If you've been following my blog, you probably have read at least one post about my friend Clemetin. Last week, in a post about the need we all have for unconditional support, I discussed Clemetin's current judicial predicament. And this week, he stood in judgment. Here's the outcome: Clemetin is not in prison. In fact, he's not even on probation any more. So what happened? He had the good fortune of appearing before a wise judge who made a humane … [Read more...]
The Universal Need for Unconditional Support
Posted by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, my friend Clemetin wound up back in prison. He didn't end up there because he's dangerous or has done anything particularly bad. He was put there because he hasn't shown up for court-mandated appointments. Several months ago, rather than putting Clemetin in prison, a judge assigned him three years of probation during which he has to show up regularly to meet with a probation officer. But that has proven to be too much for Clemetin. He showed up at the … [Read more...]
What Should You Do When You Don’t Feel Heard?
Posted by Leave a Comment
Do you ever feel as though people just don't seem to be hearing you? Have you ever rankled a bit when something you said just a few minutes earlier gets attributed to someone else? That happens to me sometimes, and it surprises me. I'm not shy. I don't tend to shrink. And I'm not usually quiet. So it's puzzling when people don't seem to hear what I say. Turning up the Volume One natural response to not being heard is to talk louder. You just turn up your volume. But … [Read more...]
Let a Breeze Blow Through Your House
Posted by Leave a Comment
Do you take your emotions seriously? Do they grab you and toss you around? Do you sometimes feel like you are being manipulated by a great emotion-puppeteer who pulls your strings? Strong emotions have an immediacy and power that are hard to ignore. And compounding their power is the related (and peculiar) memory impairment they cause. Emotions are like the wind When you’re feeling bereft, it’s almost impossible to remember that the hour or the day or the week … [Read more...]
How Big Do You Choose to Be?
Posted by 2 Comments
It's perhaps a bit late in my life, I know, but I'm wondering whether is possible to imagine myself taking up more space in the world. It sounds odd, I know. But I think your sense of how big you want to be -- i.e., how visible and successful you want to be, and how much impact you want to have -- may actually shape just how big you become! Small can be comfortable So far, I've opted for smallish. I've never really thought of myself as wanting to be visible in a … [Read more...]
Open Yourself Up to Learning New Ideas – Like Time Quilting
Posted by 1 Comment
I'm taking Chris Brogan's course on creating courses. And when I watched the video in the first installment, he introduced a concept called "Time Quilting." Time Quilting is the idea of using bits and pieces of time productively and then "quilting" them together into a big, beautiful product. Years ago, a businessman I was interviewing told me that he thought of using time in the same way he packed his suitcase. He put in the big garments first and then tucked in the … [Read more...]
Shorter, Targeted Presentations = More Impact
Posted by 1 Comment
All afternoon, I've been trying to record a video on a subject about which I know lots. I talk for over 30 minutes because there's lots to say. But reviewing the results, I suspect that's not the best approach. How much information, after all, can anyone take in, particularly during this time of information overload and multitasking? How long can you really listen to someone telling you things? Particularly if it's just a voice recording with slides. How Long Should … [Read more...]
What Does it Mean to Have Limited Opportunities?
Posted by 3 Comments
I've been enjoying Seth Godin's new book, What to do When It's Your Turn (and it's always your turn). It's a beautiful book. Fantastic images. Elegantly laid out. And it has one of those covers you just like to touch. One image in the book jumped out at me. It shows a wonderful photo of 29 physicists who in 1927 gathered at the Solvay Conference in Brussels. The photo includes many of the most remarkable physicists of their time... in fact... of all time. People like … [Read more...]
6 Years of Freedom and 3 Valuable Lessons
Posted by 4 Comments
Next month, my friend Clemetin will celebrate six full years of being out of prison. According to the statistics of the Bureau of Justice, three-quarters of all of the people released from prison get rearrested within five years. And indeed, Clemetin has been rearrested. Not once, but several times. He's been arrested for trumped up drug charges he wasn't guilty of, and he's been arrested for shoplifting, which he did. He's never ended up back in prison, but he gets picked … [Read more...]