suches between Blue Ridge and Dahlonega. The positioning not so remote to draw on survivalist skills; but instead ideal for Turning Off and Tuning Out the everyday monotony. A humble experience lies inside of a small bubble all your own. You can go and not leave the same four walls or grounds for days. Or you may venture out and explore local areas and hike. But you will get to decompress at the very least.
Tribalism and Purpose
In the larger sense, I don't believe the world or at least individual nations have worked collectively to achieve a much larger purpose since the space race. Quarantine orders, though absolutely necessary, have only further isolated and deepened distrust between us. Belonging to a larger collective with a bigger vision is what we could use now. Unfortunately, our leaders and the news media talking heads fail to push an agenda that works to unite. This effort most likely has to start at the individual level. If there is one question we could all ask ourselves that could roll neatly into a greater mission is, "is what I am working at, in a purely objective and secular sense, leaving humanity and earth better than I found it?"
BOSS Uncaged Podcast Episode
In each episode [of BOSS Uncaged], Guests come from a wide range of backgrounds and share diverse business insights. Learn how to release your primal success through the words of wisdom from inspirational entrepreneurs and industry experts. As they depict who they are, how they juggle their work-life with family life, their successful habits, business expertise, tools, and tips of their trade.