I’m a problem solver and an idealist. This can be a bad combination at times. As a problem solver, I naturally see problems in the world and think of ways to change them. As an idealist, I see the gap between how things are and the way things could be and become frustrated. Being a problem solver and an idealist is a recipe for frustration – and frustration isn’t productive.
I had lunch today with my good friend Phil Anderson. Phil is an expert in connecting dots. He works with non-profits, communities, leadership organizations, and other groups to help bring people and ideas together. He makes things happen.
During our lunch Phil and I began talking about the idea of servant leadership. Phil’s eyes lit up and he reached in his bag and pulled out a bookmark. Words were printed on the bookmark, and they were Anyway – The Paradoxical Commandments by Kent Keith. The Paradoxical Commandments were written in 1968 as part of a booklet for student leaders. They are 10 “commandments” to inspire servant leadership. The idea of “anyway” is that despite obstacles (and haters) we choose to think and act positively anyway.
The first of the paradoxical commandments is my favorite:
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyways.
Easy to say. Difficult to practice.
Phil let me keep the bookmark.
Now I want to know: How do you stay positive? Share your thoughts and leave a comment.
I finally got around to producing a short video of my mountain hike on Oahu’s North Shore.
I recently had the opportunity to stay with my friends in Ewa Beach to escape six weeks of Indiana winter – it was beautiful. I posted several updates to my posterous blog, heyitsdrew.com, from the experience. You can check out all of the Hawaii posts at http://heyitsdrew.com/tag/hawaii. Also, check out the original blog post from my climb for some amazing photos.
In the video I nearly fall at 3:17 when a stone breaks and again at 5:20 when my footing slips. I would’ve been in for a looong ride if I fell from this point. Watch and you’ll see what I mean. So much fun!
What do you think – greatest freestyle rap in the history of mankind? You should leave a comment below. It’s free! Oh, and subscribe to future blog posts by rss or by email (so you don’t miss my next free style). Thanks for stopping by!
The room froze, but not in terror like he expected. And no one had the heart to interrupt his howling to mention the moon wasn’t full. So they listened in silence, eyebrows raised. And afterwards politely applauded, clearing their throats and eyeing their shoes.
I’m really not that good (at all) but despite the frustration I have a blast skating. Thanks to Sara for being patient and filming a few basic tricks. I didn’t create this to showcase my skills, more just as a quick video editing project that was fun to make. I used CyberLink PowerDirector and just cut the clips a bit – nothing fancy. Enjoy!
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Standing on the beach looking towards the mountain
As soon as I saw this mountain along the North Shore of Oahu I said aloud, “I must climb it.”
Tuesday morning I grabbed a few bottles of water and my camera bag and headed north to make it happen.
The mountain offered a buffet of terrain; grasslands, bushes, boulders, and the meat of the experience – vertical rock faces. Every ten minutes I was conquering one section and plotting my attack on the next. I felt like a kid in a candy store – eyes wide, overwhelmed with delicious options. “Can I find a way around this obstacle or should I duck in and go straight up through?” Aside from two necessary exceptions, I typically scanned for the route that looked the most challenging. What a blast!
There were a few close calls, and more than once I thought “I probably should have gone with a climbing partner.” Fortunately, I only fell three times – nothing serious. However, my knees, shins, and ankles were brutalized. Let me explain:
Thick and nasty underbrush.
The entire mountain is covered in thick underbrush between four and eight feet tall. Everything below waist high is covered in thick grass that perfectly conceals boulders and crevices. Each footfall must be slowly and cautiously placed. I can’t count the number of times my shins “discovered” boulders or I stumbled into a crevice – cutting and bruising my ankles.
At one point I had to stop myself mid-step. A foot in front of me the hillside disappeared into a bottomless darkness. A crevice cut deep into the mountainside – maybe ten feet deep but only three feet across. It was so narrow that the brush on both sides hid the death trap perfectly.
That was my first real scare of the day– and I made a mental note to watch my step.
My head was pointed downward for most of the climb – only stopping at clearings to enjoy the view and plot the next segment of my route.
I got to do some seriously fun climbing here!
I underestimated this mountain, but not in ignorance. Before climbing I laughed away the reality of the challenge in the same way boxing heavyweights talk trash before entering the ring.
I understood the challenge, but it only charged my legs and brought a smile to face in a fun, “show me what you got” sort of way.
Imagine a piece of paper crumpled up in a ball. From looking at it you couldn’t estimate the surface area very accurately. In the same way, scanning the mountain from a distance you can’t really imagine each cliff and ridge that make the climb seem five times longer than it should. The thing really unfolds.
Wearing pants would have been an awesome idea – but the only long pants I have here are my nice jeans which I wasn’t about to shred. Instead, I shredded my legs (and arms… and face…)
Another tricky thing about this rhino was that each time I thought I was nearly at the top I kept discovering higher ridges to conquer.
Finally, after two hours I approached the summit. I was covered in sweat, insects, dust, and bruises but I felt brand new.
The final 15' climb was the trickiest thanks to loose rocks.
The final 15 foot climb was the most intense. Several rocks came loose and fell from overhead and dust was blowing in my eyes. I briefly considered the irony of getting hurt now, within reach of the top.
I finally hauled myself over the last boulder. I stood up deliberately and slowly turned to face the ocean. A wall of air was pouring in from the pacific and screamed over the summit. I leaned into it. My feet gripped the rock through the thin soles of my shoes and I felt perfectly solid and balanced – as if the full weight of the mountain was flowing up through me as I straighted my back and stood perfectly tall.
I smiled. And then – arms wide, head back, and eyes closed – I shouted at the world. I existed alone for a moment. It was perfection.
[View 22 of the best photos from the climb below. Click on the first photo to open an overlay. Then use the controls on the lower left of the overlay to scroll through the images.]
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Yesterday on January 18th my web development company, Web Logic Now LLC, turned 8 years old! It’s unbelievable to think about these past years and all of the great people I’ve been able to work with. I want to specifically thank my Dad for supporting my ambitions and helping me turn my middle-school hobby into a flourishing business! Thanks Dad!
Unlike the past, I decided to actually celebrate this year! We had cake, lit 8 candles, and yes, even sang “happy birthday” to Web Logic Now! (Thanks Sara, Malory, and David).
Making the cake look just like the WLN logo was tough. Because the logo is composed of geometric shapes (circle, triangle, and rectangle) the human eye can pick out flaws very easy. It was my job to draw the outline of the logo in the icing and Sara did, literally, everything else. (Sara is awesome.)
Happy 8th Birthday to Web Logic Now LLC!
First step: create delicious icing with lots of sugar and butter
Sara meticulously outlining
Looking pretty good!
Now to fill in the logo's white areas
Coming together! Next to smooth the white areas
Just look at this focus and attention to details!
Final product!
Om nom nom nom
A smile from the talented chef
Singing "Happy Birthday" to Web Logic Now! (we're goofy, I know)
Finally we can eat our creation
Delicious.
Thanks again to my family, friends, and all of the great people I’ve had the joy of working with during the past 8 years. I’m excited for 2010 and the things we’ll accomplish together!
[Warning: the following is a free-write that I’m publishing as a sort of experiment. It was written just now as a stream of consciousness with complete disrespect to syntax and grammar. It’s fun.
I hope that you find it readable despite the terrible sentence structure and run-ons.]
I want to write about Hawaii – but I find myself so lost in the experience that I’m finding it difficult to wrap it up. To capture it.
I would take a few steps back – in order to get a better view, grip, grasp on the experience in order to describe it in a way that resonates with me, but I’m in the middle of it.
It is not something that has already happened, which I can now reflect on – which is typical for most experiences that I write about. My normal writing style is either some thought or memory that was recently inspired, has ended, and is fresh in my mind for description, thought, consideration.
I think I’m so used to this normal experience pattern that my mind is thrown off by the relative length of this experience. This moment, sitting alone in my room on my bed, after breakfast but before heading out for the day, is the closest I’ve come to being able to separate myself from the enduring experience in order to reflect.
It’s a relief, really, because I planned on writing more – and although I have no reason to, I feel ever so slightly stressed when I feel like I should (?) be writing more.
That I’m missing something and it needs to be captured so that the impact of some certain event – a conversation, a scene – doesn’t fade into a weak watered-down description using stock words like “awesome, fun, amazing” – which lack any feeling whatsoever – especially in written word. In person these words can be used because they are complimented with big eyes, smiles, hand gestures, and emphasis.
More writing and details of my Hawaiian adventures later. Subscribe by rss or by email so you don’t miss the coming tales, photos, and videos (climb palm trees, jump off waterfalls, and learn to surf… vicariously).
Indianapolis Artsgarden (photo credit Indiana Univ)
On Friday I spent the day in Indianapolis with my good friend Nathan Monk (@nathanmonkart). We go way back (I’m talking grade school). Nathan is a husband, father, musician, and artist – and he was invited to display his work at the annual Indianapolis Artsgarden Holiday Art Sale sponsored by Be Indypendent and the Arts Council of Indianapolis.
Nathan focuses on recycling and repurposing found objects for sculpture and 3D collage. Really awesome and original stuff. He doesn’t do it for the money (what artist does?) but his work is definitely worth owning. Everything on his website is for sale if you are interested. (very reasonable prices, just email him at nathanmonkart@gmail.com)
The event was held in the beautiful Artsgarden – which is a glass dome-shaped building suspended over the intersection of Washington and Illinois streets at the heart of the Circle City. The event lasted all day and showcased artwork from 20 of Indy’s top local artists.
It was quite an honor for Nathan to be accepted in the show. He was probably the youngest artist on display and his table was easily one of the most popular. I got to tag along for the ride – helping when possible and documenting the occasion. Then on Saturday I had a blast digging through the footage and creating a short video montage of the day. It’s nothing too advanced (I used CyberLink PowerDirector ha), but I had a blast with it!
The video includes:
Our 8am set up
A micro-interview with Nathan
A taste of what the day was all about
The evening crowd
Packing up and heading home
Credits
Bonus “uncut” clip
…all packed into a delicious five and a half minutes. Like I said, I had way too much fun creating this video. Maybe I should think about how I can do more video work in the future? Hmm…
Enjoy!
(If you enjoyed this post, Nathan’s artwork, and/or the video, you should post this on facebook or twitter. Thank you)
Well guys I can’t put it off any longer so I’ll just come right out and say it. The sleep experiment officially ended on Sunday November 29th – two weeks after it began. I’ve been avoiding this blog post because I am sad about ending the experiment and this seems to put a stamp of finality on the whole thing.
The experiment involved sleeping multiple times during the day – specifically, sleeping for 20 minutes every four hours around the clock. Instead of sleeping during the night and being awake all day I’m basically taking six powernaps (amounting to about two hours of accumulative sleep per 24 hour period).
Ultimately I decided to return to monophasic sleep for social reasons.
I cherish the freedom to be spontaneous – especially when it comes to spending time with friends and family – and I was having to make too many social sacrifices to maintain the strict polyphasic sleep schedule.
My first major social sacrifice came on day five of the experiment when I had to back out of going to an art and hip hop show in Indianapolis with my buddy, Nathan Monk. I wasn’t happy about it but I figured that after the first week or so I could be more flexible with my sleep schedule – delaying or possibly even skipping naps when necessary.
After the first four or five days of the experiment I was feeling great and spending more than 90% of the day awake. I felt more optimistic and creative than I’ve ever felt. I was working more, reading more, skateboarding more, writing more, learning more, taking more photos… It felt as if I was cheating in the game of life. I was hacking time. Not only was I functioning, but I was excited and productive on about two hours of sleep a day! I was optimistic from the start and expected good results but the degree of success was still shocking. Every day I asked myself, ‘How is it possible to feel this good on only two hours of sleep a day?!’ Did I mention it was the most optimistic and creative two weeks I can ever remember?
Now, I do want to clarify that although I was awake for 22 hours a day I was not functioning at 100% at all times. In the same way that most people feel a bit slow during the late afternoon I also experienced times where I felt a little hazy. For me these times typically came between 3am and sunrise. During these times I would focus on less demanding activities such as cleaning, washing dishes, laundry, and reading.
During the second week of the experiment (the week of Thanksgiving) I began pushing the limits of the schedule’s flexibility – sometimes skipping a nap and then taking a longer nap later to “make up for it.” This, however, did not work out so well. It turns out that if I’m going to be getting two hours of sleep every 24 hours my body needs the strict schedule in order to snap into a functioning pattern. My schedule was a 20 minute nap at 10am, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm, 2am, 6am, and repeat.
As the novelty of the experiment wore down I was less willing to make social sacrifices, therefore putting vibrations into my sleep schedule which caused strain in the experiment – sabotaging my optimism and commitment.
The final nail in the coffin happened on Friday November 27th when I stayed awake for over 18 hours. I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon and evening with close friends that I don’t get the chance to see very often – and I couldn’t bring myself to put my own sleep experiment before those relationships. It has become clear to me lately that no relationship lasts forever. Not to be a downer, but all relationships will eventually end. But this is what makes our relationships so valuable and worthy of being cherished. And yes, worthy of sacrificing sleep for.
After the night of the 27th I considered continuing the experiment but after a fierce discussion with myself I decided it would be best to return to monophasic sleep. Yep. Plain old boring monophasic sleep, ugh. The first time I slept for eight hours consecutively after my experiment I felt like a lazy bum. During the sleep experiment eight hours of sleep would have lasted me four days!
The transition back to monophasic sleep was actually a little tough psychologically – and I’m still bummed out about it. The days seem to fly by and I feel relatively unproductive. It’s difficult.
After experiencing the high that comes from “time travel” (essentially having more hours in the day), I think I’ll always feel awkward about monophasic sleep. It’s just not the most effective sleep schedule for me. But unfortunately it’s what we all do thanks to the day/night cycle of the planet.
In the end, even though I prefer the polyphasic sleep schedule for many reasons, I came to the realization that the freedom to spend time with friends and family is far more valuable to me right now. I will always daydream about those two weeks though… and I know I will again return to polyphasic sleep at some point in my life when it makes sense (likely this spring). I lived through a thrilling dream – and I must give it another go at some point. I’m addicted.
I had half a blog post written about my sleep experiment when I found my mind wandering. ‘Come on brain, focus!’ I took a break for lunch but was still struggling to write about the experiment. I finally gave up, opened a new document, and started typing. This is what came out.
I’m currently reading “Personal Development for Smart People” by Steve Pavlina (Amazon link). I’m only halfway through this book and plan on reading it again just as soon as I finish.
It’s easily the best book I’ve ever read. Meaningful, life changing, and delicious.
It’s so packed full of good stuff that I should probably write a page of reflection for each page I read – just to let the inspiration marinate and settle. In fact, don’t even finish reading this post – do yourself a favor and head over to Steve’s blog.
Anyways, I was reading last night and thinking about something that has troubled me for a couple years now. Why isn’t everyone actively interested in conscious growth? (aka “personal development”) The resources are available. The books and blog posts have been written. It’s all there within arm’s reach.
So what is it? Do people not know how to find the resources? What books to buy or what search terms to use? Maybe people don’t feel supported or capable of change? Or, what I fear is the case, are some people just not interested in learning, improving, and developing as a person? Perhaps some people don’t want to read books like these because they underestimate the chance of actual results? Maybe they’re trapped into a destructive “things are good, not great, but that’s just the way it is” mentality. Maybe some people would rather share complaints on a smoke break during their soulless job than admit to themselves…
“I alone am responsible for my life.”
It takes some humility and courage to buy a “personal development” book, doesn’t it? I noticed something curious about this book I’m reading. When someone asks me “what are you reading?” I actually hesitate for a moment because I feel slightly embarrassed! After I tell them the title (Personal Development for Smart People) I quickly follow up with a qualifying statement like, “It sounds lame, but really it’s a fascinating book.” I should read sexier books, ha! Maybe this is how others feel as well?
This post is hardly polished, but I will publish it regardless because I think it captures my current thoughts on the matter of conscious growth.
What are your thoughts on personal development? Perhaps we each grow in different ways and I shouldn’t rant about those who choose to grow in a different direction, at a different pace, or by different means than I choose.
[I suspect that my beautiful and intelligent readers aren't the type that need to hear a rant about the value of pursuing conscious growth, so thanks for taking a minute to read anyways. ]
Like I said, I had way too much fun creating this video. Maybe I should think about how I can do more video work in the future? Hmm…