Value: The Environment

All sentient life on the planet uses the environment toward its purposes. We eat. We build. We live. And in doing so, we effect and change the environment, organizing it around our personal and collective visions. Having a thoughtful, aware and strategic approach to the environment; thinking of ourselves as stewards of the environment; working toward keeping the environment clean and healthy, and helping it to heal in areas where damage has been done (regardless of whether that damage is a result of man, animal, weather, or geologic event) is important. The goal is to have the environment not be at risk and for everyone to be able to enjoy it fully and thoughtfully, forever.

When I think about this value two reference points come to mind. The first is the environment around me, my personal space. Where I am, where I live, work and play, where I spend time. The environment that I own and control. The second is the greater environment, the planet, and I suppose, increasingly over time, the Universe.

Our treatment of the space around us, and even how we think of that space, whether its an object to be controlled at whim, a canvas upon which to paint, or a living partner in the great circle of life, is, in general, a direct manifestation of the balance between our feelings and our intelligence.

Almost without exception, everyone of us, on some level, feels discouraged. We feel small. Powerless. This is because when we were children, we were small, and we were often prevented from expressing our power. It was interrupted. We were interrupted. People and events that were larger than we were, exercised power over us, often thoughtlessly. We were not happy about this but there was nothing we could do about it. These experiences have left us with confusions. Places where we cannot see ourselves clearly. Places where we cannot tell that we are powerful and can make a difference.

Many of us feel overwhelmed when we think about the environment. It feels like the effort to create positive change, to keep the planet clean and healthy, or the Universe free from clutter, is going to be too hard. That it will require the cooperation of too many people. People we don’t know, or don’t like, or can’t control. People that we can’t or don’t want to cooperate with.

These are feelings.

To be sure, “the environment” is a big place. Infinitely large. But, as it turns out, we, aside from the spots where we have surrendered, are also infinite, and more than enough to tackle the tasks we have set for ourselves, whatever those tasks may be.

I think of the decision to prioritize the environment as similar to creating a sculpture that celebrates our own life. Living in an “intentional space” reinforces the message that we are in control, that we are powerful. If we are particularly thoughtful and we “design” our personal space keeping our other values and goals in mind, then this space can become an extension of our entire value system, helping us to more effectively live our dreams and reach our goals. Extrapolating out, tending to the larger environment becomes a celebration of all life and history (past and future.)

Personal Space

Whether I am working, playing, resting, creating, hanging out or simply being, I want my personal space to be optimal for that experience.

Clean and orderly
Physically comfortable – w/r/t temprature, lighting, sound, sights, tastes, smells.
Thoughtfully designed
Aesthetically Pleasing
A celebration of “where I have myself”
Welcoming
Inspirational
Well-Organized
Energy efficient w. a neutral or positive carbon footprint
A place where I want to be and enjoy being. A place that inspires me and excites me and rejuvenates me.

The greater environment

I want to have a relationship with the natural environment (and to be able to tell that I am connected to it). I want to enjoy nature. I want my life to have as minimal a negative impact on the environment as possible (i.e. small carbon footprint, increased recycling and composting to limit my personal share of what goes into a landfill.) I want to spend time outdoors; to find places where, simply by being in them, I am reminded of the sanctity of all life, and the importance of my personal connection with the planet and the universe. I want to participate in the effort to clean up the environment and to help the planet to heal in areas where it has been damaged.

From the Zone...

ian

Value: Work, Play (... & Financial Security)

The difficulties that I had writing this section were significant. I have struggled to understand what the concepts of work, play and financial security mean, in general, and to me, personally. I pushed myself to suspend pre-conceived ideas and prejudice’s and to consider the goals toward which I ultimately want to strive, free from these limitations. Finally, I have done some deep soul searching to try to determine if having “a value to do work” was actually important or if it was simply an irrational meme, acquired from the dominant culture via contagion and constant repetition.

I was raised with the belief that “work” was something that you did so that you could earn enough money to retire. This was the paradigm that was handed down to me by generations of working-class Eastern-European Jews; each generation adding its unique flavor and perspective before moving it along through history, until, most recently, it arrived on the shores of New York City, on the shoulders and in the minds of my immigrant fore-bearers. People who came to this country in an attempt to carve out a better life and more hopeful future for themselves and their families.

“Work hard and earn enough money so that when you are not working, you can relax and be comfortable.” Words of wisdom from a smart, hard-working people, who, against all odds, had survived centuries of pogroms, brutality and oppression and were committed to working as hard as was necessary in order to avoid “being sent back.”  

Work vs Play?

But what IS work? And, conversely, what is play? And how can we tell them apart?

The answers to these questions may seem so obvious as to negate the need to even ask. After all, I’ve had a job since I was 16 and playing since I was born. But I can assure you, that even after weeks of to trying to formulate an answer, the closest I can come is to quote Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart:

I shall not today attempt further to define [what] I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description... But I know it when I see it...

—Justice Potter Stewart, concurring opinion in Jacobellis v. Ohio 378 U.S. 184 (1964).

But in truth, I am not sure that I do know it when I see it...

Work:  

• The act of  learning or earning. Chores. Errands. Things that need to be done (laundry, dishes.). Making money;

• Deadline-oriented;

• A set of tasks, often of someone else’s choosing, engaged for the direct and immediate benefit of someone else, in exchange for an indirect (and often future) personal gain (i.e. doing your job and collecting a pay check);

• In school, work involved sitting through boring classes. Cramming the night before to pass midterms and finals. Spending hours at the library doing research for term-papers. Even for my interesting classes, my chosen electives, it was pretty dreadful stuff;

• Exercise. Dieting.

Play

• Fun stuff. Entertainment. Playing games. Reading books. Make-believe;

• Stretching. Relaxation. Getting a massage. Sleeping;

• Hanging out with friends;

• Walking. Swimming. Bike riding;

• Free-flowing;

• Spending money;

• Eating.

While this list is personal to me, I am guessing that most folks would have an equally random assortment of disconnected ideas about work and play.

The through line that has emerged as I have thought about this topic is that work and play somehow exist on opposite sides of a single spectrum, each pulling in an opposing direction and that, in order to be successful, we have to find the right balance between the two, managing the extraordinary tension that they create. I can’t help but be reminded of Freud’s ideas about the Id & the Super-Ego.

In this paradigm, work becomes a required chore. A necessary evil. A dreaded task to be achieved through pure will-power. At best, if you happen to have a job that you like, work is a means to an end. That end, of course, being material wealth which you can use to buy the type of “play” you desire.

Play, in turn, becomes the thing we do when we are not working. It becomes about “taking the edge off.” Not a huge surprise then that the “after-hours” entertainment of many adults generally include sex, drugs, alcohol and gambling. Others spend hours alone, shut away from friends and family, playing video-games, reading books, watching television. And let’s not forget sweets. What could be more “fun” than a pint of New York Super Fudge Chunk?

A Brief History of Play... (and work)

When I was very little, playing was about doing something joyous. It often included other people and generally had some component of imagination. And when I was fully engaged, it often filled me with delight.

I have an early memory of playing “Dolphins” with my dad. I was about 5. We were in a swimming pool. I held onto his back while he swam the width of the pool under water. At one point, my head broke the surface, and I shrieked at the top of my lungs: a single, high-pitched note of unadulterated happiness, too great to contain.

As I grew older, I experienced this level of uncontrolled enthusiasm less and less frequently. Play morphed into a training-ground for how to be a grown-up, pretending what my life would look like when I was older. As I hit my early teens, I discovered  role-playing games, Science-Fantasy novels, and Comic Books. It was the 80’s and Dungeons & Dragons, Lord of the Rings, and the X-men were all the rage.

Early on in my life, I decided I wanted to be an actor, and so, in school, the play-acting that I had been doing turned into actually acting in plays. Interestingly, this was my first inclination that work and play could overlap. All through elementary school, junior and senior high schools and college, I worked to refine my craft as an actor. Unfortunately, what had originally been fun, actually started to feel like a job. Faced with critical and often disapproving evaluations of my professors as well as the growing concern that if I continued, I would have to be able to earn money in a highly competitive field where more people waited tables than actually worked in their chosen profession, I added a second major in my senior year.

It was around this time that I decided to become a massage therapist. I had always liked having my shoulders rubbed and when a mild car accident in my sophomore year of college left me in the care of a massage therapist, courtesy of my PIP Insurance, I realized that it might be a viable option. I went on to have a massage practice for almost a decade, and, at least in the beginning, I could not have told you whether doing massage was work or play. It had always been a way to connect with folks. I was a theatre geek so we were allowed to give each other back rubs. Now that I was getting paid for it., I was completely delighted.

My massage career overlapped with my publishing career which embraced another set of activities that straddled the fence between work and play. As a writer and a designer, I got to be very creative. As an entrepreneur, I got to sell advertising and promote my business.

Of course, “financial realities” have a funny way of corrupting, and, as we have seen, as activities moved from the optional to the required, I tended to feel trapped and started to loose interest.

When I was 31, I enrolled in an MFA program in Studio Art. Up until that time, school, except for the early years of actor-training, had always been solidly in the work category. Obligational. Difficult. Never-ending. But now, suddenly, I was an artist; once again dedicating my life to creative pursuits, free from the requirements of financial success. (I had taken out student loans and so did not have to worry about cash flow.) For two years I dedicated myself solely to thinking about and creating art. Some days, I spent 18 hours in my studio. It was not easy. But it was awesome.

Fast forward a dozen or so years: relocating to NYC, a second masters degree, a successful career, and a full life built on thousands of decisions, the vast majority of which I am happy with and would not change.

But play continues to be muddled in my life. It has started to look more like weekend brunches, the occasional Broadway musical, or taking vacations: a hiking trip in Machu Picchu, a cruise across the Mediterranean. I enjoy these activities to be sure. But there is something that needs to be reclaimed. Some piece of unadulterated joy and enthusiasm that I long ago left behind.

So what have I gleaned from all of this introspection? A few observations...

1. Self-imposed requirements for financial success tend to obfuscate the other rewards of work, leaving me confused and diminishing the joy I might otherwise feel when I do things I love.

2. The current commonly accepted paradigm that work and play are opposites does not work for me.

3. The feelings that you have while you are doing something tend to determine if you experience the activity as work or play. The most difficult thing, climbing a mountain or reading the encyclopedia, can feel like play if you are joyous, happy, connected while doing it. Conversely, something as easy as taking out the garbage or flossing before bed can feel like work.

Something is in need of a reset.

The Artist’s Way

When I adopt the perspective of the artist, the distinction between work and play blurs. The conversation ceases to be about the tension between “how I make money versus how I spend it” and shifts to: “How do I want to spend my time? What do I find fulfilling or interesting?”

It occurs to me that it may not always be clear as to whether I am working or playing because, hopefully, the activities I engage in won’t leave me feeling drained or used-up. Rather, I will feel fulfilled, uplifted, connected.

Moving forward, I want to engage in activities that have some combination of the following 3 components:

1. An opportunity to expand my intelligence and grow as a person (learning);

2. Value Creation: in that the whole will be worth more than the sum of the parts as a result of my contribution of time, intelligence and creativity (work);

3. I will derive deep joy from my participation (play).

This is not to say that everything should be easy or simple. Or that I will never be tired or need to rest. There is nothing wrong with “working/playing hard” or “giving it your all,” even to the point of exhaustion if that is what is required to accomplish the task. But these kinds of expenditures will be by choice and not by necessity.

Financial Security

While I want the ways I spend my time to be rewarding, financial remuneration may or may not be associated with any specific activity or engagement. Rather, financial stability and having enough resources to engage in chosen projects or participate in activities of interest (and to be prepared for sudden and unexpected events of all sorts) will simply be a part of the definition of my existence. (i.e. lots of cash piled high under the mattress and a regular, predictable, more-than-adequate flow of money slipped under the door each week.)

My only stipulation here is that this cash flow stem from the least exploitative method I can figure out. That it be obtained ethically and with integrity.

Rest & Rejuvenation... and Relationships

My final thought is about the importance of finding time to return to center: rebalancing, recovering, relaxing. This section could easily fall under the value of Health & Well-being but I include it here because it is in this part of my life, where things start off so hopeful, where there is so much passion and initiative, that I am most susceptible to loosing my way: a decision to exercise leads to my back going out; an exciting project becomes all about deadlines and milestones. Finding time to refocus, to recommit to the original intention, is essential. It can help us stay the course ensuring that as we cross the finish line we are able to celebrate our victory and not simply cross another chore off of our list.

I often forget to remember this. A reminder from the outside could be helpful. Someone, or more realistically, several someones, who are watching and thinking, and willing to gently ask questions and make suggestions when I’ve gotten a little meshuga.

Having people in my life who are willing to do this for me, and for whom I am willing to reciprocate, will increase the chance that I am able to successfully live this value.

From the zone...

ian

TEDxEast

Just submitted by application to attend the TEDxEast event in May'12. (They're not playing are they?)

Here's the link to their page...

http://tedxeast.com/index.shtml

And here are my answers to their questions, although, if you decide to apply, its probably best to write you own...

Tell us about yourself- something we might not ask- but you think we should know.

At the end of 2011 I reached the “spiritual end” of my then current 10-year plan, scoring a cool 65%. I say “spiritual” because the actual or chronological end does not take place until June’12. However, it was clear that the plan had finished and it was time to come up with some fresh thinking. My new project is a 25-year plan that explores and sets direction for how I want to shape my life over the next quarter of a century. I have started a blog http://www.theceozone.com to capture the ideas and initiatives emanating from this endeavor. About half of the blog is dedicated to writing about the theoretical constructs that I use to think about intentional living (so that others can set goals and push themselves to have the biggest lives possible.) The other half is about my personal process: my values & goals, dreams & aspirations, as I attempt to become the CEO of my own life.

Tell us of an experience you have had in which your perspective was challenged by another, unexpected perspective.

What happens when one’s grand vision for the future, the best that one can bring, pushes up against the paralysis and discouragement caused by racism? As a white guy in a long-term relationship with a person of color, I have started to realize that many of the skills that I have, the ability to think and communicate Big Ideas, for example, have been afforded to me by the fact that I have not been slammed by racism. Its not that my ideas are wrong, or that I should not have them, or that they are not “worth spreading.” Rather, I am beginning to realize that there is no “truth” separate from the relationships that we are in, or the audience to whom we are communicating.  And while the content of my ideas is not discouraging (what could be wrong with eliminating racism, sexism and gay oppression?), I have come to see that sometimes, the very fact that I have ideas at all, that they seem to come to me so quickly and easily, that I am willing to share them with unabashed enthusiasm, could cause someone who was not as encouraged to explore their mind and express their thoughts to feel “crowded out.” So. What do we do? I don't know. But I am guessing that moving forward, we listen more than we speak; that we notice that we can afford to slow down a bit; that we let others take the lead and joyfully follow (and that we don't judge them too harshly if and when they struggle.)

What do you hope to experience as a member of the TEDxEast community?

One of the things I have appreciated most about the TED “movement” is its commitment to the sharing of ideas that inspire. At the TED event that I was fortunate enough to attend as an audience member, or when watching the TED videos online, I often been moved by the seemingly infinite number of ways that individuals manifest their creative intelligence. However, even more important than creativity is the hope that is embodied by this group of “smart but basically normal folks” who have stepped outside their discouragement, people with lives at least as challenging as mine, if not more so, to reflect back to the world a picture of its potential. I would like to continue to observe these reflections and, perhaps, one day, to share my own.

From the Zone...

ian

Value: Volunteering & Activism

Making an impact

There are a lot of ways to apply one’s vision onto the universe. The art I make. The stories I tell. The relationships I build. The work I do. Sometimes, however, it is also important to give back. Directly. Specifically. Writing a check is one way. This is a reallocation of resource (capital) which (hopefully) allows someone else the opportunity to organize the universe around their vision. A vision which I may share. However, it can be important to not get too far removed from the front lines of the struggles about which I care. The best way to do this is to volunteer the resources of time, intelligence, and creativity, and personally apply them to the project of choice. This can be immensely fulfilling. It can be an opportunity to learn new things. Develop new and unexpected relationships. It also ensures that I continue to maintain a ground-level view of the struggles/projects/goals that are important to me. 

From the Zone... 
 
ian

Value: Justice, Freedom and Democracy

Ending all forms of humans harming humans

I want to live in a world where folks are not afraid to be and express themselves thoughtfully. I want to live in a world where people are not pulled to injure or physically coerce one another. I want to live in a world where everyone has a voice and is given an opportunity to communicate their piece of the truth, the personal facet of the divine that they embody. I want to live in a world where each person has a chance to have the life that they want to live without fear of blame, retribution, shaming, humiliation, attack. I want to live in a world where we put the needs of the many above the needs of the few, where we share resources in a thoughtful manner, where no one hoards while others starve, where difficult decisions are not put off for future generations while problems exacerbate, where greed is not the primary driving force for human ingenuity. I want to live in a world that is formed as a result of the highest vision of our combined intelligences and produced as a result of our most elegant collaboration. We can do better. I want to live in that world.

From the Zone…

ian

Value: Health & Well-being

Thinking about fitness, strength, endurance and energy.

I am my intelligence. I am my body. Living a full life requires that both function optimally in an integrated fashion. Difficulties in either will severely (and sometimes permanently) reduce my ability to fully live my life. Staying fit and active, having energy and endurance, taking good care of myself, staying free from disease and injury, enjoying being in my body, enjoying doing fun things with my body, and making decisions to promote my longevity are essential to the accomplishment of all of my other goals.

Commitment Toward Health & Wellbeing

It is logically possible & certainly desirable to think clearly about my health & physical well being; to decide to have a long and healthy life, and to take actions in the pursuit of that goal, in spite of and in opposition to patterns, confusions and addictive pulls.

Further, in spite of feelings of hopelessness & despair, or because of pulls to procrastinate or ignore the issue completely, it is never too late or too early to take this stand.

Because I am interested in feeling good, having energy & fully enjoying a long and productive life, I do hereby decide to commit to this direction. And this will mean…

From the Zone…

ian

Value: Communities of Change

Building close relationships is a revolutionary activity

I was originally going to name this value: Friends & Family, Relationships & Community. In many ways, that would still be an acceptable description...

I take great joy in spending time with people I like. Talking, hanging out, playing games, sharing experiences, laughing. It’s fun and it’s fulfilling.

However, relationships also provide an opportunity to Inspire, Motivate, and Excite one another as we share successes or commiserate and keep perspective around difficulties and challenges. Friendship provides a platform upon which we can make a stand against our struggles whether they be the confusions in our head or the obstacles facing us in the world.

Further, I learn about myself by observing what is reflected back at me during my interactions with others. The more people I have in my life, and the deeper the connection I can make with each of these people, the greater the opportunity I have to compare my thinking, observations, opinions, beliefs with what other people believe & experience.

This sharing of ideas creates opportunities to broaden my perspectives and will have an expansive effect on how I experience the universe around me. The more diverse my set of relationships, the fuller and more accurate my understanding of that universe.

After all, we are smarter than me. And everyone owns a small piece of the Ultimate Truth.

Also, I develop a more accurate understanding of my core self when I strive to connect to and communicate with others. For example, I try to journal everyday but what I write for this blog is actually a bit more rigorous (and better written) than my free-flowing diary entries. I come up with some good ideas in that journal, but writing for publication requires that I really flesh out those ideas and describe them in a way that someone else will understand. The end product does not just make more sense to you, it makes more sense to me. Adding other people to the mix forces me to Step It Up.

Communities of Change

Change begins from within. And then emanates outward. Communities of Change brings to mind the idea of an Army of Lovers. A group of folks deeply committed to one another, using those relationships to strive to make the world (or household, neighborhood, school, workplace) a better place for themselves and others.

Networking

I enjoy working on projects with other people. When I am getting along with others, and when we have a shared agenda, such opportunities can be more interesting and fulfilling.

In my day-to-day life, “the view from here” is limited by my line of sight. However, when I tap into the views of my friends, or the friends of my friends, I have access to a larger picture. An increased number of interesting and exciting opportunities present themselves within the context of these networks of relationships. Through the exposure to larger views such networks can facilitate having a big life.

Some relationships will be based on mutual attraction (i.e. a shared sense of humor or a mutual appreciation of good science-fiction.) Other relationships will be more strategic: building connections with people who can help me, or the folks I care about, to move forward in our lives, more accurately expressing our values, reaching our goals.  

I want to take time to think about and deepen my existing relationships and build new ones.

From the Zone...

ian