“Invest your entire being into the things you care about and you no longer need to wonder about the meaning of life. Meaning becomes the air you breathe — a basic, unquestionable element of life.”
They Asked If I Believed In God
Have you seen a flower?
Truly seen a flower?
If you’ve truly seen a flower
Then you know
That all of time
The entire universe
All of existence
The birth of stars
The spinning of planets
The death of creatures
And all that ever occurred
Was contained in a single seed
That sprouted and bloomed
So that you could see that flower
At that time
In that place
Just for you
And, sometime, after that flower dies
It will take the whole of the universe
All that created it
Along with it
That flower is god
And so are you
Productivity Primer 14 – Nicholas Bate
You need this.
Evolving the Future of Headquarters Work – REI Co-op Journal
Remote working will move from a temporary solve to a more engrained, supported, and normalized model for many of our headquarters employees.
REI is selling its headquarters. I predict this will be a major trend.
Happiest of birthdays to my wife, Bethany.
In our post-truth society, she has declared she is 27 years old and dares anyone to offer evidence to the contrary.
“You can’t do that!” She’ll say, “You can’t look at a calendar that way”.
The Police – When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around
Mo Perry and the third option…
My friend Mo Perry has started a newsletter and it’s great! I’ve long admired the clarity of her writing and her ability to connect seemingly disparate ideas. That said, this sentiment jumped out at me from her most resent one:
But isn’t alarm the only sane response to our modern world? A pandemic raging out of control; blatant corruption enriching the ruthless few while millions scrape by; racial injustice; our democracy hanging by a thread; climate change accelerating. It can seem like the only sensible options are denial or despair.
But I feel the tug of a third option: taking calm, purposeful action in my sphere of influence, while nurturing resilience and wellbeing in myself and my community.
This is something I’ve long practiced but recently have found myself off of the path. I needed this nudge.
My wife speaks in defense of the WhileWeAreAtIts
The WhileWeAreAtIts
The project started off with a well defined scope. It was moving along slowly but suredly. then, the “WhileWeAreAtIts” started to creep in.
“While we have everything already moved out, we could install shelving.”
“Since the mattress that was in that room was no great shakes, let’s get a new one.”
”Let’s touch up the paint here since everything is over there”
”While we’re at it, why don’t we…”
Now, don’t get me wrong, all of these are valid things to take care of. They make sense both from a practical perspective and in the grand scheme of things. It’s just that these extras were not considered and accounted for in the project at the start. What should have taken X amount of time takes Y. What should have been done by now is not.
All too often, it’s hard to account for these things. You don’t tend to think of them or even see them until you do. Not until you are in the weeds of a project do the WhileWeAreAtIts reveal themselves.
Just know that, more often them not, when taking on a big projects the WhileWeAreAtIts will likely be there waiting to pop up. Do your best to adjust your expectations accordingly.