Perpetual Becoming
Paying Attention to the ProcessIntentionally On Purpose
If that phrase is not redundant I don’t know what it is – but it sums up an exercise and more importantly a posture that I think matters. My wife and I try to do something every year that gets at this posture. We’re not amazingly disciplined or all that formal in our approach, but as each year comes to a close we try to make space for a conversation that prepares us for the year to come.
For a variety of really great reasons like family, work, travel, and the holidays we didn’t get around to this conversation till an entire week of 2010 had transpired – oh well, better late than never! So this past Saturday, we holed up in a really cool pub, ate a long lunch, had a drink, and had a nice long talk.
It looks pretty simple. We ask each other general questions like, what went really well last year? What didn’t go so well? As we’re sitting here in this spot next year what would have happened? Read the rest of this entry »
A Deep Breath
Ok, so maybe I’m not about to have a Costanza moment, but I have been truly busy the past several months, and the pace is definitely going to continue through the end of the year. Now, I know what you’re thinking…”So what, aren’t we all?” Well yes, in fact I think most of us are.
That’s why this morning I’m thinking about the holiday on Thursday and the need to take a deep breath. Even as I write this post I’m preparing for my day ahead and I’m thinking about everything coming in the week ahead. As I talk to friends, colleagues, family members I know you’re all in the same boat.
I’m not sure what it will look like for you, and I’m still trying to figure out what it will look like for me – but stop, everything coming at us is still coming, but it’s not here, yet. Sure, it will be. Should we be preparing and planning? Yes, probably. Is that all you/we should I ever do? I hope not – it seems to me that there should be a whole lot more to life than planning.
That’s it, not deep, hardly profound – but I know I need to stop and take a deep breath, and if you’re anything like me you may be in need of that exercise as well.
Another Year
Momentum and secession in a double helix.
Growing in one sense like a new limb.
Also falling as a departing leaf.
Not quite old, but true youth a foreigner.
Bursts of freedom salted with beckoning commitments.
Assured of change, and yet how much?
Voices clamor for attention in the midst evolving devotions.
Largely unfettered but moorings stand ready.
Not wanting in any real sense.
Thankful yet discontent with stillness.
Striding with new legs – known previously, but differently.
Another year.
I’m a Dunce
I feel this little guy’s pain. It’s been a couple weeks and I have not posted. I feel like I’m in the corner with the giant hat writing “I will blog today” which turns into “I will blog this week” and all the while hoping it does not further evolve into “I will blog this month.”
I’m not entirely sure what it all means. One thing I know, a professional blogger I am not. This is not a devastating fact in the least, as that’s not at all what I’ve been attempting here. However, I do feel like for whatever reason I hit a slump in my rhythm of posting – one that I would like to climb out of. Chalk it up to life getting busy, inspiration and time to write passing each other like two ships in the night, or laziness – either way I’ve assigned myself to virtual detention to atone for my transgressions.
So, that’s it for now. This post has probably been as much for me as for anyone else who will read it (so I apologize if you’re feeling like you want those 45 seconds back), but I’ve punished my self, and I’m hoping I learned my lesson…at least until the next time 
.
One Small Step For [Wo]Man…
One giant step for social media? We didn’t land on the moon, but I think it’s a big win all the same, let me explain:
For the last 12 days the site has been dedicated to raising money for World Vision through the Chicago Marathon on October 11th. In a little over a week we raised $1,000 – I think that’s something to celebrate.
I’ve been so encouraged and inspired by the generosity of Perpetual Becoming readers. I’m also not surprised. As I’ve interacted with many of you both online and off I know this is simply who you are. That being said, please allow me to say THANK YOU! It has been fun to raise this money together, I feel tons of support going into the race, and it was a great birthday present.
It has also been a reminder for me of the positive power of social media and technology. There is plenty of material out there pertaining to what social media is and what it isn’t; the pros/cons, positives and pitfalls, etc.
I acknowledge the common critiques that include narcissism, voyeurism, consumerism (and other isms ) – and I think the potential danger of these by-products is real. I also think there exists an equally compelling list of positives. Read the rest of this entry »
A Race, A Birthday, and Where You Come In
If you’re a regular reader of Perpetual Becoming you know I’m running the Chicago Marathon this fall. The time is rapidly approaching (the race is on October 11th) – I can hardly believe it. If you want to read more about some of thoughts I’ve had along the way you can here or here.
I’m also using this race to help raise money for the humanitarian organization World Vision. Now, I want you to hear me on this. I’m under no delusions that running a race will solve all of the social injustices in Africa or anything of that nature (we talked more about this issue in Aid vs. Trade) – but I do think it’s a chance to leverage a challenge I’m undertaking and the resources represented by people like you and me (read wealthy compared to the majority of the planet) to support things like providing clean water to those who need it and feeding people who are hungry.
So, who doesn’t like a contest and/or a reason to be involved in something like this? I’ll answer for you, no one! That being the case, I’m going to give you one.
This Tuesday is my birthday, and for my birthday I would like you to consider sponsoring me to run the Chicago Marathon with a donation to World Vision. By the end of my birthday I would like to be well on the way or have met the fundraising goal of $1,000.
I’m going to put up the first $50 now and the last $50 when we make it to $1,000 – I think it’s only fair if I ask you to give that I give also. I’ve got 100’s of friends, family members, and acquaintances on Facebook, Twitter, and this site – all this would take is 18 of you to give $50 – let’s be honest most of us would never even feel that. So, please consider my entirely shameless request for a birthday gift and donate here.
A Little Less Talk…
You know the rest of the phrase.
I haven’t posted yet this week. Life happens, it’s been busy, but that’s only part of the story. One of the things I’ve realized is that I’m a brilliant talker. Not brilliant in the sense that I claim to be amazing – but rather that sometimes I do it and think it is enough.
Well for me, that’s not entirely true – I tend to write more naturally than I speak, but the point is the same. This week I’ve been taking stock of where my action needs to catch up with my talk.
Two statements that I encountered in the past week or so have been the impetus for these thoughts:
“Causing significant change is different than just being brilliant.” ~ Bill Drayton founder of Ashoka
“Enthusiasm felt for a virtue is by no means tantamount to the possession of that virtue” ~ Dietrich von Hildebrand. (Ben gets the gold star for identifying the quote for me – see comments)
I won’t quit talking – and I hope you wont’ either; it is an essential element that leads us to our actions (or inactions – sometimes that’s the better choice). I do however want to make sure it’s not the only thing I’m doing.
How Well Do You Know Your Food: A Counterpoint
Since there was some great discussion a few weeks ago on Perpetual Becoming around the documentary Food Inc, I thought it only appropriate to highlight a counterpoint that ran in the LA Times today. Charlotte Allen pulls no punches in her Op-Ed piece entitled “Keep Your Self-Righteous Fingers off my Processed Food.“
I heard Allen on NPR this morning discussing her column. Her counterpoint appeals to the the many financial benefits our current food system has provided consumers – especially in the current economic climate.
I’ll let her piece speak for itself, but I do think if you care about this issue you should read it, it will only add to your ability to consider these things from an additional perspective. And at the very least she has written a provocative and entertaining response.
After you’ve read it, chime in. Is there a place for Allen’s argument against some of what Pollan et. al. propose? Where do you agree with her? Where do you disagree?
Questions
** Warning: Post Requires Reader Interaction **
Very few things are as formative as a thoughtful (often times provocative) question. It is the type of question you can’t get away from, it seems to follow you to work, to leisure time, sometimes even while you sleep.
These aren’t necessarily questions that you’re afraid to answer, but they do cost something, they deserve honest deliberation – they force us to stop and deal with them. I am convinced it is by asking/being asked these types of questions (more than having the answers) that we begin to gain healthy, critical access to the world around us – and perhaps equally important – to our very selves.
I am thankful for the people and/or situations that have introduced these types of questions into my life, and provoked the wrestling that always comes next. It is a priority of mine to be surrounded by people who will continue to speak into my life in this way. Often (if not always) profound, these questions are not necessarily complex. Many times it has been something as simple as, “Do you have to continue doing ____ that way?”
So, to kick off the week we’d all like to hear from you:
What’s a great question you’ve encountered recently? Were you the one asking or the one being asked?
What’s a question you have avoided asking or need someone to ask you?
Conver-Cultural
February 3, 2010 at 3:59 pm · Filed under Commentary, Life, Philosophy, Society
Some friends of mine run a gathering called Elements here in Chicago. Their simple vision is that it is a worthwhile endeavor to facilitate conversations about the things that matter most. These conversations happen periodically in gatherings at different venues around the city. I wrote the following piece to describe the importance of gatherings like this, you can check out the Elements site, and the original post here.
What is it about “culture”? It is a living, breathing, ever changing aspect in each of our lives. The word itself has too many connotations to fully discuss here. It is widely used in both the micro [c]ulture sense and in the macro [C]ulture sense. In defining c[C]ulture we can fall victim to shallow generalizations on one extreme and narrow specificities on the other.
Business leaders often talk about creating healthy corporate culture, Religious leaders often talk about reaching “the” Culture, our neighborhoods have a culture, and so do our families, book clubs, and favorite watering holes. At Elements, we believe it is at the core of what it means to be human to long for these c[C]ulture[s] to be whole and life-giving places.
However we choose to understand/articulate/discuss it, one thing is true; each of us, by our very presence on the planet, by participating in the exchange of human interaction are shaping and being shaped by c[C]ulture[s] everyday. {An author named Andy Crouch coined this concept of human beings as culture-makers, to check out more click here.}
One of the most basic ways that we make culture is through our conversations. Read the rest of this entry »
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